by Trude
email:
marti_ms@hotmail.com
Disclaimer:
Aside from
Pairing:
A/I
Rating:
PG-13
Summary:
How It’s Too Late And It’s Too Bad could have been with Alex. Can work as a
stand alone story or as sequel to “Laugh Your Name”.
AN:
I know that if Alex would have stayed alive, then there would never have been an
episode called ITLITB, but who cares?
AN
#2: This isn’t very long and since I had to (I was almost forced!) to drink
tequila with a friend before writing, it won’t probably be very good. And if
you ask now, why I wrote it after drinking alcohol: well, if the muse strikes,
she wants to see results! AND if you are also asking why I was forced to drink
it – when someone is angry about her boyfriend (like Maria angry – just ten
times worse) then it is smarter to drink than to question the reason of broken
hearts and alcohol!!! (Trust me – I know that)
Dedicated
to everyone who liked “Laugh Your Name”.
“Isabel?”
Alex called softly at his girlfriend, who was sitting in a empty classroom with
her head in her hands. Seeing the expression on her face, he quickly gathered
her in his arms, pulling her close. “What is it Isabel? What happened?”
Smiling a bit at his open concern for her, Isabel said, “It’s Max. I told
him yesterday about taking that extra class to graduate sooner and he got so
angry! I’ve never seen him like this before. He practically forbid me to go to
any college!” “What?” Alex asked angrily. As soon as he found the
‘king’ he would tell him what an ass he is for making his Isabel cry.
“Maybe Max was just ... “ an idiot Alex thought but didn’t say loud,
“... surprised and he will change his mind?” Alex said softly, not believing
his own words.
“No
he won’t!” Isabel cried out. “He already told me that if I tried to leave
“Max
didn’t even let me talk!” Isabel continued softly, “and during lunch
break, he sent Michael to talk with me. The funny thing was that Michael was a
lot more rational than Max was.” “Michael? Our Michael? As in, Michael the
cook at the CrashDown, the Michael who constantly fights with Maria? That
Michael?” Alex asked in surprise. Michael and rational weren’t words that he
would normally use in one sentence. “Yeah,” Isabel laughed a bit, “believe
it or not.” “Good,” Alex said, “then I choose to not believe it! Au!”
he yelped as Isabel playfully hit him on the arm.
Isabel
just rolled her eyes at him. “But it hurts!” Alex pointed out! “Baby!”
was the response he got. Grinning, Alex leaned closer, “Sooo, you won’t make
the pain go away?”, he looked innocent at Isabel. She shook her head slightly
at him and leaned closer, giving him a kiss that made him forget that he ever
had felt pain before.
Coming
up for air, Alex gasped, “Yeah, I don’t feel it anymore. .... Well, maybe a
little bit?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Dream on Alex!”, Isabel
laughed, but gave him a quick kiss anyway. “Oh, don’t worry, I will!” Alex
told her smiling.
Isabel
grinned back for a moment but then her eyes turned sad again. Sighing Alex
pulled her closer again, resting his chin on her head. “Max will surely
apologize for those extremely awful things he said to you and he will also ...
let you go. I promise.” Alex told her gently, running his hand up and down her
spine. “I am not going anyway, so he doesn’t have to let me go, but he
didn’t even let me tell him that I am staying. He stormed away before I could
say anything. And that hurt. A lot.”
Alex
pulled back so he could look into her eyes. “You are staying? When did you
decide that? I mean five days ago, you were still unsure about what to do. What
changed?”
Smiling,
Isabel brushed some hair out of his face, “We changed.” she told him
seriously, blushing a bit. Seeing his confused look, she added, “Well, you see
Alex, before prom, you were a very important person for me – even though I
didn’t show that very often and I am very sorry for that! You were my best
friend – you just accepted me how I am, never tried to change or judge me. You
have no idea how grateful I am for that!” She leaned in and kissed him for a
few seconds before pulling away again. “But at prom, when we kissed on the
dance floor, I realized that I needed you – more than I ever needed Michael or
Max, more than I need a home that’s far away. It took me almost two years to
let you finally in and I can’t just walk away now. I can graduate next year
with you and the others, maybe go to college with you then. Next year is
definitely soon enough to go away from
They
stared at each other for a long moment and later, they couldn’t tell who moved
first but suddenly they were kissing and not really caring if the whole school
saw them – again. Hearing the bell that announced the end of the break (it was
actually the second time that it rang, but the two were too occupied to hear the
first one) they two broke apart, breathing heavily. Hearing whistles and
applause, they quickly turned their heads to the door where about a dozen
students stood and were watching them with open curiosity.
Blushing,
Isabel quickly grabbed her things and pulled Alex out of the class, ignoring the
laughs and calls like “Is it hot in here or what?”, “Some like it hot!”,
“Don’t stop because of us – we’ll be quiet!” or “First prom and the
eraser room, now this – what’s next? The supermarket?”.
Pausing
in the empty hall room, Alex asked, “Can’t they knock?”, causing both him
and Isabel to break out into laughter. Turning
serious again, he asked, “You are staying because of me?”. He somehow
couldn’t believe that Isabel Evans was not graduating early because of him.
Putting her arms around his neck, she whispered, “Yeah, because of you. And
also because of my parents, the gang and my stupid brother.” “He’ll come
around.” Alex said again. “I know.”, Isabel said and kissed him again.
Breaking away for a moment she added, “Thank you, for everything!” Stroking
her cheek, Alex answered, “No problem, anything for you.” Giving her brief
kiss, he told her regretfully, “We better go, before we get detention. Can I
drive you home?”
“Of
course! And now run! I think I see Mrs. Ragsdale coming!” Sharing another
quick kiss the two parted and promptly ran to their classes before they got
caught – again.