The Kiss / Chapter 22

Alex's P.O.V.

Two days later

For the past few hours I've been sitting on Dark Eye's bed, he wasn't here. He was acting weird just like everyone else had been lately.

It's like their was a bomb and they were all waiting for it to go off. I found mild comfort in this, since anything that made them so nervous must be a good thing.

Maybe it was Case. Maybe they were waiting for Case to show up. That was kind of all I'd been thinking about. I wanted to make fun of the way his hair just couldn't stay down, I wanted to watch his face heat up when I mentioned Harley, I wanted to wrap my arms around his waist while he rode his stupid motorcycle well past the speed limit.

Usually that last one was as he took me away from this place.

But doubt seemed to shine down on me.

He doesn't care Alex.

He only stuck with you out of guilt anyways.

He would have been here by now if was coming.

The fact that everyone continued to tell me this stuff didn't help. I had gotten annoyingly familiar with everyone and everything in this stupid building.

Mainly I came in contact with six guys. My favorite being Dark Eyes, my least favorite being Travis. The others sometimes brought food or hung around just to mock me.

I slept in Dark Eyes bed, which was nice. He slept in a recliner chair by the bed, which I greatly appreciated. I rarely left the room, not that I could of course. Unless they needed more pictures or something.

That was the worst part. But I eventually realized they were mostly trying to mark me up, they wanted the pain to show. They didn't really care about how much pain I felt.

Though Travis hated me for no reason. He always made sure to put me in pain that was almost impossible to handle. My hands would start shaking at the mere mention of him. It was the soreness that kept me from attempting escape.

"Alex?" Asked Dark Eyes as he opened the door. I almost fell off the bed in shock,

"What the-Dont do that!"

He chuckled, "Sorry Alex." He walked into the room, "You hungry?"

I was trying to slow my breathing.

I shook my head. "No." I really didn't eat much, especially not here. But he walked in with McDonalds anyways.

"So you want a happy meal love? Can I keep the toy?" Case asked in fake excitement.

"I'm about to walk home." I threatened.

He put his hands up,

"Ok, ok, sorry princess," he smiled as he took my hand, causing my whole body to tense, and started walking to the door,

"Uh, no." I said, jerking my hand away from him.

He opened the door for me, "I am forever in you service, for saving my ass from being blown up." He mocked me.

I rolled my eyes and walked through the door,

I shook myself out of the flashback. "I'm really not hungry."

"You haven't eaten today." He argued.

"Just stop I'm fine." My voice was colder then usual,

He walked over to me, sitting next to me on the bed. He brushed hair behind my ear, "Hey, listen I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine." I told him that a lot. But it wasn't. It really, really wasn't. The fear, the uncertainty, it was killing me.

Imagine your about to perform the national anthem at the super bowl, the crushing feeling of anxiety is embedded in your chest. And you have a bomb strapped to yourself. And your brother and friend could both be badly hurt or worse and no one will tell you. And your stuck in an evil gang base.

I was feeling that 24/7 here.

"Ok Alex." He said and put an arm around me.

I leaned against him, feeling at least a little protected. He rubbed my back. "So about Case.." The way he said Cases name was odd, not like a mutual hate for him like everyone here had, it seemed personal. I never had the courage to ask. "I just wanted to tell you, we've been watching and, I don't think he's coming love." I won't say this didn't hurt. Because it did. It felt like abandonment. It felt like someone had crushed whatever hope I had.

He could be lying. I reminded myself, not really believing it.

I looked at him "That means I'm useless. You can let me go." I focused on the bright side.

"No Princess, it doesn't." He corrected.

"W-Why not?" I asked, water poured over the last light of hope I had.

"I Uh...I don't know, um the boss says that we can't." He shrugged.

Instead of fear or sadness, in this moment I felt anger. Fresh and boiling anger. Who was 'the boss' anyways?

"Why'd you even tell me then?" I was pissed off.

"Because I thought you'd want to know." He sounded surprised,

"No I didn't want to know! Now I have I reason for being stuck here!" My anger surprised even myself. I stood and moved away from him.

"Alex calm down." He stood too.

"NO! I want to go home!" I shouted,

"You can't! I'm sorry!"

I can't. He's sorry.

I missed Harley. I missed everything about the life I complained so much about. I missed school. I missed Case.

Maybe I was being dramatic. It had been about three days here. And I was already losing my chill.

But honestly, I could hardly hear myself think about being smart and standing down over the anger that buzzed through my ears.

I was so done with this. I was so done with this stupid room, with being tortured, with the worry, with overthinking any simple thing that happened, with all of it.

I went to hit him, but he grabbed my wrist. I slapped him with my other hand. His eyes darkened and he grabbed my other wrist, forcing me back against the wall.

He pressed me against the wall and held me there. My wrists were pinned level with my ears.

