Chapter 26:
I'll Do What I Got To Thanks so much to for awtr101fan and
afta4ever for reviewing. I really do appreciate it! Keep em coming
guys! Let me know what you like and don't like..
Maybe I should hate
you for this
Never really did ever quite get that far
Maybe I
should hate you for this
Never really did ever quite get that...
I'd never lie to you
Unless I had to I'll do what I got to
-Taking Back Sunday, "You're So Last Summer"
Fulton's eyes flicked open. Alex was right, you could tell when it snowed. Well, ok, it had been snowing last night when he was coming back from the hospital. But this felt different. For some reason he could just tell there was a snow on the ground, a good amount of snow not just a dusting. Maybe he'd only noticed because Alex pointed it out to him that night. Or maybe it was because it was Minnesota and snow was not something special in Minnesota, it was expected.
Alex was still sleeping next to him. Being careful to to wake her, he untangled himself from her legs and the blankets. Something was up. Fulton had never, ever seen Alex act like she had last night. Not even when they got into the big fight and she refused to speak to him for days on end. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, debating whether it was better to let her sleep or wake her up.
Sleep was the only time when Alex really looked vulnerable. She was cute when she slept. Like now, she was curled up on her sides, her hands tucked under her head and her mouth open slightly. This was the only time that Alex was predictable, calm. Sometimes, Fulton felt like his girlfriend was just a whirlwind of emotions, stubbornness, and spontaneity. And he loved that about her, but sometimes a break was nice. Moving the blankets around had caused six inches of the skin on the small of Alex's back to be exposed.
Fulton noticed and couldn't resist. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Portman was asleep. No one was in Portman's bed and it looked like it'd hadn't been touched. Fulton looked at the patch of skin again. He probably should let her sleep...but the urge came over him once more and he lightly ran his hand up the patch of skin and under her shirt. Her skin was warm and satin soft. She sighed a little and rolled over on to her back.
"Hey, ya feelin' better?" he asked her. Alex's groggy eyes flicked open and closed.
"Mmm."
She breathed in reply. She arched her back slightly to stretch then
yawned before turning towards her brother's bed. "Dean never
came back last night?" she asked, her brow furrowed with worry.
"Nah, said he was on a date though dude. Wonder with who..."
"Sam." Alex answered automatically and nimbly jumped over Fulton and out of bed.
'Alex be nimble, Alex be quick.' Fulton thought to himself wryly as he realized his girlfriend was up, energizes, and ready to go for the day already. He watched as she checked her cell phone, probably to see if she missed a call from her brother. A few seconds later she was pulling on her cold, wet clothes from last night and heading towards the door.
"Where are you goin'?"
"I've got stuff to do...I'll catch up with you later." She replied, not bothering to even turn towards him. She was out the door in a matter of seconds. Fulton was floored. She'd barely acknowledge him. No hello, no thanks, no kiss. Just worry over her brother.
Something was up.
ZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZXZ
Fulton waited patiently for hours. Something about Alex's mood last night and this morning put him on edge. He tried everything his could think of to distract himself, but thanks to the snow he was limited to indoor activities only. He even went to the common room to see if anyone was hanging out there. Finding only Connie and Guy watching a movie together, he left, still worried about Alex.
Portman came back around noon, an impish yet satisfied grin on his face. "Yo, dude." He said, tossing his leather jacket over his desk chair. He took off his snow-caked boots and jumped on his bed. Stretched out with his arms behind his head, he turned towards Fulton with a satisfied smile. "That girl wa--"
"What's up with your sister?" Fulton interrupted, turning away from his computer. He was waiting for Alex to log on line so he could talk to her. He gave up on distracting himself around and hour ago.
"'What's up with my sister?'" Portman repeated incredulously. "My sister? I just spent the whole night on a date, and you're askin' about my sister?""She was actin' weird last night, dude." Fulton tried to make up for not caring about Portman's latest conquest. "Came back here crying, with that shrink guy she's been seeing."
"She was crying?Alex doesn't cry." Portman's smile of triumph faltered now and Fulton hoped Portman's interest in his sister's well-being would be helpful. "She was hangin' out with her band last night...Where is she?"
"I dunno. I was hoping you'd find out..."
"How I am supposta do that?"
"Dude! I dunno! Use your twin ESP or whatever it is."
"We don't just turn that off and on, ya know." Portman replied, clearly annoyed. But Fulton saw him close his eyes and concentrate. Both boys were uncharacteristically quiet. Portman finally spoke. "I think she's... I guess anxious? I dunno dude, but I'd bet she's running."
"The gym's closed today. And it's freezin' out."
