The Sun Always Sets in Paradise

Ellie's sister had been in town for just that night. She was with her newly found fiance, Jared, whom was part of her class. He had a New York accent with brown eyes and shaggy blonde hair. Sylvia and Jared fit perfect together. Like two puzzle pieces meant for one another.

I had been meet with high pitched squeals of excitement when I entered the house. Ellie and Sylvia met in a tight and overtly excited embrace. I was next. I wasn't as enthusiastic as the two sisters were. Which, obviously, Sylvia noticed.

I had ended up lying and telling her I was slightly exhausted from my run. I actually extremely energized but falling back into my mood of waiting.

That's when it had always seemed to hit. When there was so much excitement around me. I just felt like something morbid was going to come. It felt easier to sit back and watch instead of partake.

However, the opposite happened mostly when it was quiet and uneventful. For example, me being goofy with Ellie at lunch.

Drake had noticed me beginning to fall asleep on the couch and offered to give me a ride home. When I agreed, we had left. The ride was awkward and silent. Neither of us had attempted conversation. But that was fine with me. I had nothing to really say to him after he had kissed me. Plus, I really was feeling tired and speaking felt out of the question.

I had mumble my gratitude when we arrived at my house and quickly exited the vehicle without another word.

Now I sat at the kitchen table with my dinner in front of me, which consisted of oatmeal and brown sugar, and I continued to mindlessly scroll through the some 6,000 plus songs I had on my iPod.
Reason why I had so many songs is because every major holiday that consisted of giving presents, I rarely asked for anything besides iTunes gift cards. Plus, my mom never knew what to get me. Sometimes, she would have a good day and get me some kind of jewelry or a day with this clothes designer but those days were so incredibly rare. Anyways, I preferred music. There were so many different kinds. And I was a varied person when it came to music.

Also, Ellie and I swapped some music every now and then.

I took a tentative bite of my oatmeal to see if it cooled. Thankfully it did, allowing me to satisfy my hungry stomach a tad bit quicker.

I came across a song I hadn't heard in what felt like a very long time. I played 'Bleeding Mascara' by Atreyu. I missed listening to this band. Hell, I missed this whole genre.

"Look how pretty she is, when she falls down...." I silently sung along, my oatmeal forgotten for the moment.

I muted my iPod when the song was finished and decided to call Max. The call went straight to his voicemail after two rings. I shrugged my shoulders and assumed that he was helping his dad with something or just simply away from his phone.

I quickly finished my oatmeal. Soon, I was beginning to feel agitated; anxious even. I wanted to run. But I had already that day and I had other things to accomplish. Instead, I gave into being a procrastinator and started doing push-ups. My stamina was weak and I only made it to twenty-five.

My hair fell into my face, annoying me incredibly. I jogged to my room and grabbed a hair tie off my vanity. As I put my hair into a tight ponytail, I noticed how messy my room was. Dirty clothes were strewn across the floor and my bed was unkempt.

I harshly grabbed my clothes hamper form the corner of my room and started tossing clothes into it. I rolled up my sheets, comforter, and pillow cases into a giant ball. Jogging into the laundry room, I dropped my wad of material onto the floor and started to place my sheets and pillowcases into the washer with detergent.

I continued in a hurried pace as I cleaned nearly the entire house. I washed the few dishes, swept and mopped the floor, vacuumed, and everything else inbetween. All the while, music was blaring in the house from the surround sound that I had forced my mother to get.

Before I knew it, darkness had swept across our town as night held it captive till morning. My energy level was finally slowly decreasing to the point where I was able to sit down and actually get lost in a book. I began reading a classic; Wuthering Heights.

Just as I began really getting into it, my phone rang. I recognized the lovely tune erupting from my phone as Max's ringtone.

Giddy, for some odd reason, I excitedly answered it. "Hey babe!"

"Desiree, are you home?" His serious tone caught me off guard.

"Well, yea, why-"

He caught me off just as I started to question him, "I'll be there in a few minutes. We need to talk."

"Oh, alright..." I trailed off as my phone beeped to signal that he had hung up.

My heart began pounding frantically while my whole body just went ice cold. I feared that Max found out about Dmitri's confrontation to me or even Haden's. My eyes went wide in horror.

What if Max found out about Haden practically attacking me again yesterday? What if he's fed-up with my broken attitude and baggage? What if he... What if he leaves me?

I began hyperventilating now. I couldn't lose Max. He was so important to me.

"No!" I whispered harshly to myself. "Hold yourself together."

I shook my head in agitation. I was just overreacting. One way to cure that, I figured, was to take a hot shower. That would be one way to clear my head.

I loped to my bathroom and started the shower. I was undressing when Ellie text me but I ignored her and hurriedly hopped into the now steaming, running water.

The shower didn't seem to last long enough when I heard a knock at my door. I had, however, scrubbed myself clean but I did enjoy standing and soaking up the warmth.

I turned off the water and wrapped my wet body up into a towel and tentatively opened the door. Max stood there looking as fucking hot as ever. He had on a pair of simple light blue jeans that hung off his hips with a black button-down shirt that was opened up to reveal his sculpted chest. And, oh God, did he smell amazing..

I nearly orgasmed right there...

"Hey." I managed to choke out after a silence.

Max continued to watch me silently. I tucked the top corner of my towel into the portion between my skin and the remaining part of the towel so that I would be able to brush my hair without fearing an accidental show.

I brushed my hair and then tussled it so that it wouldn't be plastered to my head. The strands of hair still had plenty of water withheld in it, so it remained dripping down my back and over my bare shoulders and collarbone.

Max finally sighed heavily. He muttered something in Russian before looking at me in such a way that made me want to cry. His facial expression was similar to the first time I had seen him; like a severely disciplined soldier.