"Alex, what were you thinking?" I scold her.

I don't think she's even taking in what I'm saying due to her intoxication. Everything that I'm saying is just going through one of her ears and exiting through the other.

"Calm down bro." She says calmly, dragging out each word, and sticks her head out of the window.

The wind blows her hair back and messes it up, and a wide smile spreads across her face. She sticks out one of her hands, and she starts laughing loudly into the whistling air. Although I disapprove of her going out and disobeying what the orthopedic doctor told her to do and nearly leaving with a stranger, I can't help but smile at her.

I find myself unable to look away from her, even though I should, considering the fact that I'm driving. Her carefreeness reminds me of me. When I was a teenager, and before I had started working twenty-four-seven.

She pulls her head back inside, and her face is relaxed. All of her body relaxes, and she slouches in my seat while she's still giggling to herself. I bite my lip, trying to fight off another smile that was tugging at my mouth. Trying to suppress these feelings is pretty much impossible at this point, and I know for sure that I like her.

Once we pull up to my house, I look over at her, and she's asleep. Her chest lightly rising and falling, and I smile at how serene she looks.

I walk to the passenger side, and I take her out of the seat, and into my arms. I struggle after a while, because I'm trying to hold her while getting my house key out of my back pocket. I kick the door open softly, and I'm welcomed with Bruno's loud barking.

"Shh!!" I scold Bruno, and he just pouts at me and follows me up the stairs.

I gently place Alex in my bed, and I pull the blankets over her body. I stare at her, and I can feel that wanting again. I sit down on the bed next to her, and I run my hands through my hair.

"Jesus, what are you doing to me, Alex?" I whisper to myself.

