Chapter Twelve

"Thanks," he said softly, taking the offered cup of coffee, breathing in the somewhat bitter aroma as he leaned back on the couch, cursing quietly when his neck protested. It still hadn't recovered from his night in the armchair. "So, how has your day been?" he asked, the words sounding a little bitter.

Alex shrugged and sat down beside him, stretching out to put her feet on the coffee table. "Boring. Your day must have been pretty eventful, though." He chuckled without humor at that and sighed, sipping his coffee. "How is she doing, anyway?"

"O, she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps; and now falls on her bed; and then starts up, and Tybalt calls; and then on Romeo cries, and then falls down again," he said with a wave of his hand.

She widened her eyes in surprise. "I didn't know that you read Shakespeare."

Chris closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch, trying to ignore the pounding that was deep in his mind. "It's been awhile, and I can't be sure that it's word for word, but I know my Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet seems to apply in this case, and that God awful cover that Leonardo DiCaprio did." Very slowly, he opened his eyes and sat forward, drinking his coffee for a moment before turning to her. "Surprised you, didn't I?"

"You don't seem like the Shakespeare kind of guy. You look more like a...Stephen King kind of guy, if you ask me, but hey, I have no problem with the classics. I just can't quote them like you can."

Laughing, he reached forward to put the mug down on the table. "Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn. You know, that's the only thing that I could think of last night. It kept repeating itself over and over, until I thought that I was going crazy. I have no doubt that they're both thinking something along those lines." Pausing, he tilted his head and stared at the fire in front of him. "I think that's why I stay away from it all the time. Most of the time. And quite willingly, if you ask me."

With a frown on her face, she turned on the couch, tucking her legs under her, until she could see him without turning her head. "You stay away from what?"

"Love. Relationships. Commitment. Everyone always says that I'm afraid of commitment, that's why I never really end up getting involved with someone, and if I do, it never lasts. It's not that. It's just that I know what's going to happen. Last night...well, this morning, that was just another example of why I leave all that crap alone. Life is hard enough as it is."

Tucking her light brown hair behind her ears, she smiled hesitantly. "That's a pretty narrow view of it. To just leave it at that...I don't know. I can't say that I've ever been seriously connected with a person, but even I have a little hope."

He smirked and ran his hand through hair, pushing it back from his forehead. In all of the activity that day, all of the running back and forth he had done, paying such close attention to Brooklyn, he had paid little attention to himself. His hair unstyled, glasses on instead of putting in his contacts, dressed in a plain sweater and jeans...he looked nothing like himself. But he also didn't feel like himself. Not the happy-go-lucky Chris that all of the world seemed to see, and not the serious-minded, sarcastic Chris that all of his friends and family knew. He had a choice between two different personas, but he wasn't using either of them. He had created a new one. Just another voice in his head to deal with, he thought ruefully.

"Hope is overrated. It's a fable, a myth. Not real. If I could quote the dictionary definition, I would, but I think that Shakespeare impressed you enough. Hope, in my life, is officially dead. The word is going to be erased from my mind after this." Shaking his head, he groaned. "I don't think you understand, Alex. For us, for everyone...Brooklyn and JC were our saving grace."

Making a face, she leaned a little closer to him to pick up on the soft words. "Excuse me? Brooklyn and JC?"

He rolled his eyes when he realized what he had said. "Yeah. Brooke's real name and J...Josh's nickname. Sorry. We probably should have told you before, but those names cause a little commotion most of the time," he explained, wanting nothing more than to smack his head against the closest wall. "It just that, privacy, the one thing we all crave is something that we can't have. We try, in the strangest ways, to get just a little piece of that."

"That's perfectly understandable," she said quietly, thinking about how many lies SHE had spread about herself. He was at least admitted to some of them, something that she couldn't do. "But please, go on. How could those two be everyone's saving grace, as you put it?"

