Don't Give Up

Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

                Alex gave me a spare change of clothing from his dresser after things settled down at his house. His white t-shirt he let me borrow reached just a few inches above my knees, and I had to tie the drawstrings on his sweatpants tightly so that it wouldn’t fall off.

                When I came downstairs, Alex was just stepping out his kitchen with two blue mugs in his hands. His hair looked slightly messy, as if he was running his hand through it the entire night. He set down the two mugs on the coffee table, handing me a soft blanket before taking a seat on the couch beside me. I gave him a small smile, as I wrapped the blanket around myself.

                “I made you coffee.” He finally said, breaking the tension in the air.

                I let out a low laugh. “You do realize that it’s three in the morning.”

                Alex clenched his jaw, shrugging. “Yeah, but I guess you’re going to need to stay awake if you’re going to tell me what the hell just happened back at your house.”

                “I don’t have to explain anything to you.” I shot him a look before dropping my gaze to my cold hands. Truthfully, I didn’t want to be so harsh on Alex about it. But, he already knows more than he should.

                “I don’t get what game you’re trying to play with me, Aerial.” He snapped at me, his blue eyes full of fury and frustration. “You go ahead and tell Hayden, but you can’t tell me? After everything that I just saw?”

                My eyes widened, as my neck snapped up towards him. How the hell did Alex know that I told Hayden? I clenched my fists, biting my lower lip. “Hayden told you?” I asked in a low voice.

                Alex stared at me long and hard, before he let out a deep breath of air. “No.” he paused, as I unclenched my fists, frowning with confusion. “But, it was obvious that you had some kind of phobia against alcohol, and I also figured that my best friend knew things about you that I didn’t. I just didn’t know that you were so scared of alcohol because of your dad.”

                So, the cat was out of the box.

                Alex officially knew that my father was a drunk, violent, alcoholic.

                “Why did you tell Hayden instead of me?” he asked.

                I gulped, staring at him, feeling so weak and vulnerable. “Hayden was there for me.”

                “But so was I!” Alex’s eyes hardened. “Why did you keep something like that from me?”

                “You were hiding the fact that your parents are divorced from me! You were hiding the fact that you were so hurt because your dad left you guys.” I snapped, feeling my eyes well up. “You were just as wrong as I was.”

                “I didn’t hide anything. You already knew about that stuff.” His voice lowered.

                “But I had to find it out from your mother! Not you! You never told me anything about it.” My hands shook by my sides. I didn’t want to call Alex out like that, but I had to. It was about time we talked about the tension between us.

                Alex stared at me with a cold and hard expression, before I watch him release the scowl that was on his face. His features softened up, as he sighed. “I just wanted to be there for you. I feel like it’s my entire fault, because if I had known earlier, I could’ve gotten you away from him.”