Redress (gxg)

Chapter 22 "Exploitation"

"Thank you," I mumbled gratefully as Lauren handed me a glass of orange juice, before she took a seat beside me, taking a deep breath. Within seconds, silence immediately loomed around us, as neither of us had yet to say something. I could only hear her steady breathing, which somehow helped distract me from thinking about the shooting. I knew she was curious as to what happened to me, hopefully she could hold herself back from asking me, because I didn't think I could share what happened to her.

"Are you feeling better now?" she suddenly asked as I put the glass back on the center table. I turned to look at her, and slowly nodded.

"Yeah, thank you Lauren. Even after I bailed on you...you're still ready to comfort me."

"I can set aside the anger I'm feeling Alex, because I see you're going through something right now," she said, and all I could was purse my lips, feeling pissed at myself for hurting her. What did I do to deserve a woman such as her. She was everything I could ask for, and all I was doing was push her away.

"I don't know what to say...I feel ashamed for what I did to you Lauren...the things that I've done," I mumbled apologetically as I gazed on the carpeted floor, unable to meet her gaze.

"You should be Alex..."

"I know..."

"But I can't just let out all my anger on you...without knowing the reason why you stood me up." Hearing her words, I gulped down the lump on my throat, as my mind immediately wired into thinking of a reason for bailing on her.

"Um, I-I coul--'

"You couldn't tell me," she deadpanned, cutting me off, before she snorted in disbelief, "Of course you couldn't tell me...You don't tell me anything, well, aside from that video, but...what's going on with you, what happened to you...If it's something about you, you don't want tell me anything...It made me question if you're hiding something."

"What's going on with me, it's not that easy to tell Lauren..."

"Why won't you let me in Alex?" she suddenly asked slowly, as her eyes gleamed when I turned to look at her, "I just want you to let me in...because I can't just keep guessing here...I'm starting to get tired of it."

"I can't just let you in Lauren..."

"Why?"

"Because if I do...if I tell you everything, not only you'll get hurt, but it'll change the way...you look at me, and I...don't want that to happen," I admitted, mumbling the last part. I knew she would be scared, and maybe despise me if she knew what I had done, and what I was doing, and I knew in myself that I would be hurt if she ever stayed away from me. My heart would be broken if she did that, but my mind was saying it would be for the best, especially now that I was getting close to Cliff. 

"You wouldn't know unless you try Alex."

I shook my head, "I can't...I'm...afraid to try," I said, averting my gaze to the floor once again. Seeing movement in the corner of my eyes, I eventually felt her hand on my arm, squeezing it gently, and looking down on it, she slowly moved it to hold my hand, entwining her fingers to mine. I then felt her other hand on my cheek as she made me look at her. Looking straight to her eyes, I saw the sincerity in them, which eventually caused my heart to flutter.

"Try me Alex. Tell me something. It'll take a whole lot more to change the way how I look at you, because..." she trailed as she bit her lower lip, "I don't just like you...I'm also too busy falling for you, to even notice it." My jaw eventually dropped after hearing her last statement, and all I could do was looked at her in shocked.

"W-What?" I stammered after a brief moment, still too surprised to even processed what she just confessed.

"I'm falling for you Alex..."