Paint Me a Picture with Nothing

Chapter Seven

It was around dusk when Alex walked through the empty streets of Baltimore. Trash littered the streets as the man walked down the familiar South Broadway, his hair flying everywhere as the autumn breeze flowed through the air.

To be honest, Alex didn't remember how he ended up in the city. For all he knew, he was still at home, working of course. It confused the elder, to say the least, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He, however, was curious as to why no one was in town. Everything looked empty, as if the town wasn't even populated. The rain was just starting to fall, but Alex could careless; there was nothing to run from.

"Alex?" A voice whispered, causing Alex to jump and cautiously look around.

"Who said that?" Alex asked nervously.

"I did." The voice replied again, the sound of a male's tone made it obvious that this wasn't a woman.

Alex swallowed thickly and looked around. "Who are you?" He asked as he backed into the street, scared of something popping out of an alley. "Where are you?"

"You know who I am, and you're looking directly at me."

"B-But that does t-tell me who you are." Alex stuttered out nervously as he looked at literally nothing.

"That's a shame, really. I can see you perfectly. Your hair looks a mess, due to the rain of course. I'm pretty sure you haven't washed those jeans in three weeks, and is that an Eagles shirt?"

Alex glanced down at his shirt before hesitantly looking up, whoever the voice was right. He had no idea where he got the shirt, actually. Despite Alex's love for classic rock, he couldn't ever imagine ever actually purchasing the band's shirt.

"Is that... Is that my shirt?" The voice asked which made eyes go wide. Everything was finally piecing together. This shirt, it was Alex's, it as his brother's. No wonder Alex couldn't remember.

"No." Alex breathed as he backed away. "No!" He repeated at a louder volume. "Get the fuck away from me!" He nearly screamed.

"But why? I thought you missed me."

Alex could see the faint smirk on the figure's face as he moved closer into the light. "Stop it! Just stop!" He yelled, his face getting soaked with both tears and the rain.

"Why Alex?"

"Get the fuck away from me! You ruined me! You destroyed my fucking childhood!" Alex screamed, his anger and agony growing.

"But how? I didn't even do anything." The voice replied as he came face to face. Alex's brother stood in front of the author, his smirk present, almost as though he was proud of what he did.

Alex was violently shaking as he backed away from Tom, his brother. "No. Stay away." He let out shakily.

Tom opened his mouth to reply, but said nothing, only smirking at the younger as a faint sound of someone yelling Alex's name was heard.

"Alex! Wake up!" Taylor yelled desperately as she shook her boss.

Alex woke up seconds later and looked up at Taylor with a frightened expression. "W-What?" He breathed as his eyes grew wide.

Taylor let out a sigh in relief and stared at Alex for a minute. "Are you okay?" She asked softly, hesitantly sitting on the edge of Alex's bed as she looked at him worriedly.

Alex blinked at her and slowly sat up, his throat hurting as he swallowed a lump in his throat. "What're you doing here?" He asked with a hoarse voice, which made Taylor smile sadly.

"I woke up to you screaming loudly. I banged on your door for a few minutes before checking under your mat. I can't believe you leave your key under there, but I used it to get in and now I'm here. Now answer my question."

Alex sighed and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's 4:17."

Alex's mouth parted in surprise. "What? That's impossible! It was 7 something not too long ago! And what am I doing in bed? I was at my desk." He rambled.

Taylor put her hand on Alex's knee to try to calm him down. "Alex, stop. It's not 7 anymore, but I have no clue how you got here. Don't worry about that when we have a bigger issue to worry about."

Alex couldn't help, but furrow his eyebrows a bit when he noticed the way Taylor used we as though she even wanted to be involved in helping him. He didn't even know what was wrong with him. Everything seemed so real, from the rain, though that may of been sweat now that he thinks about it, to his brother. Just the thought of his brother made his stomach twist uncomfortably that he actually thought he was going to vomit.

"You're doing it again." Taylor stated with a sigh, causing Alex to quickly look up at her.

"Doing what?"

"Staring at nothing, ignoring the stuff I say. I know you don't want to talk about it, but we need to figure out what's wrong with me."

Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Taylor. "First of all, there's no we, okay? It's just me, not you, not your mom, not your dad, just me. And second of all, there nothing wrong with me, got it? I'm perfectly fine." He replied as a matter-of-factly.

Taylor flinched at Alex's tone and curled her hand into a fist. "I just wanted to help you. This isn't the first time I've woken up to your screaming. I've been living here for a decent amount of time, you know? And I would much rather prefer you leave my dad out of this."

A scoff left Alex's mouth. "What's wrong? Daddy's little girl didn't get the Mercedes-Benz she wanted for her sweet sixteen?" He asked sarcastically. "And for the last time, hopefully, I don't need anyone's help. I'm fine. Just because I'm not as perfect as you are doesn't mean that I'm mean messed up."

Taylor looked down. "You know what? It was a mistake even coming here. Maybe you're right, you don't need help. I'll just leave you alone." She replied quietly before getting up and walking towards the door.

"And one more thing." Alex called.

"Y-Yeah?" Taylor asked, her voice cracking a bit.

"I want whatever you've already edited. I want to run it through the publisher before I can get the full okay." Alex stated.

Taylor nodded and looked down. "Got it." She mumbled before exiting Alex's apartment as Alex laid back down in hopes to get some decent sleep.