Biting the inside of his lip, he thought about how to go about answering that question without letting any more information slip. Without saying outright how much it meant to him to see the two of them together and happy, and what it meant for him. "It's...they're called the Golden Couple for a reason. They're perfect for each other. They were made for each other. Best friends, couple, soul mates...they've been called everything under the sun, and it's all true." Without even realizing what he was doing, he got up off the couch and walked over to the fire, standing in front of it for a moment, before he started pacing with his words. "They're...Brooke and JC. There's no other way to look at it. And it was always the two of them. Not just one, but both of them.

"It's the perfect relationship, and I've said that more than enough times myself. It wasn't always perfect, no, sometimes it was downright ugly like it is now, but that's a part of who they are. As people and as a couple. They compliment each other so well, and it's not like they're one of those couples that make you practically gag every time you see them together. They joke around, they're best friends...it's the perfect medium.

"But they give hope to everyone that doesn't have something like that. They gave hope to all of us, and a lot of other people around the world. Those two managed to find each other, somehow they did, and that means that every other person could, too. That means that I could. Find that perfect person, that perfect love, the thing that you search all your life for."

He continued to pace, but without talking now, running his hands through his hair unconsciously, messing it up more than it had been before. Alex followed him with her eyes, starting to feel a faint dizziness as she moved her eyes from side to side with his quick, almost angry step. "Chris...Chris, could you please sit down? I feel like I'm on a roller coaster, and I'm not too good with them."

Looking up, he was almost surprised to have her voice break into his private thoughts, almost surprised to notice that someone else was in the room. Someone that was watching him and listening to every word he had to say. He had already gone too far, let too many of his feelings and thoughts show, so he figured that he shouldn't stop there.

But he did go and sit down again, holding his head for a moment. "That really didn't help my headache," he mumbled, losing his eyes against the more intense pounding.

"Do you want some aspirin or something?" she asked, unsure of how to go about the whole situation. This wasn't something that she was accustomed to, but it looked like he wasn't really, either.

"No, I'll be fine. I'd rather deal with the pain. The past few hours have made me feel pretty dead, so it's nice to know that there's a part of me that's still alive, even if it does feel like an out of control jackhammer that's pounding against my head. Besides, I have to finish what I was saying."

She nodded in understanding. That was the hardest part to do, ever since she had opened her door at his knock and saw him standing there with that lost and confused look on his face, looking nothing like the quick witted man she had first despised. Understand where he was coming from, and understand what he was trying to say, but so far, she had been doing okay. "I'm not going to stop you."

Taking a deep breath, he continued on with his speech, speaking in a monotone voice now, no real emotion behind it. "I have no idea what happened to get them to that point. They had a disagreement, I know that, but this wasn't just any fight. I mean, Brooke was fluent in curse words that night, and she was calling him everything under the sun and a few things that were hidden in the shadows. And he was the same. I mean, I've called her a bitch before. He's called her a bitch before. I meant it before, he didn't. But he meant it this time, and he didn't stop with just that. It didn't matter what it meant, he called her that. I never...he even reduced himself to calling her a whore, according to Lance. He accused me...everyone in the damned house, of sleeping with her, because he ran out of things to say.

"But THAT. THAT is not them. And I know that I'm involved in this somehow," he stated, his voice starting to rise and take on emotion again. It sounded a hell of a lot better to her than the dead tone he had been using before. He sounded human again. "I know it. She won't tell me anything, he won't tell me anything. Believe me when I say that Brooke tells me everything. She's never really held back from me, but this time...she's making pathetic excuses of why she can't tell me, and I go along with them, because I KNOW that I don't want to hear what either of them has to say, but at the same time, I need to know."

"You need to understand," Alex said, moving on the couch to a more comfortable position. "You can't stand not knowing, can you?"

His head shook furiously. "It's not that. I can deal with not knowing, I guess. It's just the fact that she's my best friend. I look up to her. I've...never really admitted to that before, but it's true. If you knew what she has gone through in her life, all the things she had to overcome, all the things that she had to endure because of a few really cruel people that cared only for themselves, you'd understand. It's not my place to tell, it's not my story, but if I could tell you, I would. And she has been through a lot, and that's why I look up to her and wish that I could have the same strength and restrain that she does."

