Always

06| chapter five: talking, rules and relationship

CARINA

Luca had finished his recount, and I struggled to register it all, but when he asked if we should give Alex her present, those thoughts didn't matter anymore. Thankfully.

I nodded my head rapidly, took Luca's hand, and dragged him to our connected doors. We went inside and Alex looked up at us, pausing whatever show she was watching. I hid my hands behind my back, bouncing on my heels.
 
I brought my hands in front of her and gave her the bunny plushie I had bought for her. "Look what I got you. It's cute, isn't it? I thought you could cuddle with it and then we'll be close without touching."

Alex examined it.  Was she going to like it? I had really tried to get something that would be special to her.

"I love it Cat! Thank-you." Alex exclaimed.   

I beamed at her and then looked happily at Luca. He smiled back.  

I turned back to Alex. "Well, you need to rest and then we can talk later when someone is not in the room." Alex and I both looked at Luca, who overdramatically gasped and fell into the beanbag behind him.
 
"And here I was under the impression that I was your favorite. I know where I'm not wanted, so I must bid a tearful goodbye." He got back up, waved his hand like he was some kind of queen, took a bow, and left the room, leaving Alex and me to laugh at him.

After the laughter subsided, I looked at Alex again. "Now seriously, you can rest. I'll come back to talk later."

"No, it's fine." Alex said, "We can talk now if you want to."

I sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. "Well, when we went shopping..." I told her everything, from recognizing places to the car chase, and both our cars colliding.  

After I finished there was silence for a while. Alex reached out for my hand and held it. "I'm sorry. I should've been there for you. With you."

I shook my head, thankful that she wasn't there and in the crash as well.

"You couldn't have possibly done anything, Alex. And hey, nothing happened to any of us. We are all good." She nodded hesitantly. 

"I'll go now, you should rest," I said and got up to leave. I turned around at the doorway, "And hey, if you blame yourself for not being there, I won't talk to you for a week." I said, the last part as a joke.

Alex jokingly saluted and said, "Yes ma'am." We both laughed.

"I'll see you at dinner then," I said and Alex nodded.   

I went back to my room and jumped on my bed. I lay down and stared at the ceiling, processing everything that happened today. I couldn't believe what Luca had told me. We had avoided something huge. How could people hate each other so much, that they would go to any extent to harm the other one's loved ones? The idea didn't sit in my mind.
 
I sighed and got up. No one was hurt, and that was the only thing that mattered right now. I had managed to get into two car accidents in the span of a week. Some luck. I decided to go downstairs.

Just as I was on the last step, someone jumped on me and gave me a bone-crushing hug. I didn't know who it was, but I had a fair idea. "Lucas, can't breathe." I managed to say. He pulled away instantly. 

"I'm so glad you are fine. When you blacked out, I really thought something happened. I'm sorry I- "

''It's fine." I said, cutting off his rambling. Why does everyone think it was their fault? "Nothing actually happened right? We are all alright."

 Lucas nodded, but he still looked sad, which was kind of surprising, seeing he was always in a bubbly mood. "You're right. Come on, let's go play Mario Kart."

"Play what?" I asked. He just grinned at me and dragged me into the living room.

After I beat Lucas for the fifth time, he put down his controller in defeat.

"Not fair, you gotta let me win at least once."

I just laughed and put down my controller as well. "I'm tired now. Can we do something else?" I asked.

"Sure. We still have time until dinner, wanna play a couple of games of UNO? I can beat you in that." He said, bringing out a pack of UNO cards.

"We'll see," I replied, grinning.

_________ 

"UNO out! I won again!" Lucas exclaimed, doing some sort of happy dance.

I waved him off, "Luck is just on your side."

"Whatever, let's go see if it's time for dinner," Lucas said and we went off to the dining area.

Romeo came in at the same time as us. "Hey, it's almost time for dinner, why don't you guys go get Alex and Luca? I'll call the rest of them." 

 
Both of us nodded and we went upstairs to get them. I went to Alex's room while Lucas went to Luca. I went in and Alex looked up at me, again pausing whatever show she was watching. "Romeo says dinner is ready." She nodded and got up. We met Luca and Lucas outside my room, and together, we made our way to dinner.

After a while, everyone settled down. That was, everyone except Genevieve.

"Where is Genevieve?" Alex asked. "I'll get her," Romeo said, getting up and going upstairs to get her. He came down after a while, without her.

"She said she'll join us in a while." We finished dinner without Genevieve.

After dinner, we all said 'good night' to each other and went to our respective rooms. I put all the lights out and went straight for my bed. I lay there for some time, thinking about today. It was crazy, but it happened. It was tiring as well. I yawned and turned to my side. 'It could've been worse' was my last thought, before I drifted off to sleep. 

This was going to be my life from now.

A/N

Thank-you once again! What do you think of Carina and Alex's relationship? And Liam-

Plot twist!

Do you guys have any theories for future chapters? Any questions/confusing things you need cleared up?