Live and Let Live

When Alex and I reached Baltimore, all I could do was stare out the window. There were a lot of tall buildings and stores I’ve never seen, but have heard of. We parked in a free parking area and got out.
“I was thinking we could get some lunch first.” Alex said, smiling over at me. I nodded and smiled back and we started walking. I had no idea where I was going so I just followed Alex until we reached a small diner like restaurant. We went inside and we were seated immediately.
“Hi, I’m Rose and I’ll be your server today,” Our waitress, um, Rose, smiled. She was kind of too happy for my liking. “What can I get you guys to drink?” She looked at me first.
“I’ll have a Coke.” I smiled.
“Dr. Pepper for me, please.” Alex told her. She smiled at us.
“Alright, I’ll be back in just a minute with your drinks.” She walked off and I let out a small laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” Alex asked, confused.
“It just seems that she’s too happy to be working, doesn’t it? I find it funny. If I were her I’d be complaining.” I shut up the moment I saw her walking back with our drinks.
“Here you guys are. One Dr. Pepper and one Coca Cola; I’ll give you guys a few minutes to think about what you want to order.” She walked away, leaving us alone again.
“Yeah I see what you mean now!” Alex laughed. I smiled and looked at the menu in front of me. “What are you getting?” he asked.
“Just a cheese burger, and some fries.” I said, sitting back.
“Same here,” he said. When Rose came back around we told her our orders and while we waited for the food to come we talked about the party.
“Did you have fun?” Alex asked me.
“Surprisingly, yes; though I never thought I would have ever had a beer. Jack was right, it does get better after the first taste.” I laughed.
“Do you like Jack? You two seem to hang around a lot.” I was taken aback by his question.
“Of course I like him, but I don’t like him more than a friend.” Did I just see a look of relief in his eyes? Jack was serious?
“Oh, okay. I was just wondering.” He smiled. “Sorry if I surprised you with the question.”
“It’s okay.” I said. Our food arrived and I realized I was hungrier than I anticipated. I devoured the food within minutes. Alex must have been as hungry as I was because he finished his meal just as quickly as I did. We looked at each other and laughed. We seemed like such fat asses. Alex paid for our lunch and we left.
“Where are we going now, Alex?” I asked, excited to see Baltimore.
“Where ever you want. There’s a cool park with a lake, the mall is pretty awesome and has a lot of cool stores, and OH! I have to show you my favorite music store! Come on, it’s just around the corner!” He grabbed my hand and started running, dragging me with him. He was a good few inches taller than me so he had longer legs, making him way faster than I. By the time we stopped I was out of breath, while he seemed fine. We stood in front of a music store that looked a little run down.
“This place has been around since before I moved here, and it’s awesome. Best place for when you want to buy some vintage vinyls and stuff.” He explained. We walked inside and I was surprised by how much music was in this place. You could find any artist dating back to the 50’s in this place! It was amazing.
“Look who it is! Alexander, how have you been?” I heard a man’s voice say. I turned around to see a middle aged man walking towards us.
“Hey, Richard, I’ve been good,” Alex smiled at him. “What about you? Are you holding up okay?”
“Never been better,” the man, Richard, laughed. “And who is this young lady you have with you today?”
“This is Abby, she just moved here at the beginning of the summer and hasn’t been around the city yet so I thought I’d show her around.” I smiled.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” I said. He nodded and smiled at me.
“Well if you two need any help, Alex, you know where to find me.” He said and he walked back towards the back of the store.
“He’s the owner of the store,” Alex explained. “His family owns it, really, but he’s taken over after his parents.” I nodded and started looking around. I’ve never seen so many albums and music on vinyl in one place. I saw a Blink-182 vinyl and picked it up carefully. “Good choice,” Alex chuckled.
“Only the best, right?” I smiled as I held the vinyl in my hands. I decided I was going to buy it. I pulled out my wallet, but Alex stopped me from grabbing money out of it.
“I’ll buy it for you.” He smiled. I stared at him.
“Are you crazy? This thing is fifty dollars! I’m surprised it isn’t more.” I said, frowning.
