Oh, Calamity (Alex Gaskarth/ ATL fan-fic)

Circles

Marina's POV:

He followed me into the bus. We had escaped the venue without anyone noticing us, which was a very nice change. I closed the door and sat on the couch, sprawling out with a quilt. Alex sat beside me, stealing some of it. I clicked on the tv, quickly searching through the channels, knowing Alex wouldn't want to watch what was already on. It was some girly show with drama and sex-and-the-city finesse. As I scrolled past FX, I knew it would cause uproar.

"What!? You're skipping Archer again!?"

"I'm gonna be a nice person and put it on for you." I turned back. But seeing his excited expression made me apprehensive to say my next line. "But we're only watching one episode."

His happiness was only slightly dented, maybe to a perfect calm. "Okay. That's liveable."

With the way the room was shaped, I had to lean into Alex to see the TV properly. This normally wouldn't bother me, but I couldn't help but ask myself , was I leading the poor boy on? As the thoughts danced around my head, I realized I couldn't answer, because if I was leading him on, I was leading myself on, too. I wanted to put some real thought into how I felt about Alex, and right now seemed like the perfect time to do it (seeing as this show was uninteresting and immature, and that I had full-blown observation of how Alex reacts to me within my fingertips). 

Alex. A friend, a close one at that. Someone I would defend to the ends of the earth if nessecary. Physical attraction was undeniable; he was a babe. Our romantic chemistry was beautiful, and I really did feel sparks whenever we touched. But uncomfortably? No way. Like I said, we start with friends. I can tell Alex anything and trust him to keep it private. And he'd never judge me. 

But the downsides were heavy. I wish I wasn't a jealous girl but I am, and I'm unable to confront my jealousy. It's the only thing in this world I have confrontation issues with. And Lisa was just such a large piece of his life that I wasn't sure if I would ever get that big. And the friends, oh lord. Our friends may never let us hear the end of it. But maybe Lisa wasn't so big after all. I mean, what about at the club? I could tell he wanted to make her jealous, and to let go of her completely. I felt a sharp pain hit my chest. I didn't want to be just another rebound girlfriend. On this case, more observation was clearly nessecary.

"Hey, you're kinda quiet. Something up?" Alex piped up.

"Oh, I'm just tossing around thoughts, for, uh," I got nervous. Damn, I was bad at this lying stuff. "Another song."

"Lemme hear it." he exclaimed.

"Well I was thinking of the guitar line." I was quick to respond.

"Go get your guitar, let's work on it." 

"I'm really tired, Alex." I yawned.

"Lazy." He mumbled. "Jesus christ, another commercial?"

"And you're impatient." I laughed.

"Shut up." he grinned.

This was interrupted by a large sound, booming on Alex's side. It sounded like a gun. I, being the jumpy little shit that I am, fell right off the couch and onto the floor. To my surprise, Alex must've been jumpy too because he landed right on top of me, catching himself with his hands before crushing me.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, are you okay?" he instantly asked.

"I'm fine." I laughed. "Are you?"

He took one of his hands and ran it through his hair. Damn, was that sexy. He set it back down and started laughing again. "I guess I am."

I tried saving the moment before it got awkward. "Tickle fight!" I said, acting on what I implied. 

Alex squealed like a little girl, then pinned my arms down for a moment. "No, you shall not win!" he shouted, tickling my neck and my stomach.