Drown Me in Love - Chapter 8
So sorry guys! Something happened to my Internet and it got cut off or something and the rest of the sentence didn't get saved or something!
Chapter 7 continued....
"But Adi, you have to let someone in at some point. And I know it's your choice and everything, but I want you to know that I'll always stand by you no matter what you do, who you are. I'll always be here, waiting for you."
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Chapter 8
She nods, not meeting my eyes and I sigh.
"So, do you have any plans for the day?" I finally ask, breaking the silence.
She nods and turns to me, smiling. "I need to go shopping. Will you come with me?"
"Of course." I smile.
Thank God, she isn't upset about what I told her. Whew..
"Can we just drop in at my place? I need a glass of water." I ask as we near my house, although I'm not exactly sure where we're going since she doesn't want me to come home with her. I glance at her to see her hesitating. "My mom's traveling so the house'll be empty." Which is true since my car isn't in the driveway, so Bree won't be home.
"Okay."
She follows me to the front door and as I go in. Placing her grocery bags by the door, I head into the kitchen.
"You want some?"
"Yeah." She shrugs.
I hand her a glass of water and watch as she perches at one of the bar stools and drinks it, looking around.
"Shall I give you the grand tour?" I ask once we're done.
"I guess." She looks at me and smiles.
I lead her through the kitchen, diningroom and den pointing out random things to make her smile.
*Adriana's P.O.V*
Alex shows me around the first floor, where his mom's room and two other guest rooms are. Once we come to the last door, which turns out to be a bathroom, I turn to him.
"Where's your room?"
"The best for last. It's upstairs."
"In the attic?"
He nods, smiling, "Yup."
I follow him upstairs. The whole house is just as I've imagined, richly furnished and beautiful.
"Are you ready to see the best room in the house?" He asks, his hand on the doorknob, smiling.
"I'm not sure if it'll be the best, but bring it on." I say smiling.
"You'll see."
He opens the door and steps back, letting me enter. As I look around, I can't but help a gasp escape.
His room's all painted a rich dark blue. White curtains hang over his small window and the whole room's furnished in white, from his bed to the wardrobe, desk, closet, to the night tables by his bed. The only black thing is the LCD screen mounted up on his wall, his PS3 and music player. Even his Wii is white.
The quilt on his bed is the same shade of blue as are his pillows. The lamp on the night table is blue as well and there are two photo frames by it. And there are two doors on either sides of the room, both on my right.
"It's the best, right?" He asks, startling me. I'd forgotten he was behind me.
"No. I still like your mom's room better." I answer, walking into the room.
He throws me a are-you-crazy look, heading to his bed and falling onto it. "Right."
I spin around, taking everything in. Something's not right.
"What is it?" He asks, seeing my confused expression.
"Shouldn't it be bigger?" He chuckles and looks at me, smiling. "What?" I ask, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.
"I was wondering if you'd notice." He nods behind me and I turn towards one of the doors. "The rest of the room's behind that door."
I walk up to it and pause. "May I?"
He looks at me quietly before nodding. "Sure. Go ahead."
Opening the door, I let out a loud gasp.
There is sunlight pouring into the room and looking up, I see that the roof's made of glass. There's a huge white piano standing on the left side of the room, and there are music sheets in its stand. Behind it, against the wall is a white desk, which has papers on it and a few photo frames arranged on it. Beside it is a stand that has two guitars, one of which is an electric. A telescope stands beside it, positioned up, towards the roof and a black beanbag sits beside it.
On my right, there isn't any furniture, but the wall is filled with frames and there are medals hanging beneath a few. A shelf above holds three trophies.
I walk up to them and see that the frames all have certificates in them. As I read each one, my eyes widen.
Certificates for first, second and only one third place in track races adorn the wall. Three of the certificates are from the nationals and he's won first place in all of them, thus the trophies. Looking up, I see his name engraved on all three trophies.
Glancing towards the door, I see him leaning against the door frame, watching me.
"Alexander, you never-" I stop, biting my lip. It's my fault he's never told me.
He shrugs, "Not many people know. I don't tell everyone."
I look up and meet his eyes and for some reason, I'm not able to drag them away until he glances away. Before I can say anything though he turns and leaves. After glancing around the room one more time, I follow him, closing the door behind me.
