Fix Me, Conflict Me

“Alexander William Gaskarth!” Alex and I were just lying down together on the floor, propped up on the pillows, playing tug-of-war with Baz and one of his rope toys, when his mom barged into the room. It took me forever to sleep last night. I could tell Alex didn't like to see me so traumatized by what happened, but there was nothing he could do except be here for me...but, that was all I wanted.

“Yes?” he asked innocently, even though I was panicking beside him.

“You didn’t tell me your friend was a girl!” his mom exclaimed. I paled and let go of Baz’s rope toy. He took it and squeezed under Alex's bed with it. “What’s your name, dear?” Alex's mom gushed, stepping over the clothes and shoes on my floor to hold out her hand to me

I quickly got to my feet, of course, adjusting my clothes and tucking some of my hair behind my ear. “Madison Bonner, ma’am,” I said with a polite smile and firm handshake.

“Oh, a lovely name for a lovely girl! Such a pleasure to meet you, Madison! And how did you come to meet my son? How could you even stand sleeping in this messy room?” she started to ramble, cleaning the room as she did so. This must be why Alex never cleans his room… It gets cleaned for him. “No, this is a conversation best had over some breakfast. Alex, love, take Madison out of this horrendously messy room of yours and bring her downstairs. Oh, you really should have told me you had a girl over…”

Alex scooped Baz up out from under my bed and I followed him out. “See? All good,” he told me with a smile, leaning down to kiss me.

“Not in your house!” I hissed, turning away so he kissed my cheek. “Let’s go downstairs like your mom said. Oh, god, I’m shaking. Give me Baz.” I took him as she said it, though, and rushed into the kitchen. “She’s gonna kill me. She’s gonna kill you. She’s gonna kill us. She thinks we had sex, doesn’t she. Fuck.”

“Maddie-bear,” he said firmly, taking my face in his hands and forcing me to look at him. “Don’t worry. I will handle this. Are you ok with talking to my mom about all the things that have happened to you lately?” I meekly nodded, so he let me go. I focused on petting Baz. Alex's mom stayed up in his room for a good twenty minutes, so he decided to make coffee while we waited. “She’s not gonna kill us… she’s definitely gonna grill us, though. Ask you about your life, ideals, religion, and blah blah blah. You’re the first girl I’ve ever brought home.”

I laughed and blushed. Baz leapt down from my lap and ran off somewhere. “Sorry about that, loves,” his mom huffed, coming downstairs. “Do forgive Alex for his room, he’s just a boy,” she said to me. “Let’s get to making breakfast! What would you like, Madison?” Alex's mom asked happily, bustling around the kitchen and shoving him out of it.

“Maddie doesn’t eat meat,” Alex declared, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Mom, can you make French toast or pancakes or waffles or something not meat?”

“Pancakes,” I piped up, elbowing me and scooting away from him.

“Pancakes? Alright! You two stay out of the kitchen now, I’m cooking,” Mom said sternly. I nodded and walked into the living room. Alex was just about to follow me when his mom hissed, “Alexander, come here!” He sighed, but joined her at the stove. I searched for Baz, their words still reaching my ears.“Oh, Alex, she’s so lovely!” she whispered excitedly, getting out eggs, milk, oil, and pancake mix. “But she seems so timid, love, like she was abused or something,” she added mournfully, and I gritted my teeth.

Wow, she hit the nail right on the head. “Something like that.” My mom gasped, the shell of the egg she’d just cracked falling into her mixing bowl. “And, um...It’s just…her apartment building has been getting… broken into a lot, and she was scared to stay there by herself, so I told her she could spend the night here… sorry, mom,” Alex half lied. I'm so glad he did. “She’s still pretty shaken up. She doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Alright,” she nodded, taking the shell out of the bowl. “Well, don’t stand there! She’s all alone in the living room! Go to her, then, and I’ll call you both when the pancakes are ready!”

I found Baz by the stairs, so I grabbed him and trotted back to the couch, where Alex quickly joined us. I was half laying down, stretching out over the arm of the couch with Baz in my lap. “Hi, Maddie-bear,” Alex said, wrapping his arms around me, more or less laying down on top of me, and snuggling into me, even though he kind of pushed Baz out of the way.

“Lexi-bear,” I laughed softly, but returned the hug, playing with his hair. Poor Baz ran off again. “I don’t believe I ever returned your beanie,” I mused, and I ruffled his hair some more. It didn't look right any other way.

“You can keep it.”

“Ok,” I murmured, and then I pressed a kiss to his forehead before sighing contentedly. I really, really loved this. Not even thoughts of Cooper could bring me down when I had my Lexie-bear. “What did your mom want earlier?” I asked after a while.

“Nothing,” he muttered, raising his head to kiss me lightly on the lips before switching over to rest the other side of his head on my chest. I rolled my eyes. Alex just probably wanted his face in my boobs. I sighed and shifted around uncomfortably. “Am I too heavy?”

“No, I’m just worried about what your mom will think…”

“You need to stop worrying then,” he said irritably. But I couldn't. First impressions are everything, right? “That’s good, because I wasn’t going to move, anyways.” I laughed, and then it was comfortably silent again.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked softly. He'd almost fallen asleep again.

“About how lucky I am to have you, especially since I don’t deserve you.”

I had to laugh at that one. “Lex, that was corny as fuck.”

“But true,” he told me with a cheeky grin, leaning up to kiss my neck. Even when I giggled and told him to stop because his mom was in the kitchen and might hear us and a bunch of other things he probably didn’t hear. He pinned her wrists up over my head and kissed my neck all over, sucking and biting here and there, but leaving a big ass hickey on my collarbone. I finally squirmed around enough so that my wrists got free and I pushed him away enough for me to sit up, though. “Aw, I wasn’t done,” he said with a pout.

“Alex, Madison! The pancakes are done!” His mom chirped from the kitchen. My eyes widened and I self consciously brushed her hair over my neck. Dammit, Lex.

“I ha…dislike you so much right now!” I hissed, pushing him off me and getting off the couch to straighten up my clothes – the plain white tank top and purple plaid shorts. My shoes were probably somewhere in his room still.

“Help me up,” he whined, stretching his arms up to me. I sighed, but took hold of his hands and pulled hard. “Thank you, Maddie-bear,” he cooed, grinning when I blushed. He wrapped me up in his arms again and kissed my forehead before letting me go. “Now, let’s go eat!” I nodded and turned around, walking into the kitchen...when he slapped my butt.

I yelped and jumped up in surprise. He laughed at my reaction and I chased him into the kitchen. He knew I was about to hit mhim, but then his mom turned around with a big platter of pancakes on her hands. “Oh, good morning, Madison, Alex!” she said cheerfully.

“G-Good morning, Mrs. Gaskarth,” I stammered, sitting down in the chair Alex pulled out for me but glaring at him all the same. He just had the biggest smirk on his face.

His mom seemed surprised by Alex's action, but said nothing on the matter.“Oh, please, dear, do call me Isobel. And eat up!”