Chapter Twenty-four

Athena's POV

''What do you mean he reminds you of yourself?'' I raise an eyebrow at him before narrowing my eyes.

Alex looks up before shrugging, ''Well I was cute when I was younger. Now that I'm older, I'm pretty hot. He's also stubborn which I can relate to when I was a kid.'' I can see a hint of his smirk appearing. I quickly lift my hand up and slap his arm.

He groans before bursting into laughter, ''You are so full of yourself.'' I groan and start to cross my arms. I peek at him as he keeps on smiling and shaking his head. He is now playing with the tips of his clothes.

''It's a fact.'' Alex states.

Before I could open my mouth, my phone starts to ring. I look down and see the caller ID, Joanna. I gulp as I look back at Alex who is right now messing with his hair. The ring dies and I quickly put my phone down on my lap but only for it to ring back a few seconds later.

Alex looks at me, ''You're not going to pick that up?''

''Um—'' I furrow my eyebrows as I stand up slowly, ''Yeah,'' I glance at him, walking out of his room and close the door shut behind me. I lift the phone up to my ear, ''What?'' I start talking, ''Why are you calling me, Joanna?''

''Don't tell me you have forgotten our deal.'' Joanna replies, I can hear her chuckling, ''Why haven't you called me, Athena?'' She stops for awhile, ''Why are there no information?''

I can feel my hands sweating. As a few doctors pass, they smile at me and I smile back at them. I walk down the hall, passing a few nurses. I keep my head down, trying my best to not bump into someone, ''I'm busy right now.''

''Oh yeah? Because Alex is in the hospital.'' She says, ''What happened? I need information, Athena!'' I hear her voice raising from the other line.

I rub my temples as I lean my back against the wall—looking down on the ground, ''What do you want to know?'' I start asking, ''Because I can't give any information that involve me.''

''Oh dear.'' She starts laughing, ''Either way, it's going to involve both of you.''

''Joanna.'' I sigh, ''What do you want to know?''

Everything went silent for awhile—not hearing anything from the other line. I then hear her breathing before moving her lips, ''I want to know what happened in Rome. Why you were crying and who you were running away from?''

''I can't tell you who.'' I roll my eyes, ''That is called invading my privacy.''

Joanna clears her throat, ''Then at least tell me what exactly happened? The media doesn't know. None of them know! I want to be the first one who knows. I want to spread the news so that Published could become a top publishing company.'' I hear her shifting in her seat, ''Like, how was your honeymoon, how did it end up with you running away?''

''It was fine.'' I mutter, ''You can create that up, Joanna. Create how much it shows I'm happy.''

''Well that shouldn't be a problem because all I need is a statement. It will say that the statement is from an unknown source, so you don't have to worry about it. Now now, tell me, what happened, exactly?''

''Jeremy.'' I mutter under my breath as I close both of my eyes, remembering the scene once more, ''He was there.''

''So, we were correct when we get a picture of Alex punching someone in the face?'' Joanna laughs, ''I might be wrong but is Jeremy the one who chased you that night?''

I feel my hands getting colder. I don't know why I'm feeling like I'm telling about my whole life to the media—to the whole world. This is more like telling about myself instead of telling about Alex, ''Yes.'' I reply quietly.

''That's all I need for now, Athena.'' She replies, ''Don't forget to see the news tomorrow.'' Then with that, she hangs up. I hear the line die and I remove the phone away from my ear.

I end up sitting on the ground, pulling my knees up to my chin. I sigh as I drop my face on my lap. I feel bad for myself. I feel bad for Alex, even. I don't know why but I know Joanna will say nonsense in the news. She will definitely write something far from what I said.

''Athena.'' I hear a familiar voice calling out my name. I lift my head up, seeing Alex standing a few feet away from me. He is looking down at me, with a frown on his face, ''Are you okay?''

''What are you doing here?'' I stand up, patting onto my butt before slowly walking toward him. He is pulling his intravenous therapy machine with him. I am right now standing in front of him as he looks down at me—because of his height, ''You should be in your room.'' I continue.

''You've been out for twenty minutes so I decided to check up on you.'' He shrugs, ''Didn't know you would be on the ground in the hall.''

''Yeah well you don't get to see that everyday,'' I roll my eyes as I punch lightly onto his chest before pulling his arm. His chest vibrates as he chuckles, letting me pull him back to his room.

When we get back in the room, there's a doctor and a female nurse standing. The doctor turns around, looking at us, ''Oh there you are.'' He starts to chuckle. Alex sits on his bed, ''Where have you been?'' The doctor starts to ask.

''I was checking up on my wife.'' Alex answers, glancing my way.

