Chapter 9

Alexander massaged his temple and sighed. He had been marking papers for hours and was five or so away from being finished. He grabbed his phone and glanced over at the figure sleeping on his couch, deciding to order some dinner for them both.

When he finished placing an order for pizza, he heard a whimper. He frowned as he walked over to check on Ronan. The boy was curled up on the couch, his body trembling. Alexander had removed Ronan's glasses earlier and had a clear view at his troubled expression. He gently caressed Ronan's face, running his fingers through the red hair he didn't know he missed. He smiled absently, wearing a defeated expression.

He was a lost cause... Well, at the very least, he wouldn't do anything while Ronan was a student. He could endure that much. Besides, he could guess the reason Ronan was so broken. A relationship was probably the furthest thing from Ronan's mind....

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"Ronan?... Ronan...."

Ronan furrowed his brow and rolled away from the voice trying to wake him.

"Ronan... I have pizza..."

Ronan heard the voice again. It was less annoying now. Pizza....

Ronan opened his eyes slowly, squinting as the brightness of the room overwhelmed his sight. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groaned softly as he sat up. The couch was alot more comfortable than he would've thought. He looked over at the desk to see a blurry Alexander pouring two glasses of water with ice.

Alexander looked at Ronan and raised an eyebrow as he took in the boy's dishevelled appearance. His curly hair was more of a mess than usual and his clothes were slightly crumpled. He smiled a small smile as he watched Ronan squint and reach for his glasses, roughly sliding them in place.

Ronan brushed his hair back with a yawn and looked at the pizza on the table with interest.

"Its pineapple and bacon bits for your half and vegetarian pizza for my half."

Alexander waited for the sleepy Roan to wake up, watching as he streached and rubbed his eyes before wrapping the blanket around himself and trudging over to the table. He plopped himself in the chair across from Alexander and reached for a slice.

"Thank you..." his voice was gravelly and he spoke slowly. Alexander nodded and picked up a slice of his own.

They ate in silence till they both were down to there last slices when Alexander asked tentatively, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ronan froze for a second and shrugged. He shook his head and went back to his pizza, shrinking into the chair as Alexander examined him.

"Are you sure? As your teacher and your boss, anything that bothers you to the extent of crying yourself to sleep on the couch in my office is worthy of concern."

Ronan sighed and glared at his pizza, "Then I'll be sure to cry myself to sleep in my bedroom instead." He caught himself and sighed, running a hand through his curls and massaging his temples, "I'm sorry... I'm a little on edge. Besides, what happened to the no personal questions rule?"

Alexander frowned a bit, "My general concern for your wellbeing overrules that agreement."

Ronan glanced at Alexander, a little puzzled at his sudden interest in his wellbeing. Where was this interest when he gave him a group project and a five page report to be completed within the same week while he juggled three other midterms?

Granted, Alexander did give those assignments to the entire class but Ronan still had a bone to pick with him.

Ronan chuckled bitterly and let out another sigh, "Relationships suck and love is a joke. That's all there is to it."