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“Dad, I’m taking Gabe to the station. We need a first aid kit that doesn’t predate the discovery of bacteria.”
“It’s fine,” Gabe said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t need to go-”
“Now, Ryan knows what he’s doing. You just go with him,” Jed insisted.
Realizing this wasn’t an argument he was going to win, Gabe sighed and started following his friend towards the bar entrance when he suddenly remembered his sister’s presence.
He turned to face her. “Alex, I’ll be back soon, okay?”
Hearing her name, Ryan turned as well.
From her spot by the stairs, she briefly met his gaze, not missing the way his eyes darted down to her hands.
Shit.
As casually as she could manage, Alex pulled her sweater sleeves down past her scuffed up knuckles.
“Okay,” she said to Gabe, who seemed oblivious to the exchange. He gave one final nod before leaving.
Great job, Alex. Way to come off as the walking stereotype of a troubled child. Fresh out of foster care. Violent and emotionally unstable. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with you?
She had washed off Mac’s blood, but there was only so much she could do about the harm her own hands had sustained from punching in a human skull.
She felt her eyes burn with shame. It was so stupid of her, believing she could leave it all behind and start fresh. As if switching up the scenery would somehow change who she was. Whether she was surrounded by skyscrapers or mountains, she was still a freak no one would ever truly understand.
And how could they, really? It wasn’t exactly an easy thing to explain and an even harder thing for people to believe.
Also, why did it bother her so much that the park ranger knew about the fight? They’d literally just met.
Maybe it was because of how easily they had clicked at the record store. He’d been so sincere and friendly. So interested in what she had to say. Completely unaware of the awful things she’d faced growing up. He treated her like an actual person rather than a deranged convict, which was more than she could say about Dr. Lynn and her previous social workers.
If her mother’s death and her father’s abandonment hadn’t already fucked her up, her treatment in the group home sure would have. One could only deal with the patronizing attitudes and the gaslighting for so long.
But that was all behind her now. That’s what she had convinced herself when she met Ryan at least.
When he first looked at her, she saw the promise of a new beginning.
But just now when they had locked eyes, she saw….something different.
She couldn’t place what it was exactly, but it was driving her crazy trying to figure it out.
Disappointment? Pity? Disdain?
Well…not much she could do about it now. Just calmly accept that not everyone was going to like her. Not even the unfairly attractive tree cop.
Balancing the last batch of dirty dishes in her hands, Alex made a beeline to the kitchen.
She was lucky this was a bar with very few patrons rather than a popular restaurant chain. Otherwise, there was absolutely no way she would’ve been able to handle the workload.
“Hey, Jed,” she said, approaching the barkeep. “I took care of everything you mentioned. Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”
“Nah, the boys should be back soon.”
As if on cue, the door to the Black Lantern swung open.
“Well, speak of the devil.”
“Gabe! Are you alright?” Riley rushed over, intercepting him at the entrance.
After Mac had left with his tail tucked between his legs, his now ex-girlfriend had stayed to await Gabe’s return. The two of them conversed, a guilt-ridden Riley bombarding him with a flurry of “sorrys.”
Alex’s gaze drifted to the flannel-wearing figure behind her brother, unintentionally making eye contact yet again.
Dammit.
She looked away, trying to play it off. But when she chanced another glimpse, she noticed him snaking past Gabe to head straight towards her.
DAMMIT!
She scurried over to the other room and busied herself with a menial chore.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, she tensed but stayed focused on her task. Her very, very complicated task of pushing in chairs.
“Hey.”
Alex spun around. “Oh! Hey, Ryan!” God, who was she fooling? This whole playing dumb thing was so not her style. She had seriously been this close to going overboard and saying something stupid like “When’d you get back?”
He smiled hesitantly.
“Gabe told me a little more about what happened. I didn’t realize you were involved in the fight too.”
“Yeah, well. Wish I could say it was my first,” she sighed, feeling completely wrung out. This whole day had been so emotionally draining. Lying just seemed off the table at this point.
He gave her a considering look, as if he wanted to ask something but seemed to think better of it. “Regardless, I thought it was really great of you to stand up for him like that. It’s a relief knowing that Haven has at least one person capable of defending Gabe. God knows he needs it.”
The joke earned a genuine laugh from the empath, who felt her panic instantly melt away.
“Anyway, are you okay? Do you need someone to look at…” He gestured towards her hands.
“Oh, uh,” she lifted them, palms facing downwards so she could examine her knuckles.
He stepped closer to inspect the damage. For a second, Alex thought he was going to reach out and hold her hands, and was strangely disappointed when he didn’t. But that did nothing to stop her heart from racing the entire time.
While he was preoccupied with her injury, she took the opportunity to sneak furtive glances at his face, taking in the sight of all his well-defined features.
Not creepy at all, Alex.
Eventually, his eyes flickered up to meet hers, and she quickly averted her gaze.
“Hm, I think you’ll be alright,” he said, stepping back. “Don’t see any broken skin or anything, so infections shouldn’t be a concern. Maybe just some bruising tomorrow. Can you move them okay?”
She dropped her hands and gave a show of testing their mobility. “Yeah.”
“Well, you’re tough. I’ll give you that. I know you called Gabe a badass, but I think you might be giving him a run for his money.”
She broke out in a grin and shook her head.
“Alex.”
They both turned towards where Gabe was standing by the bar.
“Ready to talk?”
“Um, yeah.” She shuffled over to her brother, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Before ascending the stairs, she cast a final glance over her shoulder to where Ryan was, only to catch him staring. Remembering himself, he offered a warm smile.
With that, Alex hurried after Gabe, feeling uncharacteristically upbeat and giddy, unaware of just how quickly the mountain man had earned a soft spot in her heart.