Author: To_Kiss_A_Frog
Pairings: Alex and Tess
Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize
Summary: When Alex's girlfriend suddenly breaks up with him, he founds himself depressed and unable to get over it... that is until someone new shows up and decides she wants to be the one to pull him out of it.
Avant Garde challenge at Roswell Heaven
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Chapter 1</center>
“Dude, you gotta stop moping around already. It’s getting kind of pathetic” Sean unmercifully declared as his roommate walked in and dropped himself down on the couch. “So she left you. Big deal, it could have been worse. At least you got to bang her a few times” he shrugged, grinning despite the dirty look his best friend, Alex, gave him.
“What would you know about it? The longest relationship you’ve ever had is with your hand” Alex retorted.
“Well he’s got you there” came the amused voice of a petite, redheaded girl who smacked Sean upside the head when he attempted to grab at her. “No touching” she scolded. “Who knows where your hands were five minutes ago” she teased, causing Alex to smirk at the scowl her comment put on Sean’s face.
“This is the pain in the ass I told you was coming to visit” Sean introduced. “And Mopey over there is my roommate, Alex Whitman.”
“Tess Harding” she added and “accidentally” kicked Sean as she walked around him. “Nice to meet you” she said to Alex and held out her hand politely.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Well now that you two have met, keep her out of my hair for a while will you. I’ve got a girl coming over in five minutes” Sean informed and puffed out his chest proudly while both Tess and Alex laughed at how silly he looked. “Shut up” he grumbled and headed off to his room, leaving the two new acquaintances to entertain themselves.
“So you and Sean when to high school together, right?” Alex inquired, vaguely remembering bits and pieces of the story Sean told him earlier that month. At the time, Alex assumed she was an old girlfriend or something but seeing her interact with his roommate, he was positive that the two had never been more than friends.
“Unfortunately” she agreed. “I lived across the hall from his family’s apartment so our parents were always making us spend time together. Eventually I just got used to him” she shrugged, wearing another teasing smile. “So what about you? Where are you from?” Tess queried as she tucked her leg beneath her and settled into her spot on the couch. The action caused the short skirt of the dress she wore to ride up her thigh and before he could stop himself, Alex’s gaze wandered down to the bit of exposed skin. “Alex?” she repeated, finally pulling his attention back to their conversation.
“Hmm… oh, right… yeah, I’m from Roswell” he answered and quickly turned away, embarrassed at being caught staring.
“So home of the little green men, huh? That must have been an interesting place to grow up” Tess continued, pretending that she hadn’t noticed the direction of his looks.
“The novelty kind of wears off after a while” Alex shrugged.
A knock on the door stopped either from saying anything else. Alex attempted to get up and answer it but before he could take his first step towards the door, Sean appeared out of nowhere and beat him to it. Then before anyone could blink, he grabbed the hand of the girl standing in the doorway and dragged her down the hall into his bedroom. “Eager much!” Tess called out, more to embarrass him than anything else. She was awarded the sound of his door loudly slamming in response. “Well since the last thing I want to hear is Sean having sex, why don’t we grab some lunch?” she suggested.
As if on cue, Alex’s stomach growled hungrily, causing another embarrassed blush to stain his cheeks. “Good idea” he answered sheepishly and went to go retrieve his keys and wallet while Tess waited on the couch.
A football game on mute was playing and she shook her head in amusement. “Don’t tell me Sean still pretends he likes sports” Tess stated when Alex had returned.
“What do you mean?” he questioned, confused.
“You know that Sean doesn’t actually like football, right?” she asked and couldn’t help laughing when Alex seemed not to know what she was talking about. “His dad is this big sports nut. He always says that a real man sits back with a beer in his hand and watches the big game” Tess explained and followed Alex out the door. “So he pretends he likes it but he doesn’t know a fumble from a touchdown.”
Alex’s response was a loud, hearty laugh. It was his first since Isabel Evans dropped the bombshell that she was breaking up with him after a month and a half of dating.
Up until that point, Alex hadn’t thought they were having any problems. They got along great together. Liked a lot of the same movies and bands. Plus the sex was so great that he was grinning all day the next day after one of their all night marathons. In fact, he was so in lust with her that he actually believed he was beginning to fall in love with her.
Then out of the blue she said things weren’t working out anymore.
Alex didn’t understand what had happened in the course of a day that changed everything… at least until Sean’s cousin and his own best friend, Maria Deluca, overhead Isabel talking to some of her friends. Then he found out the truth and had basically been melancholy ever since.
After five minutes of driving, Alex couldn’t stop laughing after hearing a slew of ridiculous stories. Tess wasn’t just Sean’s oldest and dearest friend but she was usually the only witness to some of his craziest stunts and most laughable faux pas. “Don’t you dare tell him I told you this one. He knows about a few of my own adolescent disasters and knowing Sean, he’d broadcast them on campus radio or something” Tess warned and refused to continue with the story until Alex gave her his word.
“So then what happened?”
“Okay, so I get back to my apartment when I remember that I forgot my backpack in Sean’s room” Tess continued, barely able to get the words out because she was laughing so much. “I knocked on the front door but he didn’t answer and I figured it’d be okay since I just left. So I walk into his room and there it is.”
“What’d you say when you saw it?” Alex asked as he pulled into one of few available parking spaces. Quickly, he turned off the ignition and shifted in his seat to look at Tess who had just about passed out from laughing.
“Oh god, this is so horrible” she mumbled under her breath. “Okay, I actually pointed then covered my mouth screamed out, what the hell is that?! He got so scared that I think it actually pinched him or something because he started screaming like a girl. It was really just… horrible” Tess half laughed, half groaned.
“I can’t believe you actually caught Sean trying to use a cock pump when he was twelve.” For his part, Alex couldn’t stop laughing either. He didn’t want to picture it but he could picture the surprised looks on everyone’s faces when Tess walked in and saw it. “Then what did Sean do.”
“The moron tried to convince me it was a bong” Tess rolled her eyes. “First of all, he doesn’t smoke, never has. Second, you should have seem him fumbling to try and explain why his “bong” happened to fall over right onto his cock. It was hysterical.”
After a couple more, slightly less embarrassing stories, Alex and Tess got out and walked into the little greasy spoon that was already crawling with students. It was one of the campuses most popular hang outs despite how old fashioned it was inside. “You’re not really going to eat that, are you?” Alex wondered as he watched Tess dip her french-fries in mayonnaise.
“It’s an acquired taste” Tess replied and laughed at the disgusted expression Alex wore. “Big baby” she muttered teasingly, coaxing a small smile out of him despite his disgust.
Throughout the rest of lunch Alex found himself surprised at how much he enjoyed her company. She was fun to be around and easy to talk to. Unlike Isabel, she didn’t mind hearing dirty jokes or stupid anecdotes about all the scrapes he and his friends had gotten into growing up. He supposed he just hadn’t expected to get along very well with her at first because she looked so prissy. Perfectly styled hair, sweet clothes and a face and body that screamed she was too good. Then she opened her mouth to speak and she was nothing like he expected.
