There she was Alex standing by the door in a sky-blue full sleeves sweater which accentuated her already big breasts. She was looking at me intensely with those nerdy spectacles which made her much cuter in my books.
"Come in already" Alex welcomed me into her house.
I stepped inside, glancing around at the Dunphy house-a place I'd only ever seen through the memories of dead Lucas. In person, it felt even more like a real home: warm, lived-in, a little chaotic in that "big family" way. The place was bigger than mine by a mile, but it wasn't the size that got me. It was the feeling. This was the kind of house where people actually wanted to hang out.
"Nice place you got here," I told Alex.
She grinned, a little shy. "Thank you." I could tell she was more excited about me being here than the actual project. The way she kept glancing at me, biting her lip, it was obvious. We were both teenagers and teenagers always has one thing on their mind all the time.
"So, where should we get the party started?" I asked wanting to know where we should start our project, trying to sound casual, not eager but my heart was thumping in my chest.
Alex hesitated for half a second, then said, "Let's go to my room. My stupid brother and his friend will just disturb us in the living room." She said it with all the courage she could muster, and I could tell this was a big deal for her-inviting a guy she liked to her room.
"Okay," I replied, following her lead, trying not to sound too eager. "By the way, where are your parents?" I was half-curious to see Phil in real life, half-excited at the prospect of no supervision. Alone with Alex in her room… that was an opportunity if I ever saw one.
She shrugged. "Dad's out showing a house or getting groceries, and Mom's extra busy today with some closet monthly thing." She said it so matter-of-factly, totally unaware of where my mind was going.
Just then, Luke appeared out of nowhere, slurping on a juice box. "Hey, are you my sister's friend?" he asked, eyeing me up and down.
"Yeah, hello. My name's Lucas," I said, giving him a friendly nod.
Luke didn't miss a beat. "I'm Luke. You are tall, do you play basketball?
"
"Yeah maybe we can play together sometime". I said to Luke. I wanted to be on good terms with the little brother of my future girlfriend.
"Cool!! By the way Mom said if a boy comes over, I'm supposed to tell him to keep the door open to Alex's room." He said imitating Claire's voice, but I could tell he was just doing his duty for the twenty bucks Claire probably promised him.
"Alright," I said, grinning. "No problem."
Alex groaned. "Go away, Luke!" "Don't embarrass me"
He shrugged, already losing interest, and wandered off.
"Sorry about that," Alex muttered, rolling her eyes. We started up the stairs, only to run into Haley coming down, scrolling on her phone. She glanced up, gave me a once-over, and flashed a flirty smile.
"Haley, this is Lucas," Alex said quickly, shooting her sister a warning look.
Haley paused, recognition dawning. "Oh, you're the guy Alex won't shut up about." She winked, then went back to her phone and disappeared down the hall.
I shot Alex a teasing look. "Won't shut up about me?, I am flattered"
She blushed, nudging me. Deflecting from the topic."She is just messing with me".
We reached her room, and of course, Luke was still trailing behind us. He poked his head in and repeated, "Door stays open."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Alex said, exasperated. Finally, he left us alone.
"So, I was thinking we could do our project on the effect of different wavelengths of light on photosynthesis," I said, showing her my rough diagram of a leaf under colored lights. "We could use spinach leaves and test them under red, blue, and green bulbs, and measure the oxygen output."
Alex's eyes lit up. "That's actually brilliant. I'll write up the hypothesis and procedure. Can you draw up the diagrams?"
"Yes, I am quite decent" I said as I learned a bit of sketching while designing the game.
We sat down on her bed, our backs to the headboard, legs dangling off the edge. I pulled out my notebook and started sketching diagrams for the biology project while Alex opened her laptop and began typing the report.
We fell into an easy rhythm, working side by side, sometimes brushing shoulders, sometimes glancing up to catch each other's eyes and grinning like idiots.
"Should we include the Calvin Cycle?" I asked, shading in the chloroplasts.
"Definitely. And maybe a graph comparing the oxygen output for each color. I can do that in Excel," she replied, fingers flying over the keyboard.
We were deep into our work, sitting close enough that I could smell her shampoo, when suddenly Luke barged in with his friend Ruben.
"Hey Alex, I wanna show you a trick, so close your eyes!" Luke announced, a mischievous grin on his face.
I had a bad feeling. I remembered this episode from the show-this was the one where that creep Ruben tried to kiss Alex.
Alex, wanting to get rid of her brother quickly, sighed and closed her eyes. "Do it quick and go away, don't disturb us again after this" she said, clearly annoyed.
Suddenly, Ruben leaned in, aiming for Alex's lips. Before he could even get close, I grabbed him by the hair and yanked him back, making him yelp.
"How dare you try to kiss her, you little shitstain," I growled, my voice low and dangerous.
Alex's eyes flew open, horrified to see Ruben so close. "What happened??" she asked, even though she already guessed.
"This little fucker tried to molest you," I said, still holding Ruben by the hair and making him kneel.
"Hey, leave me! I'm sorry, please!" Ruben whimpered, tears welling up in his eyes.
Luke looked guilty. "It was just a bet! Ruben won at cards and the prize was to help him get his first kiss with Alex."
I let go of Ruben, but not before glaring at him. "If I ever hear you tried anything like that again, I'll make it my personal goal to make your life miserable. Understand?"
Ruben nodded frantically, suddenly realizing how much bigger I was than him. He bolted out of the room, dragging Luke with him, and slammed the door behind them.
The room was quiet for a second. Alex looked at me, her face a mix of disgust (at Ruben), anger (at Luke), and something else-something softer.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice shaky. "No one's ever… stood up for me like that."
I shrugged, trying to play it cool, but my heart was pounding. "No one messes with you when I'm around."
She stared at me, her eyes shining with something intense. Before I could react, she closed the distance, practically launching herself at me. We fell back onto her bed, her on top, and she kissed me-hard, passionate, like she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment.
Her hands tangled in my hair, my arms wrapped around her waist, and for a second, the world outside her room disappeared. There was just us, the heat between us, and the feeling that this-right here-was exactly where I was supposed to be.
If this was the reward for a little heroism, I'd gladly take on a hundred more Rubens.
[Skill: Kissing acquired]
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