CHRIS

Order.

Everything needed order. Highest to lowest, largest to biggest. Even —perfection. There was no order in disorder, or care in carelessness despite what academics across the board might say.

Vigilant — be vigilant in all things. All things including things as delicate as love.

My love.

I love him dearly.

"Does this really have to happen?" I heard Alex sigh, making me frown a bit, as I adjusted my hold on the steering wheel. I didn't like that he was upset, and most of all I didn't like that he was upset by a decision I'd made. I would uninvite my sister if I could, but it was too late now. We were heading to go pick her up from the bus station.

"I promise that'll it'll feel like she's not even present. Trust me, dear," I said, making a turn. My head hurt from looking at the traffic, cars were swerving from lane to line. The odd rigid pattern of cars of varying heights lining up made me a bit anxious. I wish I could rearrange them.

"I'm sorry for complaining, but you understand how I feel, don't you?" I heard Alex say. Soft instrumental music was playing in the background. When I had to stop at a red light, I took the few seconds I had to turn towards Alex. He looked stressed as if he was overthinking things, which he probably was.

"I understand," I said, reaching out to take his hand. It was soft, small — a perfect fit to mine. All of him was perfection. Alex was perfect. He smiled a little at me, and I let go of his hand to continue driving when the light changed to green.

They said love, at first sight, didn't exist, but I'd fallen in love with Alex at first glance. It had been like watching what I'd envisioned as my ideal partner walk out into reality. Like a moth drawn to a flame I went to investigate, we spoke, and I fell even harder. I made decisions sharply. I passed decisions on things people would rather let sit for a while so that they could think things through — things like deciding whether they were in love. I loved Alex, and I told him I did almost immediately, and I can never get the smile he'd given afterward.

A match.

You treat him like an egg. I frowned, remembering Paul's words. Why was I letting it get to me? There was nothing wrong with treating the person I cared about most with the utmost care and respect. People said devotion was creepy. Well, I didn't think it was — Alex didn't think it was. I tried to make myself stop thinking too much, and concentrated on the road ahead. I heard Alex grunt when we got closer to the bus station where we would be picking my sister up from.

I laughed, turning to him with a wide smile when I parked. The bus station wasn't crowded. There were only a few cars in the large parking lot. I got down, heading over to open the door for Alex. He looked up at me with those big brown eyes of his. His face with its perfect symmetry cocking to the side as he sighed.

"Do I have to get down? She doesn't like me, let's not upset her by letting her see my face too soon." I laughed at his words, shaking my head, as I pulled him out of the car by his hand before shutting the door behind us. I hugged him briefly as a kind of apology for what I was about to put him through, before taking his hand and walking into the building with him.

When we walked into the waiting room for arrivals we spotted my sister almost instantly. She was a tall woman, and she stood out from the crowd. She was sitting on a seat by the window, scrolling through her phone, her long legs crossed, and her purse was laying on her lap.

I walked over to her with Alex, and when we were in front of her she took off her glasses to look at us. She smiled at me but frowned when she saw Alex right next to me.

"Oh, you're still together?"

"You're still alive?" Alex said in reply to my sister's comment.

I tightened my grip on Alex's hand, hoping that he was doing okay. He had on a straight face, but Alex knew how to keep a grudge — make people regret that they took him for granted.

I laughed lightly, taking my hand away from Alex so I could grab her small luggage bag that was beside her chair. None of them said anything, but I could feel the tension from the way they were staring at each other with equally boring looks. My sister looked like me a lot, just a tad taller if that made sense. She was twenty-eight, and she shared my long face, dark slick hair, and green eyes.

"Come on, we should head back, traffic usually picks up now," I said, trying to cut the tension. Alex tore his gaze from my sister to look at me. He smiled a bit, hurrying to my side as I started making my way out the waiting room, my sister followed behind us, her heels making clicking noises.

We got to the car soon after, my sister taking the back seat, and I soon started driving us back to our apartment. I observed my sister from the driver's mirror and found that she was on her phone as usual. Alex seemed to be muttering something under his breath, and I made a mental note to beg him to endure my sister's stay and not make trouble. My sister didn't like Alex — which was obvious.

"He's a prune," she'd told me long before, one time when she and Alex had fought for the first time. Alex didn't like her either, but his was a kind of double-edged sword. He wanted her to like him, and he didn't like her because she didn't like him.

When we got to our apartment I got down and helped my sister with her luggage. Alex waked ahead of us, opening the door before walking into the living room. As I walked in and made to drop her box in the guest room, my sister took off her heels at the door before walking into the apartment with them in hand.

When I got back to the living room I found her standing by the small kitchen's counter.

"Can I have a drink?" she asked, looking over at Alex. He ignored her, scrolling through his phone as he sat by the small dining table towards the area by the little kitchen.

"Okay then," she sighed, looking from Alex to me to mouth the words 'rude'. She headed to get a drink from the fridge herself and settled down on the sofa.

We stayed like that in silence, I moved to sit by Alex, watching him as he edited a Wikipedia article. The door soon swung open, making the three of us turn towards the door.

"Did I do something wrong?" Paul asked in a small voice, probably wondering why we were all staring at him. I shook my head, turning over to my sister who was looking at him with keen interest. I frowned, wondering what she was thinking about, but I didn't have to guess for too long because she soon stood up and headed for him.

"Who are you?" she asked with a small smile. Paul blinked as she patted his head like he was some sort of dog. My sister was taller than me, of course, she was taller than Paul as well.

"Paul?" he said, almost like he was asking her a question.

"Are you Alex's brother?" she said in a follow-up. I could see why she asked that. Paul and Alex looked alike to an extent. Paul shook his head, and my sister's lips soon broke into a smile.

"You pass," she said, patting his head again as she headed back to the sofa. Paul looked slightly confused. He had a frown on his face as he left the living room for his bedroom.

I reached out to pat Alex's shoulder when he was gone. I could feel his muscles had tensed and he was somewhere in that his weird mix of bitterness and being upset.

"Can you please hold me?" Alex muttered in a low voice — so low that I was the only one who heard him. I nodded, pulling him to myself in a side hug as I pecked his cheek. He seemed to calm down a bit and returned his attention to his phone to continue what he was doing. I felt my chest warmed up. I was the only person who got to experience that softness from Alex.

I thought about my sister, and how she was a troublemaker. She was probably going to try and intentionally get on his nerves just for the fun of it.

It's going to be long few weeks with her here.