Stand A Little Too Tall, Say A Little Too Much

I woke up immediately and tried to catch my breath. I was soaked through.
“What the…” I thought.
I looked at Alex who was still sound asleep. I was so glad I hadn’t woken him from his sleep, Alex definitely looked shattered. He also looked very cute asleep, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Not yet anyway.

I sneaked downstairs hoping that I wouldn’t wake anyone up, especially May. To my surprise, May was actually sitting cross-legged on the cream sofa. It wasn’t long before she noticed my presence.
“Hey, are you alright? Come sit down, if you want.”
I nodded, walked over to the sofa and plonked myself next to May. I left some personal space so that I wasn’t perched right next to her, but I wasn’t quite on the other end of the sofa either.
“Are you alright honey?”
“I don’t know. I feel so rough.”
“That’s normal sweetie.” She paused. “I hope you don’t mind, but Alex told me about what happened with you and this guy…”
“He’s a dick and I hate his guts.”
“He sounds like one if you ask me.”
“Hmmm.”
There was a few seconds of silence before I decided to bring up what was on my mind.
“May?”
“Yeah?”
“I actually feel like shit. I don’t mean to start ranting out, but I’ve been thinking and it’s not fair for Alex to be involved with everything that’s going on.”
“He’s only trying to help I suppose. That’s definitely what he’s best at.”
“It’s not that. He’s an absolute lifesaver to say the least, but I just feel as if I’ve dragged Alex into this. It’s not his fault at all.”
“These things happen in life and unfortunately, you can’t do much about it but deal with the situation as it is. That’s all you can do.”
“That is very true.” Things were starting to scramble up in my head and it wasn’t long before pain started to kick in.
“Maybe you should talk to Alex about how you feel?”
“About it being unfair on him?”
“Kind of. Maybe you should talk to him about your options and how to tackle this Josh situation.”
“Hmm. That’s a good idea. I really don’t know what I’m going to do with Josh. He’s got my number, he knows where I live, and he turns up everywhere I am.”
“What a stalker.”
“He is. I really wish I hadn’t have taken him in now.”
“What happened exactly?”
“After Alex had walked me home one night, Josh turned up at my doorstep and was in a very big mess. He wouldn’t stop crying. He told me his mother had gone into hospital. I let him in and told him he could stay the night. He took advantage of me when I was asleep and I remember thinking it was Alex and then everything focused in and it wasn’t.”
“That’s really bad. Have you told anyone else except Alex?”
“I can’t remember.” The pain was really hurting now and I scrunched up my eyes.
“Do you want me to get some paracetamol? Is it your head?”
I nodded and she rushed to the kitchen drawer and pulled out a pack of paracetamol.
“Pull out 2, here’s some water.” She passed me a glass and I swallowed the tablets.
“They’re very strong, better than any paracetamol you’ll find at a shop.”
“Thankyou, May, honestly. I really appreciate everything you’re doing. You really don’t have to.”
“Don’t worry about it! It’s nice to catch up with Alex and find out what he’s been up to.”
I smiled and May squeezed my hand.
“Things will get better, it may not seem so as of yet, but they will.”
“Thankyou May.”
“It’s alright. I’m gonna head to bed now anyway, feel free to stay down here if you want.”
“It’s okay, I’m gonna go back to bed too.”
“Okay. If you need me, I’ll just be in my room.”
I got up off the sofa and the room went dizzy for a few seconds. I steadied myself and continued to walk out of the living room and up the stairs. I climbed back into bed and Alex stirred. I froze until he started to snore lightly again. There was something about Alex when he was sleeping that made me forget about all my problems. Maybe it was just Alex altogether that made me feel like the world didn’t exist and that we were in our own world. I couldn’t describe how perfect Alex was. I was a very lucky girl.

--

I awoke the next morning to find Alex on the floor and myself about to fall off the bed onto him. I guess I kinda woke up just in time. I didn’t know whether to wake Alex or just to cover him with the duvet on the floor and go downstairs. I decided to wrap the duvet around Alex and get some breakfast.

As I made my way downstairs, I heard plates being clattered about.
“May?” I yawned as I walked into the kitchen.
“Hiya. I was just cooking some breakfast for us all.”
“Really? Wow. Do you want me to go wake Alex?”
“If you don’t mind… he’s such a lazy arse. Beware though, he’ll moan.”
I turned back around and headed upstairs. I walked into the bedroom to find Alex still asleep in exactly the same place I’d left him. I shook Alex gently and he began groaning.
“Don’t wanna get up.” He moaned, still asleep.
“Tough luck Gaskarth, get up or I shall get a water bucket.”
“But…”
“No buts Mister. If you don’t get up within 1 minute, you will have cold ice all down your back.”
That did the trick and Alex started to wake up. He opened his eyes and smiled. He slowly sat himself up and hugged me.
“You alright?” I asked.
“Yeah, just so shattered.”
“I know. Me too. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“I’m surprised I slept. I was quite worried about you last night. Especially, when you just got into bed and was out like a light within seconds.”
“I’m surprised I got to sleep. I suppose it’s only because you were there next to me. Anyway, May’s cooked breakfast for us.”
“See, she’s not a bad sister right?”
“She’s lovely.”
“Told you you’d like her.”
“Alright, shush.”
Alex stood up and rearranged his fringe back to normal.
“That’s better.” He commented.
We headed downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table. May spoke to Alex about something in their family history and I sat and ate my omelette that May had kindly made for me. I started to think about what May had said. Maybe I should speak to Alex about what our options were with Josh and what we should do. It wasn’t long before Alex excused himself from the table after finishing his omelette. I decided to take this moment to talk to him alone. He headed up to our bedroom and I followed close behind. He started to get dressed.
“Alex?” he jumped.
“Whoa, sorry, you startled me. Yeah?”
“I need to talk to you.”
He closed the bedroom door and then sat down on the bed.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve just been thinking. It’s not fair on you Alex, to bring you into all of thi-”
He pressed a finger to my lips.
“Don’t.”
I moved his hand away from my mouth and placed it on the bed.
“Alex. I’m being serious. None of this is fair on you; I shouldn’t have got you involved. It’s my entire fault. I shouldn’t have let this happen…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to consider the idea in my head, but if it meant that Alex wasn’t involved in the situation, I was prepared to take it.
“Justine, don’t be silly. I want to take care of you, protect you from that evil bastard. You mean so much to me.”
As if on cue, my phone vibrated and I opened another text from Unknown.
‘You know I’m going to make your life a living hell right? And anyone that gets in the way of that, they will pay too.’
My eyes started to well up with tears as I was starting to consider the idea surfacing in my head.
“Alex… I-I…”
“Justine? Are you okay? Another text?”
I nodded. Alex got up off the bed and put his arms around my waist.
“I can’t do this anymore Alex.”
“Do what?”
“This. I’ve put you in enough danger as it is.” Tears started to flow out of my eyes as my words came tumbling out, “I think it would be best if we went our separate ways.”
I looked up at Alex and his face was full of hurt. I couldn’t do this anymore. I shrugged off his arms and fled down the stairs and dashed out the front door.