A couple weeks has gone by without hearing from Brian or Zack. I was still hiding out at Val and Matt’s and hardly ever got to leave. I went to work, but that was about it. Zoe wasn’t talking to me and hasn’t since she heard the news from one of the girls, so it has been very tense at work.

“Val.” I said sitting down next to her. “I think I’m going to quit my job.” Her eyes widened.

“What?”

“It’s just so stressful with Zoe there. I know she’s my best friend and I want this all to pass, but it’s just so tense. I’m not happy there. When I’m tattooing I want to be happy. You know?”

“Yeah, I understand. Maybe it’s for the best. Do you have enough money in your savings to make it ‘til you find another job?”

“Yeah, of course. I mean I’ve gotten a bunch of clients and all. It’s just maybe time for me to let go of that. Get into a new environment.”

“Well it’s your choice. If you want to quit, go for it. I support you.”

I smiled. “Thanks. Have you talked to Zack at all today?”

“Yeah, a little bit. He’s just like he always is.”

“He’ll eventually come around. That’s all I keep telling myself.”

“I’m surprised that Matt and I have been able to keep him away from here for this long. He’ll shit his pants if he hears that you’re here.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I only go to work and I park my car in the alley.” I laughed. “This is pretty pathetic.”

“Well he should be half way expecting you to be here.”

“I think he thinks I’m at my dad’s house. He should be smart enough to know I’m not going to be at my mom’s.”

“Yeah, well I meant to tell you yesterday that Matt was throwing a party today.”

“Oh, shit. Really?” She nodded. “I guess I can hide out in my room. Surely no one will go in there.”

“Yeah, I’ll come in periodically. Just take some beer and food.”

“Yeah, I will. Not to mention I might listen in on some of Zack’s conversations.” I laughed.

“Typical Lex.” She winked. ***************************************************************************************************************************

The party has been going on for a good hour or so now and I was still cooped up in my room. This was harder than I intended when I first thought of this genius idea. I really should’ve gone somewhere else. The door to the room opened and Val slid in.

“Hey.” She beamed.

“Hola, mamasita.” She laughed. “How’s the party?”

“Same as the rest of them, but I want you to do something.”

“What’s that?”

“Get into your red dress and go down there.”

“What? No.”

“Lex, c’mon. Zack is down there wishing you were here, so you mine as well show up. Plus, I kind of told him I invited you to come.”

“And he didn’t get pissed?”

“Nope.” She smiled.

“Wow.” I laughed. “Okay, I’ll do it.” I smiled.

“Okay, now I’ll come back up in about thirty minutes to check to see if you’re ready and if you are I’ll go stall Zack so you can slip out the back door and go around as if you just got here. Make sure to pull your car up.”

“Will do, madam.” She laughed and slid back out. I jumped up and found the red dress with the heels that matched. I slid into the dress and did my make up to correspond with the outfit. I did my hair in a nice up-do and before long I was ready and for once I actually looked good.

A few minutes later a knock came across the door and Val slipped in.

“Oh my gosh, you look stunning!”

“Awe, thanks.” I smiled.

“You ready?” I nodded. “Okay, give me about five minutes and then slide out.”

“A-okay!” I saluted her. She laughed and walked out.

I stood there for what seemed like five minutes and then made my way out. Fortunately, everybody made their way in the living room and I got to squeeze my way through the back without anyone noticing me. I shut the door and went to get in my car. I drove around to the front and parked and made my way inside. I knocked and Val let me in. She winked, but then acted as if she hasn’t seen me in weeks.

“Lex!” She squealed. “I’m so happy you’re here.” She grabbed me into a hug. “You look great.”

“Thanks, Val.” I smiled and made my way inside. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I made my way into the living room. “Wow, if I didn’t know an awkward feeling, I sure do now.” I laughed and everyone joined.

