Twisted And Deranged • Alex Turner

Chapter 17 ● It Isn't Pretty

Violet's POV

I sneak out of my apartment as soon as I find the note Alex left me.

I thought I was in the clear until I spotted my landlord after I left the building.

To my surprise, all he said was good morning.

"Alex," I furrow my eyebrows.

○○○

When I arrive at Alex's place, I was ready to tell him off for paying my rent when I notice the door is already open.

The whole place was a mess and I could barely spot Alex's head behind his bed in his room.

"Alex, what happened?" I ask trying not to step all over the papers and clothes on the floor before deciding to pick them up.

I start to put my stuff down when Alex starts to reply.

"You should go back home," a rough sounding Alex barely speaks.

"What do you mean 'I should go back home?' What happened here?"

"I said you should go home," he mumbles some more.

The sound of my heels clicking on the floor filled the room as I approached him.

"I got that note you left me, if only we could actually go to Mar-" I try to lighten up the mood as I think of a way to ask if he had anything to do with my landlord being nice.

No sound could escape my mouth when my eyes landed on him.

He was sat there facing the wall so I couldn't catch a glimpse of him. His lips were swollen, his right cheekbone busted and his left eye bordered by a giant bruise.

I fall to my knees and hesitate on touching him so as to not hurt him.

"Why are you not home?"

"Alex..."

"Shouldn't really piss off those cartel people, you know how they are."

My eyes began to water at the thought of him trying to make a joke out of this mess. 

I get up and go to his bathroom to look for things to clean him up. I flip too many bottles of allergy pills and cough syrup upside down and to the sink, finding nothing useful but aspirin.

I walk to the kitchen and get a glass of water with two aspirins in hand. I walk back to Alex who's still on the floor and feed him the pills. 

After placing the glass of water on the floor next to him, I walk out of his loft and across to Topher's. 

I bang on the door until he finally opens. I rush past him and to his bathroom without saying a word. I could hear him asking what was going on but I chose to ignore him, anger and sadness boiling inside of me. 

When I reached the living room again, Topher grabbed my arm and made me almost drop the first aid kit in my hand.

"What's going on? Where are you going with that?" Topher asked harshly.

"You asshole!" I yell.

"What the fuck did I do?"

"You fucking know!" I say as I rush to Alex's and he follows.

We were stood in the hall when Topher called my name again and I snap.

"How could you? I know you heard whatever fight or struggle that was going on in Alex's apartment and you did nothing to stop it! You fucking heard people go into his place and the yelling and-and the pleading probably! How the fuck could you do such a thing?"

"Yeah, alright. I heard the fight. And? What? Was I supposed to go in there and help him? Get myself into trouble that doesn't concern me?"

I smack him right after he spoke those words.

"Violet, don't make me tell you about yourself," his expression changes.

"Oh fuck off-"

"You know he's a mess! You know he doesn't deserve you! You fucking know you could do better!"

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again," I bite. "You know how much he means-"

"Keep your distance Violet," Topher warns me.

"He was your friend first," I hiss.

"Not after last night," Topher shakes his head. "I saw those men. And not after putting you in this position."

I don't say a word and go back into Alex's apartment.

I find him where I left him and start to clean his wounds and begin to cover them up.

Once I'm done I reach for his hand and start to speak.

"Alex, are you going to-"

 He grabs my wrist and interrupts me.

"You know he's right."