"You aren't carrying all those bags home by yourself Adi. They're too heavy. You could leave a few here and come back and take them later." Alex says, looking up at me from his phone.
I take in a deep breath, not believing that I'm going to say this. "I want you to help me carry them home."
He stares at me,"What?!"
Sighing, I look around the room, at anything but him. "I've been thinking of what you said about letting people in and.. You're right. So.. I want you to come home with me."
"Are you sure?" He asks slowly, getting up from his bed.
I look at him, meeting his eyes. "Yeah."
"I don't want you to run away from me later, Adriana."
"I won't" I give him a small smile. "I promise."
"Adi, you do know that this," He gestures around the room, "Doesn't matter to me, right?"
I nod, "Yup. But for someone to whom it doesn't matter, you sure do have the best room in the house." I joke, lamely I must admit, but it has the desired effect.
He chuckles, "When someone's trying to make up to you, you have to take full advantage of it."
**********************************************************
Chapter 8 continued....
Enjoy!
**********************************************************
"Give those bags to me."
"It's fine."
"No. I was holding them. I wanna hold them." Alex whines, taking them from me.
I laugh, surrendering and taking the other bags.
As we start walking down his block, I start having second doubts about bringing him home. Once we're a block away from home, I start panicking.
It's like he knows that I'm worrying because he reaches over and takes my hand, squeezing it.
"If you've changed your mind, I understand Adi."
I hesitate before shaking my head, "No."
Although, I never, and I mean NEVER, let anybody touch me, Alexander holding my hand feels so right. I feel relaxed and almost... safe.
I come to a stop and turn around, looking down both sides of the road.
*Alexander's P.O.V*
I turn around and see her tense shoulders as she looks down the road. With her back to me, I glance around the neighborhood. It doesn't look like the safest place in the world.
Feeling her fingers sort of freeze, I squeeze her hand reassuringly.
"Come on."
I cross the road with her and she leads me towards a white building, letting go of my hand to get her keys. I look at the building. At least it isn't as bad.. I mean, at least it's the best looking building on the street. Think positive Alex.
I quietly follow her inside the building and up a flight of stairs. She unlocks the door to her apartment and I enter after her.
"The kitchen is this way." She leads me towards it and I try my best not to glance around, however inquisitive I am, I'm going to wait till she shows me around.
In the kitchen, I place the groceries on the counter and then turn to her. She's watching me nervously.
"Will you give me the grand tour?" I ask.
She gives me a small smile, "I don't know about the Grand tour, but yeah." She gestures around me, "This is the kitchen."
I look around myself for the first time. There are a few cupboards lining the wall above the counter. A small fridge stands on the far right and a small stove on the right.
Adriana then leads me out and into a room on the right of the kitchen, which turns out to be the living room. There's a small black loveseat pushed against the wall with a table in front of it. Beneath the window, there's a carpet rolled out with pillows against the wall and book lies on it. A shelf on the left holds all sorts of things. The room looks comfortable, homey. And I like it.
"It's a great room, I really like it."
She shoots me a smile before leading me down the hallway.
"I don't really use this room, it's more like storage." She points at a closed door. "And this is my room."
Her room is sparsely furnished. A single bed stands in the middle of the room, pushed back against the wall. There's a closet and a small desk. That's it.
Leaning against the doorway, I watch her as she glances around the room and then turns to me.
"So? What do you think?"
"You know, I disagree with you. It was a grand tour. Whatever you may think Adriana, you're rich. You have a house, a job, an education. You have people who care about you and you're healthy. If you ask me. You're pretty rich."
"Yeah..." She answers, not looking convinced.
"Look around yourself Adi. Aren't you proud of yourself? You've accomplished something I'd never be able to. You can maintain a house, study and be a straight a student, tie down a job and still have time to spend with me! Aren't you proud of yourself? Because I'm pretty damn proud of you. I'm proud of what you've done and I'm very proud to your friend."
"Thanks Alex." She looks up at me and I see tears in her eyes.
I look around her room once again and turn to her. "Why don't you have any mirrors?"
She looks down at her hands before looking up at me. "I don't like to look at myself in the mirror." I open my mouth to ask why but then close it, not sure how sensitive that topic is. But I'm beyond curious and shocked. Why wouldn't she like looking at herself? She's beautiful. Seeing my expression, she continues, "I look a lot like my mother. Did you see her photo?" When I shake my head she leads me to the livingroom and towards the shelf.
