Lift // Hamliza

• chapter 14 •

• Alexander •

I woke up, rubbing my eyes. I was alone in Eliza's room, under the covers. What happened?

I sat up and looked around the fairly dark room. I saw a little note sitting on the dresser and I assumed it was for me.

My Alexander,
You had a panic attack and fell asleep in the dance room and I carried you here so you could rest. I know how tiring a panic attack can be. I left a glass of water and some Advil in case you have a headache from everything that happened. I also put a little snack but we can eat dinner when you wake up.
Always,
Your Eliza

It all came back to me. The kisses and the panic and being swallowed whole by my past. I don't remember much about my panicking or how Eliza calmed me down or falling asleep. I picked up the glass of water and drank half, then checked the time, which read 5:22 pm.

I climbed out of the bed and neatened it up a bit, swallowing the Advil afterwards because as Eliza predicted, I did have a headache.

I retied my hair without trying too hard and rubbed the rest of the lingering sleepiness from my eyes. Walking down the grand staircase, I spotted Eliza on a couch in the living room, reading a book about the life of Phillipa Soo and her sisters. She glanced up when she heard me descending the steps and gave me a pitying smile.

"How're you feeling?" She asked. I shrugged, embarrassed about everything that had happened over the course of the day. I'd had two breakdowns in front of her, one after we kissed. That's so embarrassing and probably really hurt her feelings. She probably thought it was her fault.

"I don't blame either of us, Alex. It's alright. We all have these kinds of days occasionally and there's not anything we can really do to stop them. But we'll help each other with it, ok?" She said. I nodded and looked away again.

"'M sorry though. I should've held it together better but I couldn't. Thank you for helping me though." I mumbled, tripping over my words a bit. She smiled and told me it was fine.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. I shook my head no and she just nodded in response. Taking my hand in hers, she tugged me onto the couch with her, where her book sat open.

"I know you're tired. So I'm gonna read to you and you can fall asleep to it, ok? You can just stay the night. My dad won't care. Is that ok?" She said. I nodded again and she began to read.

Except I couldn't sleep. Her voice reading through the story was like a song. It changed to fit any emotion of the story and I loved it. Although I wasn't really big on history, I was very intrigued by the life of Phillipa and wanted to hear more. But maybe that was just because Eliza was reading.

She must've thought I was asleep because I was listening with my eyes closed, and she stopped reading. I heard her set the book gently on the floor and she curled up into my chest.

For once, we were content. A lot had happened today, but in the end, I wouldn't change it. Because then me and my Eliza probably wouldn't be snuggled up like this right now. We wouldn't have kissed and solved our life problems. Even through the problems it all ended up fine.