Alexander and I decide to go to his parents for the weekend, although after the night we had, I wasn't sure it was such a good idea. Especially since he was sporting some bruises all over his face and it was clear he was in a fight.

"What are you going to tell your mother about your face?" I ask him on our drive there.

He shrugs. "The truth."

"About Sam, too?" I ask him.

He looks at me. "No. That's not any of my family's business."

I nod my head because I agree. This is Sam's story to share. We barely got her to open up and we're not deceiving her trust. Besides, I don't think Alexander's parents would even be interested in hearing this drama. "Did you know the guy Sam was with last night?"

Alexander hesitates for a moment and I look at him with interest. "A drug dealer," he says.

"Oh," I say. I wasn't expecting to hear that. Did Sam want drugs? "Is she ... uhm, you know ... doing drugs, like, regularly?"

Alexander chuckles. "No, babe, most definitely not." He shakes his head. "It was probably just in the spur of a moment. She just wanted something to make her forget it quicker."

My mouth turns downwards. I feel sad for her and what she has to go through. I can relate somehow because I know when I thought Alexander cheated on me, I thought I was going to lose it.

"She's going to be fine," Alexander says because he probably knows the thoughts that are running through my mind now.

I know she will be because that's how she is. But I'm still worried. We arranged she went home last night with Beast and his girlfriend. It was so bad they had to help her to the bed because she drank a lot. They stayed with her for a while to make sure she's going to be alright. I sent her a text this morning to call me when she wakes up just to make sure she's okay. Physically, at least.

When we get to the house, we're greeted by Rosalyn who hugs us both, but then gasps when she sees Alexander's face, taking it between her hands. "What did you do to yourself?"

"It'll heal," Alexander mutters, casting me a look. I raise my eyebrows as in I told you so and look away.

"Why do you like to get in all those fights? I thought ..." She presses her lips together, not finishing the thought.

"He deserved it. Drop it, mum. It's really not that bad."

I bite down on my lip. Yeah, it actually is.

Rosalyn shakes her head, a hint of sadness appearing on her face, but she masks it quickly when her husband walks down to greet us too. It always takes me aback a little how warming his parents are and how they always take their time out of their busy day to give attention to their kids.

When Alfred sees Alexander's face, he raises his eyebrows. "I hope you got him better than he got you."

"Alfred!" Rosalyn says with a stern voice, turning to her husband with a disapproving look.

He just grins. "What? If he fights, I hope he's at least good at it." He slaps Alexander's back. "I hope you're at least making me proud out there, son."

Alexander rolls his eyes, but grins too. "Yeah, dad. I can throw a mean punch, don't worry."

I just sigh to myself. Men. "Come on in. Rosanna will prepare you something to eat."

"We ate at home, mum," Alex mutters, carrying our overnight bag with him.

"You must be hungry from the ride here."

Alexander shoots me a look and I have to press my lips together so I don't burst out laughing. Alexander sits in the dining room, but I go to the kitchen to greet Rosanna. I hear Rosalyn from the dining room, saying to Alex, "Your hair's getting quite long. When was the last time you went to a hairdresser?"

And then Alexander's exasperated response, "Mum! I am not five!"

I have to chuckle at that because Rosalyn babying Alexander is the funniest thing you can ever see and hear. The tough Alexander Holt, the bad boy, being babied by his mother. I should record this and hold it against him.

"Gabby!" Rosanna exclaims when she sees me. "You two are here already."

"Yep," I say. "Just wanted to come to say hi to you."

"Of course," she says. "What would you two like to eat? You must be hungry."

I shake my head. "We're really not. We ate at home. But I would die for some cocoa." I give her a charming smile.

She smiles back at me. "Of course. Go sit. And take this to Alexander, in case he wants to eat something."

I chuckle when she pushes a tray of fruit in my hands. "Sure." I wink at her and walk out to the dining room, putting the tray in front of Alexander. "Here, baby. Eat something, I'm sure you're tired." I push my hands through his hair and he glares at me.

