Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I was on vacation and had a lot of catching up to do at work! This chapter isn't as long as the others, but I really wanted to get something out to you guys because you've all been so AWESOME! I'm already working on the next chapter!
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Do you like flashbacks? Is there too much/too little dialogue? We're all here to become better writers, so hearing your opinion helps me improve or continue including things you like :)
Read, Review, but most importantly, ENJOY!
Amber's mind was reeling with all kinds of thoughts as she replayed the events over in her mind…the entire conversation…no, all the confessions that had come out. She had never even dreamed that Alex would tell her that stuff and now she saw her brother in a different light. Sure it seemed he had cared about them enough to want to be a part of those exciting times in their lives, but he never actually followed through with them completely. How would her life had been different if he had actively been part of those things? She wasn't sure it would have made any difference. It probably would have made her miss him more or pissed her off after each one, when he'd get back into his car and leave her behind yet again. It would have been like a constant abandonment and she was starting to think that that might have actually felt worse. Amber still didn't know what to make of any of it but now wasn't the time or the place to try and process it. She could do that tonight when she was finally alone.
They cruised down the highway with the rain still pounding against the windshield. "Is it always gonna be like this?" she wondered out loud.
At first, Alex was taken off guard by her voice, having spoken for the first time since they'd left the train station. Always like what? The yelling, fighting, and out of the blue heart-to-heart confessions? He'd be damned if that were the case. That was a one-time ordeal and his feelings were officially back under lock and key until the end of time.
Amber noticed his hesitation and suddenly realized that her question had a double meaning. "I mean this." She motioned toward the window. "I'm talking about the rain."
"Oh," he replied, relief clear in his voice. "Uh, yeah. It rains basically year-around. Except on the off occasion when it turns to snow or ice."
She sighed, resting her chin against her fist as she glanced at the passing house. "Sounds awesome," she mumbled sarcastically.
They pulled into the driveway and Alex shut off the car, hesitating for a moment.
"You better have food because I'm starving," she announced, getting out of the car before he had a chance to say anything.
He quickly followed suit and trailed behind her toward the door. "I'm sure Meredith will have leftovers."
She shook her head in disapproval. "Guess I'll have to start cooking for us so you quit stealing her food. She's too nice." Amber silently recalled the breakfast she had made for her that morning, but it appeared Alex didn't have any moral qualms with taking her food.
Alex was in the process of unlocking the door when he turned over his shoulder, shock clear on his face. "You cook?" The idea of a Karev cooking seemed so far fetched to him that he wouldn't quite assimilate the image.
"You can only live off of peanut butter sandwiches for so long," she commented nonchalantly.
Alex paused, stifling a laugh. It was hard for him to picture her not wanting peanut butter.
"What's so funny?"
"Well there was a time when you'd throw a tantrum if you couldn't have peanut butter."
Now it was her turn to laugh. "Me? A tantrum? I think you have me confused with Aaron."
Fifteen year old Alex was rummaging through the cupboard, trying to see what boxes and cans were left for him to throw together and call it dinner. His mom was off working third shift, so it was up to him to feed everyone.
The soft pitter-patter on the kitchen floor let him know he had company. "Hey, Alex?"
"Yeah?" he responded uninterested as he tried to find an expiration date on the box.
"I want a peanut butter sandwich," the three-year-old stated matter-of-factly.
Alex opened the last cabinet, knowing he wasn't going to find a jar because that would have meant his mom went shopping for food and that would have been a miracle, but he had to double check before replying, "There isn't any."
"But, but…," her bottom lip began to quiver, "But I want it."
"Sorry about your luck, but you had the last of it the other day," he retorted.
She folded her arms across her chest as Alex turned around to face her. "Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not!" She stomped her foot.
Alex rolled his eyes in pure frustration. No matter how many times he told his mom to make sure she took a nap in the afternoon, she never quite seemed to grasp it. And then it always left him to deal with a tired, grumpy little sister in the evening. "I'm not arguing with you about this."
"But I want peanut butter!" For being so small, her voice carried throughout the house.
"Watch it, Amber," he warned, his tone low. He knew this had all the telltale signs of an impending temper tantrum, but he thought if he didn't pay her any attention, it would go away. So he turned back around, grabbed a nearby pot, and filled it with water. "We're having mac and cheese."
