Never Too Late

Chapter 6.0: A Good Good Morning

The next morning, I was trying to wake up from the deep, deep slumber of lust that wrapped between Alex and I, and as I was regaining consciousness, I realized I had my arms clutched around Alex's naked body. Our naked bodies were covered by the warm and thick blanket as Alex was still asleep. When I realized I had just slept with Alex, I panicked.

"Oh my God!" I yelled as I fell on the floor while panicking. Alex was awakened by that sudden scream.

"Whoa!" he rose up, his underparts still covered. I pulled a little part of the blanket down to cover my breasts. "Liyah..."

"Oh my God..." I repeated as I face-palmed myself. "What have I done?"

"I'm sorry. I came on to you." He said with his groggy voice. "I think I had too much wine... you too."

"Yeah, I definitely had more wine than you, but your tolerance to alcohol is surprisingly and very gay-ish low." I replied. "And I can't get over the fact that I slept with you on Christmas eve! I have a boyfriend, and you have a girlfriend. This is so messed up!"

"It was my fault, Liyah. I started the kissing thing."

"Okay, It doesn't matter." I said as I tried to stand up and not be seen naked. "We both did it, but maybe we could just act like we took the pretending thing too far."

"Yeah..." he nodded repeatedly but sounding a bit unsure. "Sure. That's cool."

"Oh God..." I sighed as I fixed my hair, still covering my body with the blanket. "Can you reach my bra?"

Anyway, skipping the whole getting dressed thing, Alex and I casually came out the room like nothing had happened. Mom had cooked breakfast, and it was a good thing that she didn't try to look for Alex in my room, as far as I know. Alex and I headed for the kitchen when mom had just finished cooking and microwaving the leftover food from last night.

"Oh, hey! Great! You two are up. I made breakfast." She said as she sat down.

"Morning, ma'am..." Alex said, and mom smiled. I was seriously hoping she didn't know that Alex and I just had sex.

"You just woke up?" I asked as Alex and I sat down.

"Yeah... about thirty minutes ago. I started cooking." She replied with a smile, so I felt a little relieved. Maybe she didn't really know.

That day, we visited Red and dad at their home, got to finally meet the new wife and all, but I didn't really make such a big deal out of it. It was a long day, and I couldn't really make it slower. The next two days had to come, and it was Sharon's two-year death anniversary. Alex and I, despite the cold and snowy weather, came to the Neptune cemetery with a whole new set of bouquet for Sharon. Alex carried the huge bouquet as we walked down the snowy path to Sharon's tombstone. When we got there, Alex cleared the snow off her tombstone, and we sat down on the cold surface. It wasn't really snowing that hard, so we were a bit comfortable.

"I can't believe it's been two years." Alex started as we were sitting right next to each other exactly like how we were on that couch.

"Yeah. Time flies when a lot of things happen."

"A lot of things have happened." He chuckled. "Sharon probably didn't expect us to be broken up by now."

"Who would, right?" I replied. The next thing I said was a lie, but I just had to. "But it doesn't matter. Maybe we're happier apart."

"Not exactly..." he chuckled and faced me, so I had to stare back. "I was happier with you, but I'm glad you're happier with Ken."

"Thank you." I replied with all feelings blocked. "And you'll probably get over this thing with me. Give it time. You're just probably having an after taste of that sex we had two days ago."

"Again..." he laughed. "I'm sorry about that. I really did have too much wine, and wine makes me crazy horny, so I just had to. There wasn't any reason for me engaging into that other than drunkenness."

"It's okay..." I laughed back. "It was my fault too."

"Thank you for understanding." He continued to laugh. We paused for a sec. Then he started to ask about Ken. "So, how's that thing with Ken? I mean, other than that you're happier with him like you just mentioned. I mean, have you talked to him?"

"Not really." I replied. "The last time I talked to him, he said he'd give me my Christmas gift after the winter break, and I was fine with it I guess."

"Liyah, I really don't want to get into anything, but I just thought to ask you as a friend and not as your ex-boyfriend with whom you had sex with two days ago."

"What?"

"Are you really happy with Ken?" he asked me straightforward, and I couldn't reply. "You barely see each other. You run errands and favors for him, and the only thing you do with him is sex. I mean, it just felt a little weird for me. If you're in love with him, it's not supposed to be like that. He's supposed to want to see you all the time, and the fact that he has no time for you shouldn't just be fine to you. I hope you're not offended. I know I'm not a role model when it comes to relationships. I'm just a little conflicted."

"None taken." I shook my head. Deep inside, I knew he was right, so I just couldn't feel angry. "To be honest, Alex, I don't know. Maybe that's just how it is with me and Ken. I don't know why it's like that, but maybe some things have changed too."

Alex just took my word for it, and we just talked over for the rest of the day. My winter break was pretty fun. Alex and I got to visit some old friends and some old places. It was a good way to remember the happy memories we had even just as friends, but the whole time Alex's question kept sinking in my skull: "Are you really happy with Ken?"

I gave Alex a false answer, and he just believed me, but deep inside, I wanted to tell him the truth. We both were in different relationships, but mine was just like a faltering wall of bricks. Anyway, I just didn't want to do the things I did to Nick to anyone else. I didn't want Janine to be hurt just because of my feelings for Alex. He came back to California to get back together with me, and I turned him away and told him he was too late, but then it backfired. As it turned out, I still had a lot of leftover feelings for Alex, but I drove him to Janine... I was too late.