500 Days (55 page)

“
True, but Alex, you’re
not eight anymore and I’m not running.” I placed a soft kiss on her
lips, convincing her I was here to stay. She rested her head on my
chest as I wrapped my arms around her tight. I just held her for a
while.

“
Thank you,” she
whispered.

I eventually coaxed her back to her room so
she could lie down and this time, I did just hold her. Once she
finally calmed down, I got her to talk about it some more. “Do you
visit your mom?”

“
Yeah, I try to whenever I
can. It’s not easy since the prison is an hour away.”

“
I’d like to go with you
sometime if that’s alright?”

“
Um, yeah.”

I could hear the hesitation in her voice.
“Alex, you can say no. I won’t get mad.”

“
I just need some more
time.”

“
Take all the time you
need.”

We spent the next hour just talking. For the
first time ever Alex let her walls down. She was letting me inside
a place that no one had ever had access to. I ran my fingers up and
down her arms as she told me all about her childhood and her
decision for pre-law, although I think I would have figured that
last one out on my own. We talked all night until she could no
longer hold her eyes open. I kissed each eyelid before I tugged her
close to my chest and rested my eyes.

Chapter 22

Alexis

I reached out and the only thing my arm
touched was air. It landed with a loud thump on the crinkled cotton
sheets. I knew last night was too good to be true. I blinked back
the tears. I refused to cry. I told him he could leave and I
wouldn’t get mad. I kicked the covers off me and slipped on some
sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I finger combed my knotted hair into a
messy bun on top of my head. Stretching my arms above my head, I
inhaled deeply, catching a whiff of something, gross. Something I
detested – coffee. “Declan.”

I raced out of my room and down the hall. My
feet skidded across the hardwood floor. I came to a standstill when
I saw Casper leaning over the counter with my laptop. He looked up
and raised a brow at me. “You’re…here?”

Scrunching his brow, he looked at me
curiously. “Where else would I be?”

I shrugged, walking over and wrapping my
arms around his waist while I rested my head on his chest. I let
out a sigh of relief. He didn’t leave. I hugged him closer as he
placed a kiss on top of my head. I turned around to look at the
computer. “What are you looking at?”

He quickly closed the laptop. “Nothing, just
some research for school. How are you feeling?”

“
Good,” I said.

“
You want some coffee?” I
scrunched my nose. “Not a coffee drinker,” he laughed.

“
No.”

“
How about breakfast? I
can make you something.”

“
You can cook?”

“
Yes I can cook,” he
smiled.

“
Breakfast sounds great.”
I let him go so he could get to work. I watched him shuffle around
the kitchen. He looked like a natural whipping up ingredients.
Every now and then he would throw me a smile over his
shoulder.

“
What time is your first
class?”

“
Not till ten.”

He looked at the clock above the stove. “Why
don’t you go take a shower and I’ll have breakfast ready for you
when you’re done.” I leaned over the counter to give him a kiss
before I headed back to the bathroom. I’ve never been so happy to
see his beautiful face this bright and early in the morning. I
thought for sure he had left. I thought he figured it was just all
too much and didn’t want to be with someone who had a murderer in
the family. Letting the water wash away all the grief, I stood in
the shower a few extra minutes. I heard the door open and before I
had a chance to answer Casper was stepping into the shower. His arm
instantly wrapped around me and I settled back into him. “What
about breakfast?”

“
We have time,” he said,
kissing each shoulder blade.

I turned so I was facing him. I placed my
hand over the heart tattoo on his chest, tracing the outlines of
the ivy. “You never told me why you got this.”

He let out a deep sigh. “Because the girl of
my dreams walked out my life and I never thought I’d see her again.
The only thing I remembered from that night was your ivy tattoo.
Not being able to get you out of my head. I went to the tattoo shop
and had this done.”

“
But it seems…painful.”
The way the ivy pierced the heart tearing it apart made it look
almost like he was trying to say I ripped his heart out.

“
In a way it was.” I
looked up into his eyes. “But you were the first girl who managed
to break the stone. You found a way in here,” he pointed to his
chest. “You captured my heart. You’re the only one I want to give
it to.” I kissed the heart tattoo, loving that I had something
special, right on his chest.

We barely had enough time to eat the
wonderful breakfast Casper made before I had to make it to my first
class. He told me he would clean up the mess and lock up when he
was done. I practically ran out the door in a rush to make it in
time.

I ran into Declan outside the cafeteria.
“Hey,” she smiled.

“
Hi,” I said half in a
daze.

“
You seem outta of it.
What’s up?”

I looked around to make sure there was no
one in earshot. “I told Casper about what happened.” She looked at
me funny for a second, not understanding. “I told him about my mom
and dad.”

Her eyes went wide with surprise. “What did
he say?”

“
Nothing, really. He just
listened.”

“
And?” she
prompted.

“
And he didn’t run
screaming.”

“
Of course he didn’t. Why
would you think that?”

I shrugged; it was what I was used to.
“Alex, how long is it going to take you to realize just how much
that boy loves you? You could tell him you used to be a man and he
would still love you.” I gave her a look saying, ‘get real’. “Okay,
maybe not so much, but you know what I mean.”

“
I do, but it still scares
me.”

“
Did he run out screaming?
Call you crazy?”

“
No, he did the opposite.
He told me he wasn’t going anywhere and I couldn’t scare him away
even if I tried.”

“
See, then what are you so
upset about?”

“
I’m not, I’m
just…confused.”

“
How so?” she asked as we
started walking again.

“
I guess because I didn’t
expect him to act the way he did.”

“
Do you feel worse or
better now that you told him?”

“
Better, actually.” And I
did. Once I realized Casper wasn’t going anywhere I felt like the
weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. It wasn’t
easy carrying around such a dark secret. I was glad I now had
someone to share it with. “I didn’t tell you the real kicker
though. Casper’s dad is the lawyer who put my mom away.”

