Colour

It was the afternoon when Alexandra woke the next day.

She didn’t wake up naturally either which made her groan. It was the other side of the bed moving that caused it. She carefully lifted her fiercely aching head up from the pillow and wiped the side of her mouth that she had been so attractively drooling out of.

“I appreciate you trying to leave quietly but you’re not doing that good of a job. Don’t steal anything on the way out,” Alexandra spoke up with her voice hoarse. All the loud singing and shouting unnecessarily at her friends always left her with a sore throat the next day.

“Uh... I wasn’t planning on leaving; I was actually just going to the bathroom,” A cautious voice replied.

“Oh...” She murmured. The owner of the voice left the room and Alexandra let out a large sigh. She knew that voice and that tone that was in it.

She felt like biting her pillow so hard she tasted the stuffing but her head was banging so much she knew she was struggling to even keep it lifted off the bed, never mind any strenuous jaw clenching.

She needed painkillers.

Slowly, she slid herself out of the bed and pulled on fresh underwear and an oversized shirt before shuffling her way down the stairs, a hand clamped to her forehead.

Heading into the kitchen, she groaned when the cupboard door squeaked open, louder when the cap on the painkiller bottle popped open loudly and even louder than that when the water hissed from the tap and slammed into the glass.

Alexandra was regretting drinking so much last night for three reasons.

One- Her head was pulsating to the point where she felt she might actually explode.
Two- She vaguely remembered Kennedy telling her that they were both going to regret having sex the next morning and she’d told him that she didn’t care. Mistake number one. Leading to...
Three- Sleeping with Kennedy. Mistake number two.

It’s not that she wasn’t attracted to him; quite the opposite in fact. He had an effect on her that nobody had had in a while.

It was more the fact that she knew what went on in his head and she couldn’t deal with that.

She flipped on the kettle and turned her back to the counter, leaning back on it and gently rubbing her face with her hands. She could feel her smudged and clumped make-up from the night before on her skin and grimaced lightly.

“Is it customary for your conquests to get a coffee before they go?” A meek voice came from the doorway.

“None of them have ever stayed this long before,” Alexandra gradually let her hands fall from her face and she looked over at him, a very small smile on her face, “And you shouldn’t say it like that,” She said as she noticed he was fully dressed- complete with shoes on and jacket in hand.

He frowned lightly at her, “Huh?”

“You shouldn’t refer to yourself as a conquest- It’s derogatory. Besides, if I remember correctly because I was very drunk, I’m the conquest. A few words and you had me any way you wanted me,” She spoke tonelessly.

He chuckled, “You didn’t sound like you were complaining,” He joked.

She half smiled, “I wasn’t,”

The kettle finished boiling and Alexandra didn’t move.

Kennedy stepped into the kitchen and placed his jacket over the back of a chair. He wandered towards her. “If you’re not going to make me a coffee then can I at least get a good morning?”
He cautiously placed his hand around her waist and leaned down to her, gently pressing his lips against hers.

She barely responded and squirmed under his touch. She smiled awkwardly at him as he pulled away.

He breathed in through gritted teeth, “Is it cold in here or is it just me?” He said sarcastically. Alexandra giving him the cold shoulder was a little more than hurtful after what they’d done. “I hoped it wouldn’t be as awkward as this, this morning but I guess it was just wishful thinking,” He stepped back and tried to catch Alexandra’s eyes but she was avoiding them, “So...” He shoved his hands in his pockets, “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you regret last night?”

She folded her arms across her chest and finally dragged her eyes up to look at him, “At the moment... Around a five,”

“Is it because I asked for a drink that it’s gone up or is it because I haven’t left yet?” He asked light-heartedly.

“I never usually regret spending the night with someone...” She stuck to the seriousness but trailed off.

“I sense a but coming here,”

“But...” She sighed, “For some reason, I woke up this morning and I didn’t get that usual feeling of indifference,”

“That might’ve been because I woke you up,”

She almost chuckled, “I don’t know,” She shrugged lightly.

