© Copyright 2012
All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

Sawyer was on his feet fast, only problem was, Alexa was wrapped around his waist like a belt. It took some minor acrobatics to set her down in a gentle manner. As if he needed to protect her, her stood in front of her. Wasn't sure why. Maybe it was all those years of practice with Sadie.

“Wait here,” he said.

He walked to the kitchen in time to see Lane sweeping up a broken plate, cursing under his breath. His hair was falling into his eyes and the muscles on his bare back were taut.

“Between you and Dev I'm not sure how we have any dishware left,” Sawyer said.

Lane finished scooping broken pieces onto a dustpan. “They’re custom ordered from the UK. I bought four sets. There are still two in storage.”

Sawyer nodded, wondering why the hell he should care that there were two more sets in storage. The information belonged in a realm of domestic-type matters far beyond his reach.

“That noise stopped my heart for a second.”

Lane stood and pushed past him to the garbage. “Sorry. I went to do yoga this morning and Robbie's all snuggled up with Rachel in there. So I came out here and you were--” he stopped short.

“Snuggled up with Alexa out here,” Sawyer finished for him.

“Preoccupied,” Lane offered.

Lane was a creature of habit. Having a routine was important to him. Yoga was the first thing he did every single day of his life, followed by an everything bagel heavy on cream cheese and precisely three cups of coffee, black. A shower came next where he used the exact same soap and shampoo. He did his hair the exact same way. Live, eat, sleep, repeat. Every. Day. Without fail. To have a wrench thrown into his plans ensured a rocky start.

A pang of guilt struck him. Sawyer cleared his throat. “Alexa and I can go back to my room. You can Bruce Lee the living room all you want.”

Lane put the dustpan away. His jaw was tight and he seemed flustered, making Sawyer’s guilt worse. “I'm leaving. I'll get my stuff and just—go out.”

“Naw man, it's fine. Alexa and I-”

“I want to go out,” Lane said.

“Really, we can leave.”

Lane threw his hands up and clenched his teeth. “Sawyer. Never mind. I’m leaving. I'll see you later at band practice.”

“But you haven’t done your yoga yet.”

“I’ll do it later,” Lane said.

Sawyer assessed Lane. He was rigid and cold. His movements were far less relaxed than they normally were and his mood sure left a lot to be desired. Something about him was darker. “You alright?”

“Fine,” Lane said.

“You don't seem fine.”

His hands formed fists at his sides as if that was all they could do to avoid reaching out and strangling Sawyer. “I said I'm fine.”

“You're like the chick version of fine, which every guy knows means not fine. What's wrong?”

Lane didn't reply, instead pushing past Sawyer just as Alexa appeared in the doorway.

“I should wake Rachel up. We need to go.”

He couldn't be sure, but he swore he heard Lane mutter, “Yeah, you do.” He'd deal with Lane's less than gentlemanly attitude later. He had more important things to worry about, like stopping Alexa from going. 

“What? Why?” He didn't want her to leave. She looked all a mess in the morning, her hair wildly out of place and make up free, he wanted to look at her a while. If she left, so would the opportunity to stare at her.

“I lied to my aunt,” she said.

Sawyer smirked and went about the task of finishing what Lane started, brewing a pot of coffee. He counted scoops. “Does the lie you never told have a curfew of,” he looked at his watch, “7:26 in the morning?” 

Alexa rounded the table and sat down. If she really was going somewhere, it wasn't very fast. “Lies don’t have curfews,” she said. “Particularly ones that never leave loose lips. That however, is not the case here and I did lie, therefore I am punishing myself with self-imposed curfew.”

Sawyer pressed the start button and walked toward her. He stood behind her chair and leaned so his mouth was near her ear. “Did your aunt ask you if you were spendin' the night with me?”

Alexa shook her head. “No.”

He placed a kiss on her neck. “Then you didn't lie. You omitted minor details.”

“Major details,” she argued.

