『 the sound of you and i 』 ➤ the first "sounds" book

❁ Ⅲ ｐ．３ ∞ 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 ❁

I panic.

I look to Chase who looks to Josh who looks to Harley who's still looking at Alex and then I look to Parker who looks to me with a confused expression.

"Who's that?" She says and I almost cry.

"A-Alex," I stutter, my eyes growing wider as the other girl got closer.

"Who's Alex?"

"My ex!"

"Oh, my god."

Parker seems to suddenly notice all of our expressions but all she does is wrap an arm around me to which Harley finally tears his gaze away from my ex girlfriend and sends a look to us.

I roll my eyes and almost lean into the other girl as Alex finally gets here.

"Woah! The whole squad is here! Hey, guys! Long time, no see."

Chase and Josh smile and hug Alex, I'm still in stock, Parker's still confused and Harley is still salty.

I finally stand up and look to Alex who looks to me and I look back at her and she looks back at me and we stand in silence for a minute.

Before I know it, my arms are around her and her arms are around me and I'm in tears. I really missed her when she left.

I tell her that. "I really missed you," I sniff, my grip on her tightening.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry we fell out of touch, New school and new life and shit."

She pulls away and stares at me for a second. She presses a kiss to my cheek and I blush. She always used to make me blush.

"You look amazing," she mumbled quiet enough only so I can hear. "You're still just as hot."

The adjective sends shivers up my spine and for a second I totally forget that my brain doesn't match my body.

"Thanks," I squeak and escape her grip. Any longer and I might have fainted.

I feel a stare and I look to where I'd previously been sitting. Harley and Parker are sending Alex the dirtiest looks I've ever seen. She doesn't seem to notice.

"Harley!" She exclaims, ruffling his hair to which he sneezes and I laugh.

"Alex. What the hell are you doing here?" Harley spits venom. She still doesn't notice.

"I live near here, silly! And hey, who's this? New member?"

I cough and send a look to Parker which makes her roll her eyes. I think that means she agrees to play nice.

"I'm Parker," she says, sticking her hand out but she doesn't stand up. "Nice to meet you."

Alex shakes Parker's hand with a smile. "I saw your arm around Grace when I came over. You're a lucky girl."

I start to protest and say that we're not dating but Parker chips in. "Yeah, I really am. I heard you guys used to date. You let a good one go."

My cheeks heat up. Why is she pretending that we're dating?

She sends me a raised eyebrow and I almost squeak but I manage to stay quiet, even when Alex turns back to me.

"So, how've you been?"

~

Two hours later I'm swimming in the salty sea with Alex chasing me, trying to playfully drown me. Little does she know I do not want it to be playful. However, that is not the point.

I float for a bit, looking over the busy beach before I squeak when feeling a body behind me. Alex wraps her arms around my waist and manages to keep us both from drowning.

We just float and I realise how much I missed her. She meant a lot to me and the fact that her family just dragged her away broke my heart. I thought I was never going to see her again. But here we were, alone in the sea.

"You're not actually dating that Parker girl, are you?"

I shake my head. "Nope. She made it up."

"She's funny. I don't like her."

"What about Harley?"

"As soon as he stops hating me, I'll stop hating him."

"Fair enough."

We float in silence again. It's really nice.

"Do you think we were in love?"

The quesion catches me off guard and I cough a bit. I don't usually talk about my relationship with Alex. Especially not to Alex herself.

I think long and hard. "Yes," I eventually say. "I didn't just love you. I was in love with you."

"I was in love with you too."

"We're using past tense."

"Yes, I guess we are."

"Have you moved on?"

She falls quiet and I think I fucked it up. I'm about to tell her she didn't need to answer but she interupts me.

"Yes."

It stings a little but I accept it. I think I've moved on too.

"What about you?" She asks.

"Me too."

"I'm really glad."

And with that, we swim back to shore.

~

It's dark and we're all sitting next to a fire. I'm cuddled up to Harley, Chase and Josh are talking with Alex who's cuddled up to her new boyfriend, Ricky (I found out she's not gay, but in fact bisexual) and Parker is on the other side of me, watching this little turtle we found.

Harley squeezes my shoulder and I rest my head on him, closing my eyes and thinking. I'm trying to comprehend seeing Alex again. It's really hard.

"I hate her."

"What?" I open my eyes and look up at Harley. He's glaring at Alex.

"I said I hate her."

"Yeah I heard that bit. Why, though?"

"She hurt you."

"No she didn't, our breakup was mutual."

"Thats what you both say, but I know that it wasn't, was it?"

I think for a moment, tearing up a little. I bury my face more into Harley's shoulder and quietly cry. He lets me. He knows I need it.

"She told you she was moving." His voice has lowered to make sure no one else can hear him. "She said you guys couldn't be together anymore. You offered to try it, you wanted to try it. You loved her. But she didn't love you."

I keep crying quietly. No one but Harley knows. I'm happy about that. I hate crying but I need it out of my system.

"She broke your heart. She hurt you. She said no."

"She said no," I repeated quietly with a sniff, looking up at him. I can tell my eyes are bloodshot but he gives me this look that tells me he still thinks I'm beautiful.

"She hurt you."

"I love you."

He smiles. "I love you too."