Love Drunk: Chapter Nineteen

It's been a rocky road for Dexter and Lainie since they first met, and things seem to be going from bad to worse. After his accident and losing part of his memory, it seemed that Dexter was starting to remember, but after an argument with his brother he blurted out a few things not realising that Lainie was listening behind the kitchen door! So what will happen next?

Lainie stood with her big blue eyes full of tears, waiting for an explanation as Dexter was lost for words. "Now what Dexy?" She repeated.

"Freckles I..."

"So you do remember me? Why would you want to hurt me like this? Why?"

"Freckles I'm sorry..." Ash butted in, in defence of his brother.

"Come on Lain, you know how it is with head injuries! They make you kinda crazy!" He shrugged and glared at Dex.

"I...yeah I suppose. But what did you mean about my date with Rob and the gallery?" She eyed Dexter curiously as his face turned red.

"Um..." He stammered as Ash jumped in and saved him again.

"I have no idea! He's been talking all kinds of weird stuff lately!" He let out a small, nervous laugh.

Suddenly Alex jumped in, "Okay mate I think you'd better go! You're upsetting my girlfriend!" Dex looked at him in disbelief.

"What? No...I..."

"I mean, what else have you lied about eh? Pretending not to know her, how sick is that?" Alex shook his head in mock disgust, a sneer peeking through.

Lainie, tapped his arm and said "It's okay Alex, Dexy isn't himself!" and hugged Dexter tightly, the look of jealousy was hard for Alex to conceal as he growled.

"I only just started to remember, you have to believe me freckles!" Dexter pleaded with her.

"I do Dexy, I do! I just need to talk to Alex!" she reassured him as she led Alex into the kitchen.

"What?" Alex snapped, as Lainie sighed and wiped the mascara off of her face.
"Alex, Dexter has been through a tough time!"

"Are you serious? He just LIED to you! He's not your friend! He's a LIAR!!! You need to cut him off RIGHT NOW! He will deceive you, he will break you, he..."

"ALEX!" Lainie yelled in frustration.

"Lainie he hurt you, are you going to just let him walk all over you? Over US???"

"Alex? He's my friend, I will NOT abandon him!"

Alex could hardly believe what he was hearing, "So you choose that singing painter over me? You've known me thirteen years! How long have you known HIM??? Huh? A matter of months!"

"I know him, that is all that matters, not how long! He's been a very good, loyal friend to me and I won't give up on that!"

Alex stood up straight and put his head down, then looked her square in the eyes, "Then you've given up on me!" and he left her alone in the kitchen as he slammed the back door.

Dexter heard the raised voices in the kitchen, he knew he had caused it! He wanted to jump to Lainie's defence and punch that Alex right in his sneering face! But Ash had told him not to interfere in a domestic. When he heard a door slam he could no longer wait...

...and found Lainie alone, crying once more in the kitchen! "Freckles!" Dexter felt the overwhelming urge to tell her he loved her, that he would take care of her, he'd be a better man than Alex Wilder! He'd be the man she deserved...

...but all he could do was hold her, and say he was sorry! "Freckles I am so, so sorry! I started to get my memory back and it overwhelmed me! I never EVER meant to hurt you, of all people, never you!" Lainie sobbed into his chest,

"I know that! I understand, really I do! Oh Dexy!"

"What freckles? What did he do? Did he hurt you? If he did I'll kill him!!!"

"No!" Lainie pulled back and shook her head, "I just forgot how jealous and possessive he could be!"

"You're too good for him, you do know that?" Dex frowned.

Lainie laughed despite feeling so sad, "Dexy, you're such a good friend to me! You always make me feel like the only girl in the world, you make me feel special! How do you do that?" Dexter smiled, wanting so much to tell her she WAS the only girl in the world to him...no other compared! So...

...instead of I love you, he settled for three other words, "Because you are!"

When Ash and Drew took Dex home, he didn't want to go. He wanted to stay with Lainie and look after her. But his head was thumping and his legs felt like jelly. The emotions of the day were too much for him. Remembering Lainie and the overpowering force that was his love for her, it hit him so hard he was so mentally tired from it all!

He slept on and off that night, unable to go into a deep sleep. So his dreams were distracting!

He dreamed of being with Lainie, they were married. They were on a houseboat together and they were blissfully happy! His two favourite things in the world, Isla Paradiso and the gorgeous little cook that had captured his heart!

Not all of his dreams were pleasant though, and when he dreamed of Alex and Lainie's wedding...it made him sweat! And he could no longer sleep!

Two weeks after the big to-do at the diner, Lainie and Alex were still together, albeit in a strained capacity. Dexter had almost fully recovered from the accident, headaches still plagued him but they were becoming less painful and less frequent, and he hadn't had a seizure so far! He began painting again, and they were always of Lainie, he was becoming obsessed!

