50. Therapy

VOTE AND COMMENT HECK YEAH NEW UPDATE

Chapter 50 - Therapy

      Small little winds blew in my face as I waited. My hands were loosely gripping the steering wheel while I kept myself entertained with the radio playing softly in the background. Derek's car smelled like his gym socks and sex. There was no in between.

      Having the air condition blowing in my face was probably not the best idea, but Alex was going to be done with band practice. It was soon to be seven p.m. and he needed a ride back to his apartment. His car wouldn't start up this morning, so Jack ended up picking Alex up in his mom's car, but now that Jack's mom needed her van, it was up to me to be Alex's transportation.

    Derek wasn't too pleased when I asked for his keys, but luckily, he obliged and threw them at me.

      That had left me to where I was now, waiting outside of Jack's house, and just wanting to see Alex after a long day of studying, and the last full day I would get for studying. This week had passed sluggishly and now I was stuck on a Sunday evening doing this.

    I checked my phone for any messages and was only faced with nothing. "C'mon, Alex," I groaned. 

     I didn't want to go inside to get him, especially with me being in my pajamas. It would be pure embarrassment to have the boys see me in my heart designed bottoms. Plus, my hair looked like a mess and the bags underneath my eyes made me appear to look like I wanted to kill someone.

    But finally, five minutes later, Alex exited out of the house, and began to walk down Jack's driveway. He wore simple skinny jeans and a green ugly sweater. A part of me wanted to burn it off his body, but seeing him in it made me smile like a goof.

       "Hey," he greeted me as he got in. He pecked a small kiss on my cheek before I put the car in the drive.

       "How was practice?" I asked, and placed my foot on the gas petal, moving the car forward.

       Alex sat back in his seat, prompting his legs up on the dashboard, and clearly forgetting whose car we were in. 

       "It went good," he half smiled. "We wrote a new song too."

     A smile tugged on my lips from what I had heard. Any song written by Alex I automatically loved. It was something that I was always eager to hear whenever he mentioned a new song.

   "Can I hear it?" I bit my lip, hoping he'd say yes.

   He slightly nodded his head. "It's not really a good of a song," he shrugged. 

      "Well, I'll be the judge of that." I smirked. I didn't believe a word he was saying. Sure, the band had written some pretty awful lyrics before that made no sense, but recently, they were becoming better with each writing session they had.

       Sooner or later, I had pulled up to his apartment building. Derek's car came to a halt with a loud ruckus, making me wish to be anywhere but in this deathtrap called a car.

    "Are you going to hang out?" Alex frowned, wondering why I hadn't bothered with turning off the engine or take off my seat belt.

   I shrugged in response. "I don't know," I bit my lip. "I have so much studying to do."

     "Nope," he shook his head and simultaneously reached across to take the keys out of the ignition. "You're with me tonight, no but's."

    Alex left me with no room to talk, and with only one choice. I followed him upstairs to his apartment as he whistled an unfamiliar song. The elevator was broken, forcing us to walk the flight of stairs, which had sparked him to whistle through his teeth of the tune. I was itching to know where it was from, or perhaps the song he and the boys had written.

     Once we entered the messy war zone of his home, I was quick to take off my slippers and plummet down on his couch, wanting nothing more than just sleep in his arms. 

   However, Alex was in the kitchen as I lay with my eyes shut. The aroma of whatever he was cooking filled the air. The sweet smell made me hungry and wondered what exactly he was cooking. It wasn't like Alex was always cooking; he never was.

   Despite my questioning of what he was up to, the pleasant atmosphere allowed my stiff bones to relax and sleep was slowly settling in. The sound of Alex cooking was oddly calming. With the clattering of spatulas and pans, I drifted off into a light sleep.

-

"Laila,"

"Wake up, angel,"

I groaned, fluttering my heavy eyelids.

"Wake up, loser. I made food for you,"

     Instantly, my eyes shot open. Alex stood in front of me with a plate of food. His smile was goofy and giggly as I hoisted myself up on the couch.

    He handed me the plate, and sat on the opposite side of the couch. He had cooked up mac n' cheese, dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, and French fries.

    "Well, aren't you a good cook?" I teased him, and took a bite of one of the fries.

