A Lot of Potential

We didn't get to go to the beach today because Alex forgot he had band practice. He insisted that we walked with Jack to Rian's house, which was a long ass walk. But I didn't mind much really. Just as long as I was with him.

I listened to them bitch, argue, and insult as usual, but not being very interested in the conversation. We walked through a busy area of Baltimore, filled with people staring at Alex and I holding hands. I sighed, shaking my head. "What?" he smiled, looking down at me.

"Nothing." I rolled my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." I shrugged, watching the lines of the pavement.

"You know what I really hate?" Jack asked, nudging Alex's arm.

"Cats?"

"No, when a chick uses too much teeth."

"Holy fuck!" Alex cackled, shaking his head violently. "Holy shit, bro."

"Doesn't that just piss you off?" Jack raised a eyebrow, looking at him.

"I don't have that problem."

"What about you Haley, do you use teeth?"

"Teeth for what?" I gave him a confused look, listening to Alex's cute laugh.

"Bro, don't even try to pry into this subject." he rolled his eyes, placing his arm over my shoulder.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Haley." Jack said, giving me hand gestures, describing the fact he was talking about a blowjob.

"Oh.." I quietly said, rolling my eyes. "You guys are so immature."

"So Jack, how many times have you hit that?"

"Alex!" I said, slapping his chest. "Can you guys talk about that when I'm not around?"

"I've hit that about three times." Jack smiled at me evilly. He's been a lot happier since Kaylyn woke up from her coma. That's for sure.

"Ugh, oh my God." I rolled my eyes, giving Alex a pouting face.

"Sorry, baby." he smiled, looking up. His smile faded, a pissed off expression taking place on his flawless face. I looked up, seeing what he was so unhappy about. The prick himself, Lucas, was walking in our general direction. I took a deep breath, tightening my grasp I had on Alex to let him know I was uncomfortable. He flipped Alex the finger, setting him into a rage. He pushed past us, making Alex stop. "What the fuck is your problem, dickhead?"

"Aleex." I whined, pulling lightly on his arm. "Just ignore him, he isn't worth it."

He bit his lip and surprisingly obeyed what I was saying. I tried to get things back into order, pulling on his arm again.

"Yeah, listen to your little bitch. I wouldn't want to have to kick your ass anyway." Lucas retaliated, causing Alex to tense up. He ignored him, shuffling his feet as we walked. "Oh, Barakat! How's your girlfriend?"

Jack turned, giving him a confused glance. "She's fine. But how the fuck do you know what happened? No one at school was told." he said, taking a step towards him.

"Well, lets just say it costs a lot to get that dent out of my car." Lucas smirked. I watched Jack's face turn red. I held on to Alex, trying not to let the conflict escalate.

"You hit Kaylyn? You motherfucker!" Jack screamed, slamming his fist into Lucas' face.

I watched the fight between Jack and Lucas break out in front of me, making my body shake in fear. I was hoping Alex wouldn't be stupid and jump in to help. "Alex," I shrieked, getting his attention. "don't. Please." I watched him nod and tried to break it up. I tried to help him pull Jack off of the ridiculous asshole who completely deserved this. "Jack, stop." I whined, pulling on his belt loop.

"Jack, bro, quit!" Alex raised his voice, a tone which I've never heard before. He grabbed a hold of him by his shirt, finally pulling him away from Lucas. They both jolted back, Jack elbowing me in the face, causing me to fall to the ground.

My body shook uncontrollably as tears poured out of my eyes, me screaming in pain. I held my hands over the injured area around my eye. Alex rushed over to me, examining my seriously bruised cheekbone. Jack was at his side with a worried expression on his face. "Haley, I'm so sorry." he apologized, throwing his arms around me.

Alex looked pissed off. "Baby, you're going to be fine." he said, his voice not matching his expression. "And for you, you little prick. I advise you to get the fuck out of here." he turned his gaze to Lucas. He nodded, jumping up from the side walk with a black eye and bloody nose.

"Alex." I cried, gripping on to him.

He picked me up, cradling me into his chest. "I'm here, love. It's okay." My lips trembled with my face burning in pain. The crying didn't help it much. I sobbed into his shirt while him and Jack walked to a secluded place.

He sat me on the soft grass, him sliding down next to me. Jack towered over us, angered as hell. Alex heavily sighed, pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He dialed a number, leaving it on speaker. The phone rang and rang for a moment until Rian's bubbly voice picked up. "Yo!"

"Bro, we're canceling for today."

"What? Why?" he asked, confusion bleeding through his voice.

"A lot of fucking shit happened." Alex rolled his eyes, making me cry louder.