She stopped dead, getting a nasty look from
the girl behind her who almost ran into her. “What?” she
shrieked.

“
That’s how the whole
thing came up. When we went to the hospital Casper made me go in
the room with him and when I saw him I recognized him right away. I
kind of freaked and ran out of the room.”

“
Jesus Alex. And you told
him everything?” I nodded. “Whoa.”

“
Yeah.” She said nothing
else as we walked into the cafeteria.

Casper was already there with Colton. He
smiled as I approached and pulled out the chair for me, giving me a
kiss on the cheek. I sat down and dug into my lunch. Casper leaned
back in his chair, throwing an arm over the back of mine. Several
girls that walked by gave us funny looks while others flat out
showed their distaste. “Um, did I miss something?” I asked, looking
back at Casper.

Casper frowned as the next group walked by,
whispering. A tray dropped down next to mine, startling me. I
looked up at my twin, narrowing my eyes. “What?” he said through a
mouthful of food as he made room for Jacob. This time it was a
group of guys who walked by smiling in my direction and goofing
around. I could feel Casper’s temperature rise as he leaned closer
to me. His body tensed from all the looks the boys were giving me.
I placed a hand on his knee to calm him. “Casper,” I warned. His
leg relaxed but I could still feel the rest of the tension in his
body. “Okay, is it just me or does everyone else notice the random
stares like I have a horn growing out of my head?”

“
You pissed off a lot of
girls,” Jacob said, stuffing a chip in his mouth.

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
You are currently dating
the most coveted guy in this school. Girls want to know what you
have that they don’t,” he replied, reaching over to steal my
cookie. I slapped his hand away.

“
The guys at the house are
saying he knocked you up. You’re not pregnant, are you?” Jaxson
asked. “You are looking a little thicker.”

I smacked him on the back of the head. “No,
dick.” I turned to Casper. “Did you know about this?”

“
I anticipated the angry
women but I knew nothing about what the guys were saying; but I
will be putting a stop to that as well as knocking together a few
heads,” he said, glaring at a guy who was not so subtly checking me
out.

“
Casper, you can’t get mad
at every single guy that checks me out.”

“
Like hell I can’t,” he
growled.

“
I’m sorry, didn’t we have
this conversation already? I have to deal with skanks coming up to
you all the time and am not allowed to do anything about it, but if
a guy looks at me or talks to me it’s not okay?”

“
I don’t see the problem
here.”

“
You wouldn’t,” I glared,
just as his fan club walked up.

“
Hey Casper, Chrissy and I
were wondering if maybe you could get us and a few friends on the
list for your next gig.” She ran her hand over his shoulder. This
girl had no shame. I gave her the look of death but it didn’t seem
to faze her.

Casper leaned back smiling. I was two
seconds away from kicking the chair out from underneath him.
“You’re going to have to ask Greyson about that one.”

“
Oh come on Cas, do an old
friend a favor.” She smiled seductively, running a hand down his
chest.

I scooted my chair back, ready to kick this
girl’s ass, when Casper stopped me. He took her hand and threw it
off of him. “I already told you, you need to talk to Greyson. Now
I’m going to tell you to take your bony ass somewhere else before I
unleash my girlfriend on you.” The girl looked down at me, giving
me a look like he had to be kidding.

“
You heard him, skank, not
welcome. Now do you mind, your cheap ass designer imposter perfume
is giving me a headache,” I waved them away. The girl scoffed,
dropping her jaw. Declan threw them one last warning look before
they finally took off.

I lost my appetite and pushed away my tray.
“Are you mad?” Casper rubbed my shoulder. I pushed my chair back
and got up. “Alex.” I walked out without saying a word. Casper
followed me out and stopped me on the path. I spun around fist
raised.

He threw his arms up in defense. “Whoa, hey,
I’m unarmed.”

“
That was some real
bullshit in there and don’t you dare say
‘get used to it’
or
‘I have to learn to deal’
.” I was so angry with the way he handled all that, that my
nails were digging into my palms.

“
I’m sorry. I was being a
dick and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I enjoyed seeing you get
jealous.” I punched him in the chest. “Okay, okay, ow,” he whined,
rubbing his sore chest. “I’ll work on it.”

“
I’ll see you tomorrow
Cas.” I turned to leave.

“
Tomorrow?” he asked a
little panicked.

“
Yes, tomorrow. Maybe a
night alone with your thoughts will help you realize your mistake.”
I stomped off. Making him sleep alone in his own bed would be his
punishment.

Clearly I hadn’t thought this whole
punishment thing through. I tossed and turned all night. I missed
his warmth. I missed the way he held me so close like he never
wanted to let go. Casper had text me all night begging to come
over, but I stood my ground.

I woke up in a miserable mood, not having
slept very well. I trudged down the hall into the kitchen to find
an empty box of cereal, pissing me off even more. I was ready to go
back to bed when there was a knock on the door. Standing there was
Casper, and he looked horrible. “I’m sorry. You don’t know how
sorry I am.” He held up a box of Captain Crunch. “Forgiven?”

I smiled, backing up to
let him in. He put the box of cereal on the counter, slowly inching
his way to me. The moment his hand rested on my hip I felt a surge
of heat rush through me. “I’m sorry too,” I said, resting my head
on his chest. I pulled back enough to look into his eyes. He grazed
my cheek with the back of his hand. Just the slightest touch
stirred everything inside me. He leaned down to press a kiss to my
collarbone, testing the waters. I let out a small gasp as his lips
traveled slowly up my neck, jaw, and pausing just centimeters from
my lips, waiting for
permission. I
attacked him, pushing him up against the counter. I could feel his
breath catch in his throat.