The Road Ahead of Us

The entire van sat in silence for a few seconds, all of them unsure on what to do. Finally Alex got up, sliding the side door open.

"No, Alex! Wait!" He turned to look at Carrie who had her hand outstretched to him but as she was in the back corner, she had no way to actually get to him. He glared at her before turning back ahead of him and getting out of the van.

His foot steps were slow, crunching on the gravel, as he made his way over to Isabelle who sat with her face in her hands, sobbing.

"Izzy?" Alex said quietly, kneeling down beside her. "You okay?" What a stupid question to ask. Of course she wasn't okay.

"I just can't believe this. He pushes me away for almost two years but then just one night with her and he fucks her?" Isabelle lifted her face to look at Alex, showing him her tear covered cheeks, making him sigh.

"He's a douche and she's a bitch. They deserve each other, really." Alex told her, shrugging. "You are better off without him." She shook her head.

"I put up with so much shit from him. I dealt with his wanting to stay a virgin thing. Do you know how hard that has been for me? I haven't had sex in four fucking years!" Alex had to hold back a smile.

"Hey, I give you props. I couldn't do that." A small smile came to her lips. "Wait.. I thought you guys did it last night before we left?" Alex asked her, making her sigh and shake her head.

"We were going to, but then you interrupted and we left. I told him that we would when I got back and he seemed okay with it but as soon as I got back to the hotel last night and tried to continue it, he just... pushed me off and went to sleep. Now I know why, he'd already been satisfied." More tears sprang out of Isabelle's eyes but she tried to wipe them away quickly. She moved her legs, finding that she had cut her knees when she fell to the ground. "Damn." she wiped at the blood, feeling it sting.

"Well, I will tell you. You are much better at sex than Carrie is." Isabelle gasped and hit Alex's arm, but they smiled at each other none the less.

"Hey guys?" They both turned to see Jack making his way over to them. "Why don't you get back in the van? Everyone's moved so you two can have the back to yourselves, Rian is gonna sit on the floor up front between Micky and I. We have about four more hours until we reach St. Louis, I'll drive, and then... we'll figure out what's gonna happen then. Alright?" They both nodded. Alex stood up straight and held his hands out to Isabelle who took them.

"There are some bandaids in the glove compartment. We can fix your knees up, alright?" Alex told her, making her nod. He took her hand and led her slowly back to the van. Micky stood waiting by the open door, pulling the girl into a hug as soon as she got to her.

"I'm sorry." She told her, making Isabelle simply nod.

"Here, sit down." Alex instructed, having her sit on the floor of the van, her legs hanging out the door as he got the bandaids out.

"Ouch, Iz. You did that just a few minutes ago?" Micky asked her, making her nod. Alex began to clean up the blood with a tissue, making Isabelle gasp as it stung.

"I'm sorry." He told her, making her shake her head.

"It's okay." Soon he was finished and her knees were bandaged up. They climbed into the back, ignoring Carrie and Adam who sat in the front bench seat, both looking guilty.

Soon, they were back on the road. Everyone else started up conversation but Isabelle and Alex simply sat in the back, not speaking. Soon, Isabelle had her head down and was trying to fall asleep but just couldn't get comfortable. Alex noticed this and reached over to take her hand. She looked over at him, he smiled at her and gestured for her to come over to him. She smiled and slid across the seat, folding into his arms easily. After a few minutes of this, Alex decided that he too wanted to sleep so they moved around and finally were situated.

Alex was laying across the bench seat, his back to the seat, with Isabelle placed in front of him, pressing against his chest while his left arm circled around her. His right arm served as a pillow for both of them. Wrapped up together they fell asleep, the four hour awkward van ride, turned into about a half hour van ride. Zack had to shake them awake when they arrived.

"Alright, so.... rooms. I got each couple their own room again but..." Jack looked over at the four people who stood their awkwardly. "Alex, you can bunk with me... Mick can go with Izzy and you two," He looked at Carrie and Adam. "I don't give a fuck where you two go." Jack handed out the room keys and began to lead the way towards them.

"Alex... can we talk about this, please?" Carrie said, grabbing Alex's arm.

"What is there to talk about?" He asked, yanking his arm from her claw like grasp. "You fucked someone else. That's it, we are done." Carrie's face crumpled into a frown, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Done? but.... but can't we work through this..? It was a mistake... it won't happen again." She pleaded but he shook his head.

"No, Carrie. It's over. I don't want to be with you, there is no working this out." He told her. He had to stay strong. He really cared for Carrie, and she had been a big part of his life the last year, but this hurt him. He couldn't forgive cheating.