I look at my phone, and I see a bunch of text messages from my siblings. I already know that they're talking about dad and his cancer. The thought sends a twinge through my body, and I let out a sad sigh. I lay down, and my head sinks into the memory foam pillow. I rub my temples frustratedly before falling asleep next to Alex.

~~~

In the morning, I prepare Alex her breakfast like usual, and I take out some headache medicine for her hangover. I see her stirring around in my bed, and I stop in my tracks before approaching her slowly.

"God, what happened?" She groans while rubbing her temple.

"You left the house and got drunk, and nearly went to some other dudes place." I say angrily.

"Huh?" She says and scrunches up her face. Realization covers her face once she realizes who I was talking about.

"Oh, Fabiano." She says and then sighs. "Why do you go ape shit and punch him?"

"Well, the guy was infuriating and arrogant, and he kept making these rude remarks but you probably don't remember."

"Well, still. Just because we were somewhat flirting doesn't give you the right to just punch the guy." She says, and I can tell she's getting irritated.

"I did you a favor! The guy was going to take you to his place!" I say defensively.

"And I gave him the consent to do so, Dr. Rian." She states matter-of-factly.

"I don't care, you shouldn't have left my flat in the first place!" I yell.

God, this girl won't give up without a fight. Feisty.

I like that.

No, you don't!

Again, all of these different feeling stir around in my brain, making everything a little overwhelming to think about. She's different from the other girls that I've encountered. There's just something inexplainable about her that causes me to be attracted to her. I can't help it.

"Please, stop yelling at me! My head is killing me." She complains.

"Well, your head wouldn't be hurting if you didn't leave my flat and go to a club with a fake ID, and then use it to get wasted. Would it, Alex?" I ask, deliberately testing her patience.

"Okay, I left your place to have some fun with my friends! Big fucking deal." She huffs.

Ooh, she's so aggravating.

"That's not responsible, Alex! What if someone would've drugged your drink, or if your friend was driving drunk and you all got in a car accident? I'm just trying to look out for you, and you should be a little more grateful that I care." I say, trying to ingrain my point in her mind.

"Please just give me the damn medicine." She grumbles.

"No, not until you apologize to me for scaring the life out of me last night." I say.

"Since when do I have to apologize? I wasn't aware that when you took me here, that I'd have to obey certain rules. You're not my dad!" She shouts, and then her facial expression turns solemn.

Her dad.

"Alex, I'm sorry. Okay? I'm overreacting, and yes I get that you wanted to have fun, but just tell me next time." I say, softening my voice.

"It's fine," she says and finally sends me a smile. "It's kind of sweet that you worried about my safety."

"Yeah, I didn't have such an easy night last night." I say, remembering my mother sobbing through the phone.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asks, placing a hand on my back.

Her touch leaves a tingly feeling, and it sends off energy through my veins. This is nonsensical. A single touch shouldn't feel so good, or so...right.

"Nothing's wrong," I answer, and it sounds too incredulous.

"Yeah, there is. Is it me? Is it about last night and-"

"No, no, no! It's fine, it's not about that. It's family issues." I say quickly.

"You can tell me if you want." She says and stares intently at me.

"I don't want to dump all of this on you, Alex." I say while shaking my head.

"Oh, please. If anybody knows about family issues, it's me." She says, and she begins to rub my back slowly.

"Are you sure?" I ask hesitantly.

"Of course, you listened to me vent about my mom, so I'll listen to whatever you have to tell me." She says, and I can tell that she's genuinely concerned.

"My mom called me last night, and she told me some pretty troubling news. My dad has cancer, and he won't be around for much longer." I say, and my tears blur her face.

"Oh, my god. I'm so sorry." She says before pulling me into a hug.

My arms wrap around her waist, and her body brings warmth to mine. We pull away, and the light shines through the window directly onto Alex's face.

Her dark brown eyes are illuminated, and I see speckles of gold shining in her eyes near the pupils. Like someone mixed gold and mahogany together. So exotic, so alluring, so aesthetically pleasing. Her eyes are energetic and alert, despite her tiredness from last night. Her eyes send more warmth throughout my body, especially my face. The color reminds me of autumn, and all of the wonderful things that come along with autumn. The falling leaves, and the warm colors, and the rich flavors. Like cinnamon and sweet potato pie, or like cuddling up next to the fireplace on a cold evening.

Her eyes flicker down, and then back up again, and I can see a certain mystery in her eyes that I want to discover. Those are the eyes that I want to look into every day.

She's hypnotizing me.

This stare between us has been going on for a while now, and I can't break away from it. Her eyes are so captivating that I cannot help but keep staring into them.

I don't want to break away from it.

Her hand has moved from my back to my knee, and she slowly caresses it, and it comforts me. The touch causes heat to rush to the area where she touches me, making my heart race.

I can't fight this urge anymore. I just can't. It's going to drive me crazy.

I take a look at her face, and a smile slowly spreads across her face, and I smile too. I place my hand on top of hers, and her breathing hitches. Her mouth is slightly parted, and it's slightly moving, trying to find words to say. My hand trails up her arm slowly, and carefully.

I lean in, and I press my mouth to hers. Her lips are so soft, and so warm, and they glide perfectly with mine. It sends a current to every bone in my body, and my heartbeat takes off. My hands make their way to her shoulders, and then cup her face as we kiss. Her soft hair slightly tickles my hands, and I smile onto her mouth. Her hand is near my face, and I can tell that she's wavering before she finally decides to run her fingers through my hair.

Suddenly, her hands push against my chest, our lips separate, and my eyes widen in surprise.

"Woah, okay! Wow, how is this happening? What're we doing?" She asks, and she puts her hands in her hair.

I stand up and move away from the bed, and I don't feel the warmth that I was just feeling.

"I don't know! I-, I just-, I shouldn't have-," I stutter, trying to find the right words. "I should've asked if I could kiss you."

"I just wasn't expecting that, like, at all. When you said that you get close to your patients, I didn't know it was that." She says, slightly pausing in between words.

"Not like this, Alex! I meant in a friendly way, not taking them to my house and making out with them on my bed."

"So...what're you saying, Dr. Rian?" She asks, sounding clueless.

"All of the patients I've had, I haven't thought about in this way. You're just-, something else." I admit.

"So you have feelings for me? Is that what you're saying?"

"It's complicated, Alex. You're my patient, and I'm your doctor. It's like one of those cliché student and teacher relationship scenarios. This shouldn't happen because it's wrong, but I want this because it feels right." I explain.

"Why does it have to be complicated? This could actually be a lot simpler, y'know." She states and bites her lip.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, this is actually a pretty straight forward thing. We either remain friends, or we see how dating works out between us." She says, and I smile.

"Y'know, not once have you said if you do or don't have feelings for me. I need to know your part as well, Alex." I say.

She smirks to herself, as if she's remembering something, and then a light laugh comes from her mouth.

"What?" I ask, still bewildered.

"Remember the night that I had caught you on the couch?" She asks, and she can't fight her smile off of her face.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with this?" I ask.

"Who were you thinking about?" She asks and quirks her eyebrow at me.

Ah, I see what she's doing.

"You," I admit unashamedly. "It was you, Alex."

"Well, remember how you helped me in the shower? I don't think I need to explain any further, you're smart enough to figure it out now." She says with slight sass.

I think about it, and my eyes widen in shock. She smiles broadly, and I give her a slightly smug expression.

She had an orgasm in my shower.

While thinking about me.

Me being the slightly vain, egotistical son of a bitch that I am, decide to sneer and playfully tease her about it.

"I'm that perfect, huh?" I say playfully, earning a smile and a light snack on the arm.

"Don't get so cocky, Rian. You did the same." She teases.

It's the first time she hasn't called me Dr. Rian, and I smile at how comfortable she's getting around me. There's a silence after we tease each other, but it isn't necessarily an awkward silence. We just stare at each other again.

"So...what are we?" I ask, smiling at her.

"We are farmers! Bum ba dum bum bum bum bum bum!" She sings, and we both laugh.

She moves off of the bed, and she stands in front of where I moved to.

"I don't know why, I just couldn't seem to get you out of my head. I guess it was the same for you too." I say, placing my hands on her waist.

"It was, and I kept having those same thoughts. That it can't happen and that it isn't right, but maybe it can."