and then you left // cth

chapter 13: different

alexis

When I awake from the sound of a text, my exhausted and unreliable brain assumes it's Mia.

But no, Mia and I haven't been friends in a while. Once Calum came into my life, we began to drift apart. There was so fighting, no yelling, so hatred or gossip. But I was busy with Calum and my mind and my writing. She was busy with dancing and her boyfriends and whatever else she was doing. There came a point when there just wasn't a point in us being friends anymore. We didn't have much in common. So little by little, we drifted apart.

And then one day we stopped saying hello in the halls.

I fumble for my phone that rests on the nightstand that Gram chose for me, and smile as it lights up with a missed call from Luke.

Last night, he had decided to nickname me, despite my reaction when he tried calling me Lex. The only person that had ever called me that before in my life was Calum, and in a sense, I still felt it needed to be reserved for him, despite the bad memories I now associate with the name.

And so, Luke had announced that he would call me Alex, after staring at me for a while. I liked this name and had never even thought of it in connection with my name. It was new and fresh, and so was this friendship.

I was beginning to feel like my old self again, although my memories of this version of me were limited, at best.

"Alex!" Luke pronounces with excitement as he answers my call. I can't help but laugh.

"Lucifer!" I proclaim, only to hear him groan in response.

"Now, Alex. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful that you want to return my favor with a nickname, I really am. But please, Lucas and Lucifer are off limits. Neither are my real name. My name is literally just Luke."

"Okay, Just Luke," I respond, and he laughs.

"Well good morning, despite," he says.

"Good morning Lucifer!"

"Nicknames aside, when was the last time you went exploring?" he asks, peaking my interest.

"Exploring what? My sexuality?" I joke, fishing for more information.

"Yes, Alex. That is exactly what I meant. No, I mean exploring the city." His voice hints that he is both amused and excited, and I can't remember a time when I have been both of those things.

"Um, not since I was little. Gram doesn't like sightseeing. She's more about sitting in the living room with her knitting and soap operas." I tell him, and he gasps with false shock, triggering even more laughter.

"Well as much as I would love to knit with the two of you, I was planning on going to grab a coffee. Is there any chance you would want to come?" he asks. A voice in the back of my head screams at me to say no, and to spend the day in bed as I have for the past six months. But before this voice can persuade me, I give him my answer.

"Yes, that sounds fun."

"Great, come over in an hour?" he asks, and for the first time in so long, I am excited to do something.

...

luke

"Shit," I mutter as the doorbell rings, announcing Alex's arrival.

I check my reflection once again in the mirror, and kind of shove my fingers through my hair in an attempt to tame it. Once I'm annoyed enough to give up, I stuff some money and my phone in my pockets and head to the door.

I just about run down the stairs and am about to open the door when I hear a giggle come from behind me.

My heart racing at the sudden noise, I whip around to see Alex and my mum standing in the kitchen, watching me with amusement on their faces.

Alex is wearing shorts and a light blue shirt. And at a closer view, I see that she's wearing nude colored fishnets, something I've never seen before. I've only seen black ones, worn by people like the cashiers at Hot Topic. It's a subtle but intriguing touch. She looks different than she did last night, she looks almost enlightened.

She looks slightly relieved to see me, probably because I just relieved her of duty to make awkward small talk with my mum.

"Hey." I say to her, and she smiles.

"Hey."

...

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