The doctor nods, ''Your temperature dropped. It was faster than I thought. You can go home today if you want.'' He turns to look at me and Alex, waiting for an answer.

''Yeah, I want to go home today.'' Alex presses onto his knuckles, ''I have to train tomorrow anyway.''

''Don't you think that you need more rest?'' I raise an eyebrow, ''I think you should stay at the hospital for tonight.''

''Nah, I want to go home.'' Alex answers, nodding at the doctor. The doctor nods and the nurse starts to slowly pull out Alex's IV. She puts a cotton wool on the back of Alex's hand, at the spot where it bleeds. Alex looks at me as she lightly put his hand right next to him. Then she starts to turn off the IV machine.

''Thank you.'' Alex mutters and she smiles at Alex, I can see her cheeks turning to a light shade of red. She quickly turn to pull the IV machine and walk right next to me. She smiles at me and I gladly return her smile.

The doctor turns to face me, ''Mrs. Herrera, can you please come with me to settle the bill?''

I turn to look at him before looking back at Alex, ''Um—''

Alex cuts me off, ''I'll settle it later.'' The doctor nods before walking out and closing the door afterwards. I look back at Alex and see that he is pulling his shirt up. My eyes widen when I see his abs and his V line. I quickly look up to his face when he finish pulling out of his hospital shirt.

He moves his arms, causing me to look at the muscles reflex. I gulp—knowing that this is somehow turning me on and making me blush if I keep on staring. I look away, walking toward the other side of the bed, pretending to look outside through the windows.

I turn to glance at him when I hear movements and I see that he is on his feet, tugging onto the pants around his waist. I end up staring a little bit longer, just looking at his bare back. When I see him pulling his pants down, I turn away, poking onto the windows.

My heartbeat is raising every second. How can he be so calm about this? Is he forgetting that I'm in the room with him?

I breathe out, trying to calm myself. My body starts to feel hot and I can feel sweat forming on my forehead. I quickly wipe it away with the back of my hand—feeling the temptation to walk out of the room and drink a cup of cold water.

I turn around one more time and I almost whimper as I see him fully dressed but I cover it up with a cough. Alex lifts his head, looking up at me as he fix the back of his shirt. I put my hand on my mouth—my fake cough turns out to be a real one. I see him furrowing his eyebrows, ''You okay?'' He asks.

''Y—yeah,'' I answer through coughs.

''Are you sure?''

''Yeah.'' I stop coughing. Eyeing your husband while he's undressing is a great view but well, it's great as long as I don't get caught, ''Ready to go?'' I change the subject as I pick up the car keys and my phone.

Alex nods, walking to the door. I follow him as we walk straight to the counter, checking out the bills.

Once we reach out at his car, he walks straight toward the passenger's seat. I look at him in confusion, ''You're not going to drive?'' Alex looks at me but he just open the door and step inside. I roll my eyes as I step inside the driver's seat, ''Are you seriously not driving?'' I ask one more time.

Alex leans on his seat, closing his eyes, ''I'm tired.''

I roll my eyes once more before putting the car keys in the ignition. I press the start button and the car roars to life. My eyes wander around and I can see a familiar van. When I turn to look around, I see someone holding a camera behind the bushes. My eyes widen but I quickly sit back down on my seat.

''What?'' Alex turns to look at me, ''Oi, what's wrong?''

I furrow my eyebrows, ''Eh, nothing.'' Then I quickly change the gear to D before pressing onto the gas. The car moves forward, slowly at first until we reach the road so I press the gas harder, into a normal speed.

Once we reach at our house, Alex steps out quickly, leaving me behind. I shut down the engine before walking out. I lock the doors as I follow Alex into the house. He opens the door, revealing the dark living room. He sighs before stretching. I can see his muscles reflex once he put his arms down.

I closes the door behind me before heading into the kitchen. Seeing that the spoons are no longer at the floor and it took me awhile to realise that the living room was also clean. Maybe Adelaide came and clean up all the mess. I turn to enter the dining room and I smile a little as I see the scratch marks on the window.

When I sniff in a familiar cologne, I didn't have to turn around to see that Alex is behind me. I feel like he's staring at my neck but I stay still, not moving. He moves forward, leaning his side against the wall, ''I don't think I want to fix that.'' He says.

''Why not?''

''I don't know,'' He shrugs, ''I just want to leave it there, so that we can remember how crazy he goes when he throws his tantrums.''

I smirk and I see him smiling too. He turns around, ''I'm going to bed, you should come too.'' Then he walks pass me, walking out of the dining room.

''I'm not tired,'' I cross my arms, watching his back as he keeps on walking.

''I wasn't giving you a choice.'' He glances my way before walking up the stairs. I hear his footsteps until they are completely gone. I no longer hear his footsteps, just the sound of my own breathing. The house seems quiet, it seems empty.