"What is this? Torture Alexander kind of day? I didn't come here for this sh–" he stops himself from cursing when Amelia suddenly bursts into the kitchen and literally screams "You're here!"

She runs towards us and launches at both of us, wrapping her arms around both. My heart swells with happiness. "Hi! Did you miss us?" I ask her teasingly.

"Yes! A lot!" she says excitedly.

"Lena isn't here today. We gave her a free day and she went to the city before breakfast," Rosalyn explains.

"And Clara?" Alexander asks.

"She was with Alfred and Amelia. Did your father went to get her?" Rosalyn asks Amelia.

"Yep. He'll bring her down after he changes her nappy." She scrunches her nose.

"Why aren't you helping him?" Alexander asks with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Ew," she says. "Why aren't you? You're older. And if you want to have your own children, you'll have to know how to do that."

I put my hand over my mouth because I can't hold back my laughter. The look on Alexander's face ... oh, dear. I know it's a mean thing to do and I know he said he doesn't want his own children, but watching him squirm is priceless. I love my boyfriend to death, but, sometimes, it's nice to see him under a little pressure. Especially when it's his family that puts him in an awkward position.

"Amelia, darling," Rosalyn says. "Alexander and Gabrielle still have time to learn all of that."

"Plenty of time," Alexander agrees, popping a grape into his mouth and avoiding his mother's look.

I just look down, not commenting anything on that. I don't want to have this conversation again, especially not in front of the whole family.

Alexander lifts Amelia up on his lap. She turns to look at his face, a small frown marking her face. "What happened to your face?"

"I just fought some bad guys," Alexander says and I want to snort. Guys as in plural is just stretching it a little.

Amelia's frown deepens. "Why?" she asks.

"Because they did bad things," Alexander explains.

"Like what?" Amelia presses.

He sighs. "Just things they shouldn't do to someone."

"Huh," she says, turning back around.

Alfred comes downstairs with Clara in his arms. I grin at her when I see her, but she doesn't return the smile. "Why, hello there," I say. She looks at all of us and then her eyes settle on Alexander for long moments before the come back on me. I walk to her, extending my arms. "Do you want to come to me?" I ask her.

She looks at her father and then at me. She finally extends her arms to me. "She's a little grumpy today," Rosalyn warns.

"No worries." I sit down beside Alexander. "We'll manage just –" Clara suddenly opens her mouth and starts crying. "Oh, oops," I say, immediately standing back up. She's looking at Alexander and I think she might be a little afraid of him with all those tattoos. "Let's go do our thing, then," I tell her, taking her to the living room when I know her toys are.

I put her down on the floor, calm now. She's already reaching for one of her toys and I purse my lips, watching her. As I watch her, a sudden thought strikes me. Could I really go my whole life without this? Without having someone to play with and to raise with someone I love?

˙˙˙

We had a great afternoon with Alexander's parents and his sisters. Lena didn't return back, not even when we all went to bed already. Rosalyn called her, though, to see if she was okay and it seemed like she was just out with some friends.

I'm the first one to shower and go to bed. I call Sam because I didn't receive her answer the whole day and I'm worried, but she doesn't answer. My teeth sink into my bottom lip, not feeling well about not knowing what's going on with her. I just hope she's alright.

Alexander emerges from the bathroom, only wearing his boxer briefs, whistling to himself. His bruises on his face are turning into dark purple spots.

He slides behind my back, putting his arm around me and under my shirt. His hand goes to my breast and he squeezes it, making me giggle. I put my hand on his arm. "I got my period," I confess. "For real this time."

He sighs. "I just want to hold you," he says.

"Hold me or my boob?"

"It is a part of you, isn't it?" he asks, squeezing it again to prove a point.

I roll my eyes. "Sam isn't answering her phone."

Alexander groans. "I really don't want to talk about her right now, babe."

"But I'm worried."

"Be worried tomorrow."

A typical male solution. "Can you call her?"

"No," he says. "If she's not answering you, she won't answer me, either. She's still alive and she's probably just processing. Let her be."

He might be right about this. "Okay," I say. "Turn the lights off."