Smiling softly, Alex reached forward and brushed a piece of hair away from his eye. She hadn't even noticed what she had done, and it didn't look like he did, either. She settled back and waited for him to continue, her mind completely on the story that he was telling. "It doesn't sound like she had a lot of restrain last night."

"Neither did he. I can't put the blame on just one of them, but I can't help but to side with her. She takes things a lot more seriously than he does. She remembers every word and every insult that's bee thrown at her over the years. She doesn't forget, doesn't let herself forget. She's been broken down and stripped to nothing so many times in her life, and it just happened again. I've only seen her so...so...naked once in my life. And even though I was mad at her at the moment, or disappointed in how she was acting, she had never scared me so much before. I thought that nothing could top that, but she finally managed to do it. I didn't WANT it to happen, and I most certainly didn't want to be a witness to it, but I was and I am."

Shaking her head, she leaned back and sunk into one of the pillows beside her. "I don't get why you would put yourself in the middle of this. I mean, you could have left the two of them alone, and let them work through it, but instead, you got involved. Why?"

She could tell by his eyes that he was remembering something, she could tell by the faraway, dreamy look on his face. And he was getting more and more upset with every passing minute. Not angry, but saddened. "They would have destroyed each other. With their words and their actions. She was ready to punch him. Do you know how far you have to push her until she snaps and tried to hit you?" He immediately answered his own question, as rhetorical as it was. "No, I guess you don't. But it takes a lot. Pushing, shoving...that's all playing around for us. She's slapped him before, but that was out of desperation more than anything. She's only hit one person, seriously, in her life, and that was in self-defense." He mouthed something, but she couldn't pick up on what it was. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but couldn't find the words to actually speak it. He was trying to say that she would have been killed if she hadn't hit him back, but no sound would come to his voice. He finally gave up and shook his head in frustration. "And JC. I've never see him at so low a point before. He's hit rock bottom before, just a little while ago, but this was different. This was beyond hitting rock bottom, and I never knew that someone could go that far."

"You seem to focus a lot on Brooke. More so than you do with him. Why is that?"

"I just said. She's my best friend."

Something didn't seem right with what he was saying, and he was confused about it himself. "But...you were friends with him before you even knew her, right? That's what you told me."

Chris nodded slowly, eyes wide. "Yeah. Jace and I have known each other for years. The only person that's known him longer is Justin, but I'm running a close second. Brooke has only really been around for the past year or so. There's a lot of years between me and Jace, though. Almost a decade. But he's my best friend, too."

"But from the way you're talking, you sound like you're closer to her than you are to him, even though you haven't known her as long. So what is it? Is she more important than he is?"

His face started to darken with anger and frustration, making his pale face flush with color. "No. Neither one of them is more or less important to me. It's just...I don't know. I can't figure it out. I haven't known her that long, but she's...she's like a little sister to me. I have to protect her. I can't help it. I know that I baby her all the time, but-" He broke off suddenly and stared off into space, thinking back on something.

"What is it?" Alex asked, tucking her hair back again when it fell forward. For good measure, she pushed the hair over her shoulder to cascade down her back and leave her alone.

"Well, it's just that...Brooke said the exact same thing to me this morning, before she fell asleep again. She said that she knew she babied me, but she couldn't help it, and she was sorry for it. I don't...know what she means."

A look of surprise covered her face. The conversation had just taken a very strange turn, and as much as she didn't want to say it, this was like watching one of her mom's soap operas, only better. This was real life, and she knew some of the people involved. It was interesting, and intriguing all at once. If this kept up, she was going to become a fan of All My Children. "What do you mean, she babies you? You're older than her, and honestly, I've never seen it. Of course, I'm not usually with both of you at once."

Chris turned on the couch and leaned against the arm rest to look at her, even though his eyes kept bouncing from side to side, never stopping on one thing. "That's just it. She doesn't baby me...well, not really. I mean, there are times when she has, but it's never offended me or anything. In fact, I've always appreciated it. And she babies all of us at different times. She worse with Justin and Lance than she is with me. They always joke around and call her their other mom, but it's not like it's the point of where she's obsessed with looking after us. Joey and JC don't get the same treatment. She's never really babied either of them, because she knows that they really don't go for that sort of thing. Me, though, I never really thought about it. I'd say it was more concern for me than babying me, though."

