"I'm sweating like a whore in church." Maya puffed, fanning herself with a copy of PEOPLE magazine. Alexia managed to let out a chuckle, though the sweat bead at the back of her neck and her palms were clammy. Her clothes stuck to her skin greasily.

"Me too." Teo mumbled, hopelessly looking around.

Cancun appeared... chaotic. The sun shone brightly and the heat hit in big waves. It was undeniably crowded outside the airport, heaps of people exited with big sunglasses and suitcases, ready to start their spring break. Cabs were everywhere, yet Teo, Maya and Alexia failed to grab one's attention. They'd been sitting on the sidewalk for nearly forty minutes, their suitcases surrounding them as a somehow desperate attempt to block out the sun.

Unlike everyone else, they wore jeans and jackets and they regretted it immensely. They knew it'd be hot in Cancun, but they left New York too early and it had been too cold to wear anything short.

Teo promptly jumped up, waving his arms wildly. Alexia and Maya both laughed at the sight of his sweaty armpits.

"Here, God damned!" Teo exclaimed in frustration, schlepping closer to the cab that had caught his attention. Alexia and Maya continued to giggle, but when they saw the cab slow down they stood up in a rush, trying to get a hold of all the suitcases. Teo shrieked out of happiness. "Finally!"

As he discussed their destination with the driver in fluent Spanish, the girls dragged the suitcases towards the cab and started to load it. Maya scowled, "He can't even get out to help us?"

"There's no point anymore anyway, we did all of it." Alexia replied, wiping the sweat off her forehead. All she wanted to do was take a cold shower and sleep. Surely being in Cancun was fascinating and in every other life time she would've rejoiced in it as much as possible, but right now she felt nothing other than emotional misery. As if it wasn't bad enough that her brother and his girlfriend had hauled her to Mexico, she now had to act like all was fine and she was ecstatic.

In fact, Alexia would've much rather stayed back home. Not one of her friends had gone somewhere on spring break and with her recent make-up with Chloe and now also Chaz, staying home seemed like a better idea. At least she didn't have to resemble joyful.

But no, Teo insisted and once he talked to their dad about it, the decision was made. She didn't know what the hell her father's issue was, but ever since her mother's passing he showed little care toward his children and spent more time with Damian.

The only good thing about this trip was Damian, whom she didn't have to see for the two weeks that she was here. He wasn't thrilled about the trip—especially because he knows what usually happens on spring break—but there wasn't much he could say. Her father agreed and that was final.

"Alexia, get in!" Teo disrupted her thoughts and she quickly got into the cab, rolling her eyes at the inaudible bitching of the driver.

Without much said she plugged in her headphones and leaned her head against the window. She noticed Maya and Teo glancing at each other meaningfully but proceeded to ignore that as Sinead Harnett's soothing voice entered her ears.

"Hurts me the most when I wake

I fumble and twist, 'til the truth starts to click

There's so much space in this bed

These sheets go for miles; dreams of your smile,"

Alexia wryly swallowed, the lyrics hitting too close to home. A painful ripple went through her heart and she frowned, why did everything remind her of Jason?

"I don't want to be just a memory

And I don't want to feel your wings break free,

Because without you I'm lost in the breeze

I gotta be strong now, I gotta show you how"

Damn you Jason. It has been over two weeks since she last saw him, and by now her worry and longing has turned into indescribable anxiety as she spent her days pining for him. All she wanted was to be sure that he was fine, that he was out of harm's way and was nowhere near Damian's psychotic shenanigans.

"I'll love you like I've never, ever loved somebody

I'll give you things you didn't even know you wanted,

Don't tell me that it's not enough

My time is up, you're over us

'cause I think I might do anyth—

"Hey!" Alexia snapped, startled by her music suddenly cutting off. Her attention immediately turned to Teo, who had pulled her buds out. "You have got to stop listening to that shit."

"Give them back!" she hissed bitterly. Teo shook his head, "No can do. We're on vacation here, Alexia, live a little. Listening to depressing crap is not going to bring him back, is it?"

"I know," she mumbled, now fully aware of the warmth inside the cab, "But I can't."

Maya put a hand on hers, giving it a firm squeeze before saying, "Let's just try, okay?"

Alexia sighed deeply. "Fine."

-

The hotel was everything Alexia expected it to be. Massive and exotic, with partygoers leaving and coming. The heat was nearing insufferable and the three were dying to shower and change. After Teo checked in, they took the elevator up to their rooms.

Teo cleared his throat. "Your room is next to ours, so whenever you need us just knock, okay?"

Alexia nodded, her eyes fixated on the doors of the elevator. Open. Open. Open! She was unquestionably not in the mood for her brother's pep talk. Unfortunately, Teo continued speaking. "Like Maya said in the cab, just try to enjoy it okay? At least Damian's not here. You should take advantage of that."