"Nooo! Mac and cheese NO!" she yelled, hot tears welling up in her eyes before spilling over her cheeks.
Alex ran a tired hand down his face. He was exhausted from trying to make up all the homework he should have done last night during school today, worn out from a rough wrestling practice, and tired after working a few hours at the local grocery store. This was the last thing he wanted to come home and deal with. Whatever patience he normally had was now nonexistent. "Knock it off," he chided.
"No! I want peanut butter!" she screamed between tears, full on tantrum mode now.
Her loud screeches were the last straw. He abruptly turned around and picked her up, effortlessly tossing her over his shoulder amid her protesting tears and kicks. "I'm not in the mood for this!" he yelled over her cries. Once he got to her room that she shared with Aaron, he put her down. Bending over to look at her straight in the eye, he stated sternly, "You stay in here until you decide to behave like a normal human being." He threw her one last stern glare before he stormed out, leaving her shocked, wet green eyes staring back at him as he closed the door harshly.
He stormed back into the kitchen to finish making dinner, thankful for the peace and quiet now. About twenty minutes later as he was about to serve the food, he heard the bedroom door open and Amber's feet shuffling down the hall. Once she reached the kitchen, she crawled into her seat at the table. "I was bad," she stated, her voice full of remorse.
"Yes you were," he affirmed with little emotion.
"Hey Alex?"
He paused and looked at her, strands of hair hanging around her face. There was probably more hair falling out of her ponytail than there was actually in it by now. "Yeah?" He waited impatiently, assuming an apology was coming.
"I need to be nice," she stated, as if she were giving herself some kind of pep talk. Alex just nodded his head in agreement. Her eyes locked with his as she said confidently, "Can I have peanut butter, please?"
"Now that's an exaggeration. I've always been an angel," Amber retorted, brushing past him and into the house.
Alex chuckled. "Oh really? What about the time you—"
Suddenly Meredith popped out from the kitchen after hearing their voices. "There you guys are. I was wondering when you'd be back. Alex, you should really leave a note next time."
"We aren't in freaking high school, Mer," he grumbled
Meredith crossed her arms. "Well then next time I won't be making extra food for you then," she shot back with a smirk. "Leftovers are in the fridge," she said, pointing.
Amber threw her an appreciative smile. "Thanks." Food was just feet away! She made her way across the kitchen to see what delicious meal awaited her starving stomach.
Meredith was just about to leave but turned around, all of a sudden remembering something. "Did that social worker find you? She made it seem like it was really urgent."
Amber froze, standing in front of the opened fridge. She whipped her head around, her wide eyes dancing between her brother and Meredith. The mere mention of a social worker erased any trace of her appetite.
"She stopped by here." Alex hesitated, seeming to process something. "Wait, you didn't give her our address, did you?"
Meredith stared at him, confused as to why she was being accused of doing something wrong by his tone. "Yeah, you left early and she said it was important she spoke with you in person," she explained.
It suddenly made more sense how she had known where he lived so quickly. He could already feel Amber's gaze burning into his side, rays of anger shooting out of her eyes. He had intended to tell her but there hadn't been any time yet. "The case she was so worried about was Amber's," he spat.
"What?!" both Meredith and Amber exclaimed at the same time.
"I thought Cristina took care of that," Meredith countered.
Alex threw his arms up in exasperation. "Well apparently not. The old bitch says she can't and won't remove her case."
Amber threw the fridge door shut, causing everyone attention to turn to her. "When were you going to tell me?" she demanded.
"I've been driving halfway across town trying to find you! When exactly did I have time?" he snapped, his patience long having gone out the window.
There was a long beat of silence as each person digested what was going on. Alex was pissed that Meredith had aided that hag in her witch-hunt for him. His mind was spinning now as he realized he'd have to come up with some kind of plan. Meredith was still reeling over what Alex had said, silently wondering what had just gone on between the two of them, but too afraid to ask. And Amber felt an ice-cold shiver run down her spine. The social worker had been here at her new residence. That was way too close for comfort and she had no idea what to make of the situation. Had she shown up to take her away? If there was ever a time she wanted to hide under a rock, never to be found, it was at that moment.
Even though Meredith had her own questions, she picked up on the confused and aggravated daggers being thrown between the siblings. "I'm sorry, Alex. If I'd known, I never would have said anything." Her voice was genuine and Amber didn't doubt her sincerity for a minute, somehow feeling like Meredith would protect her no matter what.
