His Rockstar

8. | Apologies

It's late at night and I'm getting ready for bed when there's a pounding on my door. It's pouring rain outside — which will later turn into snow — and it's almost midnight.

Who on earth?

I walk to my door, opening it and freezing at the sight of Alex at my door. He's drenched from head to toe and he's breathing heavily.

I tilt my head, confused. "Alex?"

He looks up at me through his hair. "I'm sorry."

"What?" My brows furrow.

"I never should've left." My confusion grows. What is he rambling about? "I'm sorry."

I ignore him, wrapping my arms around him and holding him tight. I can't bring myself to care. Can't care that he's wet, or that I'm supposed to hate him.

He's here. He had to have seen my voicemail, or else he wouldn't be here. He'd still be at a concert.

I pull back in realization. "What are you doing here? What happened to your concert?"

"The rain pushed it back to tomorrow."

"You're freezing." I whisper.

"It's cold outside." He laughs slightly.

"Come on." I pull him inside. After we get him dried off, I hold out a pair of clothes. "I don't know how well they'll fit you."

He eyes them. "Why do you have men's clothes?"

"One night stands." I sit down on my couch, one leg under me. "Some of them left things behind and just never came to collect." I shrug. He doesn't move, glaring at the clothes. "They're clean. No one's worn them in forever."

He slowly takes them. "Yet you still have them."

"They're basically brand new, and I don't have anything else to give you." I state, slumping back against the couch.

"And if they come back?"

I roll my eyes. "They ghosted me."

He quirks a brow. "You sure it wasn't the other way around?" I straighten. Of course he'd bring it up. I was a fool to think he wouldn't.

"I had a reason." I state firmly. Because I did.

"You ever gonna tell me that reason?" He raises his brow.

"Maybe one day." Never. He doesn't need to know about what happened that night. Nor will he ever find out what happened that night.

He nods to himself before he's walking to my bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He doesn't slam it, but I can tell he's angry. He's mad because I'm being cold, distant. He's mad because I won't tell him that my father is the reason we never spoke again.

I pull my knees up to my chest, leaning back, and drape a blanket over myself. I'm tempted to turn on the TV, but then I'll just flick through channels until I "happen" to land on the news. And I can't get on my phone because then I'll "happen" to be scrolling through Instagram comments.

So I sit there. Arms wrapped around myself. Staring at nothing.

"Lindsey." I blink once. I turn to him, finding him standing near the hall my bathroom sits in. "A little small, but they'll work."

I nod. "Good." He sits down beside me on the couch and I take a deep breath. "So, why'd you come out here anyway?"

"You called me crying, Lindsey. I wasn't just going to ignore it." Maybe it'd have been better if you had.

"It was a mistake." I shake my head. "I never should've called you."

"No." His harshness has my head snapping to him. "Do not do that." I stare confused. What the hell is he talking about? "Don't you dare apologize because you needed someone. Because you needed me. Never feel bad for that."

"You're a rockstar, Alex. You can't— You can't afford to just leave everytime something happens to me." I state exasperatedly. I'm tired. So very tired.

"If you need me, I'm not going to just ignore it." He assures me, holding my gaze. "You know this. You know this better than anyone else. What made you think I'd change?"

"People change." I shrug. It's just an excuse.

"People grow." He counters. "I've grown. You've grown. People can change."

"But they don't." I argue. "I would know." I murmur, wrapping my arms tighter around me and resting my chin on my knee.

"Tell me about it." I turn to him confused. "Tell me about what happened."

I raise a brow at him. "You want me to tell you about what happened?"

"It is why you called me, isn't it?" He quirks his eyebrow at me, amusement filtering into his gaze. That's not gonna last long.

I take a deep breath. "My boss, Rhys, and his girlfriend were kidnapped. By a woman who was supposed to be in jail but broke out. She...uhm...attacked Naomi, and when Rhys went to check on her, she attacked him. So now I'm worried they're hurt or-or dead and I don't know what to do."

Alex shifts toward me, grabbing my hands and unraveling them from my legs. "There is nothing you could've done. I'm sure they're strong enough to handle themselves." He smiles comfortingly at me, and my stomach flips.

I snort, a small smile falling on my lips. "Naomi can definitely handle herself."

"Yeah? How so?"

"She's smart. She's strong. She's independent." She's everything I'm not. "There was one time where her abusive ex showed up. She destroyed his car with a golf club." I can't help the smile that grows. I remember the feeling of pride when I saw the result.

My phone vibrates. It's a notification from the news. I sit up straight as I read the new article announced.

Cyber Tech & Co., CEO, announced to be going into surgery.

"They found them." I whisper. "They're alive." An incredulous laugh bursts out of me. "Alex, they're alive!" I shove my phone in his face. I gasp. "I need to go see them. I need to check on Naomi."

"Okay, Lindsey, slow down." He grabs my shoulders, holding me in place. "Let's take a deep breath." I listen, inhaling slowly and exhaling with him. "Good."

He nods at me as we both take deep breaths. But then I'm rushing again. "I need to get to the hospital."

I jump up before he can stop me, running to my room. I throw on a baby pink sweater and leggings with a random pair of boots I find. I rush out, throwing my coat on.

"Wait, Lindsey," Alex calls as I grab my keys. "Let me take you."

"No. It's fine. I got it." I smile at him reassuringly.

"Lindsey, the weather is pretty bad."

"I'll be fine. And besides, either way I'd still end up in the hospital." Wrong thing to say, but all I can think about is getting to Naomi and Rhys.

"Lindsey," I'm already walking out the door. "Lindsey!" I shut the door on him.