Stay With Me

Alex P.O.V.

I helped Jess get up from the ground and led her to my car. There was nothing from my locker I needed that I couldn’t just get later. It was the weekend anyway, It wasn’t like I’d be doing any work. Jess got in the passenger seat as I walked around to the drivers side.

I started the car and drove out of the parking space and out of the car park. I drove down the street when I realised I didn’t know where I was going. I turned to ask Jess but nothing came out of my mouth. I took in her appearance, she looked so... broken, tears still silently falling down her face.

“Alex?” her voice was horse, It was the first time she had spoken.

“Yeah?” I said turning back to face the road.

“Where are we going?” I laughed. I didn’t even know where I was going.

“I don’t really know… Where do you want to go?” I said glancing towards her again. She thought about it for a minute before saying.

“Some place where I can forget.” I just nodded my head trying to think of a place where she could 'forget'. Every place I thought of would make her think of Jack. The park. The cafe. The mall. He had taken her everywhere in their three month relationship!

I continued to drive down the suburban streets until I finally thought of a place I could take her. It was prefect. Jack may have taken her there but that didn’t bother me. I hadn’t been there in years and there was always something interesting going on there. I turned the car around and headed towards our destination.

The rest of the car ride was silent, only the soft hum of the radio could be heard, Apart from when I asked Jess if she was okay again. She simply nodded and said she didn’t want to talk about it just yet. I took the hint and dropped the subject completely. Half an hour later I parked the car and turned to Jess.

“Where are we?” She said getting out of the car and looking at her surroundings.

“You’ve never been here?” she shook her head. “Good! We, my friend are at the pier” I said with a smile.

“What the hells the pier?” She said with a smile. I looked at her as if she was from another planet then I remembered she was from Australia, so pretty much another planet.

“You know that place on the O.C and it has the diner and the wharf and sometimes has a carnival?” I asked assuming they showed the O.C on Australian Television. She just nodded her head.

“Well that’s what the pier is. It’s not as nice as Orange County's but It is pretty fun and it always has something to do.” I said trying to get her to be enthusiastic about it.

“I’ve always wanted to go to one of these!” She said with a huge smile before walking over to me. Without thinking I linked our hands and began to walk but Jess didn’t move. I turned to see what the hold up was. She was looking at me with raised eyebrows and then down to our linked hands.

“Sorry! Just a habit” I said putting my hands up in defense. She rolled her eyes and began walking with her arms folded across her chest. I caught up with her as we walked towards the boardwalk, not hand in hand.

Jess P.O.V.

The day with Alex was a lot better than I thought it would be. He managed to make me forget about Jack and every other problem in my life. We laughed, ate and played some of the games they had on the pier.

Alex always had to win and when he didn’t he sulked like a baby, but it was cute on him.

We were walking underneath the boardwalk on the are with sand that wasn’t covered by water. It was low tied so most of it was dry. We were talking about old times and how much time we used to spend with one another, before I got with Jack.

It was nice reminiscing, I missed Alex, I used to trust him with everything and today I realised I still do. Even with everything that has happened, I still trust him with my life. I may not love him like he loves me but I still care about him. A lot.

We sat down underneath the boardwalk, the conversation has ceased and we sat there in a comfortable silence. I sat starring at the water as the waves slowly crashed on the sand. The sea was calm today, It looked so peaceful and almost inviting. I turned my gaze to a couple walking hand in hand sharing a kiss. It made me think of Jack and everything that had happened today. I tried to hold back the tears that automatically came.

“He kissed someone else.” I said it without realising and I was hoping Alex didn’t hear.

“Who kissed someone?” He had obviously heard me.

I sighed maybe I'd feel better after talking to someone. “Jack... at lunch I saw him hooking up with some girl.” My voice cracked a bit at the end, tears threatening to fall. I didn’t want Alex to notice but I think he did as he moved closer to me and put his arm around my shoulders pulling me into a comforting hug.

“I’m Sorry” He whispered kissing the top of my head.

“I know I shouldn’t care and it shouldn’t affect me but it does. Is he really over me already? Did I really mean that little to him? I guess he should be able to kiss anyone I mean I was the one that actually cheated.” I rambled not expecting a response.

“Hey, You were not the one that cheated. Some idiot kissed you without your permission!” Alex said and I could hear the smile in his voice. I rolled my eyes and rested my head on his shoulders.

“But I am sorry. I fucked everything up for you and I never should have kissed you when you were dating someone else. It was really shitty of me and I am really sorry.” He said sincerely

“Yeah well I didn’t deserve Jack anyway, he was way too good for me, I mean-” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence before Alex interrupted me.

“No one is too good for you Jess!” He said lifting my head to look him in the eyes. “Do you hear me? You deserve the fucking world and trust me you are the one that is way too good for Jack and if he can’t see that then he doesn’t deserve to have you.” I could tell he meant every word he said, and it made my heart flutter in my chest.

I just nodded my head and leant on his shoulder again not knowing what to say. We fell back into another comfortable silence just enjoying each others company. That’s what I liked about Alex, It didn’t matter if we were talking, laughing or just sitting in silence, it was never awkward.

“Thank you, For everything but especially today. I had fun, It was a great distraction.” I said as I continued to starred at the soft waves.

“It was my pleasure.” Alex said as he took my hand and began to mindlessly play with my fingers.

“Maybe we should get going, It’s getting late” I said not even attempting to get up.

We sat there for another few minutes before Alex abruptly stopped playing with my hand, I felt his body tense against mine. I turned my head to face him. He look shocked, confused and upset. I followed his eyes to see what he was starring at.

Fuck.