They fell into silence briefly and then Kennedy eventually spoke up, “Do you want to go get some breakfast with me? I’m sure you could convince Josh to give us some free pancakes. Maybe I can convince you to drop that score of regret a little bit,”

Alexandra let out an exasperated sigh before rubbing her eyes, “Kennedy, you do realise that last night was a one off, don’t you? Nothing’s going to come of this. I couldn’t be with someone like you,”

Kennedy’s expression changed from concern to surprise. His eyebrows rose and his head retracted. He folded his arms across his chest and let out an unimpressed laugh, “Someone like me?”

She winced lightly, “I didn’t mean it like that,”

“I think you did,” He retaliated, “So go on, what did you mean by that?”

“You’re not looking for the same thing that I am. Last night was just... Last night. It’s never going to be anything more. I can promise you that,”

Kennedy gazed blankly at her for a second, “Let me get this straight... We have... Well... We have last night, I don’t leave before you wake up, I say good morning- which seems a mistake in itself- I kiss you, invite you out to breakfast, treat you with a little respect- more than anyone else ever seems to have done- and you tell me that you can’t be with me? Like any of the six thousand other guys deserved you more than I would,”

“Well, when you say it like that...” She mumbled, “But you said yourself last night that we were both going to regret it this morning,”

“I never said I didn’t,” He tilted his head at her and she stared back expectantly, “In fact, I never said a word about wanting anything more. I acted like I did- like any normal person would- because I knew it was going to be awkward. I figured it might ease the situation but I was obviously wrong. Next time I’ll be an ass,” He snorted.

He was dancing on her nerves now and she couldn’t help but snap back, “Who said there was going to be a next time?”

“You’re right,” He nodded, “I could never be with someone like you,” His eyebrow twitched challengingly and for the first time in a while Alexandra felt something hurt inside her.

“What is that supposed to mean?” She growled.

“Not nice when it’s aimed at you is it?” He snarled.

“What the hell was that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know exactly what I meant,” He spat back through gritted teeth.

They glared at each other until Alexandra bubbled over with rage. His last comment- though he didn’t actually make it- was enough to make her feel so angry she thought she might lash out or maybe even cry. Either way, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing him hurt her.

“Get out,” She seethed.

“Don’t worry, I’m leaving,” He snatched his jacket from the back of the chair and headed for the door.

Alexandra took in a deep, shaky breath and slowly let it out.

“Oh and one more thing,” Kennedy’s voice almost startled her as he suddenly appeared back in the kitchen doorway.

“What?” She snapped.

“You snore like a rhino with emphysema,” He shot at her.

She squeaked in offence, “I do not!”

“Yeah you do,” He counteracted, spinning on his heel and heading back out again.

She hurried after him, “Yeah? Well you have the body of an anorexic stick insect!”

He simply flipped her off as he reached the front door and slammed it behind him.

Alexandra did something she hadn’t done since she was a child. She folded her arms, huffed and stomped her foot against the floor.

“Bastard,” She cursed to herself.

=====

The next morning, Alexandra dragged herself into work at ten and sat down in the back after she’d thrown her belongings in the locker.

“So what happened to you on Friday night?” Josh said as he leant in the doorway.

“Nothing happened to me,” Alexandra responded quickly- Too quickly.

“Whoa...Okay,” His eyebrows rose in shock, “So something did happen after we left? Liam was gutted you know,”

She shrugged simply and tied back her hair.

“Who was it?” He asked.

She frowned at him, “Who was who?”

“The guy that you took home,”

“I didn’t take anyone home,”

“Liar,” He sung.

“Leave it,” She replied quietly, tying her apron around her waist and heading out into the café. She sat down on the seat behind the counter and leaned her elbows on it before resting her head in her hands.

Josh tentatively followed her and looked over at her before he gently rested a hand on her shoulder, “Lexie, is everything okay?”

She nodded and stayed silent.

“Lex,” He kneeled down and looked up at her, “If I’ve pushed a button and made you mad, I’m sorry,”

She smiled softly at him, “It’s nothing you said, I’m just thinking about stuff,”

“Well don’t, you’ll scare the customers,” He joked.

She chuckled slightly and he rubbed her back before he got up and started taking orders.

