NICOTINE || Alex Ramos

Chapter 7

I removed her sweatshirt and pants which had puke on them, leaving her in her shirt and underwear. I placed the back of my hand to her forehead and she was getting a temperature. I went downstairs and brought up a glass of water and a cold, damp washcloth to place on her head. I continued to make sure she remained on her side through the night so she didn't throw up in her sleep. I stayed up the whole night making sure she was okay and her cloth stayed cool. I was finally able to fall asleep when the sun began to rise...

Alex's P.O.V
After falling asleep for what seemed like only 10 minutes, the sunlight began to get out of hand so I got up and closed the dark curtains. The room was now pitch black and soothing as I felt my way back to my spot in the bed. A couple hours past before I was woken up by Sarah clenching onto the blanket that was covering my bare upper body. "Alex..." her scared voice cried out in the dark. "I'm right here, it's okay." I said reaching out to her. She tightly grabbed my arms and pulled herself into my chest and started crying. "What happened?" She mumbled as I felt her tears fall onto my chest. "Just promise me you'll stay away from him, okay?" I whispered into the top of her head. "I promise." She held onto me tighter, obviously scared. We fell back and her head remained on my chest as I ran my fingers through her hair. She ran her soft, cold fingers in patterns over my torso, tracing my v-line every so often. "Do you want something to eat?" I asked her. "No, I feel icky." "Too icky for pancakes?" I mumbled against her forehead as she looked up at me. "Yes, too icky for pancakes." She made a frowny face as I fought the urge to kiss her, I smushed my lips to her temple. "I want whitecastles." She smiled at the thought as she continued to rub her hand just above the hem of my boxers. "To be honest, I'm hungry...but not for whitecastles." I fanned my breathe down her neck. "Not right now." Her breathing hitched. "Then when?" I kissed down her neck, causing her head to fall back. "Fuck." I sighed as she squeezed and scratched at my back.

We were interrupted by the doorbell ringing, causing me to groan in annoyance. "No." She whined and kissed my shoulder as I stood up. "Later." I pointed to her as I walked downstairs. I answered the door to Lauren and Will, they pushed right past me and sat down in the living room. "Movie time, betch." Will exclaimed. There was another knock on the door and I opened it to reveal Sarah. "How the fuck did you...?" I mouthed. "Don't ask." She whispered out of breath. "Sorry, I just got your texts a couple minutes ago." She played along, joining them in the living room, me soon following behind.

Sarah's P.O.V
After two movies, we all just sat around and chilled. I caught a glimpse as Lauren stared down at her phone, and sat up shocked. She moved away from Will with disgust evident on her face. She looked looked so broken as she stood up from the couch and stared down at him, Will remained sitting there confused. "How could you?" She began to cry as me and Alex just watched, not knowing what to do. "You cheated on me?!" She finally snapped. "Lauren I..." "You fucked a stranger at a party?! To top it all off, I just found out through a fucking text message from one of the many friends I dropped for this relationship!" She pushed at his chest. Alex and I slowly backed into the kitchen away from the painful chaos. "How could Will do something like this? He loves her so much." I put my face in my hands. "He was drunk and the girl kind of forced it on him and..." he stammered. "Wait, you knew about this and didn't tell me?...Why wouldn't you try to stop him?" "It was a complicated situation, you know I would have if I could." I knew he was telling the truth. "Do you think they're going to get passed this?" He wondered as we continued to peek out at them. "They have to, I mean...they're Lauren and Will." My voice broke. How did all this just escalate so quickly?

Lauren's P.O.V
"I can't imagine my life without you," he cried as he grabbed my arms. "Without these arms, this face, your heart." He begged me as he pointed about the parts he'd miss. He leaned in to kiss me and I regrettably almost gave in. "No, I can't. You're a totally different person to me now," I choked. "I used to think of you as somebody that would never ever hurt me, ever... God, and now I just can't stop picturing you with her. It changed everything...forever." The words cut at my throat like a knife. "This can't just be it..." he reached out for me. "Then how come it is?" I mumbled as I walked out the door without him.