The Player's Ex

A/N:

Alright guys? I've finally got time to write now, I'm on Midterm from school, c'est fantastique. Anyway, just wanted to say that I hope you're enjoying this story so far :)

Onto the chapter :D

Chapter 4

ALICE

I feel like Allie in that scene from The Notebook, when she saw Noah in the newspaper while getting fitted for her wedding dress. Well, I'm still conscious, but just about.

My heart was thumping, and I could feel my palms getting sweaty. The desire to dash out of the club at top speed was almost killing me, but I didn't want to be the weaker one. But come on, I would be the only person who gets over their ex, only to bump into them in some random club on the other side of the world. I mean, really?

To be honest, I think Alex was more shocked than I was. His beautiful green eyes (darn it, I shouldn't be thinking that!) were open wide as he stared down at me in surprise. Even though I'd grown a tiny bit, and was wearing massive heels, he still managed to be taller than me. His blond hair was a bit longer, swept to the left, and I could picture him brushing it out of his eyes impatiently. Breaking my gaze, he scanned my body slowly, and I suddenly felt both annoyed and extremely self conscious. My heart continued to pound, and it sounded as though it was mocking me. Ha, ha, ha.

It was really weird-I came to New York for a holiday, met a nice boy who I became friends with, spilled out my sob story, and then it happened that the hero of my love story was his best friend. I felt as though someone was writing my life for me, constantly throwing me obstacles to entertain their readers. Either that, or this was planned... oh my gosh. What if Eric had known that I knew Alex? What if he had planned for us to meet? What if Alex had been in on this?

"Eric..." Alex hissed. "Did you plan this?" Now, either we were on the same wavelength or he was a really good actor. Nah, Alex was never good at acting.

Eric looked between the two of us, seeming genuinely confused.

"What do you mean, did I-", he stopped, and his eyes nearly fell out of his head as he registered what was going on. "Holy sh*t. No way." He turned to me. "You mean you're Alice," I nodded, "And you're Alex," He pointed to Alex, who just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Which means..." He swivelled his head rapidly between the two of us.

"And the penny drops." Alex muttered. He caught my gaze again, and I turned my head away quickly, staring at everyone and everything in the club to avoid meeting his gaze. I could feel him looking at me though, and he was probably thinking, 'What the hell is wrong with her?' Meanwhile, Eric was still flapping about, almost hyperventilating because of the shock he had just received.

"B-but I can't believe it!" He looked at me. "I mean, you just told me..." Realisation spread over his face once more, and he turned his head slowly to look at Alex. "Dude, she hates you." I tried to suppress a giggle as Alex's look insulted.

"Yeah Eric, thanks for pointing that out." He glared up at me. "But I don't know why you're laughing Alice, the feeling's mutual, isn't it?" I quickly stopped laughing. How dare he?! What reason did he have to hate me? I opened my mouth to retort angrily, but sensing that I was about to make a scene, Eric grabbed my arm.

"Not here." He hissed. "Let's go outside." I flung his hand off my arm, and began to flounce out that stuffy, horrible place. But as I soon discovered, it's really hard to 'flounce' out of a crowded club. Several minutes later, after I had had to endure the sight of one too many gyrating girls, and been threatened with several cocktails, I finally stumbled out into the cold New York air. Eric followed close behind me, and after him, darn it, Alex.

"Eric," I hissed in his ear. There seemed to a lot of hissing going on tonight. "Why the hell does he have to come with us?"

"I heard that!" Alex drawled from behind us, and I clenched my fists. I would not punch his face in, I would not punch his face in. I started to walk faster to try and calm myself, even though that was proving a little difficult in these heels. I heard footsteps behind me, and Eric caught up with me, panting.

"Jesus woman, how do you walk so fast in those shoes?" I wasn't really in the mood to answer his attempt to lighten the atmosphere, so I kept walking. Eric gazed at me sympathetically, and put a hand on my elbow, steering me I the right direction, wherever that was. "Listen Alice, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know that Alex was your Alex." I glared up at him. "He's not my Alex."

"You know what I mean. Seriously though, if I'd known, I swear I wouldn't have brought you to him." He did sound genuinely upset, and who could blame him? He'd only gone out to have a good time, and had ended with a girl and her warring ex instead. I shouldn't be angry at him, it wasn't his fault. I stopped walking, and sighing, toying with one of my curls.

