INEZ ARCHER CAN HEAR HER HEART POUNDING. Loud, speedy-quick, and completely bizarre. She was beginning to think that it was unhealthy, judging the lack of moment she was experiencing. The beating of her heart gets faster and faster, making her believe that it was completely possible for it to burst out of her chest, landing inches and inches away from her on the floor.

Believe it or not, Inez doesn't know how to feel. She's completely unsure if she even feels anything. Her breathing was in an unstable rhythm, her heart was still pounding like crazy, and her face was completely expressionless.

She didn't feel sad.

She didn't feel mad.

With all things considered, she was conflicted, confused about how to feel. It was like all of her sensations disappeared from her body completely, as if they were wiped clean like a computer's hard drive.

Her tense conversation with Alexander in the school library went by fast. It was the first emotional conversation she's had with him — so she completely didn't know what to expect or to feel. Hearing the way his voice trembled hurt Inez. A completely different side of Alexander was revealed — a side layered with pain and suffering.

Inez wanted to help. But is it possible that some things can't be helped?

Lucky for her, she was about to get answers by someone who has the exact same experience as her boyfriend. Believe it or not, she wasn't going to mope around at home and watch Disney movies while eating ice cream to cope with the pain.

Not yet, she thought. But that was beside the point. She wanted to better understand what was going on because she had no clue. Inez Archer had no fucking clue about what was going on, or why it was happening.

Fortunately, her beloved cousin, Rylie, has experience with these types of things because she's experienced a similar situation just like Alexander herself. So of course, she'd have to have some kind of advice for her younger cousin. She had to.

That is what Inez is about to figure out.

"I'll be back to pick you up in an hour. I'll be in the area running errands in case you need me," her father, Jared, informed as he gently pressed one of the button's of his car to unlock the doors. "It's so nice that you want to visit your cousin. Tell Rylie I said hi."

"Uh-huh," Inez nodded her head in agreement as she plastered a fake smile across from her face. "I'll see you soon, Dad. I love you."

"I love you more," Jared hummed as he watched his daughter exit the car, standing on the rim of the driveway. She waved at him as he pulled off, immediately frowning afterwards.

Her father had no clue of what was going on between Alexander and her. It wasn't for no reason, though. Inez had no clue of how she was going to tell her father about it. Based on how he reacted to her having a boyfriend, she figured that he was going to rub the situation in her face.

She could only imagine the things he'd possibly say, his deep voice ringing in her ears.

I told you that this would happen.

The last thing Inez needed at this point is a 'I told you so'.

Even though she was in doubt, she didn't want to let it get the best of her. She trudged up the pressure-washed driveway, which led to the house. With her finger, she tapped on the smart video doorbell. The house is a small family home, fully bricked with a not-too-old coat of beige paint on the sides. The front porch was small, but it had two dark brown backyard chairs on both sides of the door. A pot of pink lilies were hung up across the top of the porch's roof, which added a nice, vibrant touch to the area.

Within moments, the front door flung open, revealing a Rylie in shorts and an oversized T-shirt with her one-year-old, Sierra, on her hip. Her mouth dangled open in surprise. "Hey Inez, I didn't expect to see you here today," she mustered a smile as she adjusted her daughter, who was trying to wiggle her way out of her arms. "How are you?"

"Terrible," Inez groaned as she shook her head. "Which is why I came here. I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Okay, well, come in," Rylie said as she gestured to her younger cousin to come inside her home with her hand, stepping out of the way of the doorframe. "I have food in the fridge if you're hungry."

"Eh, I'm fine. I could use water, though," the girl mused as she walked inside, slipping her shoes off afterwards. She placed them beside the front door before following her cousin to the kitchen.

The kitchen was small, but it wasn't too small. It was nicely renovated with white, granite countertops with white-painted cabinets to match the gray, wooden floors. From the kitchen, the happy, yet annoying sound of Cocomelon playing on the television could be heard. As much as Inez wanted to turn it off, it was for her niece, who clearly was invested in the show based on how much she looked at the TV all the way from the kitchen.

"Here's a water bottle," Rylie said as she withdrew a bottle from her refrigerator, handing it towards her cousin afterwards. "Let's go to the living room to talk. It must be serious since you came all the way across town just to talk to me."

"It's only a twenty-minute drive. It's not like I had to take the interstates to get here or anything," Inez joked dryly before frowning once again as she took a seat on a couch, placed meters away from the flat-screen television above the fireplace. "It's just that there's something I want to talk to you about, and my mom just got back home from work so she's tired, and my dad I feel like my dad would just rub it in my face if I mentioned it to him."

"How are you completely sure of that?" Rylie questioned as she sat down beside her cousin, letting her up-and-running toddler go so she could run around. Instead of going far, she grabbed a small pink and green baby ball from beside an accent table before running back to Inez, offering her the ball.

Inez couldn't help but muster a smile as she accepted the ball, placing it beside her so she could place the baby on her lap, her small, curly pigtails brushed against her chin. "Well, I'm just sure. I know my dad really well," she mused. "This whole thing is about my . . . my boyfriend."