"Please... Alex..." He shook his head.

"Leave me alone, Carrie." With that he turned, leaving Carrie standing in the parking lot with tears in her eyes.

"So what are you going to do?" Jack questioned his best friend as the two of them sat around their room a little later.

"What do you mean? I just broke up with her. What else is there to do?" Alex wondered, laying back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Jack sighed and came to sit on the bed beside him.

"What about the rest of the trip? I really don't want to cancel now, Alex. But can you really stay here with her and him being here?" Jack asked, making Alex shrug.

"Yeah, maybe. I can stay away from her. It won't be that hard, I'm more worried about Isabelle. She took it really hard."

"Speaking of Isabelle... what's going on between the two of you?" Alex once again shrugged at Jack's question.

"Nothing. We are friends again, that's it."

"You still like her." Jack stated. Alex sat up and looked at his best friend, his eyes raised.

"Of course I still like her, Jack. I was in love with her before she left. We were together for all of high school. I've known her my entire life. It's not easy to just forget something like that, man. That doesn't mean that anything will happen though." Alex clarified, making Jack roll his eyes and stand up.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now get up and get ready, we are all going to dinner. I'll go tell the girls." Jack made his way towards the door, right as there was a soft knock on it. He opened it to reveal Isabelle who smiled softly. "Oh hey. I was just about to come see you and Micky. We are all going to dinner, alright?" Jack told her, making her nod.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll just wait in here with Alex." Jack nodded and moved aside to let her into the room. "Thank you for everything, by the way, Jack." She said, making Jack smile and pull her into a hug.

"I love you, Iz, so don't let that asshole ruin our trip, alright?" Isabelle smiled and nodded.

"I won't." With that Jack smiled at the two of them once more before he left the room. Alex looked at Isabelle from across the room. She was dressed in a pair of sweatpants, a GK hoodie, and had converse on her feet. Her hands were stuffed in her hoodie pockets and she was staring at the ground, letting her hair fall in her face.

"You alright?" Alex asked her, making her shrug.

"Adam came to talk to me after we got here." She told him as she made her way to sit at the desk chair that was beside the window. She stared out the skyline, taking in all the lights of the city.

"Oh? What did he have to say?" Alex moved to the end of the bed, dangling his legs over the edge, his hands clasped in his lap.

"He just wanted to apologize for everything." Isabelle said softly, still looking out the window. "He wants to work past this and stay with me." Alex felt his chest constrict. He didn't want her to stay with that douche.

"What did you say?" Alex asked quietly, not fully wanting to know the answer.

"I told him that I would think about it but most likely not." She sighed. "I hate feeling like this, Alex.... Him cheating on me just.... it made me feel completely worthless..." With that she broke into tears. Alex sighed and stood up, making his way across the room to her. He pulled her out of the chair and into his arms. She buried her face into the fabric of his hoodie, the same one that she had worn previously.

"You aren't worthless, Izzy. Don't ever let anyone make you feel that way. You are an amazing person and he is just a dumbass who fucked up. He doesn't deserve you." Alex told her, running his hand up and down her back. "I'm so sorry, Iz..." He whispered. She pulled back and looked up at him.

"Why are you sorry? You got cheated on too." She told him, making him shrug.

"And I am upset about it but... Carrie and I... I don't think we were working anyway." He told her, making her nod. She laid her head back down on his shoulder, just letting him hold her.

"I just hate this. This trip was supposed to be amazing and so far it hasn't been." She muttered, making him sigh.

"Well... it will be. How about tonight after dinner you and I head to the movie store and rent a whole bunch of DVD's and then we can sit up watching depressing movies and eating a ton of junk food. It can be our night of getting over it. And then tomorrow will be like a fresh start. We will have so much fun." He suggested, making her smile and nod.

"Sounds like a plan." Just then Jack walked back into the room. He looked at the two of them and smiled.

"Sorry to break this up, but we are all leaving for dinner. You two coming?" He asked them. They both looked at each other before nodding and stepping apart.

"Yeah, we're coming." Alex said. Jack nodded and left the room, a knowing smile on his face the whole time.

"Come on." Isabelle said, leading the way towards the door. "Do you think they'll come to dinner?" She asked, knowing that he would know who she was talking about.

"I don't know. If they are there though, we are just going to ignore them, right?" Isabelle nodded. "They aren't worth our time."

"Not worth it at all." Isabelle agreed. Alex smiled and reached up to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her close as they walked down the hall. Isabelle smiled and folded into his side, her own arm going around him. This was nice. It felt... right.