In the crack of dawn, Alex and I lay silently under the covers. I run my fingers over her smooth hair, and my lips stay glued to her forehead.

"You forgive me?" I ask after a while, and she chuckles.

"Yes, I do. How many times do I have to say that?" Alex asks, and I smile.

"Just making sure. While I was watching you fall asleep last night, I could feel some of the guilt just continuously making itself heavier on me." I admit, and she furrows her eyebrows.

"Guilt? You're not feeling guilty about us having sex, right?" Alex asks.

"God, no. I don't feel guilty about that at all. I was thinking about the things that I said and how I didn't apologize for my actions. That was inconsiderate of me." I say, and before I can continue talking, she shuts me up by kissing me.

"It's okay. You were just trying to make me see what you saw."

"Yeah, but grabbing you and basically shouting at you? That wasn't right, and there are plenty of other ways I could've gotten my point across." I say, scolding myself for my actions.

"I forgive you, Rian. That's probably not going to make your mind change though, is it?" Alex asks, and I shake my head.

"Not really. Especially when I feel like I hurt you." I say, and the image of me grabbing her wrist makes me cringe.

I'm surprised she found a way to forgive me after I did that, especially with the tears that were flooding her eyes before she stormed out. Once she left, I instantly felt the nausea build up in my stomach, because I had just done something that was the complete opposite of my character.

"Never neglect your significant other, Rian. It's one of the worst things you could ever do." Mom said.

"No matter how angry you two are at each other, don't lay your hands on her. Ever." Dad said.

I was ashamed and full of regret, and my eyes burned as the realization of what I had just did hit me. I wasn't expecting her to even want to be in my vicinity, and as we were arguing, that feeling continued to ingrain itself inside of my body.

I was truly afraid that I'd lose my girl.

"Are you talking about when you—"

"When I grabbed you and tried to stop you from leaving. That was totally out of line, and when you started crying it's like I felt a part of myself crumble. I'm so sorry, Alex." I say, and I quickly blink away the tears that formed in my eyes.

"It's okay." She says, but I still don't entirely believe her.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask.

"My wrist? No. I was just shocked that you did that." She admits, and I feel my heart drop to my stomach.

"I just don't want you to be afraid of me." I whimper, slowly caressing her cheek.

"I'm not afraid of you, in fact, I'm the complete opposite of that."

"Are you sure?" I ask again, and she laughs.

"Rian, I'm positive. You don't have to keep asking because I completely forgive you. You don't need to feel unsure of that, either. I'm the one who should be saying sorry." Alex says, and she gives me a quick peck on the cheek.

"How?" I ask.

"For making you tell me about your past relationships." Alex says quietly, and I kiss her hand again.

"Alex it's fine. You revealed everything about Austin, the least I could do was tell you about my past experiences." I say, and she shakes her head.

"I could see how upset you looked when I asked you, yet it didn't stop me from badgering you continuously. I know you said that we needed to be honest with each other, but I could've been more reasonable about it." Alex continues, and I kiss her cheek softly.

"You told me everything about what happened when we first started dating, Alex. That took a lot of strength to retell that nightmare of a chapter in your life. I even told you that you that you didn't need to, yet you chose to." I say.

Alex and I have been dating for months now, yet I never told her a single thing. When we first started dating, she came out and told me everything. I remember that awful churning in my stomach after she told me, and how it continued to churn because of how awful I felt for Alex, and for how much I hated Austin.

"Come here, Alex." I coo, and she lays her head back down on my chest.

All of my worry dissipates when her soft lips connect with my cheek, and a smile spreads across my face when I look at her. Alex's skin is glowing, and her eyes still sparkle even though the room is dimly lit. Flashes of the previous night appear in my mind, and my smirk stays plastered on my face which causes Alex to smile, too.

"What's so funny?" She asks, causing me to laugh briefly.

"Nothing's funny, I'm just thinking about last night." I say.

"How we made up to each other?" She asks, and I wink at her to answer her question.

"Is it just me, or is the sex even better when we're pissed?" I jokingly ask, and she giggles.

"If that's so, I guess we should start arguing more frequently." Alex replies, and we both laugh.

After smiling at each other for a while, our lips are perfectly entwined together as I hold one of her hands tightly. Our kisses are much more gentle, and much more soft. My lips press against her neck, and she lets out a soft moan and she traces my spine with her fingernails. The feeling of her nails digging into my back so desperately sends an enjoyable chill down my spine, and I smile against her neck. Her bewitching eyes stay on mine before lingering on my bare body, and she grins.

"I wish you didn't have to work." Alex says before pouting provocatively.

"Me too," I say, and I slump back next to her. "I want to make up for the lost time."

"We can when you get back." She says.

I pull myself off of the bed, and I quickly put on my outfit before fixing my hair in the mirror. Alex stands up, still completely naked, and she begins to rub my upper arms as she stands behind me. I turn my head to look at her, and I see her big brown eyes peeking from behind my shoulder. I hold onto her waist, slowly gliding my fingertips over her smooth skin before we kiss.

"I'm glad that we've forgiven each other. It would drive me crazy if we didn't. I'm able to hold you close in my arms, and be able to kiss you and know that we love each other as much as we did before." I say, and she flashes her pearly smile at me.

"Me too, and I'm glad that this whole situation has been squashed." Alex says.

"Speaking of that, I think we should talk some more." I add, and shock flashes in her eyes.

