Twisted

VII

People tend to wear masks.

Some wear it for deceit.

Some wear it for self protection.

Some wear it to conceal the truth.

Masks are not all worn for illusions.

Alex did it for both self protection and to hide her closet full of skeletons.

It was natural for her to be someone else except her real self.

She knew it would all come crumbling down one day but she still wished to avoid the encounter.

Encounter with reality.

Reality that comes in many forms.

It just so happened that Alex's reality came in the form of a handsome boy who was hell bent on shattering the masks that she wrapped herself in.

'If only he weren't the one to unravel my past,' Alexandra thought to herself.

She jumped a little when Ray touched her shoulder to get her attention, they were on their way to others and it looked like Alex was yet again lost in a daze.

"Hey Alex, we are here", Ray announced and removed his hand from her shoulder.

He had called her name numerous times but no response was to be seen.

So he touched her shoulder which worked but he felt her jump and second questioned his choice of action which was too late to be pondered upon.

Alex was so deeply lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized how the car was now parked or that they were at their destination.

"Sorry I was thinking about something", she quickly apologized and opened her door to escape the questions that were sure to come.

Ray for some unknown reason was feeling very edgy and Alex's recent panic attack only made it worse.

He had millions of questions hoarding his mind but he knew it wasn't the right time to talk about it.

Despite his better judgement he decided to drop the issue and have *the talk* with Alex after their holiday.

For now he wanted her to enjoy this time with her friends without awkwardness and caution dominating her every breath.

Alex as always was instantly surrounded by everyone. Each of them had missed her dearly and were not happy with the car arrangements. They all had so Much to tell her about their experiences, the things they saw, the people they met, the fans and most of all how they had missed her.

She was the reason how they all met and got together to form the band.

All their success was because Alex was there, take out Alex from the equation and Twisted would be nothing.

Day turned into evening and evening into midnight when they all finally decided to retire to their rooms with big smiles.

The catching up process was done with.

The night was quite but Alex's mind was booming with voices.

She tried to sleep despite the resurfacing memories, she tried to get rid of them but to no avail.

Finally realizing that everything was in vain and she wouldn't be able to sleep alone, she decided to go to Z's room because she knew he'll understand and wouldn't ask questions.

She silently left her room and walked towards the last room to the left down the hall because that was the room Z told her was his.

As she was about to twist the door's handle to open the door, it opened by itself and startled she moved backwards but tripped by her own feet and was about to take a fall but it never came.

Instead she had found herself wrapped in strong but lean warm hands and a firm chest. Alex's heart started beating really fast and it was not because of the rush of events.

One thing was clear, this person wasn't Z and she just couldn't bring herself to open her eyes because she didn't want to see him, she didn't want this encounter despite her heart's yearnings she didn't want to involve him.

She didn't want Ryder to know anything about her baggage or past but knowing him she knew he'll try his best to help her and get to the root cause for her odd behavior.

She felt the hands tightening around her waist and stabling her then she felt them loosen up but they were still there.

The feeling of that hold gave her a calm she had never felt and unknowingly she leaned more into his embrace and started to respond to the gesture.

Her hands moved out of their own accord and she wrapped her hands around Ryder's neck and hugged him tight, Alex would've never performed such kind of actions but right now her head was messed up and the previous sleepless night didn't help.

Ryder was taken by surprise when he felt Alex hugging him and for second he became rigid but the he relaxed and tightened his hands around her because she was embracing him as if he was her only cure.

Few minutes passed by and he felt her leaning completely into him so he glanced ways sideways to see what was up with her and give out a silent laugh.

He was thrilled and shocked to see that Alex had fallen asleep right there in his hands.

He had a huge face splitting grin on his face because Alexandra had never fallen asleep near her friends before as long as he could remember.

He carefully picked her up and suddenly felt queasy because the girl was as light as a feather.

Alex unconsciously snuggled more into Ryder's embrace as he carried her back into his room.

He tried his best to not wake her up. Silently and softly he situated her on his bed and tried to release himself from her hold which was hard because Alex had him trapped in a steal grip.

After quite a struggle he achieved his goal but before he could move back, he found his hand in a tight grasp.

Ryder couldn't fight his overwhelming feelings anymore and Alex's unconscious acts weren't helping so, he decided to just sit on the floor by her side.

Alex was the most beautiful girl in Ryder's eyes and her ethics only increased his attraction towards her.

She was such an adorable delicate creature that one could not help but have strong sense of attraction for her.

The thoughts about someone hurting her only fumed his previous anger.

He'd find out everything and he'd protect her even if it costs him his life.

With that thought Ryder dosed off right there next to Alex with their hands entwined together between them.

If only things remained like that.

Ryder didn't knew that his world would come crashing down as Alex didn't know her would shatter.