I wake up to the sound of Tristan's moaning. A smile plays on my lips as I get up to take care of him.

***

A few hours later, he wakes up again, much better. "What happened last night?" he asks, trying to sit up. "Well, your girlfriend broke up with you because you had sex with some random bikini-clad girl at a party where you were horrendously drunk." He sighs, shaking his head. He looks at me, searching my face for clues as he asks his next question, carefully: "How'd it go with Chad?" I say, "I don't want to be with him anymore, Tristan." "Then why did you kiss him?" He challenges. "I don't know," I say, wincing at the lie. He reaches forward to cup my face in his hands. An unknown emotion crosses his face as he looks at me. He draws closer and closer, and for an instant I think he's going to kiss me.

Then he shakes his head, averts his gaze, and says, "I need to take a walk." I watch, dumbfounded, as he slips out the door.

Just then, Hannah comes in with Lisa in tow. "Hey," she says. "So, how'd it go?" "He didn't seem to be that upset about Amanda," I say, still confused about his peculiar behavior. Lisa and Hannah share a knowing look. "What? What is it? Tell me." Hannah smiles and reaches over to pat my shoulder, but it's Lisa who speaks. "Don't you see, Alex? It's obvious." "What's obvious?" I ask, confused. They both smile at me in a motherly sort of way. "Tristan is jealous!" Hannah, declares, rolling her eyes at me. I shake my head, unconvinced. "What? No way." "Yes way!" They shout in unison. "But..that's ridiculous. Why would he be jealous of me?"

Lisa rolls her eyes at me. "It's not you he's jealous of. It's Chad." "Why would he be jealous of Chad?" I ask. "He doesn't even know him!" Hannah rakes a hand over her face, sighing in exasperation. Lisa copies her. "You're so dense!" Lisa says, obviously frustrated. I shake my head, uncomprehending. "I don't understand!" I practically scream at them. "How am I dense?!" They both move to sit beside me, intertwining their fingers around my back. The moment feels too good to let go, and I sense something more coming from Lisa and Hannah, so we sit there, wrapped in silence as I try to figure out what they're trying to tell me.

Finally an idea shoots to my brain and I jump up, thrilled by the new possibility. My sudden movement causes Lisa and Hannah's hand hold to break apart, but just as soon, Lisa laces her fingers through Hannah's again. I shoot her a questioning look, but she ignores me and prompts me to tell her what I just thought of. "Are you guys trying to tell me that Tristan likes me?" I ask. Sighing in relief, Lisa and Hannah stand up, not breaking their touching. Lisa exclaims, obviously relieved that I finally got it, "Finally! Took you long enough to figure it out!"

I shake my head, annoyed that she would even consider such an outrageous thought. "Please, you guys. Tristan could never like me!" "Oh yes, he could, and does!" Hannah says. I shake my head again. There is no possible way to high heaven that Tristan Daniels could ever like me. "Go out there and talk to him!" Lisa urges me, and they share a secret glance. Their mysteriousness is getting on my nerves, but I don't have time to dwell on it as Hannah practically shoves me out the door.

Now, outside, I consider what to do. I could go and look for Tristan, but I have no idea where he went, and I'm not sure what exactly to say to him, anyway. So, despondently, I make my way over to a small, rotting tree stump- probably the only one I'm going to find. I sit down, resting my head in my hands. I honestly don't know what to do. Hannah and Lisa insist that he likes me, but I highly doubt that. There's nothing about me to like. But, they seemed so sure of themselves.

My mind begins to wander from the topic of my lost love....
Wait, did I say love?!

I love Tristan Daniels?! No, brain, I do not love him, I try to correct myself, but my heartstrings are pulling, and I know it's true, no matter how much I try to deny it. Sighing, I sink further down on the stump, my head in my hands. I can't believe I've actually allowed myself to fall so hard for him. A few tears seep from the corner of my eye, making salty tracks on my face. I hate falling in love! It's just a terrible thing. It hurts way too much when I don't have someone there to catch me as I fall.

Eventually, I feel my inner resolves begin to crumble, my strength and bravery fading away into a pool of bitterness. I sob uncontrollably, not caring who sees me now. Not that anyone's ever going to look. My shoulders shake as I let out all of the pain, frustration, and sadness I've kept inside me for so long.

Tristan's p.o.v.

I stormed out of the house earlier this morning, without giving Alex so much as a thank you. The truth is, I'm afraid to be around her. She opens up a whole new side of me, one I didn't even know I had. She scrapes at my heart, pulling every one of my heartstrings. I know she's different, and she's definitely coming close to breaking my heart. Hell, I'm not even upset about Amanda! She was a kind of shitty girlfriend anyway. I think it's become clear, even to me and my stupid self. I like Alex, I like her a lot. I might even go so far as to say I love her.

As I'm thinking these pitiful thoughts, I nearly stumble into a stump with a small, petite figure sitting on it. I look down and I'm startled to see Alex, of all people. Despite what I said before, she makes me happy and I really like being with her. After quickly glancing at her, I can see she's crying. So I do what any normal person would do. I fold my arms around her and hug her tightly.

Alex's p.o.v.

In the midst of my crying fit, I'm yanked off of the stump by arms that feel oddly familiar. A cry of terror dies in my throat as I turn to see who's holding me. A wave of sadness mixed with happiness washes over me as I stare up into the crystal blues of Tristan Daniels.

I quickly quell my sobs so as not to appear pathetic. But, unbeknownst to me, I have bigger problems to worry about. Tristan has picked up my wrist and is examining it. A tremor of horror descends upon me as I see that in the midst of all this, my hoodie sleeves have ridden up, exposing my bare wrists for all the world to see. Including Tristan. He raises an eyebrow as if to say, How are you going to explain this? I gulp under his steely gaze and the only words my brain can form are,

Oh.

Shit.