Sundays were usually quite quiet but Alexandra got to have fun with Josh instead of sitting in the house all alone so it wasn’t so bad.

Around eleven, it was empty as usual and Alexandra and Josh were chatting when the door opened.

They looked up to the visitor and Alexandra gulped harshly when she realised who it was.

He didn’t have such a friendly look in his eye this time.

“Hey,” Josh greeted as John walked up to the counter.

John nodded in acknowledgement at him before he turned to Alexandra.

She smiled unsurely at him, “Hi,”

“What the hell did you do?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared her down.

She frowned lightly, “What do you mean?”

“What did you do to Kennedy?” He clarified.

“Oh God,” She covered her face with her hands and peeked out through her fingers at him, “He told you?”

“We’re best friends- He tells me quite a lot,” He shrugged.

Josh was gazing confusedly at them, “What’s going on?”

“She slept with Kennedy on Friday night,” John replied quickly before turning back to Alexandra, “What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t. I was drunk and so was he,” She explained.

“Ugh,” He shook his head, “I told him to stay away from you. The boy never listens to me,”

Alexandra frowned deeper than she had done before, “What? Why did you tell him to do that? I’m not going to bite him- Not unless he asked me to,” She joked. She couldn’t help it. She was testing the waters to see how angry John was.

“That’s not funny,” He sighed. Okay... He was very angry.

“I’m not a bad person John,” She defended herself, “And as a matter of fact, he came on to me not the other way around,”

He huffed and rubbed his hands over his face, “Against my advice once again. You can’t treat him like you’ve treated everyone else, Lexie. I told you to expect consequences the other day. I told you what to expect when you shake someone’s belief system like that,”

“I’ve yet to see any consequences other than the argument he and I had yesterday before he left,”

“You have to understand that he’s not like you!”

“I know that he isn’t!” She exclaimed, “I told him that and he went off on one practically calling me a whore and everything got out of hand,”

“He said what?” Josh growled.

Alexandra sighed, “Nothing, it’s fine,”

“No it’s not,” Josh stood up, “You don’t deserve that,”

“Well Kennedy doesn’t deserve to be kicked out of someone’s house when all he’d done was treat a girl with the respect she deserves,” John retaliated.

“I didn’t kick him out,” She denied.

“You told him to get out. That’s kicking him out,” He argued.

Alexandra rolled her eyes to the ceiling, “I tried to tell him what I felt without hurting him but you know that I often can’t control what comes out of my mouth. Everything came out wrong and it just... I said things that I didn’t mean,”

“I’m sure Kennedy did too,” Josh gently touched her upper arm.

“I’m sure he only made observations,” John said spitefully.

“Hey!” Josh growled, “Watch it,”

John sighed before looking at Alexandra’s frustrated brown eyes, “Sorry but my best friend is hurt and I can’t stand for that when I can do something about it. Sort it or stay away from him Lexie- You’re my friend and I don’t want to lose you but you do not treat people the way you treated him when all he wanted was a night with a beautiful girl,” He shrugged, “See you around,”

With that John left the café and Josh looked over at Alexandra. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

He tugged on her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace, “I can ban them from here if you want me to,” He murmured.

She chuckled through her quiet sobs and cuddled tighter into him, “He’s right though,”

“No he’s not. Both of you sound like you’re in the wrong here and you’re not one of these people who intentionally hurt people. It’s not your fault,” He reassured, rubbing her back.

Alexandra just stood in his arms, thinking.

She knew John was right. She owed apologies.

More than that, she owed herself some pride and some dignity.

The fact that her friends were warning their friends away from her was hurtful enough but now she knew exactly what they thought of her. Although, bless him, Josh was too much of a sweetheart to admit it when she was already kicked on the floor but he had mentioned it before.

But what she really didn’t want was to hurt anyone- Especially Kennedy.

On Friday night he’d brought out feelings in her she hadn’t experienced in a long time and knowing now that he resented her- regretted their time together- made her ache in an unfamiliar part of her heart.

A very unfamiliar part of her heart.

=====

'All I Wanted From You Was A Night, Maybe Two'

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