Tongue Tied

"I can't believe you're doing this." Erica sighed as she watched Alex get ready.

"Look, it might seem crazy to you but I can't deal with Nathan not being in my life in the slightest." Alex explained as she applied her make up.

"Oh, it's totally crazy but I totally understand." Erica scoffed. "I'm talking about the fact that you're wasting such a hot dress on this."

Alex rolled her eyes. She finished up her make up and put it in the drawer she stored it in. She looked to Erica who was smiling at her. Erica walked over and flipped Alex's hair in certain ways. She stepped back to admire her work. She nodded before handing Alex the clutch she placed all her things in. Alex took a deep breath before she nodded at Erica. She trekked out of the room and across the hall to Kya and Alexa's room. The three were going together. They'd invited Erica but she had homework. She walked in and they were both finishing off.

"Fuck, Alex." Kya gasped when she looked at her.

"The best way to have your apology accepted is with a little curve and a lot of leg." Alex smirked as she kicked her leg to the best her dress would let her.

"You'll get more than your apology accepted. You'll probably get groped in the bathroom and a booty call." Alexa said as she looked Alex up and down. "By me alone."

"Guys, please." Alex laughed.

The three called a cab. They climbed in and it took them to the club. They went straight to the front of the line. It wasn't even necessary for Alexa or Kya to give their names because security let the three in for being hot. They stayed close as they snaked through bodies. Ryan spotted Alexa leading the girls. He stepped into her view and a smile spread across her face. She gave him a kiss when they met. Kya went over to Tyson and did the same. Alex looked to Matt, who had his lips puckered. She laughed.

"You look great tonight." Tyson whispered into Kya's ear.

"You all look fantastic. Was your plan to not be seen tonight, Al?" Ryan asked Alex.

She smirked. She was in head to toe black. She made up a story about how she was hiding in the shadows but as soon as a light hit her, whoever saw her would fall in love. Tyson cheered her on for having such high hopes. She laughed. After a bit of chatting, she asked Matt to accompany her to the bar. He obliged and off they went. He ordered himself a beer and her a water. The bartender cocked a brow at the request and Matt explained Alex's age.

Alex was off in her own little world. She was sitting on a bar stool as Matt leaned on the bar in front of her. She was staring around, her eyes wandering. Not so much wandering as searching. She spotted who she was looking for. Nathan was sitting on a couch, girls surrounding him. She understood why. He looked good. She was surprised to not see Gabe at his side.

"Where's Gabe?" Alex asked, turning back to Matt.

He drank from his beer as his giant hand handed her, tiny hand, a small, plastic glass of water, that he was convinced he was going to snap. She chuckled at Matt being so careful. She took a long sip before resting it on her thigh. He looked over to where she had previously been staring. He knew she didn't want to be sitting with him.

"Didn't come out tonight. Captain stuff, maybe? I don't know or care enough to find out." He shrugged.

She smiled at that, her eyes trailing back to the couch. "Probably has a g,"

"Go over and see him." Matt cut her off. She turned in confusion. "Nathan. You're dying to go over there so go."

"I can't just leave you." She frowned.

"Then I'll leave you so you have an excuse to go over." He stated. He spun around and spotted a group of girls. "Hey, ladies."

They swallowed him into their group with open arms. Alex shook her head while she laughed. She finished her drink and set the empty cup on the bar. She stood, adjusting her dress. She had her eyes set on her target and a plan to watch him crash. She walked through the bodies. Guys made passes at her but she ignored them. She was thankful no one tried to grab her. She reached the couch and ran over.

"Baby!" She screeched as she grabbed Nathan's face, pecking his lips. "Scoot." She instructed one of the girls and sat down beside him.

"Hey." He replied, a smirk on his lips.

Alex held back her grin. His arm went around her and she leaned into him. Her hand rested on his thigh. Nathan thought this was the most devious thing Alex had ever done. As she went on about their long relationship and brought up real memories that had happened, the girls around Nathan thinned. The last three left together. Alex sat up, moving her hand from his lap.

"That was easy." She huffed.

"You can't do that." He hissed. "You can't come over here and ruin my chance with any of those girls because you're jealous."

"Jealous? Am I the one who showed up at your house with some bullshit sob story?" She spat. "And as if any of those girls had potential with you. You should have higher standards, Nate."

"I'll keep that in mind." He nodded. "Now can you leave?"

