Alex stood as still as a statue as Jade put her phone away, giggling shyly and wiping more tears from her eyes. She took a deep breath, the frozen night air seeming to sober her up immediately.
"Oh God," she groaned, "How much of that did you hear?" she asked him.
Alex shrugged back as he took a seat on the stoop, shifting closer as a means to keep warm, "Enough," he said, "... Yeh fink I'm cute?" he asked nervously.
Jade bit her lip between her teeth, suddenly filled with butterflies that swarmed in her insides and couldn't keep the anxious giggles from escaping her throat, "Objectively speaking? Yes," she gathered the strength to look him in his deep brown eyes.
He could smell the sweet, intoxicating scent of her citrus shampoo wafting up his nose, and his cold fingers brushed over her hand, "Well... I fink yeh're cute, too... objectively," he said.
Jade shivered as the cold wind whipped across her face, seeming to shift even closer to Alex. From inside the house, they were disturbed as they heard rows of laughter and whooping echo out, all of their friends having a good time. Her friends, Alex thought in his mind, her friends are there inside, and yet she's out here alone...
"On a scale of one to ten, how pissed is everybody in there?" she asked him. Alex chuckled.
"Averaging between five to nine, I'd say," he replied, "What about you? How pissed are you on that scale?"
"Prolly' 'bout a four," Jade said, "You?"
"Four and a half," he said, "Yehr friends are cool,"
"Yeah," Jade sighed, "They're alright," but the tone in her voice mislead her words.
"Summat bothering yeh?" Alex asked her.
Jade wiped her cold red nose on her jacket sleeve, "I dunno, I mean... I love Rose, and I love those guys in there. Don't get me wrong... but is it strange that I'm anxious to go back to Sheffield?" she suddenly said.
Alex didn't reply at first, his silence her cue to elaborate, "I mean -- Newcastle is my home, and I should feel comfortable here. And I do, but in Sheffield I felt so -- I don't even know what word I'm looking for," she said with a shake of her head.
"Try using more than one word," Alex said, "Explain,"
Jade tore her gaze from his eyes and looked to the snow-covered lawn, glistening like diamonds under the light of the street lamps. It was beautiful and calming, an iridescent field that seemed to promise hope but could easily burn if touched.
"I'm not depressed over there. I don't have to think about my dad's infidelities or my dead-beat brother, or Jack or my mum or... I can concentrate on me. And I haven't been able to do that in so long, Alex," she said, "These friends in that house are great, but they all remind me of this pit that I carry and can't seem to get rid of. When I go in two days I'll be able to let it go again. Does that make sense?"
"I fink so," Alex replied, "It's prolly' easier to run away from yehr problems then face 'em. Is that why yeh asked us 'ere? To make this easier for yeh?"
"I guess so," Jade shrugged, "Also I just love being with you. I can relax when I'm with you, I'm not constantly worrying and overthinking about everything,"
Another tear had slid down her face, and Alex raised his hand to brush it away. Her skin suddenly tingled under his touch, cold skin on cold skin that seemed to warm up on impact. His little shy grin brought her peace, and just that smile alone with enough to get her to smile as well. She was so happy that he was here because he just had this way of making every bad thing in her life go away, just so she could focus on him.
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Suck It And See | A. Turner
Fanfiction(Arctic Monkeys AU) Her parents were separated, her mum was sick, her brother was in juvie, and her dad had just shacked up with his new girlfriend. Jade had to get away from it all before she found herself circling the drain. So, when she was give...