"Wait, stop right there," Rylie adjusted her posture. "You have a boyfriend now?"

"Yeah, I don't think I told you about it," Inez said as she cracked open her water bottle gently as her niece graciously held on to. "But you know that guy I told you all about? Alexander? Him and I have been dating for a few weeks."

"That's great," her cousin chirped before frowning. "But what happened?"

"Today, we had a little . . . I don't know . . . altercation," Inez muttered before she took a small sip of water, allowing her niece to hold it afterwards. For a baby, she was sure invested in it. "He told me that his mom died so many years ago when his sister was born. He seemed so hurt about it, and I truly wanted to help him. But he sort of just . . . brushed me off."

"How so?"

"It was like he didn't want my help, as if he was in complete denial about the whole thing. He told me how no one can revive his mom, which is the truth, but that's all he wants," Inez explained, followed by a breathy sigh. "I kind of get it, but I don't understand why he doesn't want me to help. What am I supposed to do?"

"No," a high-pitched voice said with a gurgle. It was Sierra, who wasn't so focused on Cocomelon anymore. Instead, she was playing with her ball, touching and feeling the soft texture of it with her itty-bitty fingers.

Inez was completely clueless of why the baby decided to barge into the conversation, judging the way her eyebrows raised, but then, she smiled. "No?"

"No, no," the baby cooed as she threw her ball across the room, landing in front of the blocked, child-safe fireplace.

Inez sent a baffled look to her cousin as she adjusted the baby on her lap to face her, who shrugged. "She says 'no' a lot. I think it's her new favorite word now. It doesn't really mean anything."

"Okay," Inez nodded her head. Sierra was now trying to play with her aunt's loose curls, tugging against a few strands. As much as Inez wanted to yank it away from her, she resisted just so the baby wouldn't start crying. "But what if it means anything? What if she's somehow answering me?"

"It could be possible, and her answer is kind of reasonable," Rylie mused. "It's complicated to talk about, but your boyfriend is in pain. This subject hurts him, and believe me, I was at his exact same place when my biological dad died. It takes time to let go." She continued as she stared up at the ceiling. "Death of a parent feels different."

"I learned that now, but he last told me that he wanted space, then apologized for wasting my time," the girl sighed. "I know I'm probably overthinking it, but does he not want me around?"

"He just needs some room to breathe. It's not that he doesn't want you around. He probably does. He just needs his space," Rylie explained as she grabbed the TV remote, turning down the volume of Cocomelon a notch. "We all need our own space sometimes. That's part of being in a relationship — or being human, really. Just give your boyfriend the time he needs alone."

That was when it all became clear. It was like her eyes were finally opening up after being all blurry. Alexander Choi needed space. He needed a moment. All Inez could hope was that he didn't have any bad intentions. How could he, though? He was hurting like crazy. It could easily be seen in the paleness of eyes, and the quivers his voice would make every time he'd speak.

Deep down, Alexander is completely hurt, wanting to pick up the pieces and move forward. This is the day where it's become clear to Inez.

Frankly, she had no clue. None at all. But she was forever grateful that her cousin helped her realize it in the most warmhearted, yet honest way possible.

"Thank you, Rylie," Inez gushed as she extended her arms to hug her cousin, still being mindful of the baby sitting in her lap, who was now crawling off to reach for a baby book at the edge of the couch. "This conversation is really important to me. Thank you so much."

"We're cousins," the older cousin chirped. "I've got your back." 

Later that evening, straight after Inez completed her homework assignments, she went through her long Spotify playlist, searching through the dozens and dozens of songs that were stuffed within it. She pressed play, putting her playlist on shuffle mode to play a random song.

NASA by Ariana Grande blared through her oddly tangled earbuds, traveling up to eardrums. Instead of just listening, with the choir kid urge she had, she began to sing along. Judging the millions of times she's listened to the song without getting tired of it, she memorized the lyrics perfectly.

She sang out the first verse in tune, feeling her heart burn as she sung through the lyrics. Inez didn't know why her heart began to burn, but it did. Evidently, it could've been the lyrics itself that were causing this to happen.

Inez found herself raising an eyebrow as she reflected on the entire verse, especially the beginning, which read the following: I'd rather be alone tonight. You can say "I love you" through the phone tonight. Really don't wanna be in your arms tonight. I'll just cover my covers to stay warm tonight.

Could those lines apply to what was happening to Alexander right now?

Music is poetry that's formed into a melody. Or harmony. It really all depends on what the music is about. But music is everything, and it can most definitely apply to real-life.

Ariana Grande's song, NASA, applied to real-life. It applied to what was happening right now, too. Sometimes in a relationship, one person could need some space — some time alone. That's exactly what Alexander needed, as her cousin explicitly stated. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of time alone.

If anything, it can make someone feel better. All Inez could hope, however, was that her boyfriend's time apart would benefit him by making him feel a little bit better.

Sometimes, all people need is a little bit of time off to reflect off of things. 

a/n: Rylie is back! i honestly couldn't just let her not appear in the story ever again. that would not be cool 👎🏾