Holding On To You (A Twenty One Pilots Fanfiction)

CHAPTER TWELVE

A knock on my door forced me to get out of bed. It shouldn't be Alex yet; his class ended at four and it was barely 3:30. I opened the door to find Kara. 

"Hey thank goodness you're here! I forgot my key. Looks like you've got an admirer," she said looking down.

My eyes traveled towards the ground, realizing that Tyler had left the flowers and box outside my door.

"Are they from Alex?" she winked.

"Uhh... yeah I guess so," I lied as I set them down on the dresser, carelessly. I didn't want to talk about it right now.  

"What did you guys have a fight or something?" she asked, clearly sensing the unhappiness in my tone. 

"Or something," I replied. 

For Kara's sake, I opened the box and acted pleasantly surprised at the pick inside. 

"Aww, Alex is so sweet. You're really lucky," she commented. 

"Yeah," I forced a smile, "Are you going to the party tonight?" I asked her. 

"I don't think so, I don't have a ride," she explained. Her parents didn't let her have her car at college. 

"You can come with Alex and I if you want," I offered. 

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude..." she said, but I could tell she really wanted to go. 

"It's not a problem," I assured her. 

****

Alex arranged to pick us up at seven. Kara and I had spent the remainder of the afternoon getting ready. Normally, she's not the type to fix up, but she looked really nice. I guess I didn't look so bad myself. I had some light make up on, my hair was loosley curled, and I was wearing a navy blue dress. Alex knocked on the door just a few minutes after seven. 

I invited him in, as Kara was still in the bathroom down the hall. 

"You're so beautiful," he said as he leaned down to kiss me. His lips, suddenly pulled away from mine. 

"What are those?" he questioned, pointing at the flowers. 

"Oh they're just from... uh, Tyler. He left them at my door. But I promise they don't mean a thing to me," I said truthfully.

Alex immediately looked hurt. "I knew it!" he yelled, "I knew there was something up with you and him. I can't believe I trusted you."

"You can trust me. I promise. Come on, let's get to this party and have some fun."

Kara walked in, "You guys ready?" 

We all just looked at each other for a second. He still seemed a bit unconvinced, but reluctantly led us outside to his car.  

****

The party was crowded, and so far I had only recognized a few people with whom I'd had short conversations with. Kara was no where in sight, obviously off socializing on her own. Alex offered to get us drinks, so there I stood alone at my first college party.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a girl. It was dark, but I was able to make out that it was Madison.

"Hey, Jess? Right?"

"Oh hey! How are you?" I asked.

Before she could answer, a boy came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey babe, there's someone I want you to..." he said, and I instantly recognized his voice. It was Tyler. I looked up at his face, as he saw mine. He looked like he'd had a couple of beers already. 

"Jess," he said, clearly shocked. 

"Tyler," I said, equally as shocked. I realized now, that Madison was his ex-girlfriend that he once talked about. Were they back together?

"You guys know each other?" Madison asked. 

"Yeah, Jess and I used to be good friends, how do you two know each other?" Tyler responded, placing stress on the word 'friends'. 

"From art class," Madison answered, as I was still speechless.

"Wait..." I interrupted. "You came to my dorm today begging me to admit that I liked you, and now you're already with your ex?" I shouted over the music. "I see."

"Uhh.. you're the one who acted like you didn't want anything to do with me," he yelled.

I was so extremely bothered that Tyler came with Madison to the party. In fact, I was hurt. Maybe I did like him after all. 

"Well I better go find Alex," I said as I turned to walk away. 

"I'm right here," Alex said right behind me with two cups in his hand. He sounded really upset. He must have overheard the conversation.  

"Alex, you can trust me. I promise. Tyler doesn't mean anything to me. I love you. Please," I begged. 

"If you love me, then look me in the eye and tell me honestly... Tell me honestly that you didn't do anything romantic with him, that weekend you went home. Because I'd bet my money that you did."

I paused a few seconds too long, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah we kissed," Tyler chimed in, still standing there.

"That's what I thought," Alex said as he stormed away, "Good luck finding a ride home."  

I looked at Tyler with disgust, and headed off to find somewhere I could be alone.