She shrugged. "That's a good question, too. Why is she concerned? You're an adult, you can handle yourself."

"Sometimes, you'd be surprised," he confessed with a rueful chuckle, rubbing his eyes. "But yeah, you're right. I'm an adult. I've got more years on her, but it doesn't matter. She's just the type of person that looks out for her friends. That's what friends do. That's what she's always done. Puts someone ahead of herself, makes sure that they're comfortable or that they don't need anything. She makes sure that they're happy, and then she allows herself to be happy. But not before."

"No wonder she snapped," Alex mused. "Poor girl was obsessed with all of you. She should really take some time to think about herself once in awhile."

"DAMN IT, don't say that," he exploded, his eyes practically snapping with anger. "She didn't snap, all right? More than anything, this is a misunderstanding. But she didn't snap and she most certainly didn't lose her mind, if that's what you were going to come out with next. She's human. She had a bad day. It happens all the time. Hell, Fuel sang about it."

Holding her hands up, she gave him a funny look. "Whoa, hold on a second. Don't start jumping all over me because you're upset about this whole situation. I was just making an observation. Besides, I'm sure that everyone is sticking up for Brooke instead of Josh. I don't know the guy, but I've always gone for the underdog."

His head dropped forward, falling into his hands, and he cursed under his breath. "I'm sorry," he told her, his voice muffled. "I don't know what the hell is going on anymore. Two of the most important people in my life were fine when I went up to bed last night, and I wake up early in the morning to sounds of screaming and the sight of her about to give him a black eye. He probably didn't deserve it, but she probably didn't deserve to hear all those names he called her. I've got a strong and confidant woman in my bed at this very moment, no doubt crying like a child, and I'm not there to comfort her, like I should be. I've got a guy that I consider my brother, walking around the house without seeing anything in front of him, and as dead as could be. And then there's the rest of us, who feel just as bad, just as shitty as they do, but there's nothing that we can do about it, and that's what kills me most of all. I can't do anything to help, and even if I could, I wouldn't know what to do."

"And shouting didn't help your headache," she said, matter-of-factly. "I still don't see why you get yourself involved. Yes, she's your best friend, and so is he. But WHY put yourself in a position when you know you're going to be hurt...just like you are now."

Another muffled sound came from him as he rubbed his temples, but it was a scornful laugh more than it was anything else. "Oh, you noticed, did you? You're about the only one who has. Yeah, I'm hurt, so? Wouldn't you be if you were in my position?"

A look of confusion and wonder overtook her neutral face, and she shook her head to show him that she didn't know, before she voiced the words. "Honestly? You're asking the wrong person. I wouldn't know what to do in a situation like that, because I've never been close to someone like that...like the way that you are. I know that I look out for myself, and only myself, though. Because I've never had to care about anyone else, and as uncaring as it sounds, I don't need anyone's shit, the way that you're taking theirs. I'm the most important person in my life, and there I'll remain as long as I live, I'm sure."

"Things change, Alex. People change. I know. I've seen it happen before my very eyes, and I've done it myself. I was just like you before, but now...I don't know. I care too much, I guess. But I'd be involved in this no matter what, I know that. I can't help but think this is all my fault, and it probably is. I caused this."

"Oh, pull your head out of your ass for one second and let the emotional self-mutilation stop, would you? You don't know that this is your fault. You haven't the faintest clue what this is all about, so don't just to conclusions."

Very slowly, he raised his head and looked at her, trying not to wince in pain at the movement. "I just know. Broke always used to tease me about my Waiting To Exhale moments, as she called them. This is just another one of those moments. I know, even though they haven't told me."