“Wanna make a bet?”

“No. Last time I lost.”

“I didn't hear you complaining.”

Lane stalked past the kitchen, headed to the front door with a duffel bag flung over his shoulder and his yoga mat tucked under his arm.

When they heard the front door close, Alexa changed the subject. “Lane hates me.”

Could that be why Lane was in such a bad mood? No. Sawyer had brought girls home before. He had them constantly around him on tour, during signings, whenever he felt like it. It didn't make sense.

“Lane doesn't hate anyone,” Sawyer said.

“Pretty sure I'm an exception to his rule.”

“He's just in a mood lately,” Sawyer tried to justify. Part of him was fuming. Lane had no right to make Alexa feel uncomfortable, unwelcome or unwanted.

“Charlie says he's protective of you.”

When the coffee pot beeped that it was done, Sawyer shrugged his shoulders. “Suppose he is. Kind of. Lane is the only person aside from you who knows the truth about my past. We've been through a lot.”

Alexa stood but before she could leave, Sawyer intercepted and stood in her way. “Untold lies hold no curfews,” he reminded her.

“Told ones do,” she said. “I’m just going to go and get Rachel.”

Sawyer brought a hand to the side of her face. “Stay.”

“I can’t.”

“Please.”

“I want to.”

“So be hedonistic. Stay.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I promised Sadie I’d see her today.”

Checkmate. A promise to his sister was far more important than his greed to keep Alexa all to himself for as long as possible. “I have band practice.”

She had to stand on the tips of her toes to kiss him. “It’s okay. You weren’t invited.”

He gave her a look as if he were appalled. “What could possibly be better than spending time with me?”

“Ladies day,” Alexa said. “Don’t expect you’ll understand.”

Well she got that right. He didn’t understand. At all. “Will I see you later?”

Alexa smiled and placed a pointer finger on the tip of his nose. “If you’re lucky.” She turned and began to swing her hips as she walked away.

Her curves moved side to side as Sawyer’s eyes followed. “Hey baby?”

She looked over her shoulder with a sly smile.

“I’m watching you work that hot little body. I’d say Lady Luck is with me, don’t you think?”

Her grin stretched widely across her face following his comment. She was grateful that she was walking away, instead of toward him as heat flushed across her face.

When she reached the extra bedroom, the one that housed all their workout equipment and the fold out couch, she knocked softly and opened the door. The vision that she saw repelled her backward into a rock solid body behind her.

“Careful, sugar,” Sawyer said in a whisper. “What gives?”

Alexa simply pointed. Robbie was on his back, sprawled like a starfish with one leg protruding from the covers. Rachel’s head rest on his chest, her leg tossed over his. None of that was too out of the ordinary but Rachel’s pajamas- more specifically her lack of pajamas-was.

Her single item of clothing was nothing more than a shred of fabric which Alexa assumed was supposed to pass for underwear. Other than that, she was naked, on top of all the covers, exposing herself.

“Oh my God!” Alexa’s voice was louder than she anticipated because Rachel shot up like the bed was on fire. With equal speed, it dawned on her that she was indeed giving quite the show and she hauled the sheets up to conceal her bareness.

“Knock much!” she yelled, kicking Robbie who uttered a jumbled, “ow.”

“Get up!” Rachel ordered.

Robbie’s eyes reluctantly fluttered open setting on the scene he and Rachel were the centerpiece for. He gave a sparkling, cheshire grin before sliding back down under the covers. “No need for modesty. Yours sure aren’t the first pair Sawyer’s ever seen.”

Sawyer held his hands up. “I didn't look, fuck you very much.”

“Just saying,” Robbie replied.

How could Rachel be so free with her body? Alexa's chest tightened and she turned, far more intent to look at Sawyer than a naked Rachel. “I'm leaving,” she spoke into his chest.

“Later,” Rachel said.

It was hard for Alexa to imagine how someone could be so careless about their body. She didn't know why it surprised her so much, coming from Rachel but it didn't seem right or respectful.

