"You have trust issues, not to mention" - Twenty One Pilots
Alyssa's POV
Reece went upstairs into my room without hesitation or asking for permission or even waiting for me. There was nothing left to do but follow him. Reece already sat at the same spot where Benson had sat only a minute ago when I entered the room and closed the door behind me.
"What's wrong with George? Did something happen?" I was so worried I couldn't think straight. What if he had an accident? Or worse...
"If something happened?" Reece snorted. "You happened."
"What?" I asked in confusion. What was that supposed to mean?
"Say, do you like leading people on?" He snubbed.
"What the hell is your problem? Coming here just like that, telling me that something is wrong with George and then you snap at me like that. What's wrong with you?" I asked angrily and took a step backwards to get some space between the two of us.
"What's wrong with me?" Reece laughed bitterly. "You're the one who made out with George and then all of a sudden pushed him away, jumps up and leaves. And then, George comes home on Monday, completely devastated, saying that you got arrested at school for doing drugs."
I hadn't noticed that my jaw had dropped until I closed my mouth again. I was speechless. When I didn't say anything, Reece added:
"You're really messed up, I get that but now you've messed up George too. Thanks for that. I haven't seen him smile one single time in three days."
I finally found my voice again.
"See, I've got issues that I don't have to explain to you because they're none of your damn business. Not that you'd understand it anyway." I snapped and crossed my arms in front of my chest. Who was he to talk to me like that?
"You make them my business when they involve hurting my best friend." Reece said coolly. "Maybe you don't have to explain it to me, but you owe it to George."
"I don't owe anything anyone." I told Reece and looked to the ground. My rage had settled and turned into resentment.
"Please just talk to him and explain why you ran off. Is that too much to ask?" Reece was changing his approach and was now trying it the nice way.
"I can't..." I whispered and felt how my voice started to become shaky. No, please not now. Keep it together, I told myself.
"Why not?" Reece asked, his voice really kind now. I turned around to prevent Reece from noticing that I was about to cry. I looked out of the window instead. I didn't like when I wasn't angry because it meant that I was getting sad.
I didn't answer because I was afraid my voice would crack. I could not tell Reece. Or George. Not even my own brother.
"Alyssa?" Reece asked when I hadn't answered for some seconds. A tear escaped my eye that I quickly wiped away before Reece could see it. He had stood up and walked over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and softly turned me around. "Are you crying?"
"No." I lied and avoided his eyes. I just fixated on a spot on his chest.
"What happened that you can't tell anybody about?" He asked softly and put a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"It wasn't my weed. It was my brother's. I covered up for him so he wouldn't get in trouble." I tried to distract Reece but it didn't help.
"That's not what I meant." Reece said and I bit my lip. It hadn't worked. "What are you so afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid." Lie.
"Are you afraid of Richard?"
"No." Another lie.
Reece sighed.
"You can trust George. He's a good guy and he won't do anything to ever hurt you. At least not on purpose." Reece took my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. I looked up and our eyes met.
"Can I trust you?" I whispered and I felt how Reece's face came closer. Was it me or was it him who was moving closer? I didn't know. Everything felt so slow like I was frozen. And I still felt numb. It was like I was witnessing this situation from outside my body, watching us but I was unable to do anything.
"Of course you can." Reece lowered his gaze to my lips and then leaned it.
I didn't move, I just let things happen.
But before his lips met mine, Reece stopped.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't do this." Reece said and started to blush.
"No you shouldn't." I confirmed.
"I should do this instead." Reece said and stretched out his arms to pull me in for a hug. "As a friend."
We just stood there for a while, me resting my temple against Reece's chest, and his chin on my head.
"How's your relationship with your dad?" Reece asked all of a sudden.
I broke the hug and looked at Reece, trying to figure out why he would ask such a question.
I opened my mouth to say something, to tell another lie but Reece interrupted me.
"Please be honest with me."
"It's ... complicated. We haven't really talked much lately. I think he's really disappointed in me but I'm disappointed in him too." I admitted. I let go of a breath that I didn't know that I had been holding.
"I thought so." Reece said more to himself than to me.
"What made you think that?"
"Because some girls are trying to find the love that their dad didn't give them in other guys." Reece said but noticed that he hadn't chosen his words wisely when he saw me knitting my brows. "I just mean, it sometimes happen that if your relationship to your dad isn't healthy, your relationship to your boyfriend isn't as well. Just because you're seeking the validation that your dad didn't give to you. I'm sorry, it's quite hard to explain."
"No actually, it makes sense." I admitted.
"I'm sorry that I was about to take advantage of that like so many guys before and that I wanted to kiss you earlier. That was an asshole move." Reece apologised, scratching the back of his head.
"No worries, Reece. I know you're not an asshole." I said.
There was a short silence between us, then I spoke up.
"Actually, Reece... can I come to George's place tomorrow? I want to explain to him why I ran off at the party. I just need a night to sleep over it and find the words."
"Of course you can." Reece said and smiled. "I'm glad you want to sort things out."
"I can't keep running, right?" I cracked a smile.
"I should probably go." Reece took a look at his watch. "George will come home from school in thirty minutes and will kill me if he finds out that I was here and talked to you about him."
"Sure."
We both walked downstairs to the door.
"Uhm... Reece?" I asked before he could walk out the door.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for kicking me in the ass. I really needed that. But please know that it's not that easy for me and that what I'm going to tell George tomorrow is worse than you expect."
"Okay Al." Reece said and I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"See you tomorrow." I said and closed the door as Reece walked away.
I turned around and leaned with my back against the door. I sighed. Oh Lord, what was I doing?
Author's Note
Guys I'm curious. Are you currently in love with someone (not speaking of band members) ?
All the love
Xx
A
