Bi The Time

Chapter 13: You

The light from the rising sun snuck across Ally's face as it slipped through the crack in her curtains, gently waking her from her slumber. She rose from her bed feeling like she could breathe for the first time in days, she looked over at the empty latte cup on her dresser and smiled to herself.

"Time to thank him for working his magic," she murmured to herself, grabbing her phone off her tissue-covered nightstand. She snapped a photo of herself and was relieved to see the colour had returned to her cheeks, finally a filter wouldn't be required to share this pic, she thought.

"I should really share how amazing Alex is with the world." She twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger as she thought about what to say, hesitating only a moment before tapping out a caption filled with gratitude. "My Latte Hottie sent me the perfect get-well gift. Thanks for working your magic, I feel a million times better" She made sure to tag Alex before uploading it all to Instagram.

Leaning back against her mountain of pillows, Ally watched as likes and comments began to populate beneath the post. Reading each one as it appeared, and she couldn't help but grin, all filled with praise for Alex and happiness that Ally was feeling better.

"Thanks, Alex," she whispered, truly grateful that she wouldn't have to skip the school fashion show after all, "you really saved the day."

---

"I'd love to go and see you at the fashion show Madison but I am stuck here with Lola today," Rodney lamented, his gaze never leaving the flashing images on the TV screen. Lola happily picked away at a strawberry on her pancakes.

"Rodney, come on, Lola can come too. It's just for an hour," Madison's voice crackled through the phone speaker as she tried to convince him to come to the high school.

"I don't know. This babysitting thing is harder than I thought it would be and Lola is... well she has spirit," He had spent most of the morning chasing her around the house trying to get her to brush her teeth.

"Well Matt is coming so maybe you can both keep an eye on her. You know, the whole two heads are better than one thing."

"I don't that saying really applies here," Rodney started before his phone buzzed with a small notification, alerting him that Ally had updated her story. "I'll think about it, maybe if Derek gets back early I can make it."

"I'll save you a seat," Madison said, all too certain that Rodney would show up to the show to support her.

Rodney checked Ally's updated feed to find her giving Alex the credit for the Latte he sent her last night. "Shit!" he said loud enough to get Lola to turn her head and for Madison to go silent. "Oh no, no, that wasn't about you Madison. Sorry," He gave Lola an apologetic look but she had already turned back to her show.

"Then what was that about?" Madison asked, her tone taking on a note of concern. "Did you burn yourself or something?"

"It's stupid really, but I sent Ally a latte last night when I found out she wasn't feeling well." He started to explain, leaning back against the leather couch cushions. "I know we haven't talked since she..."

"Broke your heart," Madison finished. "Is she upset about the latte of something?" Madison sounded confused through the phone.

"No, I didn't tell her it was from me, I thought that would be too awkward," he said, cursing himself for trying to be selfless in the moment. "Anyway, she just gave Alex all the credit for it and now everyone is going on and on about how amazing he is. But it wasn't him at all."

"You know Ally is one of the models at the show too, if you come here then maybe you can let her know it was you," Madison suggested, though her ulterior motives were clear.