God, he could be infuriating sometimes, she thought to herself. He was so stuck on that one point that he wouldn't dare to think of anything else. He thought he had his answer, and that was it, it was finished. In a way, she admired the fact that he stuck to his guns and stood up for what he believed, but to put all the blame on himself for something that he had no control over...that was so wrong in so many ways, she couldn't even begin to list or describe them. "You don't know for sure, that's what I'm trying to tell you. It could very well have to do with you, but you don't know, and you won't know until one or both of them tell you. So why beat yourself up over this? Why let it affect you this much? You...you're too good to have this happen to you. It's supposed to happen to seemingly uncaring people, like me."

"But I-" He broke off almost immediately, causing her to jump up in a mix of surprise and fright. All the color drained away from his face as he clutched his head, groaning softly.

"This is what I mean," she said, lowering her voice to a half whisper when she saw him wince. "Here, lay down for a second." She helped him stretch out on the couch, making sure that she picked up the softest pillow to put under his head before standing up. "You're practically killing yourself over this, Chris, and it's just the first day. And I mean LITERALLY killing yourself. I'll go get the aspirin."

As she left, he took in a deep breath and practically whimpered under the sudden pain in his head, flaring up from a dull roar to the combination of three of their concerts, and two of Brooklyn's. He WAS hurting himself, not just emotionally but physically now. But this was the point of no return. He couldn't just ignore everything that had been happening, and he would never do that. His concern, his overload of emotions, his worry and fright...all of it was coming together to give him one killer headache, if it hadn't already jumped to the migraine stage.

Left to himself for the moment, he thought (an amazing feat for the amount of pain) back on what Alex had told him. About how he was letting it hurt him. He was watching JC and Brooklyn wallow in their hurt and pain, but did that mean that he had to start inflicting it on himself? This really was becoming a little ridiculous, even to him.

He moved his head to the side, and tears flooded his eyes when the pain became more intense, making him lose his breath for a moment. He couldn't handle all this stress, all the worry and concern. It was making him...literally sick to him stomach, he thought as he felt the urge to vomit. He bit back the feeling and made a face, bringing one hand up to over his eyes as Alex walked back into the living room.

God, even the sound of her feet on the carpet was too much for him to handle. His fingers, very softly, rubbed against his forehead as he struggled to open his eyes. She looked stricken for a moment as she looked at him. "Are you..."

"I'll be fine," he said, the words coming out more gruff and loud than he intended them to be. But she looked like he had genuinely frightened her, so he fought to keep the look of pain from his face and out of his eyes as he pushed himself up, remembering to breathe deeply and concentrating only on that. "I swear, Alex, I'm not going to die."

Her head shook. "I'm not too sure about that. You look, well..."

Could she even finish a sentence, he wondered. Did he look that bad? "Sure, boost my ego," he teased automatically, not even realizing it as he took the pill from her and the glass of water she had in her hand. He knew that he wouldn't be able to dry swallow the pills like he normally would, especially since he would have to tip his head back, and at the moment, he was afraid that he would pass out if he did that. Instead, he forced himself to take it with water, swallowing it down as quickly as possible and falling back down onto the pillow with another muffled groan filled with pain.

"What are you doing to yourself?" she asked him softly, taking the half empty glass and putting it in between their cold coffee, before kneeling down on the ground beside the couch, reaching out to brush her hand across his forehead. "Chris, you're ice cold, but you're...well, you're starting to look like you have a fever."

Waving a hand weakly, he tried to push away the pounding for a moment just to speak a few words without looking like he was about to die. "Migraine. Had them before."

Frowning, she reached for the fleece blanket that was ontop of the couch and pulled it down, spreading it overtop of him. He barely noticed. "Do you have anything to take for them, or do you just take aspirin."

"Tylenol 3's. I have them at my place. I have to-" He stopped talking when she stopped him from getting up, looking down at him.

"Don't move. I'll go and call your place, see if anyone can bring them over, because I have a feeling that unless you take one, you're not going to be moving without passing out on me, and I really don't want that," she said with a shaky laugh. She had never seen anything like this before, how quickly it seemed to hit, how sudden it all was. From a simple headache to a migraine the next second. Hell, she had never even had any experience with migraines, or with anything even close.

