Status: Active

What Did You Expect From Me?

Seven.

Going out to dinner was never MAckenzie’s favorite activity. She would much rather eat something at home real quick or stop at a drive through somewhere than actually go out to a restaurant. But she sucked it up for the boys. While Alex was changing and getting ready, Rian had texted Mackenzie an address and said to be there at 7pm sharp. She glanced at the clock hanging in Alex’s living room and realized that it was only five.

“Alex, we still have two hours,” Mackenzie whined, praying that it was loud enough for him to hear upstairs.

“Yea, I know, I just read Rian’s text,” he said softly, coming from behind Mackenzie, causing her to jump.

“When did you get back down here?”

“I’ve been downstairs for the past ten minutes. I was in the yard on the phone,” Alex chuckled.

Mackenzie just nodded. She hadn’t heard Alex come downstairs, nor had she heard him speaking on the phone. She was tempted to ask who he was on the phone with, but it wasn’t any of her business and she did not want to cause any more tension, since they were actually having a decent time thus far. But even though Mackenzie didn’t ask, it was almost as if Alex could read her mind.

“I was on the phone with Brooke,” he said softly as he sat on the couch next to Mackenzie.

“Why are you telling me this?” Mackenzie asked looking at Alex quizzically.

“Because I know you wanted to know. And I’m sure you’re probably going to get a phone call so I’m giving you fair warning,” Alex explained, rubbing the back of his neck as if he was guilty of something.

“Alex, what did you do?!” Mackenzie hissed, standing straight up while throwing a pillow at him.

But before he could answer, as if on cue, Mackenzie’s phone began ringing with “Brooke” flashing across the screen. Mackenzie shot Alex a dirty look before answering the phone and walking through his kitchen into the back yard.

“Hey, Brooke. Is everything alright?” Mackenzie cringed because she had no idea what Alex had said to the older Geller sister.

“Is everything alright? I just dumped my fiance and you’re already sleeping with him. So no. Everything is not alright,” Brooke spat.

“Whoa, Brooke, calm down,” Mackenzie eased, trying to figure out how she already knew all the way back in Baltimore.

“No Mackenzie. That’s so wrong, especially on your part! What kind of sister does that? Everything I’ve done for you and you go behind my back and do this. You know how much I love Alex,” Brooke whined into her end of the phone.

Mackenzie felt her blood boiling. At this point she didn’t care that her sister knew about what her and Alex had done two nights prior. She was just dead set on putting her sister in her place.

“You know what, Brooke? You need to stop for a second and reevaluate what you are saying to me right now. So what if Alex and I slept together? You two were and still are broken up. And to be honest, you act like it’s never happened before. You seem to forget that I was with Alex first. And no, I don’t know how much you actually love him, because in all of the times I have spoken to you in the past four years, not once have you ever mentioned Alex. If I remember correctly, you were telling me about a guy named Wesley about six months ago. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things I need to do. Just remember Brooke, what comes around goes around, and now it’s finally make it’s way back to you. I’ll see you next month.”

And with that, Mackenzie hung up on her older sister. She was trying to process that she had finally told off her older sister. Mackenzie felt proud of herself, until she turned around and saw Alex’s face. He looked at her, confusion all over his face.

“Who is Wesley?”

Mackenzie paled, not realizing Alex was outside when she outed her sister for infidelity. It had never occurred to her that Alex didn’t know about Brooke’s outings to New York to see her “friend” Wesley.

“Mackenzie, who is Wesley?” Alex reiterated.

“Uh...he’s uh...he’s one of Brooke’s friends from New York,” Mackenzie explained.

“What happened with Wesley six months ago?” Alex questioned, still standing in the doorway.

“Lex, maybe you should ask Brooke. But I mean, you aren’t together anymore. Maybe you should just let it go,” Mackenzie shrugged, wishing she had never brought up the other guy’s name at all.

“I’m not going to let it go, MJ. She’s sitting here screaming at me for being with you when she broke up with me, but yet, she was seeing another guy right before I proposed to her. In what world is that okay?”

“Alex, do what you want, but in Brooke’s world, every decision she makes is okay. And she will make anything up to justify her actions or somehow turn it around on you and make you feel guilty. Do you really want to deal with that right now?” Mackenzie countered.

