(3) Not the Same: An All Time Low Fanfiction Romance

Chapter 49: Not Us (Stella's POV)

        It had been a week since I'd seen Lauren, and it had been a week and a half since the night Craig came home. I usually would have asked how things were going, or try to get Zack and Lauren to talk, but this wa sone time where I knew it wasn't my place. I didn't want to make it worse.

        I was in the kitchen of our apartment, looking at music sheets I was preparing for my lessons tomorrow afternoon. My mind kept wandering to the sound of Lauren's voice on the phone. She sounded like she lost something, it seemed so drained.

        I ran my fingers trough my hair, itching to call her again. Lauren was a friend that I'd just gotten back, but she was one of my closest. There was something about the way we got along; it just made sense to me. I was hurting her, even if her choices weren't the best. Thinking about seeing Alex walk out on me made my stomach clench and my palms sweat. 

        The front door to the apartment opened, and I looked up while Alex walked through the door. He sent me a smile, water bottle in his grip. The black beanie on his head was one that I bought him for Christmas last year; he wore it more often than I thought he would.

        "Hey love," he said, putting his keys on the counter. I gave him an off smile, running my fingers over my face. I focused on the sheets below my elbows, looking over the notes of the pieces that my students needed to master. I heard Alex's feet close in on me, shadow over my shoulder before his hands fell on either side of me on the table.

        "Hey," I murmured, looking up to see his eyes focused on me. He leaned forward, kissing me slowly, still unleashing the butterflies in my stomach the same way he did years ago. I smiled against his mouth, nails running over the tops of his fingers.

        "What's wrong?" he asked quitely, pulling away to look me in the eyes. Sometimes, it could be a pain in the butt that Alex knew me so well, well enough to the point that the smallest change in my everyday attitude was something he picked up on. It always reassured me when I needed someone there to talk to.

        "I haven't heard from Lauren in a few days," I muttered quietly, looking back down at the table. Alex let out a small breath, kissing the top of my hair before sliding into the seat next to me. His legs faced me, one arm resting on top of the chair, and one on the table.

        He didn't say anything, only watching me as I sighed softly. "I want to do something to help them, she sounds so miserable on the phone."

        "There's nothing you can do about it, Stella. They'll figure something out eventually."

        "But, Lauren won't do anything about it, because she doesn't want to be a burden anymore. And we all know Zack won't do anything about it because he's too pissed off to want to," I looked up at him, trying to argue my way into meddling. I wasn't even sure why I was trying, I knew deep down that it didn't matter.

        "Then they won't be together anymore, and they'll move on for good," He shrugged off the thought. I knew it wasn't like the guys to get in the middle of each other's relationships, or to think about them too much. But me, I couldn't stand it.

        "You know as well as I do that they'll never get over each other," I met his chocolate eyes, biting the inside of my mouth. "Did you see Zack's face when he listened to that voicemail? Zack usually goes with the flow and doesn't care about much, but he cares about her."

        "We can't make him do something he doesn't want to," Alex said, pulling the beanie off his head.

        "Doesn't it bother you that one of your best friends is hurting?" I asked in a huff, frustrated with his attitude to shrug it off.

        "Of course it does," he said simply, standing up and moving towards the kitchen. He moved right to the pantry, pulling out a bag of chips. I looked over at him incredulously, as he uraveled the bag before shoving his hand inside.

        "Then why are you so fine about this whole thing?" I asked him, becoming more irritated. Lauren and I were close, but sometimes, it felt as if I wasn't anything compared to the friendship that the guys have with one another. They are like brothers, how can he not hurt when his sibling is?

        "Because I can't control what he does, Stell," he said, his voice rising with the same annoyance. "It fucking sucks that he's been stuck on Lauren since high school, but it's not my life. I could tell him to talk to her, to think abotu what he's doing, but I don't because it's his choice and decision. At this point, I don't blame him. I'd be pissed too."

        "So, if I did that to you, you'd try to forget about me?" I asked softly, twisting my body to look at him. His hand paused in the bag, shaking his head with a sigh.

        "I can't say because that's not us, love," he said, setting the bag on the counter before walking over to me again. His fingers brushed my hand, touching the gorgeous ring that sat on my finger. It glinted in the light, reminding me of the last seven years. "It's not the same because we're not the same."

        "We're similar, though," I said quietly while he took a seat next to me again, palm falling on my knee. Mine fell over his, feeling his calloused hands. "I think they love each other more than they realize."

        "Maybe they do," he said, nodding. I followed the muscle of his arm with my eyes, not being able to imagine my life without him. I couldn't have survived years without him around. Lauren was stronger than she thought she was. She had more will power than I thought was possible.

        "I just don't want them to be miserable because they didn't say something to one another," I ran my fingers through my hair, eyes landing on his. He gave me a small, half-smile before standing up, kissing my forehead softly.

        "Sometimes your heart is too big for your own good," he chuckled before pressing his lips to mine. I let out a sigh against his mouth, my mouth turning up in an uncontrollable smile that I couldn't have fought off if I tried.

        It was only a moment later that I remembered seeing Zack and Lauren have that same moment with each other.