Four Years

Alex's POV

I walked down the long hallway, whistling some random Cobra song to myself. I think it was "Pop Punk Is Sooooo '05".

I noticed a girl coming the opposite way. She was wearing a beanie, a slouchy tee, a pair of skinnies, and a pair of Nikes. I saw the tattoo on the inner side of her arm. It was a city skyline...

It was the Chicago skyline. Oh. My. God. Rae.

If it wasn't for the tattoo, I wouldn't have realized it was her because she had her head down. She passed by me.

My mind scrambled to think of something. "Rae..." I spit out, hoping she'd turn around.

She sighed and turned on her heels, her eyes shut tight. She opened them and stared at me. "Can I help you?" She asked, her voice a bit shaky.

"Rach...is that...is that you?" I said, my voice as equally shaky as hers. I felt like I was gonna cry. I hadn't seen her face to face in your fucking years. I could feel my lips curl up in a small smile. She was so beautiful.

She sighed and scuffed her shoes against the concrete floor, "Hi, Alex."

"Rachel!" I screamed, quickly bringing her into a tight hug. I rested my head on the top of hers, kissing it so gently. She wrapped her arms around my body and cuddled into my chest. My heartbeat picked up. I hadn't felt her against me in four years. "I missed you so much, Rae."

"Me too, Alex," She said softly, patting my back.

"God, you're beautiful," I breathed out as I let her go. I looked her up and down, examining her every detail. Holy fuck, she was so gorgeous! As I stared at her, one question literally kept repeating itself over and over in my head. It finally slipped out. "Why'd you run?"

Her smile dropped right off her face. Why? She just couldn't tell me? I deserved to know.

"No hello? No how are you? None of that?" She laughed, running her hand through her black hair. Classic Rae.

I laughed and brought her into another hug. I missed this - her arms wrapped around my body, her sweet scent filling my nose. Just being able to hold her and see her.

"Wanna go somewhere we can talk?" I asked, pulling away from her.

"We can talk here," She said, sliding down against the wall to the floor. She crossed her long legs and patted the floor next to her with her soft hands, her rings colliding with the concrete floor, causing a loud clicking noise throughout the empty hall. I laughed and slid down next to her.

I tucked his knees up to my chest, resting my arms on the tops of my knees, and sighed, "How've you been, Rae?"

"Awesome," She smiled, showing off her beautiful teeth. "My life has been nothing but awesome. How's life been treatin' ya, Lex?"

"Life's been...I love it. I'm living my dream," I chuckled, looking straight ahead. I was so fucking happy. Just seeing Rae added to my happiness.

"I'm living my dream too," She giggled, watching as an equipment bin rolled by us. "Suarez" was spray painted in neon green block letters on the side.

"Why'd you run, Rae?" I sighed, turning to look at her. The question haunted me for so long. It was still haunting me. I fucking needed to know.

Why'd she give everything up? Why'd she drop everything at home and just bolt? Why couldn't she stay and fight her problems?

"I explained it to you in a letter, dude. I know you got it, too. You used lines from it in your stupid song," She sighed, slowly putting her head in her hands, almost as if she was hiding from the world.

I groaned, throwing my head back against the wall, "All because you were pregnant? I would've helped you, Rachel. Don't say I wouldn't have, either!"

She snorted and snapped her head up to mine. She glared at me with her pretty green eyes, "Oh, Alex, Alex, Alex...listen to me. I ran away because I was so fucking sick of Maryland. That child helped me get out of that dumbfuck state."

Shocked. That's the only word I could use to describe what I was. I furrowed my eyebrows at her, "I thought you liked Maryland...you had everything. Perfect friends, perfect family, per - "

"Ha! I didn't have perfect friends or family! Jack used me for sex! You were always feeling sorry for me! My parents always fought! Dammit, when I ran away to Chicago, I finally felt peace. I finally felt free of bullshit! God, I finally lived for the first time!" As she finished, she looked like she was going to cry.

I felt like I was gonna cry. Pain and sadness washed over my entire body. She hated life before. The baby was only the excuse.

Finally, after a long silence, I spoke, "I loved you, Rae. I didn't feel sorry for you. Well, actually, I did. I didn't think you were being treated right. Jack just used you like a toy...I loved you, Rae. And when you left, I was heartbroken. You crushed my heart, Rae. I...I had to move on. I had to go on without you. Do you know how hard that was?"

"Uh-huh, whatever," She said, rolling her eyes at me. I wanted to get up and leave. If she was going to keep acting this way, what was the point of staying and talking? "Lex, listen to me, I had to run. I had to get out of that state. I just had to. I'm sorry I broke your heart. Whatever. I would've held you back if I did stay. And...I would've honestly been miserable with you. I didn't love you, Alex. I fell in love for the first time when I ran. Pete showed me love."

She fell in love for the first time with Pete? What the hell did he show her that I didn't? Was it the fame? All the gifts and things she got from him? Was that her definition of love? That wasn't fucking love.

I felt every drop of blood course throughout my veins. I was upset. She was so...so fucking ignorant. She wasn't in love. She just thought she was in love.

I sighed and ran my shaky hands through my hair, tugging it tightly, "What happened to our kid, Rae?"

She froze. I swear, I heard and saw her breathing just stop.