Him?

Chapter 14

Alexis's pov

I was starting to get sick of my cold treats but as soon as I heard the voice that followed Sammy's on the microphone, I instantly became sick for a completely different reason. For a while I sat fighting with myself, trying to convince my heart that it wasn't him. That it was just someone who sounded like him. I had my back to the stage, because, well I was too busy eating to really look at the performances. But my mind was now pushing me to turn around and see for myself, and maybe it will prove that I was only hearing things.

"Lexi, you alright?" Chris's concerned voice sounded distant and muffled in my ears. She must've noticed my sudden change in mood, but I couldn't get myself to respond.

I had to see for myself. I had to just make sure it's not him. My poor heart hammered in my chest as I slowly turned in my seat and craned my neck to see over the shoulders of onlookers. Christina saw what I was trying to do and I guess she wanted to see what got me acting all weird, she sat on top of the table we were eating at to see the stage.

"Holy shit! Is that-" she began to exclaim but I stopped her mid-sentence just as my eyes confirmed my worst nightmares. I tugged her by the arm so that she fell on her seat with a soft bump.

"Ouch!" Chris complained, then she went right back to whatever she was saying before. "Omg! Alexis, that's your ex, isn't he? Oh damn, he looks amazing!"

I glared at her warningly as I replied, "shut the f'ck up and let's get the hell out of here before he sees me."

"So what if he sees you?" She asked, genuinely unaware of my fears.

"He hasn't been here in five years and what he left behind is a lot more than just a broken girl. He left a whole lot of pain and misery in his wake and I am not about to go back through that again. Whatever he's here for, he is not going to get it." I said with a trembling voice over the noise around me. I then took Chris by the hand and, with my head held low, I hid behind as many people as I possibly could and counted myself lucky when we got a block away from the ice cream shop, hopefully unnoticed.

"I'm glad we left anyway, I was getting sick of ice cream," Chris said as we neared the campus dorms.

She sounded far away, yet we were walking side by side. It was because my mind was somewhere else. Somewhere between the past and worrying about what will happen next. There were so many questions in my head that I could not get myself to think them through one at a time. Why was he here? Why now? Why me? Is he here for revenge? On who? Me for refusing to run away with him and live like a fugitive for the rest of my life under false identities and shit? Or Destiny for taking my side and for reporting him to the cops that last time?

I vaguely remembered telling Chris goodbye and getting into a taxi, even when my house was only a few minutes away. I was completely drained of energy and my heart never stopped its wild beating and my chest felt tight and I felt like the walls around me were caving in on me and I couldn't breathe. I got out of the car two houses away from where I stayed and paid the driver way too much money, but I wasn't paying much attention to that because I couldn't get myself to calm down. I have no idea how I made it inside the house, but thankfully, I did.

Destiny's pov

I was just done with the last of my assignments for the night, shut down my laptop and was stretching when I heard the front door slam. Alarmed, I rushed out of the study room only to find Alexis with her back pressed to the closed door. She clutched at her chest desperately like she couldn't breathe properly and her eyes closed tightly as she gasped for air.

"No, no, no, not this again." I murmured to myself as I quickly made my way over to her side. I thought her panic attacks were done. What on Earth could have caused it again? "No, no, no, no..."

By the time I got to her, she had sunk to the floor and was curled up in the fetal position and was shaking like a leaf caught in a strong wind. I noticed that she was soaked in cold sweat as I lifted her up and brought her to the coach. I sat down, holding her gently in my arms as I rocked her from side to side, speaking as calmly as I could to make her feel better.

"It's okay Lexi, it's okay. I'm right here, okay? Just calm down, everything's fine now, okay? Alexis, sweetie, calm down dear, it's okay..."

I don't know when I started humming some random slow song, but I did and it was starting to help. I kept humming and rocking her as her breathing slowly returned to normal and she stopped clutching her throat. She sat up and stared at her hands in silence for a while. I really wanted to ask her what was wrong but I didn't want to start another panic attack. I just sat silently, with one hand on her knee while the other rubbed soft circles in her back for two main reasons. One, I didn't know where else to put my hands because Lexi was sitting comfortably on my lap. And two, because rubbing her back is a way of calming her down.

She turned to face me eventually, probably just taking note of my silence and smiled forcefully at me. "Thank you." She whispered.

"What happened?" I dared to ask and immediately wished I could take it back. I could have waited until she was ready to tell me.

Alexis began to cry and it was my turn to panic. Now, look at what I did. I just had to open my big mouth.
"I am so sorry, Lexi. You don't have to answer. It's okay." I apologized quickly.

Alexis covered her face in my chest as she sobbed, "he's here. At Sammy's. It was him all along. I should have listened to you the first time. I'm so stupid."

"It's okay Alexis," I repeated, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm here. I won't ever let him hurt you again."

She hugged me tightly as she replied in a soft voice, "I know. What are we going to do?"

"Did he see you?" I asked.

"No, I don't think so."

"Then we'll try to keep it that way. If he finds you, then we do something. We can't do much about him now." I answered her question.

Lexi sat up again to stare determinedly into my eyes. "I will make sure he's locked up behind bars where he belongs if it's the last thing I do."