He was still seeing the consultant at the hospital, check-ups every week. After telling him all about his memory coming back and the past, the consultant thought the reason he'd forgotten Lainie was because his brain had blocked out the painful memories, his seemingly unrequited love for this woman, the bad things he did through his jealousy. All pushed away into a place he couldn't re-live them anymore...until people and places and words all started to piece the puzzle back together.

Of course he couldn't tell Lainie that, because that would mean telling her how much she meant to him! And that was not a good idea with Alex still lurking around!

Ashton and Erin were adapting to being "just friends", it was hard but Ash wanted to give his brother his full attention. Erin would often stand outside the fire station and wait for him to leave, and they would walk back to the diner together...

..."just friends"!

Charlotte and Drew were inseparable, in fact Drew hardly lived in the flat with the boys anymore, he was always staying on Charlotte's couch. They would watch films together until the early hours, then talk about them at length.

Still banned from her bedroom and only allowed to kiss and cuddle her, he was in no hurry to take their relationship to the next level. He wanted to do everything right, and not exactly being experienced with women in the bedroom, he needed time and confidence. Because in his heart...

...he knew Charlotte Kennedy was THE ONE!

It was a warm, but foggy summer night and almost an hour before the diner closed as Dexter felt another headache coming on, but instead of going for a lie down, he felt the fresh air might clear away the cobwebs...

...but his head only got worse when he saw Selena! "DEXTER!" she screeched as he began to panic.

"SELENA WATCH THE ROAD!!" he shouted back to her in a rather shrill tone, he really didn't want to save her from getting run over again!

Selena looked both ways and crossed over, "Oh Dexter! I have missed you!" she managed to plant a kiss before he could stop her, fighting her off he pulled back in horror.

"Selena no! What we had, it was just a one off! I'm not interested in a relationship with you!"

"But Dexter, you made love to me!" she pouted, a very sad expression etched on her face.
"No, no Selena I didn't it was just...I was thinking of someone else when we were..."

"The girl from the diner!" Selena nodded and her face fell.
"Yes, I'm in love with Lainie! I'll always be in love with Lainie, she's the only woman I want! I'm sorry!"

"You will be!" Was that a threat? She closed her eyes and sniffed away her tears...

...leaving Dexter speechless...

...and very, very frightened!

When he got home, Ash was looking extremely down. "Hey! What's up bro?"
"Nothing." Ash replied, rather mournfully.

"Come on spill!" Dex sat beside him and elbowed him gently.
"There's this girl!" Suddenly a moment of realisation hit Dexter and he gulped hard.

"It's just that, you know, with your brother and my friend dating now I..."
"WAIT! You...my brother is not dating anyone, he doesn't date! Not since..."

Dexter's flashbacks were becoming more frequent lately, mostly about Lainie but sometimes his dealings with Selena would come back to him. He looked at his brother, his face deadly serious, "Forget her bro!"
"What?" Ash blinked in surprise.

"She's Selena's friend! Isn't she?"
"Yeah how..."
"Forget her! Understand???" Dexter left his brother to think about what he'd said...

...and he felt a hole forming in his heart, a hole that once contained Erin! How could he forget her??? How could he do that when he'd already given her that piece of his heart that was missing? And why was Dexter so against her?

Dexter lay down on his bed and screwed his eyes shut, trying not to scream with the pain in his head. This headache was really bad, he hadn't had one this bad since the fight between Lainie and Alex in the diner! It was Selena! It was her friend!

It was her threats and his brother's feelings for this other girl, he thought about calling the police! Getting both of those crazy witches off their backs in one fell swoop! Selena McLean had told him he would be sorry, was she going to hurt Lainie? Ashton? His head threatened to explode as he sat up and headed back out again.

Ash was still sitting where he left him, "Where are you going? Dexter?"
"I have to get out!" he muttered.

As he stepped out of the flat, he could hear voices at Lainie's door. He checked the time on his phone, the diner would just be closing right now and Lainie would still be clearing up like she always did, so who...

...as he peered over the bannister, he spotted Alex kissing someone passionately, someone who wasn't Lainie!

It was Selena!!! 

As they slipped into Lainie's flat, Dexter felt sick! What was he going to do??? He couldn't tell her, no! But...

"Oh no!" he mumbled to himself, Lainie was due back very soon! She would find them and...

...Dex burst into the diner where Roxy was totalling up the till. "Where's Lainie???" he demanded, out of breath from sprinting down the stairs, his head still aching. 

Roxy looked at him and squeaked, startled by his sudden presence she replied "She went upstairs, she took the lift home. She was really tired and wanted to talk to Alex so I said I'd lock up, why?" Dex felt a dull ache in his stomach and that painful drumming in his head continued as he squinted to see.

Dexter reached the lobby completely out of breath now as his head was threatening to explode, but it seemed he was too late...

...as Lainie stood outside her door looking utterly stunned!

Oh noes! Dexy was too late? What will happen next? From this moment on...it get's interesting! XD And I just had to end it with the gorgeous Drewlotte! ;)