"Teo, I'm okay." She urged, though she knew she wasn't fooling anyone.

Both Maya and Teo stifled a laugh and Alexia groaned.

"I'm sorry to break it to you sister, but you look like shit." Maya said, not talking around it. Alexia gritted her teeth. She knew Maya meant well, but hearing it was still a bit dire. Even Teo nudged his girlfriend with wide eyes, afraid she had hurt Alexia's feelings.

Maya shrugged innocently. "What? We all know it's true." She turned to Alexia and smiled apologetically, "You know I don't mean it like that. I'm not saying you look like shit, but you. It's like—Gosh, how do I say this?—You obviously don't look like shit, but you do look like shit now."

Teo pulled up an eyebrow, entirely clueless. "I'm confused."

Maya ignored him and kept her eyes on Alexia, who was confused as well yet she seemed to understand what Maya was getting at. "Do you get me?"

"I get it." And to be quite honest, she really did. Maya wasn't saying Alexia looked terrible, she was just opting that lately she hadn't been looking as good as usual, and considering the circumstances Alexia wasn't the least bit offended.

Teo, however, put both his hands in the air. "You do? What the hell. Can someone explain to me?"

"It's girl-talk, you wouldn't get it."

The elevator dinged and Alexia ardently stepped out of it, hauling her suitcases with her. All this talk about her looking like shit caused a faint throbbing in her head and that along with her disgustingly sweaty-like scent was enough for her to either throw up or pass out.

She had to be honest—the hotel was beautiful. If she wasn't feeling slightly nauseous she would've taken her time staring at the pattern on the walls and the grand, lordly doors. She had overheard the employees talking about the annual pool party tomorrow, but she couldn't care less.

And Alexia not caring about a pool party? That's when something must be wrong.

"We'll be inside if you need us!" Teo uttered before unlocking his door and disappearing inside, Maya hot on his heels. "Okay." Alexia murmured to no one in particular, sticking her given key into the lock.

The door appeared already unlocked and Alexia raised her eyebrows in surprise, carefully peeking inside before she walked in.

The room was spacious and chock-full of windows. It had a captivating view, overlooking the pools, the beaches and the seas. Withal there was air-conditioning, and she puffed out a relieved breath, shutting the door after her.

Dropping her bags, she ran over to the huge bed and laid down on it flatly, closing her eyes.

Her mind was a rollercoaster, still muddled with Jason's decision to not see her again. Yes, by now she assumed he deliberately stayed away. Their last meet-up was a mess as it is, but she was certain that Jason had had many opportunities to come visit her—no matter where he was right now.

Was he okay? What was he doing right now? How did he spend his time? Did her brothers really not know about his whereabouts, or were they lying again? Did he still love her? Was he still planning on stopping her wedding? Was he okay?

The thoughts clouded her mind, splitting cramps forming themselves in her stomach as she curbed a whimper, ordering herself to keep it in. Once she let all the waterworks out she won't be able to stop herself and she was afraid her brother or Maya would walk in.

Unexpectedly, a loud noise erupted from the bathroom and her eyes sprung open, sharply eyeing the door. The noise was a toilet being flushed—no doubts.

The door being unlocked, the toilet flushing... someone must be already in here.

A rush of panic hit Alexia as she quietly stood up and shuffled further away from the bathroom, her throat closing. Oh God, she thought, this is it.

And then, out of nowhere, her mom's voice echoed through her mind. Don't show your fear. Fight!

As fast as she could, Alexia dashed towards her suitcase, zipping it open. The first thing on top was the gun her brothers stacked her with 'for safety', and for the first time ever she was grateful.

She held the gun shakily, aiming it at the bathroom door.

The door opened and almost instantly someone walked out of it.

Alexia's heart sank to her stomach, her throat closing as the gun slid out of her hands and landed on the ground with a loud thump. He stepped closer to her tentatively, the hesitation evident on his face.

Jason looked warped, his hair flatly on top of his head and his eyes narrowed, as though he couldn't believe it either. Despite the dark circles under his eyes and the scowl curling his lips, he looked more powerfully built than ever. His posture was lean with broad shoulders, his muscles visibly flexing underneath his white t-shirt.

Jason took another step closer to her, unsure whether he was supposed to. She kept her eyes on him, spotting the bruises on his fists and the scratches in his neck. She wanted to ask, but her voice was stuck in her throat.

Because there he was, alive, maybe not so well, but still alive.

And he was striding her way, cautiously.

"You're very slow." She mumbled, raising an eyebrow. Jason's expression was baffled, his lips slightly parting. "I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to."

Alexia inhaled deeply, locking her eyes with his. "Why? I'm yours."

Apparently that's all she had to say, because in less than a second Jason's body heat enveloped her as he picked her up and buried his face into her hair, tightening his arms around her body.

