Respiration {on hold-ish}

Chapter Five | from this day forward

I sat there in silence for what could've been an eternity until the piercing whistle of the kettle pulled me from my empty headed stupor. I steadily pushed myself up from the cold hardwood floor and wiped at the dried up tears resting upon my cheeks. I mechanically turned off the stove and removed the now unneeded kettle from the heated spot. After dumping the useless water down the sink drain, I sluggishly plod up the stairs and collapsed onto my bed. I swiftly fell asleep again, knowingly pushing off the stack of homework I had due to another day.

-

I woke the next day to the sun shining through my blinds and my alarm clock blaring the all too familiar sound of All Time Low's song 'Somewhere in Neverland'. Letting out a greatly over exaggerated groan, I rolled over and hit the top of the clock casting my room into a comforting silence once again. I paused for a moment, basking in the warmth of my blankets before forcing myself to leave my protective cocoon.

I showered quickly and then followed through with my daily morning routine. Outfit. Makeup. Hair. Food. Backpack. School.

I quickly looked up the temperature for the day on my phone before sifting thorough the clothes hanging in my closet. I opted for a pair of dark skinny jeans, and a purple, long sleeve t-shirt that I received after helping at a charity event a few years back. I put on my usual makeup consisting of foundation, concealer, eye liner, mascara, and Burts and Bees Chapstick and threw my hair up into a simple (but effective) ponytail. I strode downstairs and into the kitchen. I quickly swiped an apple off of the counter and bit into it, the sound of my crunching being the only one in the house.

After I finished off my apple, I threw the core into the trash can and snatched my coat off the hook by the door. Tossing my backpack over my shoulder, I made my way outside the frigid air, goosebumps appearing on my skin. I fished my keys out from the side of my bag and quickly locked the house up and then tossed them back into where they belonged. Next I pulled out my phone and fluidly unwrapped my earbuds from around it and stuffed them into my ears. Hitting shuffle I then finally started making my way to the gates of hell. I was lost between a mist of halsey and empty headed wonders that I almost didn't notice the sleek white Volvo slow down besides me. Almost.

A loud honk caused me to nearly jump out of my skin and in the shock of the moment I felt my precious phone slip from my fingers and crash to the ground. I let out a high pitched squeal before speedily lifting my phone from the ground. I inspected it for any damage, but luckily everything had remained intact. Loud laughter filled the air around me and I looked up and focused my glare onto the boy who had almost cost my iPhone it's life. Not even wanting to speak a word to the vicious culprit, I simply flipped him off and continued walking. Only this time I had slightly picked up the pace in an effort to get away.

"Wait Felicity where are you going?" Announced the all too familiar and all too annoying voice.

"School." I kept my eyes trained on the sidewalk in front of me, but I still could hear the soft purr of Alec's Volvo as he unhurriedly drove next to me.

"It's cold out, I can drive you if you want?" He offered.

"I'm fine."

"Your nose is as red as a cherry and I'm pretty sure your lips are turning blue. You sure as hell aren't 'fine'."

"Alec come on, just leave me alone." I pleaded.

"No Felicity, you come on and get into the car before I get out and force you into it."

"Wow now you're threatening to kidnap me. I think you've hit you're all time low Alec Noble." A smug smile made its way onto my partially chapped lips.

"I don't think it's necessarily a low if I'm doing it to help prevent you from getting frost bite."

"Oh shut up, it's not even cold enough for me to get frost bite."

"Are you insane or just plain old stupid? It's thirty-one degrees outside, it most definitely is cold enough for you to get frost bite!" He fought back.

"If I get in your damn car will you shut up?" I asked crossing my stiff arms over my equally freezing chest.

"Maybe I will. Maybe I won't."

"Whatever." I caved, not being able to stand the wintry air any longer.

Alec slowly drove the car to a stop and unlocked the passenger door for me. Stepping into the leather filled vehicle, I immediately relaxed as soon as my body hit the pre-heated seat.

"See isn't that better?" He confidently asked.

"Maybe." His loud laughter filled the air once again.

"You truly are something Flea." Soon after he said that the atmosphere fell into a comfortable silence, and we both stayed quiet and focused in our own little worlds. I silently bobbed my head to the quiet music that Alec turned on. That's how we stayed for the remainder of the car ride until Alec finally pulled into the school parking lot. He backed into a spot and turned off the car before we both stepped out. I missed the warmth of his car the second my feet hit the ground, the temperature had certainly dropped a lot compared to yesterday. Slamming the door shut I let out a 'thank you' directed towards Alec and headed towards the main entrance, but before I could get too far Alec's voice called out for me to wait and despite everything in me saying to ignore him I found myself coming to a halt.

I turned around to face him and noticed a familiar patterned backpack in his grasp. "Forgetting something?" He raised it up higher giving me a better look at the bag  that I had almost left.

"Oh right..." I said awkwardly reaching out for it. He went to hand it to me but just as my hand grazed the material he pulled it back out of my reach.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you carry this thing?" He asked, earning a shrug from me. "Felicity this thing weighs a ton! Any gentleman in his right mind would never let a fair lady like yourself do such tedious work."

"Alec it's a backpack not a bomb." I blatantly stated. "And really 'fair lady'? Where are we the Victorian Era?" He just shook his head and ignored my sad excuse for a sarcastic comeback.

"From this day forward I plan on driving you to and from school whether you like it or not. I will also walk you to your first period everyday and to any classes we have together after. I'll also be joining you for lunch." I didn't even get a chance to respond because we had already arrived outside of my first class for the day. He handed me my bag and sped off before I could even begin to protest.

Letting out a very loud and very dramatic sigh, I turned and pushed the class door open, walked in, and dropped myself onto my usual seat. This was going to be a long day.