"Calm. Down." He growled.

I took a deep breath "I want to go home home."

"Too bad." His voice was cold as ice,

My eyes were full of tears, but they weren't sad or scared, they were angry. No, not angry, furious. Completely and totally furious.

"I finally understand what Case saw in you." He said quietly,

I was trying to free my wrists, my face set in concentration. I moved my leg up to knee him, but he easily dodged and stepped on my feet so I couldn't move them.

"None of that Princess." He looked at me for a second, looking like he had decided something. Then let go of my wrists and moved back. "I'm sorry. I know your scared. I get it, I've been in your shoes before. But you need to calm down."

My fists were clenched so tightly I could feel my nails digging gashes into my palms. "I want to leave."

Stop saying that he gets the point. Mumbled the same part of me.

Have you ever said something so much just praying for it to come true? Yeah. I knew it wouldn't help. That's how completely useless I was here.

"You've made that perfectly clear." He said, reaching for my hand. I jerked away and looked down.

"Alex look at me." His voice wasn't commanding, it was almost whiny.

"Stop.." I mumbled,

"Alex come on. I'm sorry. You can go soon."

"You've said that.."

"Yeah but...really you can leave soon. We just need a word from who's in charge." He said

"You've said that too.." I reminded him

"I...You know what I'll talk to her ok? I'll talk to her." He promised me.

I still wouldn't look at him. Still, I appreciated what he promised to do.

The anger was slowly diminishing, well no, it was changing. Changing into a flurry of mixed emotions I couldn't identify.

"Alex.." he gently took my chin and directed my face to his. I sighed and looked up at him,

I watched him lean in, it felt like slow motion.

What is he doing?

Is their something on my face?

He better not be...

Then I felt a sudden warmth as his lips were to mine.

I swear to you I would have pulled away, I didn't want this. But shock wouldn't allow me to move. One of his hands had moved up to my cheek, the other rested behind my head. It lasted, maybe thirty seconds? It was hard to tell. Every second felt like ten.

In my mind I was screaming at myself

Slap him! Pull away! Alex, dammit, do SOMETHING!

But I couldn't, I couldn't...or maybe I just didn't.

Finally he pulled away and looked at me.

"Well there's another thing Case sees in you..." he chuckled, mostly to himself.

I was still pressed against the wall, "I-I've never kissed Case.."

He looked surprised. "Huh." And then he walked out.

Just walked out the door.

Just. Fucking. Left.

I stood. Wiping my lips, "Great." I mumbled,

What the hell was I supposed to do now? Dark Eyes was a confusing character.

He never really hurt me, he's probably the nicest person here.

But what was that? He kissed me.

I mean obviously you know that.

Maybe I was being seductive. Maybe I was cute when I was angry. Didn't Case tell me that once? I was cute when I was angry?

I was pretty sure that wasn't it.

Their weren't that many girls here. Maybe he was like, desperate.

I mean he was a guy. Guys kiss girls and think nothing of it, all the time.

Not going to lie and say that doesn't bother me...

I cut my thoughts off before I launched into a feminism rant.

But anyways, that's what I accounted it to. Guys kiss girls all the time. He was desperate. I'm cute when I'm angry.

You know, he wasn't that bad a kisser. And it wasn't like I had a boyfriend. Maybe it wasn't even wrong.

Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome.

Cringe. Gag. Bleh.

No. No that's not it.

It was late, so those are the things I fell asleep too. Stupid thoughts about stupid things like this.

I'm not sure how long I spelt but I don't think it was morning when he came in.

"Alex wake up, Love." Dark Eyes said, his voice so calm it bothered me. Always a light sleeper, I woke instantly.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "Why.." I mumbled because they usually didn't bother to wake me.

He chuckled "Your hair is everywhere.." he walked over and ran his hands through my hair, trying to straighten it.

"Ow! Ow, it's not working...here." I pushed him back a little and stood, leaning over to twist my hair into a messy bun. I slid the hair tie off my wrist and secured it.

Dark Eyes smiled. "Oh good job. Hey Alex so.." I braced myself for bad news, that's how he started it usually. 'Hey Alex so..'

"More pictures?" I asked, trying not to sound scared. I pressed my hands against the bed so they wouldn't shake.

He shook his head. "No. But, the SouthSide leader wants to see you." Oh.

Oh.

This was good. Right? I could figure who he was. Or she. I couldn't remember. Case would be glad to know.

But what did they want? They were probably just going to try and scare me. Yeah that's probably it. They did that a lot, and me, such a wimp, always ended up shaking with fear over it.

"Alex." He said. "Let's go."

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Hey! Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through another chapter! I know it's moving slow but don't worry! I honestly think my essay writing assignments are making my writing worse. Sorry guys. Please keep reading! Follow me it really helps! Tell your friends! 😘😘