Second Chances

twenty-eight

a l e x

"Damn, sis, where'd you get that dress?" Paige hyped me up as I walked into her room. "You look so good."

My other siblings went to the store to buy some drinks for the night and my cousins probably just got off their flight back to London so they could celebrate with their parents. That was if my uncle wasn't busy.

I did a little spin for my sister and showcased my dress. "You like it?"

"Was that not obvious from my reaction?" she questioned, slipping into her shiny silver dress.

"I ordered it online with another dress, but Luke picked this one," I smiled.

After we cuddled and took a little nap, Luke had to leave. We both had work the next day, and we both knew that if he stayed, we'd stay up later than we were supposed to and be late for work.

"Are you two dating yet?" she wondered, holding up two different earrings. "Which one?"

"Dangly. The hoops don't match with the dress," I directed. "And no, we aren't dating."

She huffed. "Alex, I don't get you. You're so obviously serious about him, why don't you just make it official?"

"Paige, I just don't wanna rush into it and make a mistake. It's only been like three months since we started to get close again," I reminded her.

She turned to me with a deadpan look. "You trust him, don't you?"

"Yeah," I drawled out, not really getting her point. "So?"

"You're supposed to be the smart one," she sighed. "You two are always together and even Aidan said he doesn't get why you two aren't a thing yet after he met Luke."

I raised my eyebrow. "You were the one ready to attack him at dinner like a month ago."

"People change. Feelings change," Paige reasoned. "I see how happy he makes you, Alex. Don't be the one stopping yourself from fully being happy. I know he's not pressuring you into anything, but please, Alex, don't make him wait forever."

"I'm happy with how we are right now," I admitted. "But I'll think about it, okay?"

Her eyes widened. "You haven't thought about it yet? Wow, you really are serious about this whole 'not rushing into it' thing."

"I mean, I've thought about it, but I always told myself that it wasn't the time," I clarified.

"I'm not—" she got cut off by her phone ringing, and she picked it up from her desk. "It's Aidan, hold on."

She accepted the FaceTime request, and I saw her boyfriend on the screen. "Hi, Muff."

"Hi, Finny," she smiled. "Your favorite sibling is here with me."

"Hey, Alex," Aidan waved at me once Paige sat beside me and put me on camera.

I waved back. "Hey, Aidan. What's the call for?"

"Oh, nothing really. I'm just really bored," he admitted. "My mom's making us go to my grandparents' house for dinner tonight."

"And you're wearing that? Seriously, Finny?" Paige inquired. "Your mom's going to make you change, you know that."

He groaned. "Fine, I'll go change. Give me two minutes."

He paused the call and Paige put her phone down on the bed beside me. "As I was saying... wait, what was I saying?"

"I don't remember either," I shrugged. "If it helps, we were talking about Luke."

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "Well, all I'm saying is don't delay it anymore if it feels right anyway. Just go for it. You don't have to care so much about what Ryder's going to say or what Jax is going to say or what Mom and Dad are going to say. If you're happy, go for it."