I grab her hand, and we both sit on the edge of the bed. I carefully rub her knuckles before lifting her hand to my lips and kissing it gently.

"What else do you want to talk about?" Alex asks, and the shake in her voice almost goes unnoticed.

"Listen, I'm not going to argue with you. I just want to talk." I say, trying to calm her down.

"I know," She says hesitantly, and I place a kiss on her cheek.

"Then why is your hand and voice shaking?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow at her to lighten the mood.

Alex laughs for a second before looking up at me earnestly. I look back at her, not being able to tear away from her hypnotizing dark orbs.

"When Kassandra said that she invited Austin to the event, it made me think that she works at the hospital." I admit, and she nods.

"Yeah, because the only people who can invite guests are probably those who work at the hospital. Right?" Alex asks, and yet again I'm blown away by how sharp-witted she is.

Not that I'm doubting her intelligence, but it still manages to surprise me at how observant she is, and how quickly she catches onto things. Sometimes even quicker than I will.

"You're right on that, Alex. She probably works at the hospital, and if I see her I'm going to confront her." I say, and her eyes widen.

"I thought you said to hold the anger in." She says playfully.

"I forgot to tell you that I contradict myself on the daily, didn't I?" I ask, and she nods.

"Yeah, I guess so. I just don't want this to cause any more problems between us." Alex says, and I cup her face in my hands.

"It won't. I don't want anything in the way of our relationship, Alexandrianna. I'm going to make sure of that, because there's nothing that scares me more than the thought of us not being close anymore." I say, and she smiles.

"You sure you want to do this?" She asks.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm serious about us, and I want to make sure that this doesn't happen anymore. I know that it probably will, I mean lets be honest."

"That's what Xiu said. That the arguments are going to happen, but as long as we talk it out, I know that we'll be okay." Alex says, and I smile.

I caress her cheek slowly before raising my lips to her forehead and pecking it gently. I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear before continuing to stroke it. The glance we share causes both of our breathing to hitch, and I pull her closer to me. Our mouths intermingle, and her naked body is now on top of my lap.

"As long as we're still together, I don't care if you confront her or not." She says, and I chuckle.

"I knew you'd say something like that. You always tend to hesitate before making up your mind, Alexandrianna." I say playfully, and she smiles.

"I forgot to tell you that I'm not very sure of myself most of the time, didn't I?" She says, slightly mocking my voice.

"It'll get taken care of. I promise." I whisper, and she smiles against my mouth before kissing me.

As our lips separate, we share one more glance before I somehow manage to leave the room and take myself to work.

~~~

I'm one of the first people here at the hospital, and I'm aimlessly roaming around the empty corridors. Soon, I'm in the Otolaryngology sector of the hospital, and I stop in my tracks when I see the familiar brown wavy hair and small frame.

"Just the person I was looking for." I say, causing Kassandra to jump.

"Dr. Peterson. What can I do for you?" Kassandra asks politely, but her voice is already annoying me.

"Just stop speaking, I'm not trying to get a headache this early in the morning. I just came to get one thing straight with you, and that's it."

"Jeez, what's your problem?"

"You know exactly what my problem is, and it's with you."

"God, are you talking about the party?" Kassandra asks, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, and you're lucky that I pulled Alex off of you before she could damage your already visually deformed face." I say, nearly on the verge of shouting.

"Look, I was already physically attacked and verbally attacked by Alexandrianna, I don't need to hear it from you, too." Kassandra groans.

"You deserved every bit of that, too. You had no right to come after Alex as maliciously as you did. In fact, I'm kind of regretting that I took her off of you. I should've let her finish you off."

"Are you finished with your monologue now?" Kassandra asks, and I scoff.

"No, I'm not. I'm far from finished. You and your sorry excuse of a boyfriend nearly broke apart my relationship. You and Austin need to stay away from us, especially from Alex. She's put up with enough of his shit, and I don't think she wants to deal with any more of it." I spit, and her cheeks redden.

Kassandra's jaw drops to the floor temporarily before she bites her lip. She turns away from me, busying herself at the computer.

"I'm not done talking yet." I growl, and she turns around so that she's looking at me.

"I heard what Alex said, and it might be true. But I can't just leave him." Kassandra says, and I furrow my eyebrows.

"And why not?"

"I still love him." Kassandra says quietly, and my eyes widen.

"Love him? You still love a man who got with her just for a good time and could possibly do the same thing to you? Do you have any respect for yourself? Why would you want to even be be with someone like that?" I yell, and she nearly cowers as my voice continues to rise.

"Just because Austin used her doesn't mean that he'll use me. Alex needs to realize that the past is the past, and she needs to leave it there." Kassandra says, and I slam my hand on the table next to her which causes her to jump and let out a quiet shriek.

"Just because we work together does not mean that I will spare you anything. Especially after how you spoke to Alex like that. I'd recommend that you watch your mouth." I say through gritted teeth, and she nods.

"Alright, alright." She says quietly, and I take my hand off of the table.

"Especially with how close I am to Dr. Raymond, I could have you thrown out of this hospital in an instant. You wouldn't want to lose your career all because you couldn't keep your mouth shut, right?" I threaten.

"No, I wouldn't." Kassandra says, and her voice shakes uncontrollably.

"Good." I say, stepping away from her.

I walk backwards away from her, watching as she keeps her eyes on the ground. I smirk as I realize that she's intimidated by me, and she knows that I could actually have her fired.

"Now get to work." Is the last thing I say before I walk out of the door without another word.