She pushed past Sawyer and booked it down the hallway. “I have to go.”

He followed her, grabbing her elbow softly. “Why are you so upset? Rachel hooked up with Robbie, it's not the end of the world, yeah?”

It seemed the Universe was working against her dramatic exit because she fumbled with the high boots she'd worn the night before. Sawyer watched intently. “Those don't really go with sweatpants. Can you stay long enough to put your jeans back on?”

She grabbed the boot violently and tossed it to the ground. “I don't have a choice, do I?” She stomped back down the hallway to Sawyer's bedroom where her clothes from the night before were. She stepped out of her sweatpants as he once again followed behind her. His eyes ran across her body and for a moment she felt like an object, like exactly what Rachel was behaving as.

“Why are you so worked up?” Sawyer inquired for a second time.

Alexa shimmied into the painted on jeans, securing the button. “Rachel. That's so slutty. She just met him.”

“Since when do you judge anyone, sugar?”

“You don't understand!”

Sawyer stepped forward and took her hands. “Help me understand then. Why are you so mad?”

“Girls who do things like Rachel did..they make it so girls like me don't stand a fighting chance in getting a boyfriend.”

Sawyer laughed. “Didn't realize you were holdin' auditions for my role.”

She wriggled from his grip. “Don't twist my words. There a million other girls like me out there who don't have all the right clothes, who don't throw themselves at guys, who like reading more than watching YouTube videos about make-up application. People like her make it impossible to compete!”

“I get it,” he said. “But she's your friend, he's mine. They like each other, that's cool, right?”

How infuriating! Alexa placed her hands on her hips. “I bet she doesn't know one personal thing about Robbie. She doesn't like him. She likes the way his body looks.”

“How would you know?”

Well she didn't know exactly. She hadn't been privy to Robbie or Rachel's conversations with each other. “I don't.”

“So stop judging,” Sawyer said. “It's like someone looking at me and deciding right away I'm trouble. They're making assumptions based on ten seconds that they've seen me. Been kind of fighting that stigma my whole life. Granted, I'm not perfect, but I'm not a worn out, imbecile or a druggie.”

Alexa supposed that was probably true. She left his t-shirt on throwing the sweats into the laundry bin. “Valid point. I still have to go.”

“Just don't leave here mad,” Sawyer said. “I don't ever want you to leave angry after bein' at my place.”

One sentence and half a second was all it took to crumble the wall she'd tried to put up minutes before. She left Sawyer's as happy as she'd been when she first arrived.

                                                                      ***

She phoned Gabby on her way to Paper Planes. For as much as she'd worried about it, Gabby didn't so much as hint that anything was out of place, never mind her being aware of Alexa's sleepover.

Sadie's door was as usual closed so she knocked.

“Lex, you don't need to knock,” her voice said.

Alexa entered the room. “Sure I do. It's polite.”

Lindy was sitting horizontally across an armchair. “What are we doing today?”

“Sadie and I are going to have a girls day.”

“I kind of told Lindy she could be included.”

Alexa wasn't sure what to make of that. She'd planned on looking through Sadie's scrapbook, trying to gather more information about the boy she was so willingly falling for. Maybe doing their nails, going through Sadie's music collection. All the types of things she and Rachel might do. Now she had to come up with an impromptu plan B. “Want to go out?”

“Yes!” Lindy shouted at the same time Sadie said “no way.”

Lindy turned to Sadie and frowned. “C'mon, please? We never get to leave here.”

“'Cause we aren't allowed,” Sadie said. “Not that I'd go anyway.”

“Please!” Lindy said.

“No.”

“Please. If anyone can break us out of this place, it's Sexy Lexy.”

How on earth was she going to pull this off? It was a matter of the mouth preceding the brain. Luckily, Sadie didn't seem to be having any of it.

“There's nothing to do out there, that we can't do in here.”