Alex took a deep breath, trying to contain his anger. "It's fine. It was only a matter of time till she got the info from my personnel file," he tried to reason out loud.
Sensing Amber's overwhelmed look, Meredith quickly excused herself and went up to her room, knowing they needed some time to sort things out alone.
"Amber…" he blurted out. "I was going to tell you!" he defended, already knowing what was on the tip of her tongue.
"You really should have led with this information at the train station."
Alex shifted his stance, tossing his jacked on a nearby chair. Honestly he hadn't even thought of any ideas of what to "lead" with when he went after her. His head had been filled with all kinds of other things, possible scenarios of how it was all going to end up, the fear of not finding her in time. And that's why when he finally did find her, the only innate way he knew how to react was to drag her out of there in a wave of anger. "Would it have even made a difference?"
"Of course it would have!"
"How?" he snapped.
"It means CPS is after me! I've been marked, a big target is on the back of my head. You know as well as I do that they'd track me down, no matter what hole I'd go hiding in. And then with a snap of their fingers, I'd be back in Iowa! If I'd have known it was that or come back here with my craptastic brother, I would have willingly gotten off that train."
Alex let the words soak in. Why hadn't he thought of that? Damn, things would have been much simpler and he could have easily avoided any "feelings" along the way. He mentally scolded himself for not thinking his options through earlier. But if she would have been so willing to come back with him, even being that pissed off about the letters, instead of risking being forced to return to Iowa, there seemed to be a few puzzle pieces missing. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he was certain something else had prompted her sudden trip across the country.
"What else happened in Iowa?" he demanded, his voice firm but he couldn't hide traces of concern.
Amber's brow furrowed at his sudden change in topic. Where had that come from? Weren't they just talking about the social worker that was out for blood, their blood? "I told you yesterday, back at the hospital," she reminded, holding up her casted arm.
He gazed at it for a moment before returning his attention to her. "Yeah, I know, but are you sure there's not something else?" Because there had to be something else. Nothing was ever as cut and dry as it seemed, he'd learned that early on in his life and it was continually reaffirmed in his medical career. A simple, straight-forward explanation was only ever half of the actual story.
"Where is this coming from?" she challenged. She'd given him no reason to think otherwise but now he was coming out of left field with this interrogation and she wasn't going to give in.
"It just seems like you're dead set on not going back there," he commented, trying to sound not as curious as he really was.
"Oh, you mean just like you?"
He hesitated, not having any comebacks at that moment. Her point was beyond valid. He had made that very clear in the car how he never wanted to be sucked back into that life there, but just something about her evasive answers and defensive posture confirmed that there was more to the story than she was willing to let on.
"I don't know what you're tying to get at here, Alex, but I'm tired. So I'm going to go get settled in….again," she added as an afterthought. "Is that okay?" She needed this conversation to be over because then they could both just forget it ever happened.
"Fine. Aren't you going to eat something first?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Nah, I'm not really hungry anymore."
He walked past her and opened up the fridge, pulling out a container of leftover spaghetti. "But you said you were starving?" he countered, holding up the food.
"I just lost my appetite I guess," she muttered, stalking past him and heading for the staircase.
Alex nodded, knowing there was no way to fight her on this and quite frankly he didn't have the energy to do it. "I'll come check on you later," he commented.
"What? To make sure I'm still here?" she quipped.
"Something like that."
Amber took off up the stairs and Alex went back to heating up his dinner. No, he wouldn't be checking to make sure she was still there. He didn't doubt that for a second. What he really needed to do was sit down with her so they could first, get their stories straight and second, form some kind of game plan to take care of this social worker before anything got out of hand.
Minutes later, he sat down at the table with a hot plate of food, his laptop, and an opened beer sitting in front of him. If he was going to make sure this worked, he knew he had to do some research. The last thing he needed was to be taken off guard again. They had to know what they were up against and there was only one way to figure that out. He opened up the search page and quickly typed in Iowa child services. Before they could fight this storm head on, he had to make sure he could get the law on his side for once. He'd never been keen on punching a woman, but there was a first time for everything and there way no way in hell he'd let that social worker bitch march in here and take his sister away. Not on his watch.