    "Just be glad I made you something," He grumbled jokingly. A small smirk was on display on his lips. His hands began to massage my feet, his thumbs rolling on the back of them.

   His overly nice behavior had caught my attention. Something wasn't right with the way he was acting.

   "Why are you acting so nice, huh?" I eyed him suspiciously, putting my plate on my lap. 

     Alex had shrugged carelessly with a goofy grin, enjoying his view of me. He had switched into a pair of gym shorts and a muscle tank-top during my nap. He looked reasonably comfortable. "Just happy I guess," He said.

      A moment of silence had passed by between us. I continued to eat what was left on my plate as we both sat peacefully in his apartment. If there were any moments that I loved when I was him, it was the ones like this one, just us two in both serenity and having our company.

      My eyes had glanced at Alex's guitar case that was on the floor, reminding me that he had written a new song. "When can I hear this new song?" I inquired.

    He reached to the case without saying anything. He clicked the latches open and took out his acoustic, placing the case back to its original spot. He strummed the instrument, tuning the strings simultaneously.

     Instantly, I scooted closer to him on the couch. I loved being able to watch him play. It was different every time. Whether it was a goofy song, or something he had worked hard on all night, he always had some type of glow emitting off of him.

      His fingers delicately began to strum the stings into a harmony that was consistent. The memorizing tune was at a slow tranquility pace. Alex had held a serious expression, concentrating on his craft.

   He cleared his throat one more time until he finally started to sing. "My ship went down, in a sea of sound,"

    His voice was raspy and solemn as he proceeded to sing the new lyrics to me. Each word took my breath away simply. 

    "…Give me therapy, I'm a walking travesty, but I'm smiling at everything,"

     My mind slowly processed what he was singing. The beautiful structured song took me on a wild trip to figure out the meaning. But whatever the inspiration may have been, it was clear to see that it gave Alex great pain to hash up the emotions.

   "…You were never a friend to me, and you can take back your misery," he sang fluently and with a storm of emotions. "…Arrogant boy, love yourself so no one has to,"

     His eyebrows were scrunched together in absorption, and his lips were pulled into a straight line with his tongue slightly hanging out (a habit that was usual for him when he played his guitar.)

   Shortly, he finished the song with an increasing smile, his eyes staring at me for a response. 

     However, I was speechless. It was most likely my favorite out of all the songs I had heard him play before. The complex but simple words that were sung, and the way how he transferred it through his voice and guitar had left me in awe and completely baffled.

   "That was," I paused, trying to find my words. “that was beautiful, Lex."

   He chuckled a little, and placed his guitar on the floor near the couch. "It's something close to me."

    Then, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer to his chest. The warmth from him covered me like a blanket.

    "And why's that?" I pondered. My index finger traced small circles against his chest as my head rested on his shoulder. His chin rested on top of my head.

    "My parents wanted me to go to therapy after what happened to my brother, but music was my therapy then and still is." he admitted. "It was like a nightmare. They didn't understand what I was going through."

   My heart felt like it had dropped to the floor, but the other part of me understood perfectly. I went through almost the same thing after what had happened to Kenzie. From speech therapy to psychologist, it was all too familiar. Alex's song had struck home right in the heart.

   "All I really needed was a hug," he said. The hint of sadness in his voice made my whole body ache for him.

   "I'm so sorry, baby," I kissed him cheek softly. "I love you so much."

    Alex gently smiled, and gave my lips a small but sweet peck. “I love you more,”

  I rolled my eyes. “And yet you get onto me when I say anything cliché.”

    Alex grinned and chuckled, his hand running through my hair soothingly. “Our entire relationship is cliché babe.” He teased.

      For the rest of the evening, we ended up watching a marathon of Full House, and somehow, ended up falling asleep on the couch sometime between it in each other’s arms.

_______

a.n

I'm so so so so sorry for being incredibly late on the new update. These past two weeks were extremely busy for me and stressful.

And thank you so much for the birthday wishes, I love you guys sm.

ALSO!! CONGRATS TO LISA AND ALEX ON THE ENGAGEMENT HOLY SMOKES I'M SO HAPPY FOR THEM, LISA IS SUCH A SWEETHEART 

- kc Feb/21/2015