I look at the photo she points at and my eyes widen. They look exactly alike, except her mother has wavy black hair, not like Adriana's straight hair. I glance between her and the photo once before asking, keeping my eyes on the photo, "What happened to her?"
"She died two years ago. They said she got infected by something."
I nod slowly before turning to her. She looks at me before gesturing towards the sofa.
"Sit down."
Once I sit down, she disappears into the kitchen and I hear her going through the shopping bags. Getting up, I follow her to help her out.
"My mom's the only one who ever called me Adi." She says as I'm placing the milk in her fridge.
Turning around I lean against the counter, "Should I call you something else?"
"No," She smiles, shaking her head, "I like it."
"Really? Because I could call you Ri, or Ana, or Dana, Riana."
She laughs, "No Adi's fine."
"Okay." I place a few things in the cupboards. "Do you cook a lot?"
"Not much."
"Adi, will you.." I trail away, unsure.
"What? Will I what?"
"There's someone I want you to meet. My sister's here, visiting, and I was wondering if you'd come and meet her.. Over dinner maybe?"
****************************************************
Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I just wanted to tell you to look out for something called, Together as One. I'm hoping you all will enjoy it! BTW, have you guys read Nicholas Sparks's Message In A Bottle? Gosh, I read it and I was crying my eyes out! Definitely a good book but not something I'd read again!
****************************************************
Replies to comments:
Chapter 6:
Lucy - Thanks! I hope so too!
Jeny - Thanks a lot!
PH - The long chapter made your day? Your comment made MY day! Thank you SO much! Hope you enjoyed the rest!
Lovelust - Lol... Well aren't you demanding! Just kidding =P I hope you enjoyed it!
Girlfrmoutaspac - Thanks so much! Hope you enjoyed!
Chapter 7:
Lucy - I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Yeah, I know, I miss Mark and Vanessa as well. I read one of your stories by the way, Two Losses Every time, and I really enjoyed it! You're a pretty good writer.. I'm going to be reading the rest soon. Thanks a lot!
PH - I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Did you read the note at the top? I hope this was fast enough for you! You're not playing the die of curiosity card again, are you? =) Thanks a lot! Take care!
Shay - Thanks SO much!
"But Adi, you have to let someone in at some point. And I know it's your choice and everything, but I want you to know that I'll always stand by you no matter what you do, who you are. I'll always be here, waiting for you."
**********************************************************
Chapter 8
She nods, not meeting my eyes and I sigh.
"So, do you have any plans for the day?" I finally ask, breaking the silence.
She nods and turns to me, smiling. "I need to go shopping. Will you come with me?"
"Of course." I smile.
Thank God, she isn't upset about what I told her. Whew..
"Can we just drop in at my place? I need a glass of water." I ask as we near my house, although I'm not exactly sure where we're going since she doesn't want me to come home with her. I glance at her to see her hesitating. "My mom's traveling so the house'll be empty." Which is true since my car isn't in the driveway, so Bree won't be home.
"Okay."
She follows me to the front door and as I go in. Placing her grocery bags by the door, I head into the kitchen.
"You want some?"
"Yeah." She shrugs.
I hand her a glass of water and watch as she perches at one of the bar stools and drinks it, looking around.
"Shall I give you the grand tour?" I ask once we're done.
"I guess." She looks at me and smiles.
I lead her through the kitchen, diningroom and den pointing out random things to make her smile.
*Adriana's P.O.V*
Alex shows me around the first floor, where his mom's room and two other guest rooms are. Once we come to the last door, which turns out to be a bathroom, I turn to him.
"Where's your room?"
"The best for last. It's upstairs."
"In the attic?"
He nods, smiling, "Yup."
I follow him upstairs. The whole house is just as I've imagined, richly furnished and beautiful.
"Are you ready to see the best room in the house?" He asks, his hand on the doorknob, smiling.
"I'm not sure if it'll be the best, but bring it on." I say smiling.
"You'll see."
He opens the door and steps back, letting me enter. As I look around, I can't but help a gasp escape.
His room's all painted a rich dark blue. White curtains hang over his small window and the whole room's furnished in white, from his bed to the wardrobe, desk, closet, to the night tables by his bed. The only black thing is the LCD screen mounted up on his wall, his PS3 and music player. Even his Wii is white.