"No Eric, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be mad at you, this is just a big shock for me, you know? I'm sorry I'm acting like such a toddler, but I can't help it." He smiled at me, and took one of my hands. I felt little butterflies erupt in my stomach as he looked at me with his gorgeous blue eyes.

"It's ok Alice, I understand." He tugged me a little closer, and whispered in my ear. "I knew that Alex was a bit of a prat, but I didn't realise to that extent."

"IF YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS ARE FINISHED," yelled Alex from somewhere behind us, "can we PLEASE move?" I'd almost forgotten he was there, but the sound of his voice was a very rude awakening. Eric quickly let go of my hand, and I instantly missed the warmth. Or maybe Eric's hand. I wasn't sure which.

"Yeah, sorry Alex. Should we, eh, go get some food?" He ran his hand through his hair awkwardly.

"Sounds good to me." Alex replied, and started to walk away. I really wanted to be difficult and disagree with Alex, but I also didn't want to make the situation any harder than it already was, so I agreed to go and eat. Eric went to catch up with Alex, and I started to follow him. Wrapping my cardigan around my shoulders, I focused my gaze on the back of Eric's head, and thought, well, this should be fun.

♥♥♥

The booth we were sitting in was not very clean. The seats were in a pretty bad condition, with rips in the leather, and stains that I really didn't want to know the origin of. The table looked as though it hadn't been cleaned in weeks (or years) with a layer of grease and dust clinging to surface. I was sitting awkwardly, sandwiched between Eric and Alex, with my hands in my lap, not touching as much of my surroundings as was possible. Three tattered menus lay on the table in front of us, and none of them had been touched. The two boys were looking as apprehensive as I was about laying hands on anything in this place, so I could imagine that ordering was going to be slightly awkward. Also, there seemed to be a lack of employees around the place; one young girl stood behind the dirty counter, chewing gum, and watching a soccer match on the tiny TV fixed to the wall.

"Right so." Eric said into the silence. "Do we all know what we're going to have?" Another round of silence was met with by this comment, and I avoided meeting his eyes. He cleared his throat.

"I'll just order some cokes then." He got up to walk away, and I nearly had an urge to grab his hand, and yell at him not to leave me here alone, with him. I think Alex had seen the fear in my eyes, and proceeded to plaster his infamous smirk on his face. That's it. There was no way I was going anywhere. I wouldn't let him win. I slid farther away from him to occupy Eric's place, and the smirk grew even wider.

"What's wrong Alice? Don't you want to talk to me?" I just crossed my arms and glared at him. He seemed to get the message, and chose to play with his phone instead. After a few seconds, I decided to be the mature one.

"So. What are you doing here in New York?" Alex looked up, surprised that I had spoken of my own free will to him.

"Eh, just a little holiday." He replied, slipping his phone into his pocket, "What about you?" I fiddled with my nails, pretending to be disinterested in the conversation, which really made no sense, since I had started it. What was wrong with me?

"Mum's here on business, and she wanted me to come with her. I didn't have much choice really, since Dad is still in hospital, so I couldn't stay at his house." I bit my lip. I hadn't meant to say that! Blurting out my life story to this stupid idiot of all people was not my plan.

"Your parent's aren't together?" he asked, apparently choosing to ignore the hospital comment.

"No." I replied shortly.

"And why's your Dad in hospital?"

"None of your business." I shot back at him, but he didn't take the hint. Leaning forward, he raised an eyebrow.

"Now come on Alice. There's no need to be like that." The tone of his voice was similar to that of a mother coaxing a small child, and it really irked me.

"Fine! If you must know, he's undergoing surgery on his arm, and there's a possibility that it might have to be amputated!" I hissed, and he slouched back into the seat, his smirk disappearing.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

We sunk into yet another awkward silence for what seemed like eternity. I continued to stare at my nails, which were in need of repainting and Alex simply stared straight ahead, looking lost. I silently willed Eric to hurry up. What was taking him so long? He was only getting three cokes, not a three course meal. People were walking past the grimy window, staring in at us. I'd much rather be out there, looking in. Actually, I'd much rather be anywhere that didn't include Alex, to be honest. I really was going to kill Eric when he eventually got back, what was he doing?

