ᴴᵉᵃᵗʰᵉᶰˢ ⁻⁻⁻⁻

sage was relieved to have a day where she could just take it easy at her place considering she didn’t feel that great. It was probably her nerves that were making her feel so horrible. Sage smiled softly as she noticed that it was Alex who arrived at her front door. Her best friend. “Thank you so much. You are a hero.” She commented softly moving to let the male into her place shutting the door behind him. She was lucky to have a friend like him who accepted her so easily when she wasn’t dressed. “I have a lot of thoughts going through my mind about everything that’s been going on.. it’s just overwhelming.” She couldn’t hide anything from Alex no matter how hard she tried. He knew her better then she knew herself sometimes. “It almost makes me sick to my stomach.“

              Alex had made way to the kitchen where he began to unpack the bagels onto it’s own individual plate. To merely HEAR Sage mention about her emotions about the recent events caused Alex to worry -- who wouldn’t? She was his best friend and it would be impossible to ignore the sensation of it. He had brought out a knife to cut his own bagel in half to make it easier to consume.  ❝ Well, I don’t blame you. People we knew were killed, Sage --- ❞ Alex said to her, the placed down the knife. He was finished using it. ❝ You know you can tell me anything, right? ❞

             He pulled up to the spot, the music’s bass blasting through the speakers -- he could care less for who heard it right now. Alex hadn’t been aware that another person was at his place. He was too involved in himself; wanting to drink all the beer bottles and forget reality as it was. He cut the engine off, but kept the headlights on it’s high beams. He needed the light if he was going to open the bottles -- the moon wasn’t bright enough that night. He grabbed the bottles and began to make way toward his spot. It wasn’t until he heard the faintest sound of sniffling that indicated that he wasn’t alone. Who’s there? he wanted to ask, but the question never came out. Stepping around some, he finally found his answer -- SYLVIA. He let out a dry laugh -- ❝ Are you shitting me right now? Sylvia, what in the HELL are you doing here? ❞ he asked her.

matthewdaddario: The cat didn’t do it.

“A cliff would be less messy. I could say he tripped and fell. We were on a date. And I’m devestated,” Ryder said dramatically. “Honestly still trying to come up with the best response to sexual harassment.”

            ❝ You still went out on a DATE with the guy even after he harassed you? ❞ Alex asked her, utterly confused. He paused for a moment, fingers pressed to his lips as he contemplated over a plan. ❝ This probably isn’t the BEST idea since the guy might get crazy and try to kill me, but --- ❞ he began hesitantly. ❝ What if you pretended to be my ... girlfriend? Do you think he’d spring off and leave you alone? ❞

“Well even so, some people tell her to leave them alone,” Adina shrugged, grabbing Ivanna’s hand and placing it in Alexei’s. “Both of you, stay together, and stay with me,” she stated. Before turning back to the man in front of her, “I appreciate it when people actually let her. She just wants to be friends with everyone,” Adina laughed. “Wha-” she started before she recognised him, “Alex! Hey! How’s everything been?” Adina asked, smiling. Her dad had avoided her mom’s family in Lakewood since the funeral, and Adina was so busy with the twins, she hadn’t really seen anyone much.

          It had been ages since he’d last seen his cousin. To see a familial face was only comforting -- especially since it had been Adina. Rare it was to see him smile, Alex did so, the corners of his lips rising. ❝ Nothing but an absentee mother can change --- ❞ he replied. ❝ But you’re here -- that makes things feel not so empty as before. What about you? How has everything been? ❞ It was refreshing, her being here.

              Finally, he began working on the appliance. Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at her comment. ❝ Well, I apologize for taking your chance to be the star aiming to pull her best moody performance while on your period, ❞ he joked, unscrewing a piece of the oven. ❝ And if you couldn’t have guessed by now --- I’m not like most guys. It’s one reason why I haven’t been reluctant to show you my half nakedness -- unless you gave me a decent reason to do so. Aside from gawking at it, that is. ❞

         Sure, he was judgmental when it came to his classmates. But Alex didn’t take it as a sign of arrogance. Then again, his perception from other people could often be mistook for it -- something he hardly ever considered. ❝ To some degree, perhaps. But doesn’t EVERYONE else do the same? ❞

“I couldn’t bring myself to say goodbye to you… If I said good bye it would have made leaving real, I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay with you, Alex.” Sylvia turned and moved closer to him. She looked up at him, tears slipping down her cheeks,”If you were in my position, begging and begging to stay, would you have wanted to say good bye to the most important person in your life and finally accept that you couldn’t do anything? That you were leaving whether you wanted to or not…?”

             His eyes casted downward, glancing at his boots before bringing them back to her own gaze --- her tear stained gaze as she begged him to forgive her. That would never happen; he could guarantee it. ❝ I wouldn’t know because I’d never be in your position, ❞ he responded harshly. 

