what happens in Maine, stays in Maine.

4.

december 24th
alex knocked sharply on the door, looking around tentatively as she pulled her leather gloves off.
he answered the door in a plain white shirt and baggy shorts, squinting as he brushed the dark mop of hair out of his face.
"alex...i thought you said you wouldn't be stopping by this time around?" he looks at her confused but with a slight mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
the twinkle that alex had grown to both love and hate.
"this is quite the christmas present...i was just gonna send you some socks"
"i just need a distraction" she huffed, looking into his green eyes, she hated but secretly loved that he always tried to tease her like this when she visited.
"you say that everytime" his grin was growing.
"shut up" she muttered as she crossed the threshold, her arms going around his neck, his going to her waist.
the door closed shut behind them...

bradley lay in bed till way into the morning, playing over last night.
alex seemed back to her old self, withdrawn, short tempered and angry.
but...it's christmas eve and bradley refuses to let anything spoil it for her. if her co host wants to act like that so be it.
she finally dragged her bare feet out of bed and along the cold floor.
upon entering the living room it was just max in there playing a video game of some sorts.
"hey...have you seen your aunt anywhere?" she asked him tentatively.
"she went out for a walk about an hour ago" max replied without tearing his eyes from the tv.
"okay, thanks" bradley didn't really know what to do so she decided to head back upstairs and get properly ready for the day.

the day passed slowly as bradley waited on alex to return, without making it obvious she was waiting for her.
she helped jennifer out with some washing, she fed ollie whilst jen was making dinner and then she sat on the couch in the window, replying to some emails corey and mia had sent.
bradley also took this time to do some research on a couple of stories she wanted to cover when they went back in the newyear, she was feeling more and more grateful that alex was opening up to the idea of covering difficult topics in the morning.
"hey um...shouldn't alex be back by now?" bradley asked as jen sat down on the sofa beside her.
"hm? oh...no she won't be back for a while yet"
bradley's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion but she bit her tongue. was alex avoiding her on purpose? bradley felt the sudden urge to be alone so excused herself to "answer a phone call".
truth was laura hadn't been answering any of her calls and texts. she knew laura had every right to be mad at her, but she hated the silent treatment, she felt herself growing annoyed at just the thought that laura was probably enjoying getting this reaction out of her girlfriend.
instead bradley went upstairs and climbed into her bed, not bothering to even close the curtains as she began scrolling through her twitter before gradually falling asleep.

when bradley woke up the room was pitch black and the house was peacefully quiet.
she rolled over and glanced at the clock, groaning as she read 10:21pm.
she lifted herself up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.
bradley decided to head downstairs to quickly get a drink and something to eat and then come back up to bed.
however on entering the living room to go into the kitchen she realised she wasn't the only person awake right now.
the living room was dark except for the twinkling gold lights from the tree, which reflected around the room and also illuminated the figure of a woman wearing black sweats and a black turtleneck, stood by the tree gently rocking side to side.
bradley could just see the head of ollie in her arms as she rocked him slowly.
"sorry jen i was just-" however bradley stopped short when it was alex who turned her head in the direction of the voice.
"oh" bradley whispered.
"hi" alex smiled softly, she seemed almost shy for a moment. vulnerable.
"i convinced jen to get a relaxing bath and head to bed early, you know give her a bit of a break before the chaos of tomorrow kicks in"
"that was nice of you..." bradley carries on walking into the kitchen.
she made a sandwich and got a bottle of water before heading quickly back to her room.
how ironic that it was alex that was avoiding her all day and now she's the one avoiding alex.