Fix Me, Conflict Me

"And...for you, Maddie?" Alex asked me after everyone else had ordered. To celebrate my release from the hospital, Alex and his friends decided to take me around the Inner Harbor in Baltimore for the day. I would much rather be fixing my apartment and moving the fuck out, but... anything that involved Alex came first. I really, really liked this guy.

"Upside down mocha frappucino, please," I told the barista with a polite smile as I self consciously adjusted Alex's hoodie so it hid the bruises on my neck much better. But when I took out my wallet to pay, Alex snatched it from me and shoved it into his back pocket.

"No," he said simply before he paid for us both. Jack, Rian, Zack, and Bailey were waiting by the door. We had gotten brunch at Chick-Fil-A, we just wanted drinks from Starbucks.

"Thanks, Alex," I murmured, sticking a straw into my drink. His hand fell to rest in the small of my back, and I tried not to flinch, but I did, and Alex felt it. He dropped his hand.

"Oh, sorry...did I hurt you?"

"No, it's... I'm just not comfortable with guys touching me," I admitted, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Alex's jaw tighten. "Just forget about it, Alex. I know you're different." He took that the right way and I felt his hand on my back again, guiding me towards his friends.

Rian seemed nice, but tired this morning. He was driving, so he got an espresso. He was a little hesitant to talk to me, though, and I don't blame him. The last time we spoke, I was screaming at him and Jack to leave me alone... Bad first impression, I know, but I hoped to change his mind about me today.

Jack was a lot like Alex. He brought out the best in Alex, and he also brought out the five year old in Alex. When I first met Jack, I thought they were brothers, but then I remembered, Oh yeah, Alex's brother Daniel is dead, and I'm pretty sure Alex's last name was Gaskarth, not Barakat. He was crazy and random, but he had his moments. Like the man-child he was, Jack just got two cartons of organic chocolate milk.

Zack and Bailey got fruit smoothies, those health nuts. I forgot how they met exactly, but I distinctly remember it occuring also at a hospital. "Ready to go?" Zack asked, grabbing the keys from Bailey's purse.

We nodded and headed to our cars. There were six of us, so Alex and I took his car while Rian was stuck driving Jack and the lovers. I felt bad for Rian, but there was no place I'd rather be than with Alex. Alone with Alex was such a plus. Alex turned on his stereo, Newfound Glory's album Nothing Gold Can Stay already playing. "This is perfection."

"Agreed," Alex said with a grin, following Rian out to the highway. There was no denying I lived in a pretty shady area of Baltimore. And I'd never been to the Inner City Harbor, either. I was trying to get out of Baltimore. Zack and Bailey had a nice little house in Towson, and I wanted to go live there, too. It wasn't too far away from Baltimore or Towson University, which was where I wanted to go to school, and it was just such a nice suburb. "What are you thinking about?" Alex asked softly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I turned away from the window to smile at him. "About how amazing today is gonna be."

"Do you not want to get into one, Maddie?" Alex asked gently. We were at the harbor and it was lovely, but the others wanted to go rent one of those pedaling boats out onto the water.

"Well, you can go, if you want to," I told him, stuffing my hands in the front pocket of Alex's hoodie. It's not that I was scared of water or boats or anything... I'm just scared of trying new things in general right now. "I can wait for you guys here."

"I'm not leaving you alone," he said firmly, and I felt him wrap his fingers around one of my belt loops again. "Hey, guys! We're gonna check out the movie theater for later, and make some reservations at Obrycki's. You have fun," he yelled to our friends in the purple dragon boat. They said their goodbyes, but Jack was already acting like a fool. Jack and Rian were up front pedaling and Zack and Bailey were in the back. To move forward, Jack and Rian had to pedal at the same time, but only Jack was pedaling, so they were just spinning in one spot. Silly Jack.

"Come on," Alex chuckled, tugging me to a new direction. "You got pennies, Maddie?" Alex asked, stopping us at a strange sculpture of a fish that was wrapped up in wires. "One for you and one for me." I nodded and picked out two pennies from my coin purse. "Alright! Now, Maddie, this is a wishing fish. You stick pennies in and make a wish."

"Ok, Jack," I teased Alex for his somewhat childish behavior, but followed what he did. I shoved the penny into the weaved wire. I wished nothing but the best for Cooper. After all he did, I still considered him my best friend.

"Made a wish?" Alex asked softly, and I opened my eyes at the sound of his voice. I nodded, so he took hold of my belt loop again.

"Oh my god, Lex, why do you keep dragging me around like a little kid?" I laughed, taking his hand off. He looked so disappointed, but then I held out my hand to him. "Come on, this is easier."

Alex took my hand, and that made him much happier, I think. It wasn't him leading me anymore as much as it was us walking somewhere together. We stopped at the corner of the dock, where there were a bunch of colorful chalk and drawings on the concrete. Alex slipped his hand out of mine and crouched down to the concrete grabbing some chalk. "Everyone calls me Alex and my name is Alexander. Everyone calls you Maddie but your name is Madison. But you called me Lex, so I need a nickname for you that isn't Madds."

I joined him and together we began to draw a dragon for some reason. I think it was because someone else had drawn bunnies, and Alex wanted to draw something eating the bunnies. "Um...well, call me whatever you want, because I really have no ideas. Not much you can do with my name," I sighed, shrugging.

For some reason, I could hear whistling. I looked around until I saw Jack standing in the purple dragon boat, waving to us while Rian laughed at him and Bailey and Zack were very obviously whispering about us. "How much do you wanna bet Zack and Bailey are talking about us?" I laughed nervously, focusing on drawing the end of the dragon's tail.

I felt Alex's hand on the back of my neck and when I looked at him, his face was less than inches away from mine. "Well, let's give them something to talk about..." And Alex gently kissed me. The sounds of the harbor vaguely registered in my mind, but all I could really focus on was Alex, and the way he smelled, and the way he tangled fingers in my hair, and the way he moved his lips against mine...

When he pulled away, he didn't pull far. He stayed just close enough so that out foreheads were still touching, and when I opened my eyes, I could see the grin on his lips and hear his friends yelling and whistling at us. "Maddie-bear," Alex said simply, still playing with my hair. "I want to call you Maddie-bear," he clarified with a soft chuckle at my confusion. "My Maddie-bear."

"Ok, Lexi-bear," I played along, but I couldn't help grinning as much as him.

"Let's go do what I said we'd do," Alex sighed, glaring at his friends as he pulled me to my feet and blushed madly. It was adorable. We walked a ways over to a little family owned reataurant called Obrycki's. "You eat sea food, right?" Alex asked hesitantly.

"Oh my god, yes."

Alex grinned and reserved a table for six at Obrycki's in two hours. "Alright, what movie are we gonna see?"

"Nothing scary, please," I muttered, frowning at the movie titles. "Hey! Let's watch Captain America!"

"Why? Zack is more buff than Chris Evans will ever be," Alex joked, scanning the showtimes. "Hey, we should watch Harry Potter! Have you seen it? Jack went to the midnight screening with his sister, but the rest of us aren't that obsessed, and I doubt he'd mind watching it again..."

"I hope you don't expect me to suck face with you the entire movie," I teased, bumping my hip into his. I liked kissing Alex...but what were we?

"Of course not!" Alex exclaimed, blushing again. "I care about you more than that...Maddie-bear. I-I really like you."

I smiled, swinging our hands together as we walked up to the box office to get tickets for Harry Potter. "I like you, too, Lexi-bear."