“You did not just say that!” Lindy argued. “There's everything to do out there that you can't do in here.”

“I physically cannot leave,” Sadie said.

“When was the last time you tried?”

Sadie shrugged. “The last time I was in public was before I came here, during the transfer actually.”

“Right,” Lindy said. “When you had shitty doctors and shitty meds. C'mon Sadie, where's your sense of adventure?”

“Hiding with my sanity,” Sadie said flatly.

“I'm not even sure I can get us permission.”

“Don't ask for permission,” Lindy said. “Beg for forgiveness.”

Like Sawyer, Lindy had a valid point. No need to argue with Aunt Gabby. She wouldn't even notice they were gone...it was the weekend.

Lindy's hands clasped in prayer under her chin. “Please, please, please! I'll eat like a double sized funnel cake with extra everything if we go.”

Lindy's health was getting better but she was still unusually small and very underweight. Anorexia for her was the same thing as the demons Sadie was convinced lived in her head. To offer to eat massive amounts of food wasn't exactly good but it did manage to show Sadie how important and day out would be.

“We can do whatever you'd like to do, Sadie,” Alexa said.

Please Lindy mouthed again.

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said. “I'll try.”

Getting Sadie out the door proved to be harder than it should have been. Alexa wrapped her arm around her shoulder, uttering words of comfort and assurance the entire time they walked. Lindy skipped ahead, hardly able to contain her excitement. It wasn't until they reached the car that Sadie smiled. “That wasn't so bad.”

Sawyer lathered and rinsed his shampoo, allowing the hot water to take him back to the night before. He'd never had a girl spend the night with him without a distinct motive that had nothing to do with being in love with her.

To think he made fun of Seabass for the same condition for so long and now he finally understood. He got it. How his heart could suddenly belong to someone so completely, without any reservation. It was the best feeling in the world. He wanted to kick himself for not figuring it out long ago, but he hadn't known her then.

Despite Lane's sour disruption, the only thing that could make his morning more perfect was if Alexa was still there to share it. The fact that she'd left him to spend the day with his sister, made him love her more. He wanted to shout it out.

All of Sebastian's stupid where Charlie was concerned made perfect sense. Maybe he'd proclaim it all at the Summer Solstice as Sebastian had at the show the year before. When he remembered the dire consequences Seb's actions had, Sawyer thought better of it.

He wrapped himself in a towel and opened the door, nearly dropping his towel when he found Rachel, now in a t-shirt and underwear, leaning against the wall.

“Longest shower ever,” she said. “Robbie said there might be toothbrushes in there.”

Sawyer's hand gripped the towel. “Yeah,” he said. “Top drawer. Help yourself.”

“Thanks.”

Sawyer watched the way she walked. He told Alexa not to judge and he tried to do the same, but the way she moved her hips, her sly little smile, he was all too familiar with the behavior. Classic. Rachel had no problem getting attention from males. Guaranteed.

Before heading into his room to change, he found Robbie raiding the fridge. He smiled when he saw Sawyer, bread between his teeth. “He shoots! He scores!” Robbie proclaimed.

“Yeah well if you don't forward your ass to band practice, you'll have to answer to Seabass. Summer Solstice is in two days.”

“Yup,” Robbie said. “I know. I don't need practice. I'm already perfect.”

“Whatever. I'm getting dressed and leaving. I suggest you do the same.”

Robbie was reefing at the top of a jar of jam. “I'll give your suggestion due consideration. Where's Lane?”

“Being an owly mofo,” Sawyer replied. “No idea where he went but I know where I'm going.”

“To band practice,” Robbie said. “I got it band geek.”

Just as he spoke, the lid, which was stuck shot up and nailed Robbie in the mouth. Sawyer laughed. “Karma tellin' you to shut your mouth, yeah?”

“Bye band geek.”

He got to the studio early. Seb's beamer was the only car in the lot. Perfect, maybe Sawyer could talk to him...about Alexa. Did he want Sebastian to know?

