The Girl With the Half Beating Heart

After sharing his story with Acacia, and cuddling for sometime, Alex takes Acacia home.
The ride home is fairly quiet, because Acacia sleeps through it. He holds her hand as he drives with the other, occasionally peeking glances at her while she sleeps.
When he finally makes to her house, it's close to 10. He wakes her up as gently as he can by shaking her. She jumps slightly, her eyes wide.
"Hey, hey, it's me. Calm down." He cooes, gripping her hand, and rubbing her shoulder. She blinks, focusing her vision as she does. She looks out the window. “We’re at your house.” He says quietly.
“Oh.” She yawns. He smiles at her.
“Whenever you wake up, you’re really jumpy.” He laughs, and she rolls her eyes playfully. “Its cute.”
“Thanks for an amazing night, Alex.” She smiles, rubbing her eyes.
“No problem, sleepy eyes.” He grips onto to her hand. “Do you want me to walk you to your front door like a cliche first date movie scene?” He asks, grinning. She giggles.
“I’d love that, but I can’t.” She frowns, and he looks at her, his eyebrows furrowed. “I told my parents that I was with my cousin Yancy, because if they knew I was out with late with a boy, or anyone who isn’t family really, they’d kill me. They’d probably kill you too.” She laughs. Alex’s eyes go wide. “But that won’t happen! So calm down.” She laughs again.
“Well if I can’t walk you to your door, can I at least give you a goodnight kiss?” He questions cheekily, still smiling.
“Look who’s asking for kisses now.” She replies with a smirk, leaning back on the car door, and crossing her arms over her chest.
“I can’t help it,” He laughs, shrugging. “You’re my kryptonite.”
Her cheeks flush red. She giggles, sitting up. “Come here, punk.” She grabs him by his face, and kisses him softly. He grabs her arms, holding onto them as they kiss. When they separate, Alex shakes his head.
“What?”
“I didn’t say I was done.”
He pulls her back in, and kisses her again. She smiles against his lips as they move in harmony with hers, and he smiles back. When they separate for the second time, they both stare at each other with a smile, then erupt into a fit of giggles. They finally calm down after some time, still smiling.
“But really, thank you for tonight.” She says softly.
“You’re welcome. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He replies.
“A full one or a half one?” She asks jokingly, smirking.
“You’re cheeky.”
“Well, I decide to make the best out of my life. And corny jokes help.”
He laughs, shaking his head.
“Its late, and I’m tired. I should go into my house before I collapse.” She yawns, stretching as she does so. “Goodnight, Alex.”
He grins at her. “Goodnight, Acacia. Call me when you wake up tomorrow, yeah?” He asks as she opens the car door.
“Of course.” She replies sleepily, getting out of the car. He waves, and she waves back, shutting the door. She bounces into her house quickly, trying her best to get out the cold. Once Alex sees she made it inside, he pulls out of her driveway, and drives away.
Acacia makes it upstairs to her room, and turns on the light. Once she sees that Rosalinda is in her bed, she shuts off the light quickly. With a heavy sigh, she changes into a tee shirt and some shorts, and crawls into bed with her younger sister. Her parents probably started fighting again, so she ran to her room. Acacia always thought it was unfair Rosalinda’s room was so close to their parent’s but they insisted on it, since she was younger and needed more attention.
She pulls her sister into her arms for warmth, her eyes sliding shut. “Buenas noches, buggie.” She whispers, before drifting off into a much needed sleep.
When Alex makes it home, its about half past 10. He parks the car in the driveway, and creeps quietly to the front door, only to see the living room light is on.
“Shit.” He hisses, fiddling with the keys as quietly as he can. Maybe she fell asleep with the light on. There’s still a possibility he can get in, and get to his room without stirring up anything.
He opens the door, and shuts it just as quietly. He creeps into the kitchen, and places the keys on the counter where he found them. He peeks at his mom, who looks like she’s sleeping. Full of relief, he turns to walk away, only to realize he’s not getting off that easy.
“Alex.” She groans, standing up wobbly. Alex sighs, turning around.
“Yes?” He answers, annoyed. That’s all he seems to be feeling lately. Annoyed.
“Where did you go in my car?” She asks, her hands on her hips.
“The store.” He lies quickly without a bluff.
“Okay,” She walks closer to him. “Where the hell are the groceries?”
“Didn’t get any.” He says blankly. “I didn’t have enough money. You know, its hard to go shopping when you make a few dollars above minimum wage.” Alex made good money, because his boss knew of his situation. Not all of it, but enough of it to know that minimum wage wasn’t gonna cut it for him. And he’s grateful for that, but it really is hard to do all he has to do all he has to do.
His mother scoffs. She doesn’t believe him, but she’s too tired to fight. “Whatever. I’m leaving money on the counter for you to go tomorrow.” She replies, turning around and walking away. “What are you doing tomorrow?” She asks.
“Working.”
“Go after work.” She says. “And don’t drink my orange juice, its from my screwdrivers.”
Alex rolls his eyes, jogging up the stairs. When he gets in his room, he turns on the light. He changes into his sweats, and begins to look for a shirt. After a few minutes of looking, he decides its not worth the search anymore. He crawls into his sheets, and grabs a pen and journal that were in his bed from earlier. He begins to write random lines over and over, until he stumbles across something he likes.
“Whiskey princess, drink me under, pull me in.” He sings to himself, smiling. “That’ll come in handy later.” He underlines it, then shuts the book, and puts it on his nightstand, along with the pen. After getting comfortable in his sheets, he realizes he hasn’t turn off the light. He groans, and picks up the journal he just wrote in. He throws it at the light switch, and surprisingly, it turns it off.
“Fuck yeah.” He hums to himself with a smile, rolling over into his sheets, and falling asleep quickly.