“No, I guess you’re right. It’s better not to fight Brooke. Come on, let’s go to dinner,” Alex smiled, wrapping an arm around Mackenzie, leading her back into the house.

About a half an hour later, the pair arrived at the restaurant Rian had picked out. It was a very casual environment, which Mackenzie loved because that was a hard thing to come across in Los Angeles. By 7:15, Rian, Jack, Zack, and Casey had arrived and the six adults were sitting around a table with dim lighting and beers already flowing. Their laughter could be heard throughout the entire restaurant. Alex and Mackenzie reliving what it was like before she left for California.

“I’ve missed this so much,” Jack beamed. “It was never the same when we’d go out with Brooke, no offence,” he said to no one in particular.

“Just like when you went out with Lindsey?” Mackenzie laughed.

“Hey! If I knew that she was just trying to get with Alex, I would have never went out with her!” Jack retorted.

“Wait, you dated Lindsey? No wonder why she was iffy on coming to your show the other day. There’s so much we don’t know about her,” Casey shrugged, while looking at Mackenzie, who just nodded.

Once the food arrived, the ongoing conversation drifted into only chatter. Everyone was too enthralled with eating. Then once the food was gone, all anyone wanted to do was take a nap. So they all paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant together.

“Alex, we’re all going out in a little bit, you and Mackenzie coming with us?” Rian asked.

“Not tonight Ri. Me and MJ have some catching up to do. Think you could keep everyone away from the house tonight?” Alex answered.

“And by everyone, you mean Jack?” Rian laughed.

“What about Jack?” the guitarist asked.

“Stay away from my house tonight,” Alex chuckled.

“Whyyyyy?” Jack whined.

“Because I want to be able to sleep without being interrupted by a drunk Jack tonight,” Mackenzie laughed as she entered the conversation.

“Wow Alex. You’re picking her over me? I’ll remember that,” Jack huffed with mock anger.

“Alright, we’re out. See you all tomorrow, probably,” Alex laughed before he and Mackenzie waved goodbye and headed back towards his Range Rover.

“So are you excited about staying the night?” Alex whispered into Mackenzie’s ear.

“It depends on how comfortable the bed is in the guest bedroom,” Mackenzie retorted.

“You could always just stay in my room,” Alex responded in a sing-song voice.

“We’ll see,” Mackenzie smiled, as she climbed into the SUV.

Alex closed her door and walked over to his side and got in. He pulled out of his parking spot and interlaced his right hand with Mackenzie’s left. They drove in silence, Mackenzie just watching the scenery go by. The silence was comfortable for once, that is, until Mackenzie’s phone started ringing. She looked at the caller id and groaned.

“Who is it?” Alex asked, trying to look, but not wanting to take his eyes off of the road for too long.

“Brooke,” Mackenzie groaned.

“Just ignore it. Call her back tomorrow or something,” Alex insisted.

“You’re right, screw her right now,” Mackenzie uttered before turning off her ringer.

For the rest of the car ride, Mackenzie’s phone vibrated wildly, but she still refused to speak to Brooke. After the conversation they had earlier that evening, she was in no mood to argue. By the time Alex had pulled into his driveway, all of Mackenzie’s phone activity had ceased, much to her relief.

“Finally,” she breathed.

But it was a little too soon. Within seconds, Alex’s phone had begun to ring, “Brooke” popping up on the screen.

“Mackenzie, I think something might be wrong. Because earlier she told me that she never wanted to see or speak to me again. Usually when she used to say that, I wouldn’t hear from her for days, not a few hours, and she was calling you nonstop. I think you should answer it,” Alex stated.

“Fine, give me your phone,” Mackenzie huffed. “What Brooke?” Mackenzie snapped into the phone.

“Kenz, it’s mom. You gotta come home,” Brooke cried into the phone.

“Brooke, what’s the matter with mom?” Mackenzie said as her body began to tense up.

“I don’t know Mackenzie. But it’s bad. It’s worse than last time. Just get here as soon as you can, please,” Brooke urged before hanging up.

Mackenzie stared at the phone for a second and just looked to Alex.

“Airport?” he asked as soon as he saw her face.

“Airport,” Mackenzie nodded as the tears slowly began to roll down her face.