"I came to apologize, actually, so not until I do that." She took a deep breath. "I'm honestly really sorry about what I said. Believe me or not, but I don't hate you. I'll never hate you and I do want you in my life. I really do and I can't imagine going any longer without you in it. I came dressed in my hottest dress in these uncomfortable ass shoes just to say this so please don't make my night worse."

Nathan smiled a bit at that. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her again. He pulled her into him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, his other arm holding hers, and they sat like that. His thoughts were running just as fast as hers were. They both still loved each other. They both wished things had ended differently. They both wished they were together. But only one understood why they couldn't be.

"Al, if we're still like this, why don't we just get back together?" He muttered.

She sighed, sitting up. "I think we both know why, Nathan."

He shook his head. "I can't think of a reason why. Yeah, I've fucked up but I've also matured since then. I can't think of a better thing than for us to get better if we're feeling this way towards each other."

Alex took a deep breath. She had to search for the words to explain without hurting him. She racked it all up before she'd let it spill out. She looked into his hopeful eyes and frowned. She turned her body towards his, her knees into his thigh, and grabbed his hand with both of hers. His free hand rested on top of her hands. She smiled at them before looking into his eyes.

"I have feelings for you that I'm always going to have. Feelings I've never had before, feelings I'll never have again with anyone besides you, but I have feelings that tell me us being together is wrong. We're both at places in our lives where we need to worry about ourselves and being together wouldn't let that happen." She explained. "Maybe, down the road, we can get back together but I don't see it in the near future."

"What if I can't wait until we're down the road?" He snapped, pulling his hand back. "This isn't fair, Alex."

"Has this relationship ever been fair?" She shouted and stood. "For a year of my life it was me doing everything for you! God forbid that I want to be free and be my own fucking person for once!"

"And you can do that!" He yelled, standing up. He looked down at her. "Things are different now. We're both here and we both have our own lives. I'll always be coming back to you. After road games, after everything. Why can't we try this?"

"Because I don't want to." She growled before she stomped away.

She wasn't going to cry. She was not about to cry. She spent too much time on her make up to cry. They weren't even tears of sadness. She was angry. How could Nathan be so damn selfish all the damn time? She swung at the door, her last knuckle cracking. She took a deep breath. Oh well. She dug through her clutch for her phone. She called Erica quickly.

"What's wrong?" She answered, panting.

"Just blew up on Nathan, I definitely broke my knuckle, and I need you to pick me up." Alex explained.

"Literally walking to the car as we speak. See you in a few." Erica hung up.

She got there in record time. Alex climbed into the car, extending her hand. Erica handed her some napkins she had before driving straight to a walk in. They filled out the necessary papers before going to the waiting room. Alex sighed as she watched the TV show highlights of the last Avs game without sound. They lost.

"Nathan's been playing like shit." Alex stated.

"He's fucked up because you broke his heart." Erica said, flipping the page of an old magazine.

"Karma." Alex shrugged.

"He broke your heart, you broke his, you broke your knuckle, he lost his game. Makes sense." Erica listed.

"You know, Gabe wasn't there tonight. I've never felt everything so out of place in my life. Matt looked so lost." Alex chuckled.

"Gabe's weird. I don't fuck with, what is he, Finnish?" Erica asked.

"Swedish."

"Same ish." She smirked at her pun.

"Not the time at all." Alex laughed, shaking her head.

"Miss Roy?" A voice called. Alex looked up at some lady in a lab coat with a clipboard. "Come with me, please."

She got up and followed the lady. After it was cleaned and looked over. It was bruised, swollen, and hurt a lot. It was ruled broken. She was given a splint, holding it to her ring finger. She couldn't believe this. What the fuck was she supposed to tell people? She sighed as she walked over to Erica. They walked out to the car and got in.

"Punch me in the face." Erica demanded.

"What?"

"Punch me in like the jaw or something so you can tell people that's what happened." She explained.

"I'm not gonna punch you in the fucking face, Erica!" Alex cried. "That'll just cause more questions!"

"We can say you were drunk and angry." Erica rolled her eyes.

"Makes more sense to say I just punched a girl outside the bar." Alex shook her head.

"Yeah, I guess." Erica shrugged before she started the car.

The drive was silent before Alex burst into laughter. "I can't believe you asked me to punch you in the face."

Notes