Chapter Text
There was a knock on the door to the Seville Household. Alvin slept and snored the day away on the living room couch in only a pair of pajama pants and a black tank top underneath his jacket but woke up abruptly by the sudden noise of the hand hitting wood. Only partially conscious still, Alvin lunged off the couch in a daze, forcing himself to be more alert. Although far from snow, a rain storm rolled in over the neighborhood, making the once clear days back into a cold gray lull.
“Huh? Wha-” Alvin struggled to speak, then he heard another knock on the door. It was with a stern intent, but still ladylike which Alvin could easily narrow down to who it could be. He got away from the couch as he considered laying back down and stumbled his way towards the door. “Yeah, what?” He answered as he rubbed his eyes and yawned while he opened the door. Once he could see clearly, he looked right over a head of golden messy hair and changed his approach. He looked down to see Eleanor and she looked back up to him with exhausted and puffed up eyes. “R-Right.” Alvin let out as he zipped up his jacket for both the guest and from the cold. “Come in.” Alvin slowly slid out of the way to the Chipette pass right through without hesitation. She had her casual school wear on, with her trench coat covering her but to his surprise she didn't have her backpack.
“I-Is Dave here today,” Eleanor asked weakly.
“Nope,” Alvin answered as he closed the door and followed her.
“Vinny maybe?”
“Mom's back in the woods this week. Dave thought it would be a good idea to practice his bushcrafting skills,” Alvin chuckled to himself at the imagined thought.
“S-Simon,” Eleanor asked again, as if she didn't hear him.
“Nope.”
“O-Oh…” Eleanor let out dejected, her presence almost like a phantom. She turned away back towards the front door. “Sorry… I'll uh… come back later…”
“Woah wait,” exclaimed Alvin as he jumped in between her and the front door. “Hold on! What's wrong with me, huh?”
“N-Nothing, I'm sorry!”
“I'm your friend too, aren't I? I can help!”
“I-It's not that you can't-”
“Ellllieee… come on now,” Alvin helped her to the living room. “Haven't I always been there? Through thick and thin?” Eleanor let out a faint giggle as Alvin hoped.
“Well… with mixed results…”
“Point is I was still there.”
“That's true… Y-You're right. I'm sorry Alvin, I didn't mean it like that.”
“I don't blame you, I'd be my last resort too,” Alvin snarked, getting another weak giggle out of Eleanor. Eleanor sat down on the couch with Alvin's help. She settled in and he went off to the kitchen and prepared her a glass of water then a can of cola for himself. He cracked it open as she took a sip of water and placed it down on the coffee table. “I'm not THAT blind to what's been going on.”
“S-Sorry, I just… yeah I know. It's not subtle…”
“Not in the slightest.”
“I just… Jeanette's not great at this kind of talk and Brittany won't listen for some reason. Miss Miller is out of town and… I-I needed someone to talk to.”
“Well, I'm all ears,” Alvin enthusiastically volunteered himself. He put his can down as well and sat on the arm rest beside Eleanor, placing his elbows on his knees, palms on his cheeks and gave her an obnoxious look to get her to smile.
“Okay, okay I get it,” Eleanor giggled. “Thanks.”
“Now, what's going on?”
“I…” Eleanor paused, then her energy heightened. “This has never happened before! Even when things were hard, he never felt…” Eleanor sighed and lowered her head. “...so far away. He's never avoided me like this.”
“Aw come on Ellie. ‘Avoid’ is such a strong word. He's not avoiding you, he's still responding, isn't he?” Eleanor looked back up at him but with a displeased expression. “What?”
“He is, but this feels different… and I don't blame him…”
“You think he's mad or something?”
“Who wouldn't be? I did this to myself, I deserve it…” Eleanor lowered her head back down, her eyes growing moist.
“Ellie no, don't.” Alvin stuttered. “Don't do that. Don't put that on you, we all know that you're really putting in the work at school for everyone's sake.”
“But every time we try to meet each other, I keep having to bail or cancel or reschedule…”
“We know the deal and we don't hold it against you…” but then Alvin thought aloud. “But I guess sometimes that doesn't make it better. Especially for Theo.”
“You think I don't know that!” Eleanor snapped.
“Woah, woah easy,” Alvin tried to defend himself. “I know you know.”
“I-I'm sorry…” Eleanor began to sniff and close herself off.
“Don't worry. Theodore’s patient. Probably the most patient out of all of us.”
“If anything, he's too patient… I've been really abusing that lately…”
“Well, even Theodore has to have a limit I guess…" Alvin began to let slip out without realizing. "Guess it's not impossible for him to be movin-”
“Alvin stop!” Eleanor shouted, echoing across the house. She shot up from the couch and whipped directly towards Alvin, causing him to fall off onto the hardwood vinyl floor in surprise. He picked himself back up but when he looked over the armrest he saw the hurting Chipette facing him. Her eyes were red and tears were flowing down her cheeks. He could see that she was starting to shake. “Don't you dare say that! Anything but that!”