Sighing, she went up the stairs to her bedroom, not wanting her voice to travel and disturb him, since it looked like every little noise was causing him pain. Walking over to the bed, she picked up the phone and dialed the number, now from memory, waiting for someone to pick up. "Hello?"

"Hi...Justin?" she asked.

"Why the hell does everyone want the kid? Nope, got the wrong J."

She closed her eyes and fought the urge to bitch him out, even though he had no idea what was going on. "I'm sorry, Joey. I'm not really all there. Uh, you do know who it is, don't you?"

Did he roll his eyes on the other end? Smile at her obviously stupid comment? She wasn't sure of anything, but she really didn't care, either. "Of course, but I never knew that God was a woman."

Chuckling under her breath, she opened her eyes and looked around the dark room. "Um, yeah, that's me, all right. Look, Chris is over here right now, and there's something wrong. No, I didn't kill him, but he got hit with a migraine half way through our conversation, and to tell the truth, it doesn't look like he's going to live another ten minutes."

A low whistle met her ears. "All right. I'll be over there in a second, but I'm really the only person that's free right now. I'm going to need your help getting him home, if you don't mind. You...uh...wouldn't happen to know where he would keep his prescription, would you?"

"No, but my first guess would be the medicine cabinet."

"Wow, not only is God a woman, but she's smart, too. I'll be right there."

Breathing a sigh of relief, she nodded. "Thank you, so much, Joey."

"No problem."

Hanging up the phone, she closed her eyes and rubbed them slowly. Why the HELL was she so concerned about Chris? Granted, he was going through a lot, or so it showed in his attitude and the words he had spoken. And yes, she was sure that having a migraine was a bitch, but she wasn't supposed to be feeling sorry for him. It was too...different.

It changed so quickly. One day they were insulting each other, and now...now she felt sorry for the poor bastard. She was playing him, there was no doubt about that, but there was something about him, in that look of his and in the tone of her voice, that made her stop thinking of herself for once, and completely open up to listen to him. This wasn't supposed to happen, she told herself. She was supposed to be a cold, callous bitch, and this was never, EVER, supposed to happen with anyone that may somehow stumble their way into her life, not knowing that they were about to fall down into one of many fiery depths of hell.

Because now, she cared.

Rolling her eyes, she stood up and started out of her bedroom when she heard the knock on her door. That was fast, she thought to herself as she started down the steps as quietly as possible, to let Joey in. And as soon as she let him in, Chris would no longer be her concern. She wouldn't have to care anymore.


"Dude, I'm not carrying you, so don't give me that. Besides, there's a lady present," Joey said, gesturing to Alex. "And, you're so doped up on that stuff, you're going to start telling me about the white elephant in the closet."

Chris rolled his eyes and groaned at the sudden flaring of pain from behind his eyes at the movement. "I'll let you know when I start seeing the pink elephants. That's when you start to worry, but the white ones, they're safe."

She widened her eyes and patted him on the shoulder with a quiet laugh. "You weren't kidding when you said that he was high on that stuff. How many did he take, because I wasn't looking."

"Neither was I, and that's the problem. Knowing Chuckles over here, he probably took half of the damned bottle just to walk. I swear, if he over doses on this one more time, I'M going to knock some sense into that doctor of his. The past three times, he over dosed." Her eyes widened again at the sound of that. "Oh, it doesn't do much to him. He becomes best friends with the toilet, loses a few internal organs in the process, and then starts all over again. It's temporary relief, but there has got to be something stronger."

With a sigh, lagging behind them slightly, Chris frowned. "I am standing right here you know, and I'm not so far gone that I won't remember what you two are saying and keep it filed away for later revenge. I have not, nor will I ever, over dose on that. It was...just...what I ate before." Both of them gave him an incredulous look. "I have yet to lose an internal organ, though I'm sure that if I do, one of the guys will get it on film for either American Funniest Home Videos or Ripley's Believe It or Not. And final, before I pass out from the pain, there is something stronger, but I have to make an appointment with a neurologist for that, and, oops, my bad, we're never in one place long enough for that."

