Alone, Together - A Julian Casablancas fanfic

Chapter 12 - Between Love and Hate

Aleks lied in bed that night and thought of all the bitter words that were exchanged that day. He couldn't get the things they said out of his mind:

"I know you, Aleksander. I knew you'd be all irrational about it!"

"Clem, you mean the world to me and I would die for you!"

"Morgan doesn't look at me any differently. Do you?"

"You were one of the purest girls I knew. Were."

"You're one of the most selfish human beings I know, Aleksander."

And the worst one of them all: "If you need anything, don't bother calling me. You wouldn't tell me anyway."

Maybe it wasn't any of his business asking about the pregnancy test. Why did he have to go and fight with one of his best friends? What could he do to make things right?

His mind went to thinking about Julian. Julian... just the thought of his name made him go from remorse to anger. This was his fault. If it wasn't for him, that night would have never happened. Clem would have never been behind the incident, she knew her parents too well.

Then his phone rang and broke his trail of thought. The clock read 10:30 pm. "Hello?" he asked sleepily.

"Aleks. Are you awake?" It was Morgan.

"Yeah. What's up Morgan?"

"I was just calling to check up on you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, I guess Clem told you about what happened between us, didn't she?"

She nodded even though he couldn't see it. "She did. I promised her I'd call and talk to you about it."

"You don't have to do that, Morgan. This is between me and Clem, and you don't deserve to get dragged through this. By the way, how long have you known about Clem and Julian... you know..."

"She told me the day we were over at her house playing board games. I asked her why Julian's van was at her house so late and she told me everything. I was with her when she took the pregnancy test too."

"I'm glad she can trust you. I was a real jerk to her. But to Julian, on the other hand..."

"What? What about Julian?"

"I still hate him. If it wasn't for him, this would have never happened. Clem would still be the same innocent girl I used to know."

"Well, Aleks, she's still the same Clem. About Julian, she said that he was apologetic when they woke up the next morning."

"Apologetic? Morgan, I know how a guy's mind works. He's going to hear it from me."

"Aleks, don't be too hard on him, please."

"Don't worry, I won't hurt him... yet."

"Okay, I wanted to call and see how you were doing. Try and get some sleep tonight, okay?"

"I'll try. Thanks for the call, Morgan. Goodnight!"

"Goonight, Aleks."

As Aleks put the phone back on the hook, his mind was more at ease to sleep. However, the one thing he couldn't get out of his mind was Julian. He thought about the words he was going to say to him, and how he was going to do it.

The car ride was quiet the next morning without Aleks in the back seat. Clem drove quietly, still wishing that yesterday had never happened.