"Ya think things like winter and locked doors ever stopped my sister?"
"True." Fulton said pulling on his heavy jacket and tying a bandana around his head. He grabbed his fingerless gloves as an extra precaution. "I'll see ya later." He called to Portman as he left the room.
"Yeah, ya better be ready to
hear about my date! Man, girl was ama--" Portman's bragging was
cutoff when Fulton closed the door. Now, he just needed to find
Alex.
ZXZXZXZXZX
She was running around the outdoor track. The most obvious place, yet the last place Fulton looked for her. He'd assumed that with the snow, Alex would stick to the plowed pathway and roads around campus. He was wrong. Approaching the track, he noticed the clean circle beaten into the snow by Alex's pounding feet.
'That girl is completely out of her fucking mind.' He thought as he fought his way through the snow to a dip in the chain link fence that surrounded the track. Despite the snow, it was a clear and sunny day. The sun bounced off the snow and hurt his eyes, adding to the water collecting in them from the biting cold.
"Alex!" Fulton called, cupping his hands around his mouth to make the sound carry further. The figure running gracefully around the track barely looked up, but Fulton caught the slight jerk of Alex's head that acknowledged his presence. She slowed to a stop as she approached where he was standing.
"You're crazy," Fulton shook his head. "There's snow on the ground and you are running at the outdoor track?"
"I've got a jacket, at least." She replied, panting slightly with her hands resting on her knees. "What's up?"
"I was gonna ask you that." Fulton said, leaning on the waist-high chain link fence that surrounded the track. "You left pretty quick this morning."
Alex shrugged. "Had stuff to do...shower, homework..."
"Polar jogging session?"
"Honestly, it's not that bad." she insisted. "You should join me sometime."
"Yeah, not happening dude. Don't you should stick to indoor stuff, at least for a little while?"
"I'm thinking about kickboxing or something." Alex relented, titling her head to one side.
"Yeah, that sounds better." Fulton placated her, but wondered if another high contact sport was the best thing for someone with as much energy as Alex.
"Ok, can I run again?" Alex asked. The lack of conversation was clearly annoying her.
"As soon as you tell me what's goin' on."
"I don't know what you are talking about." She tried to play dumb, but it failed. She was too smart for that and Fulton knew it.
"Last night...the crying..." He supplied the situation, hoping it would provide a catalyst for her explanation. That seemed to annoy her more.
Alex faked a look of sudden realization. "Oh, I just...had an emergency session with my therapist." She fibbed.
"That guy is your therapist?"
"Yeah, Tom." Alex rolled her eyes. "He's a pain in the ass."
"Ok, so why were you crying like that? Isn't therapy...supposed to help or somethin'? Make you not cry?"
"I'm fine Fulton." Alex replied through gritted teeth. "Drop it."
"Hey, wait, dude..." Fulton recalled the discussion he had with Portman about an hour ago. "Portman said you hung out with those kids from your band last night."
"So?"
"So, if you were hangin' out with them, what's with the 'emergency therapy session'?"
"Fine, I was with my band."
"Ok, then why did Tom bring ya back? And why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not lying to you!" Alex spat bad, not only irritated now, but also defensive.
"Alex, what's goin' on?"
Alex looked away and stomped her foot impatiently. "Fine. Fine. I was out the band. I fell asleep at Andy's house. He woke me up 'cuz I was late for curfew. And then, I was groggy and disorientated, and...and I cheated on you."
"You slept with someone else?!" Fulton meant to sound calm, but the words came out about fifty decibels higher than anything that could be characterized as calm. For a moment, he felt as though the ground had caved out from underneath him.
"NO! I only kissed him, well he kissed me...I didn't know what was going on, but as soon as I figured it out, I pulled away...I ran out of that apartment. I swear." Alex insisted. Her eyes were pleading with him, begging him to understand. Fulton suddenly stood up straight.
"Ok." He said simply, retreating a few steps back from the fence.
"Is that all you're going to say? 'Ok'?" Alex had a weird look in her eyes, almost as though she was prepared to fight this fight to the death.
"Yeah." He replied quietly, turning around and following his footsteps back through the snow.
"Fulton! Fulton!" Alex called after him. The effort was futile; Fulton knew that there was no way he was turning around right now. It would reveal too much. He shouted back an answer, not sure if she'd hear it.
"I'll catch up with ya later...I need some time to...clear my head." He choked out. As he retreated, the image of Alex, standing amid a pile of snow in running gear and absolutely devastated flooded his mind. It hurt him to even think of the look on her face but...
He was absolutely crushed.
ZZXZXZXZX