"Plan ahead," Joey grumbled, shoving his gloveless hands into his jacket pockets. "Besides, I'd love to see what the pa...uh, never mind," he stopped, looking over at Alex quickly. But the truth was, he DID want to see what kind of spin the papers and tabloids could put on the story of an NSYNC member visiting a neurologist. Probably something to do with schizophrenia, he thought with a snicker.

"Plan ahead? This coming from the guy that can barely remember to pack underwear. Has to buy a year's supply every time, don't you? Because he ALSO can't remember that Tuesday is laundry day."

Joey shot him the finger behind his back when he pulled his hands out to open the door and let them in. Alex stopped at the front door and smiled hesitantly, rocking back and forth on her heels. "You'd better...uh...get up to bed. From what I heard, these things can last up to a week for you."

"Don't remind me," he said wearily, resting against the wall. "Oh, I forgot to mention about-"

"I know, and I understand. Don't worry about it. I had a feeling that the trip to Aspen was cancelled, anyway." She turned to go, before grinning and turning back to face him. "Oh, and Chris? Just because I have to try to out-do you...Sweet, so would I: Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night till it be morrow. Only Romeo and Juliet quote I can actually keep in my head."

A weak smile covered his face. "I'll get you back...when I have enough brain power to actually function properly. Thanks...and sorry about what happened. I didn't expect this." She waved it away with her hand before stepping out and closing the door behind her, walking slowly down the steps.

Her mind raced back to what she had just said, and she froze suddenly, a stricken look coming over her face. "Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. What the hell?" she asked herself aloud, shaking her head. Oh, she was becoming more and more of a basket case.

"Alexandra!" she heard from behind her, and turned instantly to see Brookly streaking down the stairs, her hair flying out behind her. She looked more normal than she had expected, dressed neatly and hair brushed to its usual shining glory. In fact, the younger woman didn't look like she was upset at all. That was, until she came closer, and Alex saw the scowl on her face. "You know," she began hotly, "if you had never continued picking on Chris and trying to get a rise out of him, none of this would have ever happened. It's all your fault," she ground out, her eyes flashing brightly in the porch light. "So here's just a little piece of advice for you...stay the hell away from my best friend, or else I'll have to tell him the truth about who you really are."

Her eyes narrowed and immediately, a hot anger overcame her as her hands slammed down on her hips, matching Brooklyn's stance. "Excuse me? I'm not the one that's hiding stuff. I'm not the one that's lying all the time, so don't tell me that you're going to let him know who I am. I know far too much about you already, and I'm sure that you wouldn't want everyone else to know." It was a bluff, but it was a good one. "How you even figured it out is beyond me."

Brooklyn's face paled before the color came back into it, red dancing in her cheeks. "Don't try and make counter accusations, because it won't work. No offense, sweetheart, and not to be egotistical or anything, but I have a hell of a lot more people on my side than you ever will. As for figuring out who you are...all I had to do was put two and two together, ALEX," she replied, spitting out the name that Chris called her by.

It was Alex's time to turn pale as she shook her head. "I'm surprised that you even knew how to add two numbers together. And don't you EVER tell me what to do. You're not my keeper, you're not my mother...in fact, you're nothing to me. Nothing but some little bitch that can't keep her mouth shut for two minutes and can't help but inflict pain on others, right? I mean, look at what you did to your boyfriend, and now to Chris. You're pathetic."

"I'm warning you, Alexandra. You don't want me as an enemy, and you're just about crossing the line in the sand." She turned away and took a few steps before turning around once more, staring at the author. "Like I said, I've warned you. Stay the hell away from Chris and stay the hell away from the rest of us while you're at it. We don't need your kind of shit around here."

Rolling her eyes, Alex slammed her hands into her pockets and walked as quickly as possible back to her house. "And I wondered why I never liked her," she grumbled before letting herself in.

"It's time that the bitch learned that I don't do what anyone tells me to."


Chapter Thirteen
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