Drabble 11
Request: Alex has a crush (sorry, the crush hardly makes an appearance)
"I don't know what to say to her," Alex said, kicking a pebble out of his way with the tip of his trainers. The gray stone bounced across the pavement, tumbling to a stop by another set of trainers—Tom's.
"Is the infamous Alex Rider coming to me for girl advice?" Tom gasped, clutching his heart in exaggerated shock. He dropped the expression almost immediately, kicking the pebble back with a grin. "Honestly, why don't you just talk to her? It's the usual course of action, you know."
Alex's lips tugged themselves into a thoughtful frown. Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. "That's not a good idea. I'm not the kind of person anyone sane wants to get involved with." At Tom's pointed look, Alex rolled his eyes, "You know you're not sane, Harris."
"Maybe," the teen acknowledged slowly. "But you know I'm right. Just talk to her! If she doesn't like you for you, then what's the point in pining after her? And if she does like you, then you know you've got a shot!"
At Tom's last words, Alex deflated, his gaze slipping down to his feet.
"That's kind of a problem," the blond-haired boy said, voice quiet. There was a hard edge to his tone—a bitterness that a teen really had no business in knowing. "If I get close to her, what if they use her against me? You forget that you're always in danger because of me."
'They' were MI6 and MI6's enemies, which basically encompassed everyone. It wasn't the most comfortable idea that Tom had to settle with since knowing he was always watched wasn't a reassuring notion. Still, Tom didn't doubt Alex for a moment. Sure, there might have been that one time where he was shot in the hand in school, but if Alex hadn't been paying attention, Tom might have ended up with worse wounds than a bullet to his hand.
"I trust you." Tom was confident. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, lifting his chin to appear more commanding. "A simple 'hi' wouldn't make her a target, anyway."
"You'd be surprised," Alex muttered under his breath. The words weren't meant for Tom to hear, but the breeze carried his words further than he meant it to.
Tom's smile had long since dropped, and he was ready to beat the super-secret-agent over the head with a frying pan. Marching forth, he grabbed Alex's shoulders with his hands and shook him as hard as he dared. (Tom was fairly sure he was still recovering from some kind of wound).
"Are you a man or not?" he demanded. "If you don't say something to that girl on Monday morning, I'm going to tell Cheryl the whole truth! Ha!"
Cheryl was the resident gossip collector and dealer. If Tom went to her, the 'rumor' would spread to everyone in less than an hour.
Alex gritted his teeth, glaring at his best friend, "You wouldn't."
To any outsider, it might've looked like he was about to attack Tom with a well placed headbutt, but Tom knew him too well to take the threat seriously. Instead, he nodded solemnly, "I would."
On Monday morning, Tom was very pleased to spot Alex give a quick 'hello' to a petite Asian girl, his cheeks flushing a brilliant red ("smooth, Alex") when the girl smiled back. Behind the scenes, Tom gave himself a well deserved pat on the back.
A/N: For some reason, I'm was REALLY exhausted, writing this. It's just my own writing project is going kinda slow, so I thought I could try to rejuvenate my creative fruits by revisiting Alex Rider fanfics! Anyway, thank you all for being really patient and offering me kind words. Also, if you wanna feel my mood right now, go listen to "Waving Through a Window" from Dear Evan Hansen. It's such a good song and totally relatable (at least for me). Anyway, thank you all for your continued support to both my sporadic updating and to me as a person. 'dalekchung' wouldn't exist without you, so like, I'm going to give you all warm, happy hugs right now
