8:00 am. August 25. 2025.
A light breeze swayed the linen curtains of a low-rise apartment bedroom.
Wrapped snugly inside the duvet of a twin-sized mattress were the naked forms of Alexander and Grace, with Grace's head resting gently on Alexander's softly beating chest, their discarded clothes in every direction.
They wore bashful smiles on their faces after finally confessing how they truly felt about each other, with their bodies.
They were childhood friends who grew up in the same orphanage. Once they became of age, neither of them wanted to remain just friends, as they each realised how hard they had fallen for the other.
However, the fear of ruining their precious friendship for something more, while neither was truly certain how the other felt, prevented both from acting on their feelings—At least until the previous evening, when, in the heat of the incident that transpired, their bottled-up craving for one another erupted in a fit of passion.
"That was.....something," Alexander muttered with a warm smile, as he lightly caressed Grace's long, dark hair. He felt happier at this moment—happier than he had ever been in all his twenty-four years of life.
"R...right ?" Grace stammered as her cheeks turned crimson with a blush. But soon, her expression dimmed as she looked deep in thought.
"Em. Alex....." she hesitated. There was a tinge of worry in her voice.
Alexander gazed down at her—pulled out of his euphoric state, by her sudden change in countenance. "What happened, Gracie?" he voiced nervously, staring into her hazel eyes with his ocean blue ones.
"Those guys.... I mean, Callum and his goons.... what if they try to get back at you ?" Grace's voice trembled lightly as she spoke. Her words brought back memories of all that transpired the previous day.
Grace had come to pay Alexander a friendly visit at his school, since hers was on strike.
They weren't dating, but they harbored such deep feelings for one another that they regularly came up with random excuses to spend time together.
Unfortunately, Grace's beauty soon caught the attention of one of the young heirs of an affluent family, who is also a student at the school, named Callum.
Callum's advances became progressively bolder as the days went by. Grace, unable to further endure the young man's incessant and borderline-aggressive behavior, finally informed Alexander about it.
Alexander was enraged beyond words, but still maintained his composure, opting to have a serious conversation with Callum.
He knew who Callum was. Everyone in the school did. He was a spoiled rich kid who loved throwing his weight around while banking on his family's prestige.
However, the conversation didn't go as smoothly as Alexander had hoped.
When he approached Callum and his lackeys, rather than listen to Alexander's plea for them to stop harassing Grace, Callum flew into a fit of rage, and all hell broke loose.
It was a brutal fight with four on one. But unlike these rich kids, Alexander had lived a rough life on the streets before being taken into the orphanage at the age of ten.
A parry here, a punch there. He took the boys down with ease, as they all soon lay on the floor, squirming in pain.
He soon returned home to Grace, who had been so nervous ever since Alexander burst out of the apartment, saying he had to talk to Callum. Now seeing him drenched in sweat and looking haggard with bruises on his knuckles, Grace had a sudden realisation.
She wasn't alone in her feelings.
Alexander's reaction to someone else trying to lay claim to her spoke louder than mere words ever could.
They gazed at each other for some time, as their eyes finally communicated how they both truly felt about one another in that moment.
She jumped into Alexander's arms as they ravaged each other in a blaze of passion. And the rest of the night was history.
Cut to the present. Alexander, seeing the worried look on Grace's face, just smiled warmly as he planted a kiss on her cheek. "Don't worry. There were security cameras present, and a few people. It was clearly self-defense, and I only left them with some bruises." Alexander spoke softly as he caressed her cheek.
"Alright. Just be careful when you go out, okay ?" Grace mumured as her ears turned red; she quickly buried her face under the duvet, ashamed to meet Alexander's gaze.
Alexander, seeing Grace, who was usually very assertive, being so bashful and cute, couldn't help smiling from ear to ear, as he jumped under the covers and started to tease her. "You like me so much, don't you ?"
"Hmph. no i don't." Grace's muffled reply came through the covers, as she giggled in glee.
"common. say the truth. You loooooove me, don't you ?"
"I said no!. Alex, stop tickling me hahahha... stop."
"Say the truth and I will stop hehe..."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The heavy sound of someone banging at the door immediately broke them out of their fun, as Alexander brought his head out of the duvet and yelled in response..."Who's there ?"
However, there was no reply; the banging just grew heavier.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Alexander was feeling pissed that someone was trying to ruin this special moment he was having with Grace. Still, he couldn't just leave someone at the door when he didn't know who they were.
He got up and began to dress himself, picking up pieces of his clothes scattered through the room, and so did Grace.
They had the rest of their life to enjoy each other's company; a few minutes of distraction hardly mattered.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming!" Alexander yelled in irritation as he walked over to the living room door in his blue jeans and white t-shirt. He tied his curly black hair in a hasty bun.
As he undid the lock and opened the door, what he saw made his heart drop to his stomach. Two muscular policemen were standing in front of him, decked out in full uniform with black sunglasses resting menacingly on their sharp noses.
"Alexander King ?" the policeman on the right questioned sternly as he alternated his gaze between Alexander and the notepad in his hand.
'Callum and his friends pressed charges so soon ?' Alexander thought gravely inside. He was a bit scared, but he knew he had done nothing wrong. It was self-defence that only left light bruises on the other boys.
"Yes. That's me. " Alexander responded, doing his best to appear confident.
Grace was already done dressing and was making her way to the living room when she saw the other policeman on the left charge at Alexander, sweeping his legs off the ground, and pinning his chest to the floor with his right knee. He then clasped both of Alexander's hands behind his back before bringing out a metal cuff from his waist.
"AAARRRRGHHHHH!"
"ALEX!!!!!!"
A guttural scream came out of Alexander as his shoulder joints were dislocated. He couldn't even process what had happened before he landed on the ground. It all happened so fast.
'What the hell is going on ?. All this for a few bruises ?' Alexander thought in agony.
Grace's panicked scream soon followed as she raced at the police officer who had Alexander pinned to the ground.
"Alexander King. You are under arrest for the murder of Callum Vans. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."