“Consider it my welcome to Maryland gift.” He laughed as he pulled out the money from his own wallet.
“I can pay for it, you really don’t have to.” I said.
“Oh well, deal with it.” He smiled and paid for it, leaving me to feel bad. It was very nice of him, but I could have paid for it myself. “Do you want to check out the mall? They have a lot of stores I’m sure you’ll like.” I nodded and we walked to a giant building, which I assumed was the mall. We walked inside and I looked around. It was pretty nice, considering the only mall I’ve been had been a small one back home. We ended up walking around for a while, going into stores like Hot Topic and I dragged Alex into stores like Forever21. I ended up buying a new pair of jeans and a few skirts and shirts and a few pairs of shoes. We started to get hungry, and we realized we spent around three hours at the mall. We headed to the food court and got Subway. We found a table to sit at and we immediately started eating.
“So did you have fun?” Alex asked, between bites of his sandwich. I nodded content with my purchases and my day.
“I was wondering if we could go to the park you were talking about after this?” I asked once I swallowed the bite I was chewing.
“Sure, whatever you want.” We finished our food and I grabbed my bags and we headed back to his car so I could put my things away. After that was done, we went to the park that was a few blocks away. There were swing sets and slides and a little lake with some geese around it. It was relaxing. I sat down on one of the swings and Alex sat in the one next to me. I felt the breeze blow and I tilted my head back. It felt so nice.
“Abby?” I snapped my head up. I knew his voice anywhere. I looked ahead of me to see Damon standing there. I felt tears forming in the corner of my eyes. What was he doing here?
“Who is that?” Alex whispered, leaning towards me.
“Damon,” I said my voice barely audible. Damon started walking closer to us.
“Why don’t you back off of my girlfriend, fag.” He spat at Alex. I got up from my swing.
“What are you talking about?!” Alex said, also getting up.
“Get away from Abby.” He demanded.
“You can’t tell him what to do, Damon! You broke up with me!” I yelled. He looked at me.
“Oh, Abby, you’re so silly.” He pulled me into his embrace and I immediately pushed him away from me.
“What are you talking about?” I asked a little frightened.
“We never broke up, you were just dreaming.” He smiled.
“It was definitely not a dream! I was there when it happened; she was on the floor crying!” Alex said.
“Fuck off; this is between her and I.” Alex glared at him, clenching his fists. I could tell this was going to get ugly fast. I needed to stop this.
“Damon, I don’t know why you’re here but you should leave; now.” I said, staring straight into his eyes. He pulled me back to him and tried kissing me but instead I slapped him. I saw him freeze for just a second before he raised his hand and slapped me square in the face so hard I fell over. I looked up at him, tears running down my cheek. He has never hit me before. I looked over at Alex, whose face was red with anger.
“You are seriously such an asshole dude.” Alex said, cracking his knuckles.
“She’s my girlfriend, and I can do whatever I please.” Damon smirked. I stood up, a little shaken from the hit but I stood my ground.
“I am not your FUCKING girlfriend.” While Damon was looking over at me, Alex punched him square in the nose. Caught off guard, Damon fell to the ground. He was grabbing his nose and I could see blood on his hand. Alex grabbed my hand.
“Let’s get out of here, Abby!” We ran all the way back to his car, hoping Damon wasn’t that close to us. Alex and I jumped in, and he started the car and sped out of the lot. We started going the speed limit after we were out, and soon we were at my house. I noticed my mom’s car wasn’t in the drive way. Alex helped me grab my things and we ran inside my house. When we got to my room, we put the bags down and collapsed onto my bed.
“You’re ex is a douche bag.” Alex said in between deep breaths. I couldn’t help but agree.
“That wasn’t like him at all. He has never hit me before.” I felt the tears coming and this time I didn’t stop them. Alex moved closer to me and wrapped me up in his arms.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’re away from him; he can’t hurt you now.” He said, stroking my hair. I started to calm down instantly and nodded in his chest. Though, for some reason; I couldn’t get the fear that he would come back out of my mind.