Chapter Text
Alex was eleven the first time she met Duckie. She’d already been in the group home for six months, and she was a ‘difficult’ kid. Or at least, that’s how Duckie described it to her and what her old journal entries seemed to convey as well. As time went by, all she had was a vague memory of a huge, hulking man with a lot of hair towering over her one afternoon and a feeling of being frightened. But Dukie had knelt in front of her and asked her quiet questions about her stuffed animal, Shushu, and by the time evening came around, Alex was so attached to him she cried when he walked out the door.
Dukie came and visited her almost every week after that. Usually he stayed for a few hours in the afternoon, just chatting with Alex and listening to her play all the new songs she learned on the guitar. And each night when he left, Duckie made sure to tell Alex the day he would be back. Alex had learned quickly, as early as the age of eleven, that a lot of adults couldn’t be trusted to keep their word. But Duckie never broke a promise he made to her.
Though that somewhat comforting atmosphere seemed to change, the moment her brother Gabe was sent away to juvie, Duckie promised to help Alex find him, and that soon they would be reunited again. But that was the only promise Duckie made that Alex found hard to believe.
As years went by, Alex juggled between orphanages, group homes, musty rooms in the strange houses of foster parents, Duckie kept in touch as much as he could, sometimes they would go months without seeing each other, but he always found her, he was always there when she needed, but he couldn't do the same for Gabe, it just became harder and harder to find her big brother. Alex learned the hard way, that the system was fucked.
It was visiting day at the Grant Park orphanage, Alex got to put on her best clothes, which didn’t mean much, just that she got to wear her favorite hoodie and jeans. She was usually depressed in days like these, they just meant she was going to be reject again. But today she was excited for once, Duckie had a promise to fulfill.
“Greetings, miss Chen,” Dukie greeted her with a smile in that funny way of talking of his. He once told her it was how his dad talked, a long time ago, and when she’d asked him to tell more about his dad and his family, he’d happily obliged. Alex could understand a lot about the man now – she really liked how he never showed sadness even though he had a lot of reasons to be sad, he was strong and she wanted to be strong like him. “I have a very big question for you.”
“What is it, Duckie?” She was almost fifteen now. She could answer big questions.
“Would you like to come live with me? At my house?” Duckie sounded a little bit scared.
Alex stared at Duckie in awe. She remembered when she was eleven, seeing kids that went away and didn’t come back. When she asked Dr. Lynn why, she’d said it was because they got new parents, and went to live with them. Alex was jealous of those kids. “You mean – forever? I can come with you forever?” she asked, her eyes wide in excitement.
Duckie nodded. “Yeah, we can sure try, Alex. If you want to.”
Alex automatically looked over to one of the staff for permission. He just shook his head. “You have to pick, Alex,” the man told her. “It’s up to you.”
She thought about it quickly, then jumped up and down and threw her arms around the big man. “Of course, Duckie, yes!” she shrieked, practically vibrating in joy. Someone finally chose her.
Duckie scooped her up into a bear hug, making Alex laugh in delight, a real laugh, a real feeling of joy, it was the first time she felt that in years. “Well then, come on. I got something for you.” He guided Alex outside to his truck and opened the passenger door. “What do you think of that?” He handed her a green suitcase.
Alex gave Duckie a bright smile. “Gosh, I love it, you even remembered green is my favorite color?!”
“Yes, of course” Duckie replied and motioned for them to go back inside “We’re not starting this adventure with a trash bag.”
They went up the stairs of the group home together, and Duckie helped Alex pack all of the clothes that she had, her best friend Shushu, and of course, her guitar. It was time for Alex to say bye to her only friend at the group home. She wanted to cry, but her friend reassured her that she couldn't be sad, she deserved to be happy, they hugged and promised this wasn’t goodbye and to keep in touch. She was too excited to be going to live with Duckie to be sad for very long.
“That everything, kiddo?” Duckie asked as they arrived back at the truck.
“Actually, first, I need to know something important” Alex quipped with a serious expression, making Duckie’s face fall into a worried frown. “...Will you teach me how to drive this thing?” She tapped the truck’s hood and smiled at her own joke.
“Sure, when you’re old enough” Duckie let out a relieved laugh. “Let’s go home, Alex.”
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“So, Alexandra. Do you enjoy living with Duckie?” the social worker asked a few weeks later.
Alex didn’t like the social worker. She’d come to the house every week since she went to live with Duckie, and she always asked mean questions. She didn’t believe her when Alex said she loved Duckie and his house. And she always called her Alexandra, like she was in trouble.
“Alex,” she muttered.
“I’m sorry?” The woman asked, voice engulfed in annoyance.
Alex frowned up at her from where she’d been playing guitar on the floor, she picked up Shushu for reassurance and stroked his ears. “Call me Alex,” she said firmly.
“Back to my question,” the social worker completely ignored her. “Do you like living with Mr. McAlister?”
“Duckie is nice,” Alex said reasonably. She loved Duckie. “Better than any foster parent I’ve had so far.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Duckie kindly smiled at her.
Alex nodded. “And we are going camping soon, and he’s gonna teach me to fish and everything!”
“Uh-huh,” The woman drawled. “Mr. McAlister, I’d like to speak with you privately for a moment.”
Duckie sighed, making Alex look up in worry. He smiled at her. “Play that nice song we were singing the other day, Alex. We’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Alex watched them walk into the kitchen. She could tell Duckie was worried about something, and it was that woman's fault. She was being mean. Alex crept over to the doorway, hiding on the other side of the wall so she could hear what the adults were saying.
“– just don’t think it’s the appropriate environment for a little girl, Mr. McAlister,” The social worker was saying.
“No, what you mean is you don’t think a man can raise a child on his own,” Duckie denied. “I have spent every second with Alex that I can for the last four years. It took two years after my wife died for the agency to even agree to let me foster a child, and another two before you would allow me to bring Alex home. You left her in a group home, wrong foster parents, and she even ran away a few times, when she could have been with me. Haven’t I proven myself to the agency yet? I love Alex – I let her decide what she wanted to do, and she chose me. Isn’t that enough?”
“Mr. McAlister, this isn’t working out. I think Alex would be better off if she just came –”
Alex couldn’t take any more. “I don’t wanna go with you!” she shouted, running to stand behind Duckie and wrapping her arms around his. “I wanna stay with Duckie! We read, and play guitar, and – and make food, and – and –” she struggled to come up with another reason why Duckie was the best, because there were so many. “I wanna stay with Duckie,” she finished instead.
“That may not be your choice, Alexandra,” the social worker glared at her, angry at the interruption.
Duckie rested his hand on Alex's hair, trying to calm her down. “It’s okay, little Lex. It’ll be fine.” He looked back up at the woman. “No offense, but I think we want to speak with a different social worker. It’s just not working out between us.”