"Fuck," he throatily mumbled. Alexia cloaked her arms around his neck, his smell fringing her. She cupped his cheeks, caressing the scruff over his jaw and for the first time in weeks, she sincerely smiled.

The sides of Jason's lips twitched when he saw her smile. She leaned forward to kiss him, and he eagerly kissed her back.

They kissed until they couldn't anymore, their hands grazing the other thirstily. Jason softly placed her on the bed, their eye contact never breaking, and then joined her.

Alexia opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again.

Jason looked at her with observant eyes. "Say it." He gently spoke, intertwining his fingers with hers. Alexia took a deep breath and blinked her tears away. This was not the time to cry.

"Why the fuck did you do that?"

His eyebrows downed on his eyes. "Do what?"

"Oh please," Alexia snorted, unwillingly shuffling closer to him, "You just left! Jason, how am I supposed to know that you're okay?"

He clenched his jaw and sighed. "Your mom just died... I—I didn't want to endanger you."

When is this man ever going to realize that staying away from her wasn't going to do much other than hurting the two of them? Albeit it still stung hearing those words about her mother, it was even worse knowing that he felt guilty for it.

She shook her head. "When will you get it through your head? Nothing will happen to me! Not when you're around, that is. Stop this."

"You don't fucking get it! Do you remember Bumper? Florencia? If they weren't talking to me, they wouldn't be dead!"

Alexia flinched. "They're different! I have Teo, Stefano and Dominic. I have my dad. I have every man who has ever been involved in the business! Explain to me why the fuck Damian would hurt me! He wants to marry me!"

Jason breathed heavily, frowning as he tightly pulled her closer. "I know that scumbag wants to fucking marry you." His voice was low, not more than a guttural whisper. "And let me tell you—it is not happening. I tried. I tried, okay? I tried staying away from you,"

"Don't do that." She hissed. Jason put his thumb on her lips, his eyes fixated. "Don't interrupt me." He muttered, gently feeling her lips with his finger. "I couldn't do it. I managed to stay away from you for three weeks but let me tell you, I was—I am—a fucking mess. You were in my mind all the time. The only thing that distracted me was working out, and even then I was doing it for you."

Alexia nodded, very aware of the finger he had on her mouth. "I was a mess too, you know."

Jason grit his teeth together and pulled his hand away. "Teo convinced me to come here. He invited me. He's been trying to convince me to talk to you every day that we've been apart. First I wasn't going to come, but somehow I found myself in a plane from Vermont to Cancun."

"Vermont?"

"I've been staying there." He swiftly responded with a grimace. Alexia chuckled. "What a dead end."

"I'll say." Jason rolled his eyes.

It was silent until they both awkwardly snickered, squeezing each other's hands. "I'm just glad you're okay." She said, butterflies erupting in her stomach. Everything about this man swept her off her feet and she kept realizing this every single time he was around.

Jason nodded, puffing out a breath. "Me too."

"Just..." she frowned, "Please don't think that staying away from me is 'safer' or whatever. I need you."

He nodded again, slowly this time. "I promised myself on the plane that I wasn't going to do it anymore. For selfish reasons, but I can't stay away from you."

"Good." Alexia smiled.

"Good." Jason smiled too.

She pulled him closer, delicately pressing her lips on his. "I love you." She stressed, ignoring the tears that brimmed in the back of her eyes. She was just so relieved and so emotional.

Jason pecked her lips in reverence, closing his eyes. "I love you too."

"And I missed you." She whispered, scrutinizing his face. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, opening his eyes. "I missed you too. All of you."

She raised her eyebrows. "All of me?"

He smirked, pushing her backwards on the bed as he hovered over her. She laughed out of pure happiness, excitement building in her chest. He licked his lips, though an adorable smile curled them. "I love seeing you laugh."

Heat rose to her cheeks, "Stop it."

"Why?"

"Because now I'm blushing!" she exclaimed. Jason barked out a laugh and threw away the entire sexed up façade, pulling her into a warm hug. "God, I so missed you!"

Alexia discreetly sniffed up his scent, melting into the embrace. "I love seeing you laugh as well."

Jason, however, ignored that statement as he looked at her, displaying an amused grin. "Were you smelling me?"

She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, I was."

He smirked and she immediately continued talking, "And I know for sure that you absolutely smell me too!"

"Oh please!" but he laughed and bit his lower lip, his eyes turning dark. "As a matter of fact, I do." Pushing her backwards on the bed again, he manually widened her legs and wrapped them around his waist. "You always smell sexy."

"I do?"

"Yes."

"What does sexy smell like?" Alexia feigned, putting a finger on her chin. She just wanted to annoy him, and clearly it was working. He groaned loudly. "Strawberries."

"Aha..." she smiled, tugging him closer. Jason smiled, too. "Let me show you what you've missed, baby."

