Misbehave // Alex Gaskarth

Chapter Forty Three ~ Clear the Air

Songs: *Exchange - Bryson Tiller

*Twenty Eight - The Weeknd

~*~

There aren't many pleasant ways to wake up in the morning. Abella could think of only the sound of birds chirping, or the mouthwatering smell of breakfast as a few relatively pleasant ways. But the sound of an obnoxious alarm blaring loudly on the nightstand?

That was anything but pleasant.

Abella groaned quietly, reaching out to silence the alarm with her eyes still closed. She could feel Alex's arm loosely draped over her waist. His chest pressed against her back and the sounds of soft snores echoed quietly into her ears. Abella felt the strong temptation to turn around and press her chest against his, but she held back.

After Alex's heavy confession, the two had spent the following hours just laying in Alex's bed. At one point during the night, Abella had heard Riley come home and settle in the room across from Alex's. She found it strange that Riley hadn't even bothered to address Alex in the slightest, but figured this was for the best.

Eventually, Abella forced her eyes open as she squinted at the time displayed on her phone screen. She'd made a promise to Joey that she'd help him plan his wedding, but now- as Abella stared at the bright phone screen, all she really wanted to do was go back to sleep and forget the promise altogether.

"Turn that shit off," Alex spoke in a groggy voice.

Abella silenced the phone and began to adjust her eyes to the small light that filled Alex's bedroom. She could have easily just sent a message to Joey, explaining how something had come up and she wasn't going to be able to help him plan out the wedding.

Abella let out a sigh, knowing well enough that she wouldn't be able to do this. She'd already put off helping Joey for the past few weeks, making the guilt inside her built up.

"Alex," Abella whispered, gently nudging his arm. He was awake, Abella could tell, but it took a few more nudges before he finally replied.

"I have to go," She continued, carefully moving his arm away from her waist. Alex didn't bother protesting this, but he quickly sat up once the words had fully registered.

"Why?" He spoke, not really thinking about how desperate the single word had made him look. Alex didn't care though. At this point, he felt as if he could say anything and not feel a single regret. His confession to Abella had made it feel like he'd finally had a two-ton weight lifted from his chest. Alex had never fully realized how heavy the burden felt until last night.

Abella sat on the edge of the bed, tying the laces of her sneakers with fumbling fingers. She rested her chin against her knee, biting her lower lip as she tried to ignore the heavy feeling in her heart.

The timing was horrible, Abella thought. After such a heavy revelation, the only thing Abella wanted to do was lay in bed with Alex and never leave his side again. She wanted to spend the entire day with him, making sure he knew that this new information didn't change the way she felt for him. It only made Abella understand Alex more and the new connection she felt made their relationship seem so much stronger than before.

"Joey wants me to help him plan his wedding today," Abella explained. She finished tying her shoes and stood from the bed, stretching her arms out in a poor attempt to wake herself up some more.

Alex groaned and fell back against the headboard. "Why can't you just reschedule or something?" He questioned. There was no real edge in his voice. The only emotion Abella could really pick up on was exhaustion. Seeing as they had stayed awake the previous night, talking to each other about every single thing imaginable, Abella wasn't really surprised by this.