He extends his arm and presses the switch, putting us into the darkness. "Goodnight, little one," he murmurs, kissing my temple.

"Night," I murmur, already half-consumed with sleep.

˙˙˙

I wake up before Alexander, as usual, and get out of bed so I don't wake him. It's still pretty early for everyone and it's Sunday, so I don't think anyone is up, either.

I still put some clothes on and walk down in the kitchen because I'm hungry. The beauty of having that time of the month.

When I find Lena in the kitchen, I stop in my tracks. I want to turn around and just walk back upstairs, but I don't want to be a coward. When Lena hears me, she turns around and raises her eyebrows. She's holding a jar of Nutella, eating it with the spoon.

I'm not prepared to see her face. Or the bruises on it. Sam did a pretty good job. She scratched her face with her nails and I can even see a dark bruise on her right temple. "What are you staring at?" she snaps.

I avert my eyes and walk further in. I'm not looking for any problems with her so it's probably for the best if I just ignore her.

As I look for something to eat, she leans against the counter, looking at me with sharp eyes. "What's up with your boyfriend hitting someone I kissed?" Lena suddenly asks.

I turn to look at her. "You kissed Sam's ex-boyfriend."

"And? What does that have to do with anything? Or he's jealous?"

I shut the fridge with a force, angling my body so I'm facing her and I cross my arms in front of my chest. "Don't be delusional. Do you think he would be jealous of you? For what? And why? He has a girlfriend."

She puts the spoon in her mouth, licking it. "For how long, I wonder ..."

I take a deep breath to calm myself down. "Why are you doing this?" I ask her.

"You have something I want. I'm not stopping until I get him."

Seeing her say it like that, so easily as if he's just an object she saw in someone's house and is confessing she's going to steal it. "You don't even know him."

"I know him enough to want him." She winks at me, putting the jar on the counter.

"No, Lena. You don't. Because if you did, you'd know he loves me so much that he'd never even look someone else's way. Especially not yours because he doesn't like girls with ugly attitudes like yours," I speak with confidence and anger because she really woke a best inside of me that I didn't know existed. "Find someone else, Lena, and stop being a boyfriend stealer. No one wants that. I promise you, I can become a real bitch when it comes to protecting our relationship and you don't want to see it. And, for that note, if you manage to mess with our relationship somehow and create problems for us, Alexander is going to loathe you. You can't win this game so do yourself a favour and stop playing it."

I walk out of the kitchen, not my appetite now gone.

I go back to Alexander's bedroom – or his previous bedroom, but I find he's still asleep. I sit down on the bed, letting out a long breath. I don't like being not-nice to people and losing my cool, but I can't take Lena's obvious innuendos anymore. I can't just let her do and say things like that and let it go by me.

"Gabrielle? What's wrong?" Alexander startles me by suddenly speaking.

I turn around. "Nothing." I smile. "I just woke up early and didn't know what to do." I'm not going to tell him about Lena, at least not the first thing in the morning.

His eyebrows pull together. "You can lay down with me," he says, smiling mischievously.

I'm already shaking my head. "No way. You have to get up anyway because breakfast is going to be served soon."

He groans and I stand up. "Can I get a kiss at least?" he asks hopefully.

I go to the bathroom and say, "Come and get it," over my shoulder, smiling cheekily.

˙˙˙

As Alexander and I walk downstairs, hand in hand, big smiles on our faces, Rosalyn passes us with a concerned look. "Gabrielle, can you wait a second, please?" she asks me.

I turn to look at Alex and back to her. "Sure," I say slowly, unsure why.

Alexander doesn't budge, even when his mother gives him a blatant look.

"Can you come to my office quickly? We need to go over something."

"What?" Alexander asks before I can. "What's this about, mum?"

"It doesn't concern you. It's just a conversation I need to have with Gabrielle. In private," she says, leaving no room for objections.

I suddenly become nervous because I have a feeling this is not going to go well, whatever it is. "Of course," I say, dropping Alexander's hand. "I'll follow you," I say to Rosalyn. 

*

Me, looking at the gif I posted to try and distract you from the drama that's coming: YUH. 👁👄👁