Someone To Watch Over Me - Book 1

Chapter Four

I skip my classes again. A decision I know I'll pay for later, but right now I have more pressing things on my mind. I sit alone in the apartment I shared with Liam, packing up my belongings. I take only what is truly mine. Anything we bought together he can burn for all I care.

I rent a truck and offer to pay some freshmen to load it up for me. We get to the truck rental place, and I spring for a storage unit. My helpers move my stuff in. It now contains everything I own, stored neatly in a 5-foot x 5-foot space. Everything except for a small box of clothes and personal items that I keep in the back of my car.

"Looks like my life hasn't really amounted too much," I think miserably, before shutting and locking the unit. I drive the freshmen back to campus, give them their money, and thank them for their time.

I sit in my car for a few minutes, trying to take everything in. Okay, genius, where to next? I pull out the storage unit key to put it on my keyring, but I have the wrong key. Alex's key is in my hand. I put both keys on the ring and drive to Alex's place.

William has been texting me every half hour since the second period. He wants to talk, but I can't right now. I don't want to see anyone. I just want to be left alone. Upon opening up the apartment door, I see Alex hasn't put away the sofa bed. 

I fold it up and put away the pillow and blanket, wash the dishes, dry them, and put them away as well. I open my schoolbooks to start my coursework, but soon have to give up, being completely unable to concentrate.

I jump in the shower, hoping it will wake me up enough so I can focus, and that's when it hit me. Like a knife to the heart, the pain is crippling and my tears mingle with the spray of the shower as I slide down the wall and sit on the floor. I don't know how long I sat there and cried.

A knock on the bathroom door startles me back to reality. "Cat?"

Alex?

I turn off the water and step out of the shower. I wrap a towel around myself.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm..." about to say fine, but I'm so far from it. I am a hot mess. I don't even know where to start sorting out my life, and so I begin to cry all over again.

"I'm coming in," Alex warns as he opens the door. He doesn't say a word. One look and he just wraps his arms around me and holds me while I sob. I try to stop. I feel so foolish, but now that the floodgates are open, there is no stopping the flow of tears that threaten to drown me.

Alex leads me out to the other room and sits me on the bed. He grabs his robe from the back of the door and puts it around my shoulders. I shrug into it, grateful for the small amount of decency it provides. He leaves and comes back with a towel and begins gently to towel dry my hair so it isn't dripping down my face and neck.

I sit there motionless as he takes care of me. Finally, the tears stop.

Alex kneels in front of me. His hands rest on my knees as he looks up at my tear-stained face. "Better?" he asks.

I just nod. He smiles at me, gets up, and leaves the room. He comes back with my box in his hands, which he places by my feet. "Take your time, get dressed, and I'll be out there if you need me."

He walks out of the room and shuts the door behind him. I feel so ashamed. How did I come to this? I dress in a pair of stretch jeans and a soft sweater. I can't find my socks, so I go without them.

I am embarrassed. I can't believe I just blubbered all over Alex, and he just stood there and let me. No, he did more than let me, he held me, comforted me. He... took care of me.