Unhinged

This is why I don't socialize

"Alex," I breathed, stumbling through the crowd towards him.

"Eva?" Antonio asked, trying to keep up with me as I increased my pace, weaving my way through the many bodies. "Where are you going? Who's Alex?"

I started running, pushing my way through the wool tuxedos and satin dresses. I stopped, only a few yards away from him. His eyes were trained on me as he dropped his glass of champagne, closing the distance between us.

I'd have to ask him where he got that.

We collided in a hug, the people around us shuffling away and whispering to each other. Half of me wanted to tell them to mind their own business, but the other half was just too shocked to see him here. I wanted to cry, but I also wanted to drag his ass. 

Maybe I'd do both.

"Alex, where have you been?" I asked pulling away. "It's been years!"

"Oh, Eva, I'm so sorry. I was just so angry after mom and dad's deaths and I needed space, but then I took too much space, and next thing I knew I was in a gang trying to make money to support us and—"

I cut him off, pulling him in with another hug. "You owe me big time, mister."

He smiled, before taking a few steps back and holding out his hand. "A dance? We can talk more in private."

"I would be honored, kind sir."

I heard a few people gasp as I took his hand and I glared at them, annoyed that they were ruining our reunion.

"I've never seen him smile before," I heard a middle aged lady say, before Alex drew me away to the ball floor.

"I can't dance," I said to him. "Unless twerking counts as dancing, but I don't think it does."

He chuckled, his eyes never leaving my face. We waltzed in silence for awhile, just staring at each other, as though a few minutes of eye contact could make up for years of being apart.

"Eva, I'm really sorry. I've missed you so much," He said, catching me off guard. "I shouldn't have left you, no matter how angry or desperate I was. And I definitely should've come back."

"Alex, we both deal with grief in our own way. Yours was violence, and I understand that you needed space to clear your head. What I don't get is, why didn't you come back?"

His lower lip trembled, and he bit it in annoyance. Seemed like he still hated showing weakness like he used to. "Well I ended up joining a gang called the Snakes—"

I snorted. "What kind of name is that?"

"A good one. Anyways, the leader died, so I took charge. It was a rough year, but we managed to climb to the top, until my second in command convinced everyone to go to Russia for some reason. I, of course, was against it since I didn't want to leave you behind, but they told me we'd be back within a month." He paused, taking a deep breath. "We got into a scuffle while trying to move some drugs. I killed him Eva," He looked at me with wide eyes. "I killed their boss."

Blinking at him, I tried to process everything. Alex had always had anger issues growing up, so it didn't surprise me that he'd joined a gang. But a mafia leader?

"What happened, Ali? What happened to us?" I asked, my voice cracking. What happened to the boy I knew who held my hand to help me jump over cracks in the sidewalk? Who bought me ice cream on hot summer days and shared secrets with me under the starry night sky?

"Oh Ev, I missed you." He held me, right there on the dance floor, his face buried into my hair as I breathed in his familiar sent. It smelled like home.