Tongue Tied

Gabe knocked on Alex's door, hesitantly. They just got back from a road trip. She texted him, asking if he could come over as soon as he got back. He asked her why and she just said she needed to talk to him. Now, Gabe wasn't a genius at reading girls, but he knew that was code for something being wrong. He rushed over after their flight landed. Alex hardly ever invited him over or willingly wanted him at her place, so he planned to make the best of it.

He didn't bother knocking and walked right in. Alex was laying on her bed with her back to the door. Her windows were open and her room was freezing. He closed the door and walked over to her. He shut the windows while reaching over her bed. She woke up as he did so, rolling over. She stared at him in confusion until he looked down. She took a deep breath when she remembered inviting him.

"Hey, sorry to wake you." He apologized as he sat on the edge of her bed.

She shook her head as she sat up. She held herself as she shivered. Her feet dangled off her bed beside Gabe. His were planted firmly. She envied his long legs. She tried to warm herself by rubbing her shoulders before she gave up and grabbed her blanket. She looked Gabe over. He would be such a pretty girl, probably because he was already a beautiful man. He had long eyelashes and beautiful eyes, a jaw structure women would kill for, and a nice body. He cocked a brow at her.

"You'd be a pretty girl." She informed him.

"You are a pretty girl." He smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Gabriel."

"So what's up?" He asked.

Her smile faltered as she frowned. She wanted to talk to Gabe about it, but she was certain he'd yell at her. She called Gabe over Matt because, for one, Matt had a girlfriend he had to go home to first, and for two, she already knew what Matt would say. She looked to Gabe who was staring at her intently. She took a deep breath.

"Is Nathan doing alright?" She said in a quiet voice. "He looked tired at dinner and he's going through a dr,"

"No, he's not." Gabe cut her off. "Hasn't been since you snapped on him."

"Don't try to put this on me." She shook her head.

"I'm not. I just don't know why you care if you want him out of your life." He shrugged.

"Well, maybe I don't." She whispered.

"God,"

"What, Gabe? You've never said something out of anger?" She hissed.

"I've never told the person I'm in love with them that I hate them and want nothing to do with them!" He exclaimed.

"I was upset and sick of being hurt. It just came out." She explained. He nodded and pulled out his phone. "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Matt. I don't know what to say about this." He confessed.

Matt was there ten minutes later. He walked into Alex's room and straight to the bathroom. He came out two minutes later. He had a baseball cap on his head. He peeled his jacket off and was clad in an Avs shirt. He wore sweats on his legs. He sighed as he wheeled over Alex's desk chair and sat on it.

"So you don't hate Nathan," Matt spoke. "And you're asking about him."

"I still do care about him, I was just stressed out." She frowned.

"You don't tell someone you hate them because you're stressed out." He rolled his eyes.

"But I did and now I'm sorry for it." She took a deep breath. "I just want to apologize to him."

"Oh my god, Alex! Give it up!" He screamed.

"What?" She furrowed her brows.

"Enough of the games! Either be with the kid or leave him alone!" He yelled.

"What games?" She questioned.

"You both play some fucked up, childish games with each other." He groaned.

"Why can't I get my share in since he's played plenty?" She spat.

"Because that isn't you and you know it." Gabe stated.

Alex frowned. She sighed, falling back on her bed. She didn't want this. It was all too overwhelming. She just wanted everything to go back to how it was in Halifax. She just wanted her and Nathan together without all the burdens. The weight on her bed shifted as Gabe rolled over her. He balanced himself above her with an arm on either side of her, pushing himself up. She frowned up at him.

"We'll talk to him and see what he says, but we aren't gonna force him to be fine with what happened." He explained. She nodded. "Now wipe your tears and get up because we're taking you to a movie."

"I'm not,"

"You're coming." He demanded.

"I was going to say, I'm not crying, not that I'm not going." She rolled her eyes, pushing him so she could sit up.

"The little streams down your cheeks say differently." He smirked.

She walked into her washroom to give herself a look over. She had been crying but she didn't notice. Her hair was it's natural mess. She didn't have the effort to do anything with it. She was in a grey zip up with black tights. Sure, she didn't have a shirt on under the sweater, just her bra, but it wasn't like her sweater would come off at the movies. She finished her once over and walked out. She slid on some moccasins of Erica's before she shrugged her coat on.

"Ready." She smiled up at them.

Nathan was a mixture of emotions when Matt and Gabe told him about the previous night. He was relieved that she didn't hate him, thrilled that she wanted to apologize, pissed that she thought what she said was excusable since she was mad, and a little sad because this was all happening. Sometimes, he wished he was never even drafted so far so he wouldn't have fucked up the way he did. He just nodded at the guys and walked away to work out.

A big part of him wanted to be the asshole he felt he deserved to be. He'd tell Matt and Gabe to tell Alex to kick rocks and he'd just have a field date with the bunnies out there. But that wasn't Nathan. He was always going to go back to Alex. It's something he knew deep down and hated. He could hook up with anyone but there was always one girl on his mind. He let out a growl as he exhaled. He knew what he was going to do.

He decided a few more days to ice the pain wouldn't kill him. He'd say nothing to the guys about this and just do his thing. Once he got home from their next road game, he'd go over to Alex's and tell her everything was okay. From there? He didn't know what would happen. He finished his work out and checked his phone. He was tagged in a photo on Instagram. It was by Vanessa Morgan, a girl he was seeing a while ago.

She made some comment about missing him. He read through all the comments, most bashing her, and laughed. He liked the photo, proper Instagram etiquette. He hadn't talked to her since she moved to Los Angeles, or Las Vegas, one of those places. He remembered it was one of the two because Ryan made a joke about how she got "las". Ryan was the only one who laughed at the joke.

Nathan refreshed his Instagram feed. He nearly choked at the picture he saw. He read the time instantly. Seconds ago. She posted it seconds out. That meant she saw what Vanessa had posted. In front of his eyes was a photo of Alex with Stefan. Nathan would've found it harmless, if it wasn't for them being so close. He read the caption. She hashtagged "tb". Was it even Thursday? How could she do a throwback if it wasn't a Thursday?

The photo consisted of a laughing Alex. She was dressed up, obviously at a party of some sort. Her stomach was out, and Nathan didn't like that. He didn't actually care, he just didn't like that the guy holding her waist wasn't him. She had her arm wrapped around Stefan's neck with a red cup in her hand. He had his lips pressed to her neck as her head was thrown back in laughter. Her other hand was gripping his arm and her left leg was up and bent at the knee.

He liked the photo. It was a whole new battle now. He decided a comment wouldn't hurt. He typed out his comment, anger running through him. He pressed send and didn't regret it. He waited a few seconds before she replied. He shook his head at her reply and locked his phone.

mackinnon29: @alexroy can't do throwback on days besides Thursday

alexroy: @mackinnon29 I make my own rules

She claimed she wanted the fight to end, but it was as if she just fuelled it. Nathan knew that she knew he would get upset over that. He showered and changed, all while thinking about how angry he was. He never expected Alex and himself to be like this, but they were. They were the worst they could be and it was eating him alive not being with her but he would play right into her game. He refused to be the bigger person, regardless of his size.

Notes