We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

“Have I told you you’re amazing?” I tease for what’s probably the twentieth time tonight. Alex laughs, taking my keys from my hand and unlocking my door.
“You have. You haven’t told me how you’d like to thank me, however.” My door swings open, and Alex turns to me with his stupid little grin. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his chest.
“First thing’s first,” I cut in, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him away from me. “You’re still sweaty. Shower.”
“I’m just going to get sweaty again anyways.” I scoff and push him to the bathroom.
“Go!” He laughs as he walks away. “Fucking perv.”
His head pops out of the bathroom door. “I heard that…have you been drinking?”
“Jesus!” I rush over, push him entirely into the bathroom, and slam the door behind him.
“You only swear when you’re drunk!” he hollers through the door. I hear the shower turn on, and I occupy my time by catching up on some TV time.
The bathroom door creaks open, and I can still hear the shower running. “Virginia?” Alex calls, mimicking what child calling their mother would sound like. I look away from the TV and towards Alex.
“Alex! You’re getting the carpet soaked!”
He laughs and glances down at his soaking wet body. Naked body. “I’m lonely,” he pouts. I raise my eyebrows. “Don’t make me come get you. I’ll get the couch wet, too.”
I push myself to my feet and approach him. He slides his fingers through mine, the water on his skin chilled from the air. He pulls me towards the bathroom and closes the door behind me.
His lips move softly against mine as his hands slowly pull the bottom of my shirt up and over my head. He presses his lips to my neck, and I tangle a hand in his hair. He runs his hands down my sides, and the cold water on his skin sends goose bumps down my arms. He lifts me up by my legs and rests me on the bathroom counter as he pushes his lips to mine.
He takes his time tugging my jeans from my body, and even in just my underwear, he stands there with his arms resting on either side of me, just kissing me until I start inching closer to him.
Not that I mind this colossal pace. It’s actually driving me crazy, and he knows it.
“A little antsy, are we?” he teases. I pull away and stare him dead in the eye.
“It’s coming off either way.” I gesture to my remaining clothing, and I watch Alex’s eyes flick over my body. “Would you like to do the honors now? Because, if not, I will.”
He chuckles and runs his hands down my arms, keeping eye contact as he undoes the clasp on my bra.
He lifts me off of the counter and sets me back on the ground. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Virginia.”
I feel my lips tug into a smile and stretch onto my toes to kiss him. He holds me tightly against him and pushes my cute little Pink underwear off my hips.
I kick them off just as I step into the hot water. My back meets the cool tile almost instantly.

“Virginia?” Cody’s voice wakes me up. “Are you home? Dad wants to get breakfast.” Feeling Alex next to me, still naked, sends me into an anxiety attack. The bathroom is a mess, my bedroom is a mess, and more importantly I’m a mess. A naked mess.
I bolt for the closet and pull on sweats and a t-shirt, yanking my still wet hair into a bun. “Sorry, I just woke up.”
“Where’s your restroom?” Dad wonders, looking around the apartment. I hear my bedroom door open.
“Alex is showering right now,” I respond a little louder than need be. Following the statement, I hear quick footsteps, the bathroom door opening and closing, and then the shower turning on.
“He lives here?”
“He stayed overnight,” I correct.
“Oh…” I roll my eyes. Dad’s phone rings, and he exits the apartment to take the call.
“You so slept with him,” Derek, Cody’s band mate, chimes in.
I let out a laugh. “Of course I did. He’s Alex Gaskarth. Wouldn’t you?” The four boys laugh.
“I would,” Matt answers, causing everyone to laugh harder.

Alex runs his fingers down my arm as he lies behind me on the couch. After a huge breakfast, all I want to is nap. “Can I ask you something?” he speaks up. I hum a response, and he sits up after hearing my answer. So, I follow suit.
He pulls my left arm towards him, pushing the sleeve of my sweatshirt up. He gently thumbs down the faint light lines and then over the Peter Pan silhouette. “Why did you start? The first time, I mean.”
“I wasn’t happy in high school, which is why I left. If you’d have seen the way people treated me…” He doesn’t look at me, just watches his thumb as it runs over the faintest of lines, partially covered by my tattoo. “I mean, you’ve seen the pictures. I wasn’t the prettiest kid in high school, and the mean girls picked on me a lot. They locked me in utility closets, pushed me into lockers, tore up my homework…”
“Babe…” He looks up at me.
“Told me I was ugly because of the way I dressed…skinny jeans and t-shirts, Alex.” I let out a pitiful laugh. “And I believed it. For three years of my life. So, my sophomore year, I didn’t know how to take it. My parents wouldn’t believe me, my brother was too young to understand, and all of the teachers pretended like it wasn’t happening. One day, they pushed me down a flight of stairs. That was it. I cut myself for the first time that night, and it lasted until my senior year. I walked into the school, and they didn’t even recognize me. But I hated myself for what I became.”
“I had no idea…I feel bad that I never asked until now.”
I shrug. “I try to forget about it. I stopped as soon as I got to college and met Jordan. Until I found out who he really was, and then I-I—“
“I know. I remember you telling me about this the day I told you about my brother.” I nod. “Did you think about trying again after your brother moved in?”
“Honestly, yeah, but I couldn’t let that many people down. I knew it’d be easier to do it, but I couldn’t.” Alex laces his fingers through mine. “Last night, when you told me I was beautiful…” We make eye contact for a short moment before I look away from him.
“I meant it. You are beautiful.”
My lips pull into a smile. “You don’t know how much it meant to me to hear that. I spent so long feeling the opposite.” He lifts my chin.
“Well, you’re going to spend the rest of forever feeling beautiful, got it? I’m going to make sure of it. Every day I’m going to remind you of just how beautiful you are and how fucking lucky I am to have to.”