The quilt on his bed is the same shade of blue as are his pillows. The lamp on the night table is blue as well and there are two photo frames by it. And there are two doors on either sides of the room, both on my right.
"It's the best, right?" He asks, startling me. I'd forgotten he was behind me.
"No. I still like your mom's room better." I answer, walking into the room.
He throws me a are-you-crazy look, heading to his bed and falling onto it. "Right."
I spin around, taking everything in. Something's not right.
"What is it?" He asks, seeing my confused expression.
"Shouldn't it be bigger?" He chuckles and looks at me, smiling. "What?" I ask, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.
"I was wondering if you'd notice." He nods behind me and I turn towards one of the doors. "The rest of the room's behind that door."
I walk up to it and pause. "May I?"
He looks at me quietly before nodding. "Sure. Go ahead."
Opening the door, I let out a loud gasp.
There is sunlight pouring into the room and looking up, I see that the roof's made of glass. There's a huge white piano standing on the left side of the room, and there are music sheets in its stand. Behind it, against the wall is a white desk, which has papers on it and a few photo frames arranged on it. Beside it is a stand that has two guitars, one of which is an electric. A telescope stands beside it, positioned up, towards the roof and a black beanbag sits beside it.
On my right, there isn't any furniture, but the wall is filled with frames and there are medals hanging beneath a few. A shelf above holds three trophies.
I walk up to them and see that the frames all have certificates in them. As I read each one, my eyes widen.
Certificates for first, second and only one third place in track races adorn the wall. Three of the certificates are from the nationals and he's won first place in all of them, thus the trophies. Looking up, I see his name engraved on all three trophies.
Glancing towards the door, I see him leaning against the door frame, watching me.
"Alexander, you never-" I stop, biting my lip. It's my fault he's never told me.
He shrugs, "Not many people know. I don't tell everyone."
I look up and meet his eyes and for some reason, I'm not able to drag them away until he glances away. Before I can say anything though he turns and leaves. After glancing around the room one more time, I follow him, closing the door behind me.
"You aren't carrying all those bags home by yourself Adi. They're too heavy. You could leave a few here and come back and take them later." Alex says, looking up at me from his phone.
I take in a deep breath, not believing that I'm going to say this. "I want you to help me carry them home."
He stares at me,"What?!"
Sighing, I look around the room, at anything but him. "I've been thinking of what you said about letting people in and.. You're right. So.. I want you to come home with me."
"Are you sure?" He asks slowly, getting up from his bed.
I look at him, meeting his eyes. "Yeah."
"I don't want you to run away from me later, Adriana."
"I won't" I give him a small smile. "I promise."
"Adi, you do know that this," He gestures around the room, "Doesn't matter to me, right?"
I nod, "Yup. But for someone to whom it doesn't matter, you sure do have the best room in the house." I joke, lamely I must admit, but it has the desired effect.
He chuckles, "When someone's trying to make up to you, you have to take full advantage of it."
**********************************************************
Chapter 8 continued....
Enjoy!
**********************************************************
"Give those bags to me."
"It's fine."
"No. I was holding them. I wanna hold them." Alex whines, taking them from me.
I laugh, surrendering and taking the other bags.
As we start walking down his block, I start having second doubts about bringing him home. Once we're a block away from home, I start panicking.
It's like he knows that I'm worrying because he reaches over and takes my hand, squeezing it.
"If you've changed your mind, I understand Adi."
I hesitate before shaking my head, "No."
Although, I never, and I mean NEVER, let anybody touch me, Alexander holding my hand feels so right. I feel relaxed and almost... safe.
I come to a stop and turn around, looking down both sides of the road.
*Alexander's P.O.V*
I turn around and see her tense shoulders as she looks down the road. With her back to me, I glance around the neighborhood. It doesn't look like the safest place in the world.
Feeling her fingers sort of freeze, I squeeze her hand reassuringly.
"Come on."
I cross the road with her and she leads me towards a white building, letting go of my hand to get her keys. I look at the building. At least it isn't as bad.. I mean, at least it's the best looking building on the street. Think positive Alex.
I quietly follow her inside the building and up a flight of stairs. She unlocks the door to her apartment and I enter after her.
"The kitchen is this way." She leads me towards it and I try my best not to glance around, however inquisitive I am, I'm going to wait till she shows me around.
