Almost Always You

Chapter 6

Xander moved toward the door to open it. I felt slightly uncomfortable because Nikki was someone Xander hooked up with all the time, and she might not be happy to see me here in his room.

I sat up and straightened my dress as Xander opened the door. He didn't fully open it, just enough to see Nikki.

"What's going on, Alex? You've been upstairs for so long. Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes, Nikki. I just came upstairs for a smoke. I'll be down soon."

"Okay."

She still didn't notice me, maybe because Xander was really tall and was standing right in front of her. She got on her toes and gave him a quick peck.

"I miss you. Come down soon," she said before leaving.

I felt hurt.

I mean, we had just been kissing, and now Nikki had kissed him, and he hadn't exactly stopped her.

He closed the door and turned around. He just stared at me.

It was really awkward.

"Umm... I should go downstairs, or Nikki might come back here again. You should go too."

With that, he opened the door and left.

No proper goodbye. No explanation about why he had kissed me or what it meant.

I was really hurt.

Deep down, I knew this would happen. I couldn't expect anything else from him. He didn't do relationships.

It was a mistake.

I didn't realize I was crying until tears started falling down my cheeks.

I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I took off my makeup and washed my face.

As if anyone cares about my appearance here.

I just wanted to go downstairs and get drunk.

I made my way downstairs and saw Xander sitting on the couch with Nikki on his lap. I walked toward the kitchen, ignoring them.

It was filled with drunk people, and I was ready to be one of them.

I drank a can of beer and then started taking shots with Josh and Peter.

Within half an hour, I was completely drunk.

The room started spinning, and I couldn't stand straight.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me by the waist.

"Hey, are you alright?"

It was David.

"Heyyyyy, Davvvviiiddd..." I slurred.

"I think you need to sit down, Ella. You're drunk."

"But I want to play beer pong with Josh."

"No. That's enough drinking for tonight. Let's get you upstairs where you can sit down and relax."

We made our way upstairs, with me losing my balance on every step while David helped me up.

He opened a random door. The room was empty.

We made it to the couch. I was so sleepy and tired that I just wanted to go to sleep. I lay down, but David helped me sit back up.

"You can't sleep when you're this drunk," he said.

"But I'm tired."

"You need to sober up first. It's not good to go to sleep drunk."

"My head hurts. It's killing me."

"You sit here. I'll go and get you some water and something to eat so you can sober up. Don't fall asleep," he said in a stern voice.

"Yes, sir," I said, giving him a weak salute while trying to look serious.

He shook his head and smiled.

He got up and left, closing the door behind him.

I was really tired, and my feet were hurting badly. I removed my high-heeled shoes and stretched my legs.

I got up and moved toward the bed to get more comfortable but changed my mind as soon as I saw a used condom lying on the floor next to it.

I sat back down on the couch.

David came back a few minutes later with a bottle of water and a bag of chips.

"Here, drink this," he said, handing me the water.

I drank half the bottle, realizing just how thirsty I was.

David opened the bag of chips.

"The crisps are the only thing I found."

"Crisps?" I said, laughing. "It's called chips, not crisps, young man."

"In your country, it's called chips, but we call them crisps. They're crispy, so they're crisps."

"Wow, I like your logic," I said, laughing.

I started munching on the chips happily.

We made small talk for a while. I realized that David was a really nice guy, and he was very polite.

He suddenly asked, "Where did Alexander take you? I thought you weren't coming back since you were gone with him for so long. Is something going on between you guys?"

I was trying to forget what had happened between Xander and me a while ago.

"No. It's just that he's my brother's friend, so he was looking after me in my brother's absence."

I felt guilty lying to David. He was a really sweet guy.

"Oh! Okay. I just thought something was going on between you guys. I mean, he had that look on his face," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What look?"

"Jealousy."

"Jealous? Him?" I laughed. "Trust me, he could never get jealous. He's all punk, you know. Someone who doesn't show his emotions and doesn't do relationships because he isn't made to be tied down to one particular person."

I didn't know why I was bad-mouthing Xander. Maybe it was because of what he had done earlier.

"Nothing's going on between us because I'm someone who's into commitment. Plus, he's my brother's friend, so it would be super weird."

I didn't realize how close David and I had gotten until I stopped talking.

He was now leaning in for a kiss.

I couldn't kiss him after what had happened between Xander and me. I'd only end up hurting David, and he was a nice guy. I didn't want to do that.

He was just an inch away when the door opened with a loud bang.

It was none other than Xander.

And he looked like he was about to kill someone.