                         He was on bagel duty this week. After dropping off a hot one at Ryder’s house (both for her and her sister), Alex made way toward Sage’s house. It was the weekend and Alex was finally free that day from work and school to do whatever he wished. Whatever that was... He bounced back and forth between staying home and going through his mother’s files again for the millionth time or to actually go out and live life as he should. He chose the second option and decided to spring a surprise visit to his best friend’s place -- though perhaps it was a bad idea to do, due to all the recent events and all. But that didn’t register in his brain. All he wanted to do was make Sage smile by bringing her a bagel for breakfast. So when the door opened for him after the set of knocks, followed by Sage’s greeting and comment on her appearance, he held up the bag that displayed The Grind House’s logo. ❝ I brought morning refreshments -- ❞ he explained. Something was OFF about her -- he could sense it. Perhaps it was a best friend’s intuition. ❝ You alright? ❞ he asked her with a slight frown. ❝ You seem tense. ❞

Sage was surprised that she hadn’t heard of the fall fair. She frowned a little at the thought that she didn’t. Sage was often pretty up to date with those kind of events. “I haven’t heard about it but I would love to go there with you. It sounds like a lot of fun.” She said as she climbed into the passenger seat of the car Alex had. “This is a really nice car.” She commented as she looked at the inside of it.

              A smile came to his lips. ❝ It’s Tim’s. You can tell him that when we return this baby back to him -- ❞ Alex responded and turned the vehicle onto the freeway. ❝ I’m sure it is. Plus, it’ll also give me an excuse to get the mother an apple cobbler. She’s coming home later today, you know. I’m not sure how I should feel about that. What with everything that’s been happening recently. ❞

Sage looked over at her best friend and she tried to offer a soft smile just to try and soothe Alex a little bit more. “Well, I’m a good friend and I once talked you into leaving a pair there in-case things happen.” She said with a small laugh at his last comment. “It’s going to be okay. I have it all sorted out. You just have to come with me, okay?” She questioned a little bit. Sage wanted to know that he was going to be okay for the night. She really cared about him.

            ❝ I did? ❞ he asked and searched for her hand to hold. Another confused expression spread across his face as he tried to stand. ❝ If I come with you, don’t tell your mom what happened tonight. ❞ Alex was unsure WHY it was important for Sage’s mother to not know about the harassment he had given his lover and her husband, but he felt that it was important... Or perhaps it wasn’t at all important that her mother didn’t know. He was simply puzzled. ❝ Let’s go before husband douche bag comes out and fires at me with his -- ❞ he paused, forming his fingers to mimic a pistol. ❝ BB Gun. ❞

She inhaled deeply, unable to stop the tears from forming any longer. “You think I never realized that you were Sage’s?! I had to see you two together every moment of every day when we got back to reality…” She bit into her bottom lip and looked over at him, heart break showing on her face,”How could I say goodbye to you? Up until the very moment I left… I couldn’t face the fact I was leaving. I begged and begged until the car drove us out of Lakewood. I never wanted to leave you, Alex. I’m so sorry I hurt you, but it hurt me too!”

              She was crying; he could hear it in her voice. The way it shook and sounded plugged up. Well, GREAT. He felt better than before -- not so tipsy or drunken with anger toward the older woman and her husband. It all had passed, so he stood to his feet with ease. ❝ Reality’s a bitch. I learnt that the hard way when we shared our time with one another -- ❞ he spat, peering down at her. ❝ We both were hurt, I’ll agree with you on that. But our friendship was based on a fantasy that you wanted to escape to because you hated your reality with YOUR crowd. ❞ This was the truth he had concluded to after all these years. So with a sniff (his nose was beginning to run due to the cold air that the night often contained), he turned his back to her. ❝ The only reason why you missed me was because you didn’t have your fantasy anymore and you were lost. ❞

“Іванна Николаївна! Не їжте це!” Adina yelled as she walked quickly into the cafe, Alexei in tow as her sister held a stir stick from the cafe. She weaved through the people between her and her five year old sister, who was now talking to someone, going on about their cats, Nadezhda and Odessa. “Hey, oh my Gods, thank you for distracting Ivanna so I didn’t have to chase her even more!”

                    A good cup of joe was needed consistently before work started for him each morning or afternoon, depending on the time of day. So when he felt a tug on his oil stained jean, Alex couldn’t help but kneel down to the young girl’s height as she told an elaborate story about her cats. The little girl then noted that he looked familiar and that she thought that she had seen her from somewhere. But just as he was about to explain to her that it was impossible to have seen him anywhere, an older, more mature voice broke in, thanking him for the distraction he had provided for the young girl, whom he had learned that her name had been Ivanna. Alex didn’t give the adult recognition at first -- he was busy standing himself back up and grabbing his ready drink. ❝ She came up to me and distracted her herself. All I did was listen --- ❞ He turned finally and in midway of taking a sip of his drink, a small frown of surprise formed between his brows. He recognized her -- the woman -- ❝ ADINA --? ❞