"What the fuck Alex? Is Haley crying?"

"Yeah she is. I'll explain later, but can you do me a solid?"

"What?"

"Come get us and give us a ride home." he sighed. "I thought it'd be cool if we walked. I'm regretting it."

"Okay bro, where are you?" Rian hurriedly asked.

"We're on the corner of the street that leads down towards the boardwalk." Alex bit his lip, smoothing his hand up and down my back. "Please hurry, I need to get Haley some ice." Rian didn't say anything else, he hung up. "Love, how do you feel?"

"How the fuck do you think I feel? I just got elbowed in the fucking face, god dammit!" I snapped, slapping his hand away when he tried to push my hair behind my ear.

"I know baby, I'm sorry." he frowned. "I'll make you feel better soon, I promise."

"My mom is across the street." Jack said, walking towards the street. "I'll catch you guys later."

"Later bro."

"Later." he waved, running across the street. He disappeared out of my sight, making me feel a little better. I know it's not his fault he hit me, I just felt angered.

"Alex?" I shrieked, feeling suddenly heartbroken by his expression. He looked sad, making my stomach twist up.

"Yes, baby?" he turned to me, smiling lightly, his eyes still sad.

"I'm sorry," I whimpered, pushing myself into his lap. Tears flowed down my cheeks again as I buried my face into his neck. "I-I didn't mean to sn-snap."

"I understand, you're hurt. I shouldn't of asked a obvious question." he bit his bottom lip. "I just want you to quit crying. I hate it when you cry."

"I'm sorry. It just hurts."

"Rian is here." he said, standing up with me in his arms. He walked to Rian's parked car by the curb, opening the back door. He slid me into the seat, buckling my seat belt for me. He hopped in the front seat, bucking his as Rian hit the gas and sped down the street.

"The new house I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, bro." Alex sighed, looking out of the window.

"Now what the fuck happened? Where's Jack?" he asked, giving Alex a serious look.

"Jack left with his mom. We were walking and that prick Lucas started shit."

"What'd he do?"

"He started flipping me off first so I confronted him. Haley told me to just ignore him so I did." he paused, looking into the backseat. "Then he attacked Jack with words. About Kaylyn which pissed Jack off."

"What did he say?"

"He asked him how Kaylyn was doing. Jack was like 'she's fine, how the fuck do you know?' and the fucking prick told him it costs a lot of money to get a dent out of his car." he sighed. "Then Jack went in on him."

"Dude!" Rian freaked. "That's fucked up!"

"I know bro. Then in process of trying to pull it apart, Jack accidentally elbowed Haley in the face. That's why she was crying." he frowned.

"Dude, I swear that dude seriously just needs to be dead."

"Tell me about it bro." Alex rolled his eyes. "Well thanks for giving us a ride back home."

"No problem bro. Take care of Haley, her face looks rough." he said, unlocking the doors.

"Bro!"

"Shit, sorry." Rian apologized, looking into the mirror to look at me. I shook my head and got out of his car, storming up the sidewalk. Alex was hot on my heels, following me straight to the kitchen.

He wrapped his arms around me, giving me a tight hug, kissing my forehead gently. He pushed me up on the kitchen counter, brushing his fingers over the bruised skin on my face. "How bad is it?"

"You have a black eye and bruised cheekbone." he frowned, turning his back to me. He got me some ice, throwing it into a plastic baggy. He gently held it to my face, staring deeply into my eyes. I was in so much pain, I just felt like dying. "Do you want some Tylenol?"

I nodded, taking the bag of ice from him. He walked around the corner, into the bathroom, and returned with two red pills and a glass of water. I tossed the pills in my mouth, taking a large sip of water to swallow them down with. "Can I take a bath or something?"

"Yeah, i'll run your water." he said, sliding me back into his arms. He marched us up the stairs and into our bedroom. He sat me down on the edge of the bed, disappearing into the bathroom. I heard water being ran into the tub, making me start shedding my clothes. I stopped at my underwear, strutting awkwardly into the bathroom. He sat up on the counter, raising his eyebrows when I walked in.

The bath water was warm with bubbles. If there was one thing Alex knew about me, is how I liked my baths. I slid into the warm water, leaning my cheek against the edge. My face ached with pain still, making me bite my lip.

"Alex?"

"Yes, baby?" he smiled seductively at me, making my breathing stop.

"I love you." I whispered, watching a grin spread across his face.

"As I love you, baby." he said, sighing in relief. "I'm gonna go change and give you a few a few minutes alone." he hopped off the counter, standing there for a second.