“Hey, Lex.” Johnny smiled and took me into a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thanks, Johnny.” I smiled back. “Me too.” Everybody came up and exchanged hellos, minus Zack and Brian, which was to be expected. I nervously looked over at Zack and I saw him staring at me. I half-smiled and he turned away. I suddenly felt an urge of confidence and started walking towards him. He noticed me, but didn’t move, so I’m guessing that’s a good sign.

“God, Lex. You look great.”

“Thanks, Zack. You do too, except I can see how miserable you feel. I can read you like an open book.”

He chuckled. “The same goes to you. We both tried to impress each other.”

I laughed. “Definitely.”

“Well, it worked.” I looked up at him.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean that I miss you, Lex.”

“I miss you too, Zee. I really do. I’m sorry for everything.”

He shook his head. “I don’t need any more apologies. You’ve given plenty. I’m the one that should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have kicked you out like I did.”

“No, I was expecting you too. Hell, I was expecting you to get a divorce, but the papers still haven’t come, so that’s a good sign.”

“I can’t bring myself to sign them, to be honest. I love you still. I don’t want to let go of something I love so much. Especially after losing the thing I loved the most.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, because I still love you, probably more than I did before.”

“Maybe we should start talking again?”

“We should take things slow, Zack. We don’t want to make any drastic decisions.” I winked at him.

“Making fun of me now? You haven’t changed.”

“It’s only been a month since I’ve seen you last.” I laughed. “I can’t change that much.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
The rest of the party went pretty smoothly. Zack and I kept hanging out and for once I felt happy and he looked happy. All the tension was left at the door and we acted as if we were still together. For anyone who didn’t know the situation probably guessed that we were together.

“Well, Lex. I have to get outta here. It is pretty late.” Zack told me.

I laughed. “Okay, Mr. Baker.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow or something, okay?” I smiled and nodded.

“That sounds great.” He gave me a hug and then made his way over to everyone else and said his goodbyes, which wasn’t many. Most of everyone had already gone home.

Once he left, I instantly felt alone again, but I knew we were going to be okay. He may have been drinking, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love me. Plus, I still haven’t gotten those papers.

“So how was it?” Val asked.

“It was great.” I breathed out. “I can’t even explain it.”

“That’s great.” She smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. Maybe you’ll be back home soon.”

“I really hope so.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
The next day I woke up in an amazing mood, but late and with ten missed phone calls from Ian. Oops, late for work. I hurried out of bed and got ready as fast as I could. I ran out of my room.

“Late for work!” I yelled. “Be home later!” And with that, I ran out, shut the door and jumped in my car. I raced to work and ran in.

“I am so sorry!”

“Where have you been?” Zoe snapped. Ouch.

“I slept in. Matt had a party last night. I’m sorry, really I am.”

“Hmm, must be nice.”

“God, Zoe. Get over it. I’m not with Brian.” I rolled my eyes and walked back to my station and set my stuff down. I made my way across the hall to Ian’s office and knocked on his door.

“Come in.” I opened the door.

“Hey, I’m so sorry I missed your call this morning. My phone was on silent and I was up late last night.”

“Everything okay?” He asked concerned. Something that was often with him since he heard about Zack and Avery.

“Actually, for once, yes. I was out with Zack last night.”

“Oh, really now?” I nodded and smiled. “How’d that go?”

“It was good. Our first step towards fixing our relationship. Nothing really happened, but it was nice to have a decent conversation, without judgment.” I smiled.

“Well, that’s great. Now, get back to work.” He winked. I saluted him and went back to my station.

A few clients in and I was already exhausted. I didn’t get drunk last night, but I didn’t have much sleep. After my fourth client, who got a small butterfly tattoo on her wrist, I decided to take a break.

“I’m going on my lunch break.” I told Zoe walking towards the door of the shop.

“Okay, but wait.” I turned and looked at her, impatiently.

“What?”

“Are we ever going to fix this?”

“You’re the one with your panties in a bunch and won’t forgive me.”