In the kitchen, I place the groceries on the counter and then turn to her. She's watching me nervously.
"Will you give me the grand tour?" I ask.
She gives me a small smile, "I don't know about the Grand tour, but yeah." She gestures around me, "This is the kitchen."
I look around myself for the first time. There are a few cupboards lining the wall above the counter. A small fridge stands on the far right and a small stove on the right.
Adriana then leads me out and into a room on the right of the kitchen, which turns out to be the living room. There's a small black loveseat pushed against the wall with a table in front of it. Beneath the window, there's a carpet rolled out with pillows against the wall and book lies on it. A shelf on the left holds all sorts of things. The room looks comfortable, homey. And I like it.
"It's a great room, I really like it."
She shoots me a smile before leading me down the hallway.
"I don't really use this room, it's more like storage." She points at a closed door. "And this is my room."
Her room is sparsely furnished. A single bed stands in the middle of the room, pushed back against the wall. There's a closet and a small desk. That's it.
Leaning against the doorway, I watch her as she glances around the room and then turns to me.
"So? What do you think?"
"You know, I disagree with you. It was a grand tour. Whatever you may think Adriana, you're rich. You have a house, a job, an education. You have people who care about you and you're healthy. If you ask me. You're pretty rich."
"Yeah..." She answers, not looking convinced.
"Look around yourself Adi. Aren't you proud of yourself? You've accomplished something I'd never be able to. You can maintain a house, study and be a straight a student, tie down a job and still have time to spend with me! Aren't you proud of yourself? Because I'm pretty damn proud of you. I'm proud of what you've done and I'm very proud to your friend."
"Thanks Alex." She looks up at me and I see tears in her eyes.
I look around her room once again and turn to her. "Why don't you have any mirrors?"
She looks down at her hands before looking up at me. "I don't like to look at myself in the mirror." I open my mouth to ask why but then close it, not sure how sensitive that topic is. But I'm beyond curious and shocked. Why wouldn't she like looking at herself? She's beautiful. Seeing my expression, she continues, "I look a lot like my mother. Did you see her photo?" When I shake my head she leads me to the livingroom and towards the shelf.
I look at the photo she points at and my eyes widen. They look exactly alike, except her mother has wavy black hair, not like Adriana's straight hair. I glance between her and the photo once before asking, keeping my eyes on the photo, "What happened to her?"
"She died two years ago. They said she got infected by something."
I nod slowly before turning to her. She looks at me before gesturing towards the sofa.
"Sit down."
Once I sit down, she disappears into the kitchen and I hear her going through the shopping bags. Getting up, I follow her to help her out.
"My mom's the only one who ever called me Adi." She says as I'm placing the milk in her fridge.
Turning around I lean against the counter, "Should I call you something else?"
"No," She smiles, shaking her head, "I like it."
"Really? Because I could call you Ri, or Ana, or Dana, Riana."
She laughs, "No Adi's fine."
"Okay." I place a few things in the cupboards. "Do you cook a lot?"
"Not much."
"Adi, will you.." I trail away, unsure.
"What? Will I what?"
"There's someone I want you to meet. My sister's here, visiting, and I was wondering if you'd come and meet her.. Over dinner maybe?"
****************************************************
Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I just wanted to tell you to look out for something called, Together as One. I'm hoping you all will enjoy it! BTW, have you guys read Nicholas Sparks's Message In A Bottle? Gosh, I read it and I was crying my eyes out! Definitely a good book but not something I'd read again!
****************************************************
Replies to comments:
Chapter 6:
Lucy - Thanks! I hope so too!
Jeny - Thanks a lot!
PH - The long chapter made your day? Your comment made MY day! Thank you SO much! Hope you enjoyed the rest!
Lovelust - Lol... Well aren't you demanding! Just kidding =P I hope you enjoyed it!
Girlfrmoutaspac - Thanks so much! Hope you enjoyed!
Chapter 7:
Lucy - I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Yeah, I know, I miss Mark and Vanessa as well. I read one of your stories by the way, Two Losses Every time, and I really enjoyed it! You're a pretty good writer.. I'm going to be reading the rest soon. Thanks a lot!
PH - I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Did you read the note at the top? I hope this was fast enough for you! You're not playing the die of curiosity card again, are you? =) Thanks a lot! Take care!
Shay - Thanks SO much!
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