Crash and Burn

20. You're Back

TW: Mentions of alcohol abuse. It'll be written in italics so if it's a trigger, skip over that part.

2 weeks later

Turns out, I didn't sleep with Jessica. Mel was the other person in my room that day and Jessica had crashed in Mel's room. The relief that flooded through me was indescribable when I found out. Things haven't gotten better at all though. I've been drinking every night in secret and if it wasn't for Mel stopping me, I definitely would be drinking all day too. "Come on, Al. Breakfast is ready." I groan and threw the sheets off my body and dragged my feet to the dining room. The daily hangovers were definitely getting easier. I plopped down onto the chair and muttered a thanks to Mel.

"You gonna be okay today?" I frowned and looked up at her. "You've never asked me that so why's today different?" Mel froze and averted her gaze, seemingly trying to look for an answer. "Spit it out, Mel." She winced and cleared her throat. "Well, Demi finished the US leg of her tour last night and she'd be coming back to LA today. You remember that, right?" I dropped my fork onto my plate and forced down the mouthful of food that I had barely chewed. "I'll be fine." I got out from my chair and left the half eaten breakfast on the table, ignoring the calls from Mel.

"Thanks for the ride. I'll see you when I get home." Mel gave me a kiss on the cheek before she exited the car. I waved at her as she made her way into the school and sped my way back home once she was out of sight.

3pm rolled by faster than I had hoped that it would. Mel was due home any second and she probably won't like she sight that she's going to walk into. I had a 5 empty beer bottles in front of me and I was on my sixth, with a second bag of chips that was half gone. "I'm home!" Mel walked into the living room and rolled her eyes when she saw the state of the room. "Alex, what the hell?" I started chugging the last bottle of beer when she started walking over to me, knowing that she was going to snatch it right out of my grasp. "You spent the first three days drinking your ass off until there wasn't a moment that you were sober. I almost sent you to the hospital when I found you unconscious and unresponsive in your room. Still, I had to beg you to stop drinking. I know that you're still drinking at night, Alex. I let that slip but now you're just going back to where you were?" I flipped her off and laid myself down on the couch, enjoying the rush from chugging the beer. "You're not my mother, or my older sister. You're under my care when mom and dad are out of town so you better pull that stick out of your ass and start treating me with proper respect." Mel scoffed and glared at me. "Look in the mirror, Alexandra. How do you expect me to respect you when you're like this?" I couldn't say anything. I knew it was true but I couldn't find it in me to give a fuck. So I did what my foggy brain thought of doing. I looked Mel right in her eyes and belched, bursting out laughing and ignoring her angry storms up the stairs.

I couldn't tell how much time had passed while I was just sitting there, but the alcohol was leaving my body and my brain cleared up. I can hear the sobs that was coming from upstairs and a pang of guilt shot through me. The tears started welling up in my eyes before I could stop them. I ran up the stairs and burst through Mel's door. She jumped when I came in, clearly not expecting me to get my shit together and come up to her. My heart broke when I saw her hunched over herself in the middle of her bed. Tear streaks painting her face and bloodshot eyes staring at me. I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms, stroking her back. Her body shook while she silently cried, clenching her fists around my shirt.

Her cries died down to the occasional sniffle as she calmed down. She still had a grip on my shirt but it wasn't as tight as it was before. "It hurts seeing you like this, Alex. It reminds me of you 5 years ago." I tensed at what she said. "I was so scared that I would lose you back then and seeing you like this, slipping back to what you were back then really scares me." She took a breath and pulled back from my arms. "You used to tell me that you were going through things and I was too young to understand but I'm older now so you don't have to keep your feelings or anything from me anymore. Please talk to me, Al." I sighed and nodded, leaning back against the headboard, opening the headboard for Mel to cuddle up.

"Demi makes me feel things that I've never felt. It's so overwhelming and I tried to push all the feelings away for so long but I couldn't deny any further that I fell in love with her. I mean, we've only known her for a few months but it's just something about her that keeps drawing me in. Before she left, we almost kissed but I wasn't ready to admit anything and it would've been the worst time to start anything between the both of us. She said she understood and that she couldn't wait for me, which I understand. When I walked in on her kissing the other dude, I wasn't even that bothered by it. I was really hurt but the most painful part is finding out that she couldn't come to me when she needed someone to talk to or that she'd risk everything for that one moment of freedom. I guess I just thought that I meant more to her and when I found out that I didn't, it broke me." Mel sat up and turned to face me with a small smile on her face. "Thanks for telling me, Alex." We sat in a comfortable silence while and Mel started playing with her fingers, occasionally glancing at me. "You have something to ask?" Mel bit her lip and looked nervous. "I'll be fine. Just ask." She avoided all eye contact with me. "You said you've never felt anything like this before. Not even when you were with her?" I snapped my gaze to Mel and froze.

That wasn't what I was expecting.

I've only ever been in love one other time in my life. After that went down the hill, I became a completely different person and if it wasn't for Mel, I wouldn't have come back from that. I took a deep breath and shakily let it out. "I loved her with everything in me. It's been five years and it's the first time that I've ever felt like this again. I never thought I was ever going to but Demi's different. I think that if anyone can help me pass the pain, it's going to be Demi." Mel took my hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly. "Come on, let's go downstairs to clear the trash then we can start on dinner." Mel's eyes lit up. "Really?" I nodded and pulled her along when I got off the bed. "Wait! Let me change first!"

"Get me a bottle of water!" I called out into the kitchen as I flipped through Netflix. Mel came through the doorway and plopped down next to me. "Everything's prepped, potatoes are roasting. This should hold us off until dinner." Mel passed over a plate with half a sandwich and we both bit into our halves immediately. "So that was fun. I missed cooking with you." I looked over at Mel and smiled at her. "I'm sorry I haven't been the best sister lately. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Mel gave me a sympathetic look and I had to fight myself not to wince. "I just want you to be okay, Alex. Besides, day drinking aside, you look better today." Then her eyes widened in realization and she pointed an accusing finger at me.

Oh shit.

"You showered without me having to bug you to!" Then she gave me a once over. "You're finally not wearing sweats and..." She squinted at my face. "You have makeup on!" I froze mid bite and looked at her like a deer caught in headlights. "Who are you expecting to see?" Her eyes almost bulged out of her head as she widened it more and she gasped. "Demi! You were getting ready for her, weren't you?" I gave her a sheepish look and chuckled nervously. "I don't know! After you told me that she was coming back to LA, I couldn't stop thinking if she would turn up and I just wanted to make sure that I looked nice." Mel gave me a questioning look. "To show her that you're fine without her or to impress her?" I groaned and laid my head back. "I don't know." Mel placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Whatever it is, I'm glad it got you to wash your hair and change out of over-worn clothes." I gasped and swatted her shoulder as she tried to lean out of my reach. Suddenly, Mel let out a scream and she placed her hand over her heart, probably to calm down her racing heart as she looked over at the doorway. I followed her gaze and felt the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. "Hi Mel, Alex." I stood up from the couch and tried to ground myself.

"Demi. You're back."

AN: Quarantine boredom is kicking my ass but on the bright side, three straight days of updates. As always, remember to vote, comment and share. I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry for the mistakes and if it's sloppy. I'll edit soon, I promise.