It took me awhile to feel it though. I don't know how Alex manage to live alone. Doesn't he feel empty? Alone? Bored? The house may look amazing but being alone, isn't how I would want to spend my life.

I start walking up the stairs, opening the door to his room.

I see that he has changed into a different shirt and a pair of shorts which ends on top of his knee. He is laying on the bed as he holds the remote up on his lap, changing the channels. His eyes glances my way but he blinks and they are focusing back on the TV. He finally stops changing the channel as he lean his head and put the remote beside him.

Walking inside, I head straight into the walk-in closet. I change into my long sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy pants. I walk out, seeing that Alex is in a different position. He is allowing his elbow to support his upper body's weight. The back of his hand supporting his head. I walk straight toward the door.

''Where are you going?'' I hear him call out for me.

I turn around, ''Downstairs? You told me to go to bed.''

Now now, what does he have in mind?

''Yeah?'' He replies in a 'duh' tone, ''To bed.'' He points at the bed, before giving me an expression which explains 'obviously'. I narrow my eyes at him and I see him narrowing his eyes back at me.

''I don't want to sleep with you.'' I cross my arms, standing straight.

He smirks, ''What? I can't hear you.''

''I said, I don't want to sleep with you.'' I repeat, louder this time.

Alex stands up, as he looks down at me, ''Come again?''

''I said—'' I shout louder as soon as he reaches closer, our faces inches apart, ''I don't want to sleep with you!''

''I really can't hear you.'' I see a hint of playfulness in his eyes.

I groan in frustration before opening my mouth, preparing myself, ''I said!'' I shout, ''I don't—'' Before I could finish my sentence, he starts to pick me by my waist and his other hand on my thigh. I scream but as soon as it started, it ends. I am right now laying on his bed with him hovering on top of me.

I look down and see a necklace hanging down from his neck. I didn't even see that before. It looks more like a dog tag. I look back up at his face, seeing that he is giving me a playful grin. Before I could react, he has already tickle both side of my waist, causing me to scream and laugh at the same time.

My hands move up to his chest, pushing him away but he keeps on leaning in. I feel him breathing at the side of my neck as he keeps on tickling, ''Oh my god!'' I shout as I laugh, ''Alex—'' I breathe out.

''Yes?'' He smiles innocently as he stops tickling. He is looking right into my eyes, our face inches apart from each other. His smile drops as soon as he realise that we're too close to each other. His hands end up gripping onto my waist which somehow is a turn on for me—I have always liked it if a guy grabs me on my waist or around my hip.

He isn't looking anywhere else but into my eyes. I feel him gulping. His eyes suddenly travels down to my lips and down to the rest of my body. I can feel my heartbeat raising under his stare. What am I doing? Should I push him away?

Alex leans in, little by little. He stops for awhile, somehow waiting for my reaction but he continues after not receiving one. I feel him brushing his lips against mine. I moan lightly when he grips harder onto my waist, causing me to bite on my lower lip.

He looks down at my lip once more before biting on my lower lip and pulling it slowly. I let go of my lip and I am somehow turned on by him biting my lip. I look down at him as he places his lips on top of mine, pressing it lightly.

My hands move up from the side, tracing on his thigh and up to his hip, until they reach his neck. He is right now kissing me lightly. From a simple innocent kiss, it turns out sinful. I kiss him back as soon as he moves his head to the side of my neck, causing me to moan in pleasure.

The moan came out low but it was right into his ear.

I hear him groan as he bite onto my neck, lightly sucking in. I keep on pulling his body toward me, as I give him a better access on my neck. I am now holding onto his soft hair, which I guess is a turn on for him as I feel his other hand rubbing lightly onto my stomach—finding its way to lift my shirt up.

He left more than one love bite on my neck. I feel his lips moving down to my jawline and up to my lips once more. Our lips meet and he kisses me passionately, touching both side of my face. I start to move my hand down to his abs, feeling his nicely built body.

The kiss turns out rough and I can feel him touching my bare skin, making me feel his hot fingers on my cold skin. I lift my head up and he moves his lips down to my neck, my collarbone and finally, near my chest.

I feel him lifting my shirt up and throw it onto the ground. I let him as his lips move down to the middle of my chest and down to my stomach. He holds tightly on my waist, as his lips leave soft kisses.

My mind seems to drift away. It's like we're doing the right thing.

When I move both of my hands down to touch his hair, he looks up and pushes both of my hands up to the side of my head, entwining our fingers together. He stares down into my eyes before brushing his lips near my earlobe.

When he uses his teeth to lift my pants down, I hear the door open and my eyes shot open, revealing a surprised,

Liam.