“You slept with my ex-boyfriend. The same night he dumped me.”

“And I’ve done everything I could; apologize. What else do you want me to fucking do? Kiss the ground you’re walking on?”

“No, I figured you’d be more sincere about it though.”

“How am I supposed to be sincere? Do you know the shit I’ve been through the past couple months?”

“You lost your husband for your own mistake.” She mocked.

“Did you happen to forget that I lost my daughter, too? Huh? I lost my best friend, both of them. I lost my husband and I lost my baby. I’m alone and I don’t need your fucking attitude to add onto the list.”

“Lex…” I cut her off.

“Don’t fucking bother.” I shook my head. “You’re dead to me. If you have the nerve to forget that and not even feel remotely sympathetic about it, fuck you. Thanks for ruining the one good day I was finally having.” I stormed out of the store and to my car. I may have overreacted, but she didn’t have a right to do that. I sped off and went back to Matt and Val’s.

Once I got there, I didn’t hesitate to go inside and I instantly started to vent to Val about what had just happened.

“I have got to leave there, now. I need to just get out of there. I can’t believe she done this.”

“She’s pissed off. She didn’t know what she was saying. You know she would never intentionally hurt you.”

“She had the nerve to mock me. She’s dead to me, Val. I don’t want anything to do with her. I couldn’t look at her the same.”

She sighed. “It’s ultimately your decision. I can’t stop you.” A knock came across the door. “Who’s here?” She looked at me confused.

“It better not be Zoe.”

Val shook her head. “She doesn’t know you’re here.” She got up and walked over and opened the door. “Zack! What are you doing here?” My stomach dropped.

“Where’s Matt?” He asked, but stopped when his eyes landed on me. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Um, hi Zack.” I sighed. This wasn’t going to end good. Not at all.

“Have you been staying here?”

“Yeah, I have.”

“What the fuck, Val. You said that you haven’t seen her.”

“She’s my best friend Zack. I couldn’t let her leave.” She exclaimed. “Why are you so pissed?”

“Because she didn’t spend any time away from me. She had both you and Matt to feed her all the fucking shit she wanted. She wasn’t miserable at all.”

I stood up. “Excuse me? Zack, I have been miserable. I haven’t been able to leave this house in a month other than to go to the fucking shop and not to mention the hell that is going on over there. Don’t you dare come in here and say that.”

“Don’t feed me your bullshit. I knew I shouldn’t have believed all that shit last night.”

“I don’t understand why you are angry that I have been staying here!”

“Because I’m sure they have told you everything that I’ve told them. They made sure you knew that we were going to be okay and that we weren’t going to get a divorce. They fed you what you wanted.”

“God, Zack. Can you be any more dramatic?”

“I’m being dramatic? I’m being fucking realistic. You only stayed here so you can keep tabs on me. You had to make sure your perfect little life wasn’t ruined.”

“My life was already ruined! The day I made the mistake of sleeping with Brian! God, there’s no use in this shit anymore. One moment we’re fine and the next we’re not. Fuck it all.”

“Zack, just go. Come back later.” Val told her. “She’s already had a rough day.”

“Oh everyone bend backwards for precious Lexi. God forbid she had a bad day.”

“Zack, just go!” She screamed. He rolled his eyes and walked away. She slammed the door and instantly came over to me. “Lex, just sit down and calm down.”

“It doesn’t fucking matter where I am. This shit will always follow me. Val, I gotta get out of here.”

“What?” She looked confused.

“I’m going to find my own place. I’m going to let go of this life. Fuck it, I’ll file for divorce and I’ll leave my job. I’ll let go of all this and move forward.”

“Lex, you’re not leaving us.”

“I have no choice. I need to do what’s right.”

Notes

So a lot has happened in this chapter, and for the sake of your guys' chanting for Johnny, I added in a little convo ;) Buuuut sadly, Lex cannot be with him. It would throw off the story xD

I hope you all enjoy <3