"Okay." I croaked, rubbing my cheek. I watched him leave the room, making my heart drop into my stomach. I didn't necessarily need to be alone. I didn't want to be alone. I loved being with Alex every minute of the day. I wanted to spend all the time with him that I could before he starts touring non-stop. Now I felt like my heart was in my throat, having that thought cross my mind. My biggest fear was to lose him, but I wouldn't really lose him.. I would just be without him for a while.

I sighed, laying my head back onto the side of the white tub. I sunk deeper into the water until it touched the middle of my throat. I had better things to think about now, despite the fact I just got elbowed in the face on accident or that Alex would start touring and we'd be apart. But thank god it was summertime. No more stressful school. I could be reckless and carefree for the next three months of my life. Then I was marrying Alex, which gave me chills to think about. He picked me out of dozens of other girls.

He walked back in, breaking my train of thought. He was shirtless and wore a pair of basketball shorts. He crouched down by the tub, his face inches away from mine. He softly kissed me, making me feel suddenly happy. "So, my mom stocked the damn entertainment center with tons and tons of movies.. I think you should come downstairs and pick one out so we can watch it and cuddle."

"Chick flicks?" I giggled. "But I like the sound of that."

"Aw, baby." he pouted. I grinned, kissing his cheek. "Fine, I'll be a pussy if I can get another one of those right here." he smiled, pointing to his lips.

I shook my head. I held some bubbles in my hand, dabbing them on his nose. "You can have bubbles."

"Thank you, love." he rolled his eyes, wiping the bubbles off of his face. "Hurry up and come on."

"I need a towel."

"Always unprepared!" he laughed as he stood up. He walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a large white towel. He pulled it open, running back towards the tub with a smile on his face.

"You're such a retard." I giggled, pulling the drain out of the tub. I stood up, grabbing his hand for support as I stepped over the large side of the tub. He wrapped the large towel around my shoulders, and around my body, attacking me into a huge hug. "Alex, you're going to squeeze me to death."

"No, I'm just trying to get you dried off."

"Squeezing me doesn't help." I rolled my eyes, pushing him lightly back. I took the towel, running it down my body to dry it off. Once I was finished, I placed it back around me, walking back into the bedroom. I walked into the large walk-in closet with him behind me, looking around for my stuff. I found it on the side of his stuff, which was folded nicely and put into a organized pile, which what I did when I was bored last night when he was passed out asleep. Mine still needed to be folded, but I didn't have the energy to do it. I grabbed a pair of underwear, tiny plaid sleeping shorts, black tank top and one of his hoodies. I threw the towel at him, hurriedly getting dressed. I grabbed his hand and giggled, pulling him out of the room.

"Why are we running?!" he laughed as we ran down the stairs.

"I feel really energetic and happy."

"That makes me happy." he smiled, placing his hands on my hips when we reached the living room. I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my cheek that wasn't bruised to his chest. He ruffled my hair and spun us around.

"You always make me happy." I grinned, pulling away from him. "And you know how to cheer me up." I said, pulling open the doors to the DVD player under the large flat screen TV.

"It's the charm, I swear." he laughed, taking a seat on the sofa.

"I think it is too." I giggled, looking over my shoulder to see him stick his tongue out at me. "The Notebook, Mean Girls, John Tucker Must Die, My Sister's Keeper, aw babe, your mom is setting us up for a good movie night!"

"She's going to be hearing about this later." he rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face. "Which one do you wanna watch?"

"I dunno. I like them all."

"Mark the notebook out." he shook his head. "Lets watch Mean Girls or something other."

"No! I wanna watch The Notebook!" I smiled evilly at him. I turned the DVD player on, sliding the disc into the drive. I tossed the case on the top of the coffee table, scampering over to grab a large blanket off the back of the sofa. I sat down closely next to him, pulling the blanket over us.

"God damn this movie."

"Shut up and watch it." I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Man, fuck his." he laughed, laying down on the sofa. He pulled me on top of him, covering us up.

I watched the movie closely, pretty sure he wasn't even paying attention. He played with my hair, making me feel tired. I had slept two hours this morning after I escaped from school. How could I be this exhausted now? I ignored the urge to fall asleep, watching the break-up scene happen.

"Aw." I frowned, watching intently.

"Oh my God.. This is killing me." he groaned, taking in a deep breath. The doorbell rang, making us both look towards the door. "Who the fuck would be at the door now of all times?" he sighed, setting us up. He stood up, walking towards the door. He looked through the peephole on the door, furrowing his brow. "What the fuck?" he said, pulling the door open.

He was silent and didn't say anything to what was on the other side of the door, making me begin to get scared.