Holding On (Memories #1.5)(15)
Author: Emma Hart

So I lied. I didn’t have anywhere to go, I just wanted to get her pissed again, but she did that herself. She annoyed herself by asking which bed I was in next.

I had no intention of pursuing her. Well, no solidified intention, anyway, but her reaction to me being with another girl makes me really wanna go after her.

There are so many things wrong with it. Carl, for one, but goddamn that girl is attracted to me. That isn’t my usual arrogance, that’s the flipping truth.

I pull into the driveway at home, climb out, and go back into the house. Alec and Lexy are still talking at the kitchen table, and I pass right by to go upstairs.

Tomorrow night is Dad’s party. Tomorrow night Jen will be on my arm, all night, for everyone to see. Tomorrow night, I’m gonna have some fun.

ALEXIS

“You’re not gonna like this,” Alec says, worry all over his face.

“What? What is it?” I look at him.

“Adrian got hold of my number somehow.”

“And…”

“And he has bigger balls over text than he probably does face to face.”

“What did he say?”

Alec sighs, putting his hand over his pocket. “Don’t worry. I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Damn right you should have told me!” I raise my voice. “What’s he said?”

“Princess-”

“Nuh-uh.” I shake my head, pointing at him. “Alec Johnson, you tell me what he’s said right now so I can go and… Do something incredibly painful to him.”

Alec shakes his head. I storm across the kitchen, smack his hand away, and take his phone from his pocket. He stands there in defeat, knowing he had no way to stop me. I scroll to his messages, clicking on a random number.

I scroll back, reading through them, and they’re all full of subtle threats. My throat closes up, and I wonder yet again if Alec coming to London was the best idea. I close my eyes, putting his phone on the table. I turn away, trying not to let the tears break free at the words I’m about to say.

“Maybe you should go back to Devon,” I whisper in a raw voice.

“What?” Alec’s voice cracks.

“I said-”

“I know what you said!” he shouts. “Why would you say that? Why, Lexy?”

Tears brim in my eyes and I shake my head. “I just… After those texts, Alec… Maybe it’s for the best. We could make it work, right? You said it yourself before.”

“Is that what you want? For me to go back?”

“It’s your home, Alec.”

His stormy, grey-blue eyes meet mine for a second, and he crosses the room to look out of the window. “My home is wherever you are, Lexy. You are my damn home!”

I look down. “What if it’s for the best? What if being here in London is tearing us apart? All this bullshit with Adrian… Maybe it’s making this harder than it has to be.” My voice is barely a whisper.

“No,” he says firmly. “No. No way.” He turns, swallowing the room with his determined steps. He grabs my face, his lips pressing against mine hard. I hold his arms and kiss him back, feeling what he’s feeling. Desperation. Need. Hope. Love.

Tears stream down my face as he pulls away.

“I fought for you in Devon, Princess. I fought for you for weeks, and even when it all seemed hopeless, I kept fighting. I didn’t let you go then. I followed you here from Devon. You know why? I followed you because there’s nowhere else in this world I’d rather be than right by your side. I’m here, in London, with you. Because of you. I don’t give a f**k if Adrian wants to punch me in the face or run me over with a bus, I’m not leaving this city alone. Not ever, Lexy.”

“Alec…”

“The only way you’ll get me moving out of London is if you’re by my side as my wife, Lexy!” he yells.

Tears fall harder, faster.

“It’s you. It’s always been you, and it’ll only ever be you! I’m not leaving without you. I mean it. When it’s me and you, its forever, and no jumped up city boy is gonna get in the way of that.”

“It shouldn’t be this hard,” I sob and fall into him. His arms wrap me tightly, and there’s a desperation to the way he’s holding me.

“Love isn’t easy, Princess,” he says. “But it’s what makes it worth it. Every day I fight for you because you are worth it. I won’t stop, Lexy. I won’t stop fighting for us. Tell me to leave, push me away, tell me you don’t want this. You don’t mean it. I know you. I know what you want, and it’s what I want. Don’t tell me I still have to prove it to you, even now?”

I shake my head. “You don’t.”

He nudges my head up. His lips take mine, moving softly across them. “Then believe me when I say,” he whispers against my mouth. “…That I’ll never leave this city unless you’re beside me. Never. I won’t let you go, Lexy, and I don’t care who tries to make me. This is it. You are it. You are forever. Don’t let him destroy this. We’ll do it together, I promise. Just believe in it. Don’t… Please don’t let us go.”

I wrap my arms around his neck, and press my body against him, holding him to me. “I won’t. I won’t.”

He strokes my hair once before his arms circle my waist again. He buries his face in my neck, his lips brushing my skin. “We can’t give him what he wants. He wants me to leave, but I won’t. Tomorrow night, we’ll show him that. Just keep holding on, Princess. That’s all we have to do.”

~

BING

Lexy steps out of her room in a long pink dress. She fiddles with the bracelet at her wrist, and I smile. For all our bitching, I love my sister.

“Well, she scrubs up all right, huh, Dad?” I wink at him. Dad smiles widely, proudly.

“She ain’t bad, son. I still think me and you got the looks, though.”

Lexy looks up, smirking. “Yeah, okay, Dad. And Bing? Your tie isn’t straight.”

I look down, seeing that it is. “Bitch,” I mutter, as she stops in front of me. “When are Alec and Jen getting here?”

“Two minutes,” Mum says, leaving her room. All our eyes turn to her, and it’s clear to see who the most beautiful woman in the room will be tonight. With her dark hair curling around her shoulders setting off her floor length cream gown, there’ll be no competition.

We watch as the same look we’ve seen a thousand times comes over Dad’s face. His smile widens, and his eyes light up. He steps towards Mum.

“You’re beautiful, Emmy,” he says, kissing her.

Lexy smiles, and I wrinkle up my face.