-

A few hours later, the two decided to finally leave the room. They were both starving to say the least and hunger made them grumpy. Grumpy Alexia with Grumpy Jason was not a good match.

"Shouldn't we swing by your brother?" Jason asked, slowly dressing himself. Alexia hummed, braiding her hair. "Yeah, I guess."

Part of her was furious that her brother hadn't told her anything—again. He wasn't around as much in the past weeks, but he still saw the misery she was living with. It made her wonder whether Maya knew as well. Maya and Chloe had both consoled her and desperately tried to cheer her up by taking her to the cinema and shopping. It didn't work, but Alexia acknowledged what they were doing and deeply appreciated it.

Catalina hadn't shown as much sympathy and it was weird, but Cat had been acting weird for months now so Alexia quickly dismissed that thought.

Another part of her, nonetheless, wasn't angry. She knew that Teo had no right telling her if Jason had told him he didn't want it. Her brother was a very loyal and honest man, and she knew that he wouldn't lie to her if he didn't have to.

Jason seemed to pick up on her mulling, snaking his arms around her waist from behind as he put his chin on her shoulder. "Don't be mad at your brother, babe."

"I'm not," she said, "I'm just... I don't know. Should I be?"

"No."

"But he lied to me, again." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was slightly annoyed, yeah.

"Maybe," Jason shrugged, "but I asked him not to tell you. I think that if something was really wrong with me he would've said so. I doubt he would've left you in the dark if I was dead."

Alexia whimpered disgruntled, "Jeez, way to say it."

Jason defensively put his hands in the air. "Just throwing that out there."

She sighed, turning around. "I guess."

"Good girl." He grinned, stealing a kiss as he promptly turned around and hurried away. He obviously knew how much she hated being called 'good girl'. Alexia let out a loud groan, following him. "Fuck you!"

"You can, always."

She groaned again.

Teo and Maya opened the door before Alexia could even knock. Teo's hair stood upwards wildly and Maya's shirt was half tucked into her bra, something she quickly fixed upon noticing the two standing in the hallway. Alexia pretended to gag, earning a shove from Teo.

Jason laughed wholeheartedly, causing Alexia's heart to beat even faster. His laugh was so extremely precious.

"I'm glad you changed your mind." Teo stated, looking at Jason. Jason nodded, "Well, what can I say? After the presentation you gave me about Mexico I had to come. Oh and Alexia, she was a minor reason too."

Alexia chuckled, nudging his shoulder. "Shut up."

He squeezed her upper arm before pulling Teo into a brief hug. "Hey, Jason." Her brother smiled. Jason beamed, "Hey, Teo."

After Teo pulled away, Jason turned his attention to Maya. "I'm Maya Lucas." She stuck out her hand. Jason shook her hand, grinning. "We've already met."

"Oh, right!" she seemed to think, "We didn't really talk that day."

"Yeah..." he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I wasn't really in the mood."

"It's fine." Maya winked. "I get it. So, are we going to eat or not?"

Maya and Jason walked in the front, engaged in a conversation about something completely irrelevant, and Teo and Alexia walked behind them. There was an uncomfortable silence until he broke it, carefully wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Alex?"

"Hm?"

"Are you mad?"

She loved her brother, but him worrying about whether she was mad or not made her love him even more. That's why she looked up at him and shook her head. "I was, but not anymore. I guess I understand why you did it."

Teo exhaled in relief. "Good, I was afraid I'd have to deal with another one of your tantrums!"

"Hey!"

"Kidding, kidding," Teo snickered, pressing a kiss on top of her head as they continued walking to the hotel buffet.

The restaurant itself was splendid, but the buffet was a whole different story. Almost instantly Alexia got blinded by the alluring and colourful sight of the buffet, a bunch of savory and luscious aroma's entering her nostrils. It smelled delicious.

Whereas the left side of the buffet clearly displayed all the deserts and the hued, exotic fruits, the right side dominated the air. Cemitas, huaraches, chilaquiles, flautas, burritos, tacos... Alexia recognized some of the dishes, but failed to do that with all of them.

Her stomach rumbled. "This looks so good." She muttered, her mouth watering. "I'll go get us a table." Teo answered, leaving her side.

Together with Jason and Maya, she grabbed a plate and started scooping up food on her plate.

There, in the line for the heavenly-looking tamales, Alexia got struck by the fact that she was inexplicably but excessively happy. Her brother was here with his girlfriend, a woman that had really grown on her, she was in a different country, miles away from her psychotic fiancée and Jason was here, the love of her life.

He was healthy, happy, and still madly in love with her—and that was all she wanted.

"You coming?" Jason stuck out his hand, his eyebrows raised. Alexia gladly took his hand, not bothering to suppress her bliss.

"Let's get those tamales."

--

A/N: I haven't been getting many votes & comments (and readers for that matter) and it's really demotivating. Don't forget to vote & comment!