(1) Talk Me Down: An All Time Low Fanfiction Romance

Chapter 49: Alex

        When I left Veronica's that day, the only thing I felt like doing was curling into my bed and ignoring everybody I knew. Everything had gotten so out of hand, and I didn't know how. I wanted to go back to summer, before I knew Rian, before I was questioning my best friend.

        I wanted to scream out of frustration, but since doing so would only bring questions from my family, and possibly the neighbors, I settled for the next best thing I could think of.

        I ran up to my room, becoming silent when I heard Brenda in her room. I didn't want her to come out and try to talk to me. I closed my door softly and changed quickly into sweatpants, a sports bra and a t-shirt. Opening up my door slowly, I headed back to the stairs, thinking that I was getting out unnoticed, but as I took the first step on the stairs I heard Brenda's door open.

        "Where are you going?" she asked curiously, walking behind me down the stairs.

        "For a run," I muttered, walking quickly towards the door. I was so close.

        "Hey!" Brenda called, and I rolled my eyes to myself, turning to face her at the end of the hallway. She was looking at me with a look of concern, biting on the inside of her cheek. "What is up with you?" she asked.

        "I already told you, Bren, I don't want to talk about it," I said coldly, and reached for the door handle but Brenda was walking towards me, clearly determined not to let me leave without a talk.

        "You need to talk to somebody, and something tells me you can't talk to your friends about it."

        I bit my lip, knowing I was trapped. She wasn't going to let me leave unless I told her something, but I knew the moment I started talking everything was going to spill out.        

        "It's a really long story," I said softly, and Brenda smiled, leading me away from the door to the living room. I settled into the bend of our "L" shaped sofa and Brenda sat at the end, facing me with her legs crossed. I sighed, thinking for a moment.

        "I guess it really started over the summer. I was out for lunch with the girls, and we saw these guys staring at us as we were leaving. We went to a party that night and ran into one of them, and it started a fight between him and his friends and Nolan and some of the other guys."

        I went on to explain the rivalry I'd found out about between the groups, how Rian was in my English class and how he and Zack worked with me. I told her about the second fight that almost happened at theshop and how I thought Rian and his friends weren't as bad as I first assumed.

        I told her everything that happpened with Nolan, our breakup and a little bit about Lindsey.

        I even spoke about everything I did with Rain: how he comforted me after lunch that day, how nice he seemed and that he didn't care who my friends were. I told her everything I thought I knew about him, everything I thought was different about him. When I told her about Katie, Jay and Alex and Veronica, I watched her expression change.

        She was understanding and sympathetic, keeping her mouth shut but nodding and changing her expression to show I was listening. When I was done, she was silent, seeming to take it all in. Then, she was frowning slightly, studying my face.

        "You really believed Veronica?" she wondered, her voice soft and cautious. She knew what she was getting into.

        "Of course I did," I said sharply, scowling at her. This is one of the reasons I didn't want to tell her. She hated Veronica, and I knew she'd lean towards Rian's side.

        "But you said Rian told you it wasn't true, and you know Veronica doesn't like him. She was obviously just trying to cause a problem between you two!" Brenda exclaimed. "And just because his friend Alex is a total douche canoe doesn't mean he is. For all you know Veronica could be lying abotu what happened with her and Rian, too! You can't trust her, Kar!"

        I glared at my sister, feeling my hearbeat speed up in anger. "They're my best friends, I have to believe them. Rian and his friends are all the same, end of story," I said harshly and then stood up, moving away from her quickly. 

        I ignored whatever else she was saying to me as I slammed the door shut, quickly tied my shoes and set off down the street. I forced myself to keep a steady pace, when all I wanted to do was run as fast as I could, as far away as I could.

        My thoughts jumped around in my head, and I was more torn than I was before. There were so many things teling me to believe Rian, that he hadn't slept with Katie and that he hadn't used Veronica. I wanted to believe him because, honestly, I missed having him in my life.

        We may not have been officialy dating, but we were together in a way, and more than that, he'd become a really good friend to me. He was easy to talk to, easy to be around, and it was just different being with him.

        I felt tears stinging my eyes, and I found it too hard to breathe. I slowed down at an intersection on the outskirts of my neighborhood. I hadn't realized how far I'd gone. I wiped angirly at my eyes, and then put my hands on my hips, bending over slightly to try and calm down.

        When I looked up, planning on turning around to head back to my house, I faltered, eyes landing on a car heading my way, a car that did not belong on this side of town. My eyebrows narrowed as I watched the car roll to a stop in front of me. When the door opened and a boy with long, dirty-blonde hair stepped out, my gaze hardened even more.

        "Jeez, don't look too excited to see me. You might hurt yourself," Alex joked, walking smootly towards me.

        "Why the hell are you here?" I hissed, crossing my arms over my chest. Alex's grin fell and he returned my stare with his own hard gaze.

        "I needed to talk to you," He said, his tone even. I rolled my eyes and took a step back.

        "I guess you wasted your time and gas, because I don't want to hear anything you have to say," I snapped. Maybe I was being unfair, but I knew why he was here. He wanted to talk to me about Rian, which surprised me a little. He was going out of his way to help his friend.

        I tried to turn around, but Alex grabbed my arm, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make me stop and turn back.

        "I'm serious, Alex. You're wasting your time."

        "Why? What reason do you have to be mad at Rian? He didn't do anything wrong, and you're just going to walk away like you never gave a shit! That's so fucking messed up!" he shouted back at me.

        "I have my reasons, Alex, and I don't have to explain them to you!" I yelled back.

        "Oh, that's good," Alex laughed darkly, "Did Veronica tell you now to see him anymore? Is that it?"

        "No, I made my own choice to stop seeing him. I think you should know why, after all, after what you did to Jay and after what Rian did to Ronnie," I accused, and I was surprised to see the shift in Alex's expression. His face was blank, but his eyes were giving him away.

        "What happened with your friend has nothing to do with Rian," Alex said stiffly, his voice so much quieter now. "He doesn't deserve what you're doing to him."

        I watched, stunned and angry, as Alex got back into his car and sped off, leaving me alone on the street again.