Sebastian was seated on one of the couches, plucking at his guitar, humming a tune which Sawyer didn't recognize.

“New song?”

Seb looked up, a pen between his teeth. He brought his hand to remove it and scribbled something on a piece of paper. “Yeah, for Devin. You're early.”

“You're observant.”

“I try.”

Sawyer flopped on the couch. “I think I'm in love with her,” he blurted.

Sebastian set the guitar down. “Really?”

“No. Pretend. Of course, really.”

“Wow. Congratulations.”

“How do you know?”

“You just told me.”

“No dumbass,” Sawyer said. “I mean how do you know if you're in love? Like for sure.”

Seb pursed his lips. “You just do.”

“Awesome. You're useless.”

“Hey man, I don't know how you're feeling. But if you even think you may be in love, you probably are.”

There was some real logic behind that statement.

“Yeah,” Sawyer said. “Guess so.”

Sebastian resumed picking the guitar. “How's Lane?”

Sawyer wasn't sure what Lane had to do with anything, let alone him being in love with Alexa. “In a foul mood this morning. Why?”

“I don't know,” Sebastian said unconvincingly.

“Is something wrong with him?”

“I don't know.”

“You're lying.”

“I am not.”

“You're the worst fucking liar in the world. What's up with Lane?”

Sebastian set the guitar down in frustration. “Nothing. Never mind. Forget I opened my mouth.”

No way was he dropping it. Lane was his best friend and if something was going on, Sawyer was going to find out about it. Even if he had to bruise a few knuckles or egos to get the answer. “What's Lane's problem?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why has he spent the last few weeks being a tool?”

“You know for a smart guy you sure are dumb sometimes,” Sebastian replied.

“Why?”

“Sawyer c'mon. Use that overworked brain of yours for half a second. Lane's been mad since you started dating Alexa. He's jealous.”

Out of the question. For Sebastian to even suggest it was ridiculous. “You've lost your mind.”

“Or you're blind. Either way,” Sebastian said. “I'm right.”

“Lane's into dudes,” Sawyer said. “He doesn't want Alexa. Although if I were gay, she might convince me to go straight.”

“Oh my God. Lane wants you, idiot.”

His heart stopped beating. Every nerve in his body went numb. That couldn't possibly be true, could it? Lane knew he wasn't...well...like that. “Lane knows I'm into chicks and you're so dead wrong, I should beat you for it.”

Sebastian made a face. “Go ahead. Take your best shot. I'll be black and blue and still right. He'll never tell you himself, but seeing you in love with someone is eating him up inside.”

Sawyer stood up. “Fuck you.”

“Glad to see you've matured with your recent epiphany.”

He felt like his blood was liquid fire. If they didn't have a show to play in two days, he'd have used Sebastian's as a punching bag. “Really fuck you.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Why don't you ask him?”

“What?”

“Ask him. Ask him. He won't be able to lie and you'll see for yourself.”

“See what for yourself?” Robbie's voice interrupted.

“Nothing,” they both replied.

“Where's Lane?”

“Right here. I'm not late.” Lane stood in the doorway, his duffel bag and his mat in hand.

Sawyer didn't waste any time in shoving him hard back out the door.

Lane's features pinched. “What's your problem?”

Sawyer could hardly believe the words he was about to say. “Ima ask you somethin' and if our friendship means anything to you at all, you'll answer me honestly.”

Lane grimaced and swallowed hard. “What?”

“You love me?”

“I didn't realize we were having a moment but yeah, sure,” Lane said icily. “You're my best friend.”

“Which is why you're going to answer me and do it properly. Are you in love with me?”

Lane's eyes widened, then welled before he looked at the floor. His eyebrows knit together and his lip began to tremble.

Sawyer didn't need an audible answer.

He made a fist, pulled it back and punched a hole into the drywall next to Lane before turning around and walking out.