It All Started with a Lie

Chapter 25

Things come apart when they have been held together by lies.
~ Dorothy Allison

A/N
So apparently I totally reposted the last chapter, so I am so sorry but here is the actual chapter. It has not been edited bc I accidentally edited chapter 24 twice but I hope you all still enjoy it.
Happy reading!!

Chapter 25
His POV
I get up from the bed as quietly as I can. Alexandria stirs at the motion only long enough to expand her body to the potion of the bed I'd been occupying before drifting back asleep. I leave the door open a hair because apparently she can sleep through everything from a thunderstorm to a fire alarm but the sound of a door opening or closing wakes her right up.

I head to the kitchen and I have to try three cupboards before I find the cups . I fill one with water from the sink because the fridge filter has a red light and comes out brown and she won't let me replace it because she feels like it adds character to her apartment, makes it more homey.

I stare at the painting above her kitchen sink, a Monet print, lilacs. The sun streams in from the window, illuminating it. I remember helping my sister pick it out for Alexandria's graduation present, before I knew her.

Soft footprints putter through the kitchen before a pair of arms wrap around my waist and slide up my bare chest. She presses her body to me, the material of her silk nightgown colder than she is. I swear it's like she always just came inside from sitting in the snow. "Goodmorning," she mumbles, her voice groggy.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

She hums resting her chin against my back. I know it is all a scam to steal my body heat but I do not mind one bit. I take her hand and bring it up to my lips, kissing her fingertips. Her giggle vibrates against my skin and I might be addicted to the feeling.

There is something so relaxing about the moments that I do not want it to end, but the day's events loom over me and the minutes tick by on the stove clock reminding me of today's agenda. "We're meeting Bea this afternoon."

I didn't think it was possible, but her skin grows colder and I pull her to me a little tighter to try and warm her up. She buries her face in my skin, taking a deep breath. I am dreading the conversation, telling my sister the truth. I'm going to have to look her in the eyes and tell her I've been doing the one thing she asked me not too for months, and that I plan to continue to do it. I can only hope she will forgive me; I'm not sure I deserve it.

But I know my sister, and she will forgive me, and Alexandria because her heart is too big to hold a grudge. I just hope it doesn't shatter in the process. I have Ryder on standby to help pick up the pieces in case it does.

"I can't do it," she whispers before the panick sets in and she goes taut against me. "Maybe we should just call it a quits now, before she finds out."

I turn around in her arms and her eyes are wide as she stares at me. I don't get the chance to say anything before she spirals, rambling about how maybe we aren't a good idea and that we can't tell Bea so we should just stop and pretend this never happened.

When she is talking so fast I can no longer understand her, I catch her waving hands in mine, stilling the rest of her body. "She is not going to hate you."

She shakes her head, her voice is calm, like she's completely given up. "She will." She sighs and I release her from my grip, so that she can better gesture with her hands. It helps her think. "I mean she won't hate you, you're her brother, but she'll hate me. She'll never be able to forgive me."

I step forward, brushing her hair back and out of her face. "Yes, she will. You're her best friend, she loves you. She tells me all the time how thankful she is to have you. She can't imagine a world without you."