James is dead. James killed himself. He killed himself because of me. My mother died because of me. I killed them. Alex tried to sleep, but every hour or so these words woke him up in the dead of night. The exhaustion he had once been feeling still weighed heavily on his chest, but still it was three in the morning and he was afraid to close his eyes. Every time he did, he pictured his mother's hospital bed or the lifeless quality of James's eyes on their kitchen floor. So, as he stared at the ceiling of his foster bedroom, Alex did his best to forget. He almost wished a serious case of amnesia could strike him and leave him without a sad thought in his mind.

But then he would forget John, Eliza, and the rest of his friends who had basically given up their free time to help Alex in his time of need. He couldn't forget them, especially when he had yet to repay them for their kindness. He decided he was done asking for help. He hadn't wanted to do so in the first place, but now more than ever he needed to be his own person and deal with his own problems. They got him into a supposed safe, loving home. That was more than they ever needed to do.

Everyone kept saying how wonderful Lin and his wife, Vanessa, were. So far, they seemed like fairly nice people with the ambition and the funds to take care of a foster child. But he hadn't even been there a full day yet, so he had no place to judge. What intrigued him more than anything was Lin's career as a writer. If he ever became close to the man, he hoped to find out more about it.

Somehow, through thinking about his new family and his friends, Alex fell asleep again. As usual, it was only an hour before he woke up in a panic, breathing heavily and breaking out in a sweat. What wasn't normal, however, was the dryness of his throat, as if he had been screaming in his sleep. For a moment, he prayed that he hadn't been, but his bedroom door swinging open interrupted that thought.

"Alex?" Lin whispered from the doorframe. He then flipped the light switch, completely bringing to light the dismal state of the boy's body and emotions. Instead of reacting in a surprised fashion, Lin asked, "Buddy, are you okay?"

Alex couldn't speak, his heart was racing incredibly fast and he couldn't help himself from gasping for air every second. He wanted to say that- yes, he was in fact fine- but all he could manage was a nod. It was clear that Lin didn't believe the weak nod he produced. Lin walked over to the bed and sat on its edge. He didn't want to touch the boy. After all he had been through, any form of touching didn't seem like the best course of action. So, instead, he watched Alex as he pushed through his own panic attack, keeping a careful eye on him but still allowing him to feel self-sufficient. When he finally calmed down, Alex's eyes began to droop. He realized that Lin was still sitting on the edge of his bed, but his presence was almost comforting. He was glad Lin hadn't tried to do anything because he was almost certain that would have made it worse for the time being. After all, his staying with Lin was part of the reason he was freaking out.

When Alex began to lie down again, Lin moved from the edge of his bed to the chair placed in the corner of the room. He had no plans to leave the boy; he wanted to stay at least until he fell asleep. As Alex began to drift off, so did Lin. Eventually, the two fell asleep, with no nightmares to wake either of them.

Lazily that next morning, Alex blinked, his eyes blinded from the sunlight that seemed to be pouring in from the window in the room. He rolled over; seeing that Lin was still sound asleep in the chair in the corner. Alex had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Besides his mom, John, and Eliza, no one had ever witnessed his panic attacks. Still, the man stayed. When he was faced with Alex's problems full force, he didn't leave him alone. It felt odd.

Suprisingly, he felt well rested. The bed was comfortable as well as its pillows and sheets and he had actually slept; also an odd feeling. Curiously, he glanced at his phone, immediately jumping up when he saw the numbers blinking back at him.

"Nine thirty!" He yelled. "Nine thirty! Fuck!" In haste, he started pulling on different pants and shoving things into his ratty backpack.

Lin awoke with a start. "Alex what's going on?"

"I forgot to set an alarm," he said quickly, still trying to do a million things at once. "I've got school today. I'm late, I've gotta-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Lin started to say. Alex stops dead in his tracks and looks up to the man with frantic eyes. Although neither of them were particularly tall people, Lin did have a few inches on the boy. Alex didn't know what it was about Lin's voice that made him listen. When Lin told him to slow down, he immediately found himself taking in a breath pausing for a moment. He didn't feel pressured to do so, but still he did. "Alex, you don't have to go to school today. Sometimes there are more important things," Lin said slowly.

Alex shook his head. He was determined to show everyone that he was fine and to thank his friends for all that they had done. He needed to go back to school. He needed to pull The Council out of Jefferson's grimy hands. No doubt he had taken over when he and Angelica had a slight leave of absence. "No, I have to go back," he protested. "It's really important to me."

One look into the boy's eyes and Lin was hooked. Even though he thought Alex needed a serious break from the obligations of life, it was clear that school- and writing- was his escape. Putting aside his better judgement of Alex's physical health, Lin responded, "Then we'll get you to school."

"Really?" Alex asked. His own demands hadn't been recognized recently, they were mostly pushed aside. It felt like he was really being heard for the first time in a long while.

"If it's that important to you," Lin shrugged. He wanted Alex to think it was no big deal, but in reality he was stressed out of his mind. This was the first big decision he had made concerning Alex, his son. Washington had mentioned that if it didn't work out, they could always figure something else out for Alex, but after one night it was clear: this boy was going to be his.

