I heard Alec stumbling over the random objects that littered his floor as he made his way to the door. I was greeted with his sleepy half smile, his hair was flat on one side from where he had been asleep. It amazed me how he had only been living with us for a week, and I had already memorized him all over again.
He grabbed my wrist and carefully pulled me into his room, shutting the door quietly behind me.I giggled as I heard Alec trip over something in the floor and swear under his breath.
It was dark. I could barely see the outline of the dark cherry stained desk, and the thick silhouette of the heavy bed frame almost blended with the shadows in the room. I heard the faint ticking of the analog clock on the wall.
Alec's room smelled so unique, I noticed as he let go of my wrist. It smelled like a cross between something almost sweet and the smell of the ocean. I inhaled deeply as he turned on the lamp on his bedside table.
I glanced up at the clock, it was just after midnight.
I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. I didn't know why i was so nervous, this was my sixth night in a row sneaking into Alec's room. The first night he asked me, and after that we mutually agreed that my night visits should continue. Even if we were both guarded towards the other, like we hadn't known each other before this past week for our entire lives. After five years of lost contact, we really enjoyed the time together.
I looked around the room and giggled, shaking my head at the mess. There was an array of clothing items tossed at random around the room, a few charcoal pencils here and there from his random moments of creativity.
"What's so funny Lexi?" Alec asked in his slow casual tone, even though he already knew.
"Oh, you know, just the extreme general sense of disorder I get when I walk in here." I was trying to hide the excitement in my voice, but I wasn't doing well, despite my efforts.
Alec was used to my compulsive cleaning, so he didn't complain when I started randomly picking things up and putting them away, folding clothes or placing them in the small hamper, depending on their cleanliness. I put all the art supplies I found in the top drawer of the desk; paints, pastels, charcoal sticks and pencils.
I knew Alec loved art, and supposedly had a knack for it, but I had never seen proof of this.
I threw a few wadded pieces of paper into the wire wastebasket. While arranging a few things on the desk into a systematic order, I saw the corner of a page sticking out from a middle drawer. I pulled the paper out and flipped it over to look at it. There was a charcoal drawing of two eyes, complete with elaborate details. The eyelashes were carefully pencilled in. The eyebrows were shaded perfectly, both shapes elegantly arched and a mirror image of the other. I felt almost as if I were violating Alec's privacy, but I continued to study the details of the drawing. I was amazed at the perfection achieved in the artwork. The lighter and darker flakes of grey that shaded the irises were precise. The deep even grey of the pupils revealed the steadiness of the hand which had created it.
Suddenly aware of Alec's eyes on me, I looked up to meet his gaze.
"Enjoying yourself, Lexi?" he asked.
From anyone else, I would have suspected annoyance, even anger. But I had quickly learned that this new Alec wasn't a big talker. He wasn't one to chat for hours, or often even for a few minutes. Not anymore at least. I had learned that when he did speak nowadays, it meant something.
I had known him all of my life, and I wasn't used to his silence. It bothered me, and made me worry. It made me curious about what had happened to him after his mother mysteriously put him up for adoption, without even telling my mother, her best friend.
I wondered if he thought my family and I had abandoned him and didn't want him. I didn't know, because we didn't talk about it. Those five years of him being in foster care and my family moving around at random were never touched in what conversation we did have.
I missed the old Alec, and the bond we had.
Our mothers met shortly after Alec, Sebastian, and I were born. Alec and I caught a cold when we were only three months old and they met during the six hour wait at the pediactrics office. Sebastian hadn't gotten sick when I did, but we lived in a small town, so our mothers found it somewhat interesting that their sons were born within twelve days of each other. My mother and Mrs. DeCamp became friends during those six hours, and marveled at the fact that their two little boys could have a playmate as they got older. I was somehow left out of that equation.
Their little plan for their sons to be the best of friends didn't quite work out.
Alec and Sebastian were close when they were toddlers. As school started their friendship faded. As their friendship faded, Alec and I grew closer.
As we grew older, Alec and Sebastian rivaled at everything. Just after our eleventh birthdays, Sebastian became over protective of me around Alec. They began to hate each other, and Alec and I became best friends. The rest is history.
"Lexi...?" Alec said slowly, trying to get my attention.
"Uhm, you're quite good, Alec." I said, hesitantly holding up the drawing.
He took it gently from my hands, and opened a drawer, carefully placing the drawing inside. He looked back at me, his blue eyes appearing grey in the dull light of the lamp. He tilted his head to one side as if studying me.
"Why did you never show any of your drawings to me before?" My voice was more accusing than I intended.
"I've only showed one person, so don't take it so personally Lexi." He said it as if I shouldn't have been the one person he shared his talent with.
"Who?" I all but demanded, my voice giving away a small fraction of the jealousy I felt.
"No one you know." The way he said it made it clear that no more of my questions were welcome.
I huffed silently, getting angry at myself for allowing myself to be jealous over something this stupid.
"Don't get mad, Lexi. We didn't communicate for five years, you can't expect me to open up and explain everything to you in less than a week now can you?" His tone had softened, which dissolved every negative feeling in my body.
"I'm not mad." Even to myself I sounded like a child.
"Okay, okay." His laugh was light and pleasant, a welcome sound.
"Are you laughing at me?" I accused jokingly.
"I just might be. What're you gonna do about it?" He laughed more, and I felt a smile creep across my face.
"Nothing, I wouldn't wanna hurt you." I giggled at the thought of tiny me hurting, well, anything but myself.
He shook his head at me, clearly amused at the thought. I scowled in response, attempting to look intimidating.
I shivered, suddenly cold. I wanted to go crawl into my bed and sleep, but I wanted to be with Alec more. I tried to hide my yawn, unsuccessfully.
I eased myself down onto Alec's bed, pulling my knees up to my chest. I rested my head on top of my knees, allowing my eyes to close. I felt the bed shift as he sat down. The weight of his hands on my shoulders signaled the butterflies in my abdomen into overdrive.
I knew I shouldn't be feeling this way. I pulled away from him, wanting the confusion and frustration at myself to stop.
The pillows rustled as he laid back on them. I looked up to see him laying there, his eyes following my every move. I caustiously crawled under the blanket several inches away from him. I rolled away from him and stared at the wall, I immediately felt drowsy. I vaguely remember feeling his thumbs rub tiny circles into the back of my neck as I drifted in and out of sleep.