"This is stupid." My head snapped up, to find Alex looking at me, his gaze intense. I quickly glanced away, unable to meet his eyes.

"What's stup-"

"This! This, this awkward silence, neither of us saying anything! After everything, we should at least be arguing like we used to!"

"Like we used to?" My voice went up a few octaves, but I barely noticed it. "Like we used to, Alex? But have you forgotten that things aren't how they used to be?" He seemed taken aback by my little outburst. He leaned back in his seat, and crossed his arms. I fidgeted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.

"You've changed." He said, as though he was an inspector delivering a verdict.

"Well done Sherlock." I snapped. "Of course I've changed! It's been a long time, I've had to grow older, and grow up with it." He rolled his eyes.

"Of course you've gown older, I knew that much. I meant that your personality has changed, you seem...bitter." Really? That's all he could do? He was jumping to conclusions now-I wasn't bitter, or anything of the sort, and he knew it too. Either he was trying to wind me up, or he really was stupid.

"Bitter? Really?! Is that the best you can do Alex?" He smirked.

"Don't try to deny it! God, you're not still hung up over that, are you? I would've thought that you would have moved on by now. Alice that was ages ago, you really should..." He didn't get to finish his sentence due to the force with which my hand hit his face. The sound of my slap vibrated around the empty diner, giving me an odd sense of satisfaction. Alex looked shocked, his right cheek rapidly turning red.

"What the hell-"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that Alex Jones! I am not, for your information, 'hung up' over what happened, and even if I was, I would have perfect right to be! After all that you put me through, I think a little respect wouldn't go amiss!" I knew I was screeching, but to be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less. My raised tone of voice must've alerted Eric to the fact that trouble was afoot, because he came running back to the table, without the drinks. He mightn't have been there at all though, because we ignored him, and continued. Alex stood up, looking royally cheesed off and slapped his hand on the table, leaning towards me.

"Oh, what, so everything was my fault, was it? I'm the bad guy, is that right?" I glared at him.

"Yeah, you kind of are!" This only seemed to make him angrier.

"Do you know Alice, you really p*ss me off sometimes. Do you not realise that the collapse of a relationship takes two people, not one?" I stood up too.

"Yes, I'm not stupid! But I wasn't the cause of the end of our relationship! I think you can safely take the blame for that one, can't you?!"

"It wasn't my fault that you couldn't deal with what happened! Honestly, we were young and foolish, did you think that we'd grow old and get married?"

"How was I supposed to deal with it? How was I meant to deal with you cheating on me?!" He rolled his eyes at me.

"Get a grip Alice, people cheat all the time!" I leaned forward too, so that we were nose to nose. I glared fiercely.

"Oh, yes, I know that. But how often do they cheat with their ex girlfriend, the night that their current girlfriend's father gets hits by a drunken lunatic?" I was shaking now, and on the brink of tears. "You're an *sshole, Alex, that's what you are. And I hate you."

"Don't worry Alice, I hate you too."

"Eh, guys?" Eric intervened, his voice hesitant. I picked up my bag and stepped out of the booth.

"It's ok Eric, I'm leaving now." O wouldn't sit here and take this kind of abuse any longer. I wasn't in the mood for having it out with him tonight, thanks very much.

"Ok, I'll walk you back." He started to put on his coat, but I stopped him.

"No, Eric, it's fine. I want to be alone." He frowned.

"I can't let you walk back alone! What will your Mum say?" I smiled sadly.

"I'll tell her you found a nice girl. Goodnight." I pushed opened the grimy doors, and hurried down the still busy footpath. I made sure that I was well away from the diner before I lost my composure and let the tears fall.

♥♥♥

ALEX

Alice stomped out of the diner, and I watched her retreating back bitterly. Eric slumped down onto the couch beside me, and heaved a sigh.

"I shouldn't have let her go off by herself." I rolled my eyes.

"If you're so worried, go after her." He looked at me indignantly.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I would've thought that that little display would've been a good enough indication." Eric coughed.

"Yes, well, that was interesting." I laughed, and looked at him.

"And it's the first of many. I haven't told her I'm moving back in next door yet."

♥♥♥