"Thank you," Alex answered sincerely.

"Alright," Lin clapped. "I'm going to go make breakfast and you, young man, need to get ready for school. Let's go!" He dashed out of the room, but not before seeing the goofy smile that appeared on Alex's face.

"Have any of you heard from Alex?" Angelica asked. Three fourths of the Revolutionary Crew was sitting at a table in the courtyard at school along with Peggy and Angelica. Angelica had proposed getting together that morning to talk about their 'Alex watch.' Nobody wanted him to have any time for himself, because they all knew that when Alex was by himself, he thought too much.

"Not since last night," John replied.

"I wouldn't blame him if he didn't come to school at all today. The kid has had a rough go the last few weeks," Hercules sighed. Frowns appeared on all of their faces. Even thinking about what had happened to Alex was unbearable. Especially because, as they all knew, Alex didn't deserve any of it, no matter what he thought.

"No, I know Alex well enough to know that he needs school to keep him going. He needs the paper more than anything, because when he's writing he's got something to think about other than himself. Angelica, you need to give him a really good story this week," John responded.

"I always give him something good. He's our best writer," Angelica said proudly. She knew that if Alex weren't such a hothead, he probably would have been the editor of the paper. But because he took his vendettas and beliefs to the ends of the Earth, he couldn't put his struggles with Jefferson to the side well enough to have her position. Angelica knew that one day he would rise above everything and conquer whatever he did. She was just happy to be friends with the boy.

"Where's 'Liza?" Lafayette asked while munching on a breakfast sandwhich. He was always late to school and usually ended up eating breakfast right before homeroom because he never got a chance to at home.

Angelica glanced at her watch. "She should be here soon. She's with Seabury, as usual." Peggy rolled her eyes. "Don't do that," Angelica snapped at her. "We need to be supportive."

"I think Peggy's got it right," Lafayette replied. "Sam is quite the ass. Do you see the way he treats Alex?"

"Yes," Angelica sighed. "But there's really nothing we can do about it. Trust me, I've tried everything. If anything is going to change, it's going to have to come from Eliza."

"What about me?" Eliza asked, walking up to the table, hand in hand with Sam. Even if she hadn't shown up right then, the boys wouldn't have pushed the matter any farther. Eliza's relationship with Sam Seabury was strange and there were all sorts of rumors about it, but they knew it wasn't their place to pry. John was specifically interested in the makings of their relationship because of her close proximity to Alex. He knew that when he wasn't around, Eliza was Alex's go to for advice and comfort. He tried not to act jealous, but sometimes he couldn't help it. If Eliza's relationship was more stable with Sam, he was sure he wouldn't feel the same way.

"We're talking about the paper," Angelica said quickly. "I've got a great article for you this week." Everyone around her tried to play it cool because Angelica was such a good liar, but most of them were either raising their eyebrows in surprise or seemingly really interested in their hands.

"Oh yeah?" Eliza asked, raising an eyebrow. "What is it about?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out at the meeting," Angelica said coolly.

"Damn, Angelica, trying to take all of my girlfriend's time away from me? She never seems to stop working because of you. Half the time she doesn't even answer her phone," Sam butted in. Eliza shot them all a look as if asking them to play along. She obviously had been blaming her absence due to Alex on work for the paper when talking to Sam. So, they all just smiled and nodded. "But we're working on that, aren't we babe?"

Eliza nodded with a tired face. "Sam got me a new ringtone that only plays if he calls or texts me, so that way I know to answer."

"She's not your dog. She doesn't have to come when you call," Peggy muttered. Clearly, she wanted Sam to hear, but at the same time her tone suggested she wasn't in the mood for a fight.

"We're in a committed relationship," Sam seethed. Then, making a big show out of it, kissed her, grabbed her ass and said, "Gotta go, babe. I'll text you later." Eliza gave him a small wave as he walked away.

"Where's Alex?" She asked, taking her seat at the table and trying to switch the topic.

"We don't know if he's coming today," John responded.

"Oh, I'll text him," Eliza said, whipping out her phone.

"Don't bother. I've been texting him all morning. If he hasn't responded to me, he certainly won't respond to you," John snapped. Eliza's face fell. John had never spoken like that to her before.

"Oh, um, I…" Eliza stuttered. John, quickly realizing his mistake, tried to make up for it.

"Eliza, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Eliza's eyes were already brimming with tears. It was clear that the two of them incredibly worried about Alex, they just had different ways of showing it.

"I should go," she whispered, wiping her eyes.

Angelica, taking charge as usual, stopped her. "Listen you two, we can't do this. Not today, not for a while. Alex needs us, all of us. We can't help him alone. We need to be a united front with one goal- to help Alex get through the shit that he's been through the last few months. It's not fair for you guys to be trying to one up each other, understand me?"

"I'm not trying to one up her, I'm dating Alex and she's dating Sam," John shot back.

"I don't care," Angelica said with a harsher tone. "But there's something going on and you have to put it aside for Alex, okay?"

At the same time, Eliza and John whispered with small voices, "Okay."