The Runaway [Crown The Empire Story]

Chapter 19

(Benn's POV)

Alexandria has been on my mind every hour of every day for the past week. Finally knowing why she was gone for so long has restored my peace of mind.

She never stopped loving me and that fact alone encourages me to keep fighting for her; for us.

My phone starts to ring and when I see her beautiful face on my screen, my smile grows from ear to ear "I was just thinking about you."

"Well then, I would say you're in luck. You've got me."

"I have you on the phone, but I would rather have you next to me." From my end of the line, I hear a faint squeal and her melodic laughter.

In my mind, I can picture her smiling. It's bright and infectious. My heart skips a beat just thinking about it.

"So I have something I need to ask you, Lex."

"Ask away, kind sir!" she says mockingly.

"Well, I dont know if you have ever heard of the APMAS; it's an awards show for artists in my genre and other genres alike. We're nominated for a few things this year and I was wondering if maybe you would be my date?"

"Bennett, I thought you'd never ask!"

"You knew?" "Duh!" she squeaks "Brandon invited Cali and I was kind of hoping you would ask me."

"You were waiting the whole time? Why didn't you bring it up sooner?"

"Why didn't you ask me sooner, mister Vogleman?"

"You got me there" I chuckle "Are you gonna wear something blue? I've always loved you in blue."

"You've got yourself a deal, babe."

"Babe, huh?"

"Yes. It's my new favorite term of endearment. Cali is my babe and so is Brandon."

"My heart...you wound me, Rettino."

"Don't I always?" she laughs and proceeds to jokingly tell me just how much of a heartbreaker she really is.

Everything is going fine until Danny rushes into my room to tell me that Ember is here.

"Hey, I have to go, beautiful. Can I call you later?"

"I don't want you to go. The fun was just starting." she whines.

"And I don't want to go. I would love to just sit here and talk to you for hours on end, but this kind of has to be dealt with right now."

"Okay. Promise you'll call and say goodnight?"

"I promise. Bye gorgeous."

We both linger on the line for a minute, almost as if one of us were waiting for the other to say I love you. I'm dying to say it, but before I can decide on whether or not to, she hangs up.

I can hear Danny and Ember bickering downstairs and it makes me sick.

I wonder what disaster she's going to grace us with next.

(Alexandria's POV)

"Hey you!" Cali shouts at me as she jumps onto my bed "You're all red, Lex. Were you crying?"

"No.I was actually on the phone with Bennett." I say shyly as the blood rushes to my face "I don't think there's a word to describe the way that I feel when I hear his voice, or the way I feel when he's standing right next me; even when he's smiling at me, I just feel like i'm going to implode. "

"I know one." she laughs "Love. That's real, true love. And you're in love with Benn."

"Can I ask you something? And could you be completely honest?" I ask her nervously.

"I'm your best friend, you can ask me anything."

"Is it wrong to love them both?" Tears build in my eyes as my confusion floods my heart "Bennett sets my heart ablaze. He keeps me on my toes and there isn't a day that I don't want more of him. When we're together, I feel like I can take on the world. And Dave's love is the kind that you come across only once every thousand years. But I never feel like he's truly mine. He's there, but it never really feels like he wants to be there."

She moves closer to me and wipes my tears away "I think it's okay, Lex. You love them both, but you love them in different ways. And as much as it might hurt you, you're gonna have to make a choice. Because right now, you're just dragging them around."

"You don't think i'm an awful person?"

"No" she smiles "I do, however, think that you're awfully confused."

Her attempt to make a joke of the current situation makes me laugh. I'm so grateful that she's a part of my life again. Sometimes I wonder how much of a mess i'd be without her.

I don't know what i'm going to do. My head and my heart never feel the same and this could easily be the end of me. 

 **************HEY GUYS***************

SO it took us a lot longer to update than it usually does, and as always, we're very sorry. Alyssa is pretty busy with school and I simply was struggling to write anything for a while. I know this is pretty short of a chapter but it's the best I could do so that I could give you guys SOME kind of update. Alyssa is working on some dialogue for the next chapter and i'll be writing around that so we hope to have another chapter for you guys sometime in the next few days. -NMscares

P.S. Who do you think is the best for Lex & why? Who do you guys think she's gonna choose?