“El-Ellie I-” He saw her shaking more.
“He-He would never… he w-wouldn't leave me… not him…” Alvin stopped his attempt at lightening the mood and crouched there speechless as Eleanor stood there and cried, unable to say anymore. He stood up completely, rubbed the leg he landed on and cleared his throat.
“H-Hey…” He said in a tender, soothing voice. Eleanor wiped her eyes but saw Alvin invite her in with open arms. He playfully raised and lowered his eyebrows to try and make her feel better again. She tried to collect herself but when she couldn't, she waddled over and planted her head face down into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back to try and give her comfort, even if all he could hear was her sniffling being muffled by his jacket. “Hey there,” Alvin tried to console her. “I'm sorry. That was stupid. Really, really bad choice of words. I didn't mean that.” He let it stay silent for a moment as she breathed heavily and sniffed. “That was just me being dumb out loud. Ellie.” He pivoted. “You know Theo's not that kind of guy. For crying out loud, the kid would move the earth for you.”
“But-But-” Eleanor tried to respond.
“No, no,” Alvin cut her off. “No buts.”
“I'm sorry,” Eleanor tried again but Alvin interrupted her a second time.
“Don't be. That one's on me.” After a moment, Eleanor was able to calm herself down enough to speak up more.
“Y-You… didn't say anything I wasn't already thinking…”
“Oh Ellie. That's a bad road to go down, you know that.”
“I-I just… out of everyone, he wouldn't…”
“Shhh… Theodore’s not going anywhere. Not Theodore.” Eleanor shifted in his chest and squeezed him. “No one's going anywhere. Not me, not Simon, not Jeanette or Brittany or Miss Miller or Dave. No one, especially not Theodore.”
“But what if he-” Alvin began to pet the top of her head.
“Those are just some bad old thoughts. That's all they are. Remember what Britt and Jeanette told you.”
“I don't know what to do…” Eleanor let out weakly from his chest.
“You want me to kick his butt for you?” He tried to help.
“No…”
“Well… have you,” Alvin paused to brace himself. “Have you tried talking to him?” He readied himself for getting yelled at again, but much to his surprise, he simply felt her head nodding slowly from left to right. “Why not?”
“I'm scared.”
“Pffft, scared of Theo?”
“Of what I won't want to hear.”
“No way. He's probably just going to be like,” Alvin changed his voice to mimic Theodore in a teasing manner. “Sorry Ellie, I got distracted at school and my homework that I left my phone on silent all the time instead of that really annoying ringtone everyone hates.” Eleanor burst into laughter into the jacket fabric as Alvin grinned to himself.
“That ringtone is so annoying…” she added.
“Right? Anyway, I'm sure things will be fine. Just talk to him.”
“You and Brittany never just talk.”
“That's because there's nothing to talk about. She's a free agent, and if she gets mad at me, that's her own fault.”
“Alvin.”
“Hey this isn't about me, this is about you.”
“Right, sorry.”
“If anything, just give him a taste of his own medicine! Ignore him for a change and force him to open up!”
“I… I can't do that…”
“Well you can't just sit here and cry forever can you?”
“N-no. Fine…”
“Sometimes, you just have to play dirty. That's how you win these things.”
“Oh no, not again…”
“What?”
“N-Nothing.” Eleanor removed herself from his chest to make eye contact. Alvin gave her a sincere and assuring look on his face. Though, it lasted only for a moment before he tried to lighten things up again by making a comical and exaggerated expression. She laughed, then dug her face deeper and squeezed him, to which he returned the gesture. Then she pushed herself away from him.
“When did you get so mature and helpful?”
“I know, it's scaring me too,” Alvin joked.
“Guess you guys don't need me to be the mature one anymore either…”
“Eleanor,” Alvin stopped her.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Good. Now go wash your face. I might need to do an emergency load of laundry for my jacket.” They both stuck their tongues out at each other before Eleanor headed into the downstairs bathroom. Once he heard the door close and the water turn on, he grimaced. “I swear, if they don't get it together, we will.” Eleanor splashed her face with water and washed her eyes. While she felt somewhat better, she still couldn't shake this feeling that loomed over her. Then her phone vibrated from her pocket. Without thinking, she quickly took it out and once she saw that it was Theodore, her hands gripped the phone ready to tap and respond. Yet, once she looked at the reflection she stopped. Her eyes were still sore and red and she her nose still running. She firmed her resolve and with another sniff, she put her phone on sleep mode and stuffed it back into her pocket.