Alex stretched and yawned as she woke up. She smiled at the sound of her bones cracking, at the bright sunlight glaring in her eyes, at the feeling of stiff limbs from being in the same position for too long...
It was small things like this that she had missed: the things that just proved that she was human. Alex glanced at her alarm clock, which read 1:23 PM. Hal would probably have her head for waking up so late, but at this point she didn't,care. She had earned some lie ins.
Alex yawned once more before reluctantly climbing out of bed, looking down at her body. It was nice to finally be able to get out of the uncomfortable dress she had worn almost a year ago to impress Hal on their disastrous date. The one where she had died... But that didn't really matter anymore, seeing as she wasn't dead anymore. She was very much alive. And although being alive after being dead for eleven months may raise some interesting questions, that was a task the three room mates were willing to deal with later.
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Alex emerged from her bedroom and padded to the kitchen. She could hear Tom watching Antiques Roadshow (and as usual, he was guessing all the right prices for the items on offer) and Hal, singing once again.
"Hal?" The Scottish girl asked amusedly.
"I'm just a poor boy- What?" Hal spun around sharply. He was in front of the sink, marigolds pulled over his hands as he scrubbed a dish.
"Ah, Alex." He greeted. "How kind of you to join us."
"I thought you might like to take another look st my pretty face." Alex smirked.
"Well... I, erm..." Hal trailed off for a moment, resting a fork on the drying rack, before continuing, "You've missed breakfast."
"I'll have a large lunch." She shrugged.
"And you'll be sick again, as you were yesterday. Do you know how long it took me to scrub vomit out of the carpet? Hmm?" Hal demanded, looking pained just by the thought of the stain Alex must have left. "Well, Alex, it took me three hours just to clean up your vomit-"
"Alright, alright, I get it Hal." She rolled her eyes and laughed, making her way to sit at the dining table. "I won't eat till I puke." "Good." Hal said shortly, finally pulling the rubber gloved off his hands and setting them carefully on the counter.
"So... About my family..." Alex started. Hal looked up again, this time an obvious frown on his face as he joined her, sitting across the dining table.
"You want to go and see them?"
"Well, yeah. They think I'm dead. I think we need to clear that up a bit." Alex snorted.
"But, you see... The problem, Alex, is that-"
"Alright, I'm off." Tom announced, poking his head around the door. Alex waved as Hal stiffly said, "Good bye, Tom."
"Bye!" Tom called happily, turning and walking away, trench coat flying behind him.
"Anyway, the problem?" Alex urged Hal to continue once Tom had left.
"Only that you should be dead. Think: what excuse could you give for them seeing your dead body, and burying it, only to see you standing before them a year later?" Hal looked at her pointedly. "And if they dig up your grave and see there a two versions of your body-"
"Okay. I get it." Alex said quietly, tears pricking her eyes. Hal was making sense, as usual, but all she had really wanted was for her family to be able to see her again. To be able to spend Sunday afternoons playing Scrabble with her brothers, and to hug her father at least once more before he left for work...
"Alex." Hal interrupted. Alex glanced up, wiping away her tears, to see Hal looking down at her, slightly worried. "I... I understand how hard it is to lose someone when they're still there, trust me. But just remember... We're your family now. Tom and I. You'll stay here, with us, and it can be like before, only we're all alive."
Alex nodded and dabbled at her eyes once again. "Okay..."
"We care about you Alex." Hal soothed. Alex nodded again as Hal reached over the table and rubbed the back of her hand gently with his thumb.
Alex stood up suddenly and pulled the man into a large hug, tears staining his shirt as she gripped onto his back. And Hal returned the hug, rocking Alex back and forth slightly.
It was certainly strange for Alex, thinking that only s week ago, this all seemed impossible. That her being able to teleport, and Hal being addicted to blood again, and Tom dragging a chicken through the forest every full moon was normal. And now... Well they could do all the actual 'normal' things, that seemed almost alien to the three friends. Whichever way they looked at it, whether they saw themselves as more normal now or before, they were almost grateful for their fight with the Devil. Only because that's what had made them human.