the fourth roommate » alex ernst

TWENTY SIX

"I cannot believe this," I scrolled through the comments of my last Instagram picture. My pictures usually got around one hundred thousand likes, but the one confirming Alex and I's relationship had almost three hundred thousand, and more than two thousand comments. "I'm famous."

"Don't let it get to your head," Alex laughed from the bathroom, where he was packing his stuff. It was time for us to leave in a few hours, which I was more than thankful for. Vegas was fun and all, but I missed chilling on the couch with Alex back home, and now that we could be openly affectionate, I couldn't wait to go back. Not that we were affectionate before, we hugged and cuddled and held hands at all times, but now we could kiss.

"I'll try. It's kind of hard when you're this famous," I shrugged. "No big deal."

"Can you shut up?" he chuckled at my dumb jokes and I giggled, falling back onto the plush bed as Alex continued to pack our stuff. I would help him, but I was still a bit hungover from the night before, and I didn't really want to stand up.

"Everyone is being nice so far," I mentioned, referring to the comments on our pictures. Of course, there were a few negative comments, but most were 'I knew it' and 'holy shit adorable' and 'wow mom and dad' and other supportive things.

"Of course they are. Our fans are nice."

"Oooh, fans. Someone's a little cocky," I poked his rib as I entered the bathroom and he jerked away from my touch.

"You're rude," he stated simply, pushing me in a loving way and leaving the bathroom. I fixed my bun which at that point was absolutely falling off my head and straightened my glasses. I looked a little rough, but we were just heading home today.

Alex carried our suitcases, and Corinna's because she stayed in our room, to the front of the suite and sat them there. I followed behind him like a puppy, letting him do all the work while I reaped the rewards. His arms looked so good carrying those heavy suitcases, and I was in love.

"I'm in love with you," I smiled, pulling him back when he went to grab the last load of bags. He tried to keep going, but I planted my feet sturdily on the ground and held on for dear life. He was without a doubt stronger than me, but not that much stronger. "Seriously, I'm in love with you."

"I'm in love with you too, now can I finish?" he kissed my forehead, probably because that was the closest to his mouth, and kept moving. I wasn't sure why he was so worried about getting our stuff ready, but I let him do what he wanted. We left about an hour later, and I was stuck in a car with a tired David, Liza, Alex, Toddy and Jason. I was feeling pretty dead too, so although I felt bad for leaving Jason alone to drive, I leaned and rested my head against the window, hand still in Alex's hair to help him sleep. I had tried to pull it away thirty minutes ago, when I thought he was asleep, but he reached up and pulled it straight back down.

I woke him up halfway home because it was absolutely freezing in the car, despite the fact that Jason had turned the air off completely. He unbuckled me and pulled me to the middle seat in the car, wrapping an arm around me tightly. "Jacket?"

I nodded in response and he slipped his black jacket off of his shoulders, sliding it on top of me. I said, "Thank you, love you."

He kissed my cheek in response, burying his face in the crook of my neck and falling back asleep almost instantly. We sat like that until Jason pulled up to our apartment building and I sighed in relief. I jumped out of the car almost immediately, wanting to stretch my legs and warm up. I was still extremely tired but was happy to finally be home with all my people.

"You look pretty in my stuff," Alex grabbed my hands and pulled me into him, planting a kiss right on my lips. He was obviously still tired, eyes not fully open and voice deeper than usual. "Love you."