3

"I'm gonna miss you too, Tawni." Sonny spoke into her phone as she sat in her first class seat. "I gotta go though. I'll call you when I get there." She hung up the phone and looked through her phone list. She stopped on the 1st name. Alexandria. She dialed and took a deep breath. It went straight to voicemail. "Hey Lexi. It was great seeing you again last night. I'm gonna be in New York today. I hoping we could talk. So call me. Please."

*********
Stevie woke with a groggy groan. She was covered in sweat. 'Gross' she thought. She looked over to see the raven haired beauty asleep holding her hand to her chest. Stevie smiled and started to lean over but stopped. 'Too dizzy, slow down' her mental voice told her. Slowly, she pulled away from Alex's grasp and grabbed Alex's phone not remembering where hers was. She snuck out of her room and turned around running right into Justin. He caught her as she fell.

"Easy." He said steadying her. "You okay?" He did his best to keep the images of her and Sonny's limp body's in his arms.

"Yeah." She straightened. "The pain killers just kinda have my head still in a fog."

"Oxy-Cotton's a bitch." He mumbled and she gave him a strange look.

"What?"

"Morphine." He did his best to recover. Thankfully she didn't ask about it again.

"Have you seen my phone?"

"No. Sorry." She nodded and he watched her head disappear down the steps with a heavy heart. He walked into his sister's room. She was sound asleep, still looking like a little girl. Smiling, he pulled the blanket back over her. Just as he got the door shut quietly, he felt an over whelming excitement that annoyed him. "What the hell?" He mumbled to himself. All he wanted was to go back to sleep. When he got to his room, he heard a "WHOO" and a loud thump come from Max's room. Justin grinned at the flashes of celebration he saw in his head of Aly winning the wizard competition, making her the Family Wizard. He continued down the hall to his old bed room and collapsed on his bed falling asleep instantly.

*********
"So, how's Mike taking it?" Max asked Aly as they made their way downstairs.

"He was annoyed at first, but he told me he's never been more proud to call me his little sister."

"Cool." He gave her a smile which she returned. He opened the fridge and drank from the milk carton. Aly cleared her throat and he placed it back in the fridge. She always had a way of making him do things that weren't so…disgusting. He sat on a bar stool and looked at the door that lead to the terrace. The curtains were drawn but he sighed and rubbed his temples.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked.

"This whole reading minds thing." He told her.

"What about it?"

"It's kind of getting….annoying." He looked at her. "It's happening more. And right now, I'd rather NOT know what's on everyone's mind."

"Am I thinking too much?" She teased and smiled.

"No." He nodded to the terrace. "Stevie's outside. She has a lot on her mind. And it's a little hard to tune her out." Aly wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her nose in his neck as his arms welcomed her.

"So what's she thinking about?" She asked curiously with as mile in her voice. Max pulled back to look at her.

"I thought you said I should only try to listen when necessary." He laughed.

"I like her and I like your sister. I'm kinda worried about them. Stevie doesn't even know how sick she is. It's so sad."

"She's just a little confused I think. Her thoughts are so scrambled. And something about someone named Stephanie?" He shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. There's a little too much going on in her head for me to get a clear thought."

"Maybe we should go talk to her." Aly suggest.

"Actually, I'm thinking she might wanna be left alone."

*********
Stevie sat out on the terrace by herself. In her hand she held Alex's phone. Her voice mail box was JUST filled this morning. Each message from Sonny, as well as almost 30 unanswered text messages. She sat there with the phone to her ear listening to the last message that filled the inbox a little over an hour before: "Hey Lexi. It was great seeing you again last night. I'm gonna be in New York today. I hoping we could talk. So call me. Please." She hit the END button and sat silently.

"Lexi…" She whispered as her breath danced in the morning air. 'She's coming to New York…fan-fucking-tastic,' she thought to herself. An unexpected tear escaped her eye and she wiped away angrily. A crisp wind blew causing her to shiver and she finally realized how cold it actually was. She tried using her abilities to warm herself, but it only made her dizzy and nauseous. "Must be the pain killers." She mumbled sitting down on the swing.

"Mason? Juliet?" She called to her watchers out loud.

Mason appeared in the corner as a full wolf. Stevie looked at him as he started to change. "Wait." She said stopping him. "Please, I don't really wanna talk." Mason cocked his head to the side. He starred at her a moment before he gave a quiet understanding whine. So he stayed on all four's as he hopped up on the swing next to her. When she shivered again, he got up and laid half his body over her lap to keep her warm. She hesitated before she stroked his head. He closed his eyes in satisfaction and she laughed at his groan when she scratched him behind the ears. He licked her chin. Somehow running her fingers through his soft and coarse thick coat calmed her a little. She sighed thinking about everything.

"What am I suppose to do Mase?" She asked trying not to let her voice betray her. He looked at the phone in her hand and huffed in disapproval. "You saw me check her messages didn't you?" He huffed again. "I know. I shouldn't have." She said guiltily. "But she's been lying to me. I've asked her if she still talks to her. And now Sonny's on her way and wants to see Alex…AGAIN!" She began crying. "I heard Juliet saying that she grabbed Alex while she was talking to Sonny." Then she kinda laughed and Mason cocked his head to the side again and she continued. "Sorry, it's just I've never actually met Juliet and I only got a glimpse of her when I was in and out."

The tears continued down her cheeks. "I heard Alex yelling last night." She said sadly. "It's not food poisoning is it?" It wasn't much of a question. She already knew it was something worse. "Justin accidently said the doctor gave me Oxy-Cotton, and then said it was morphine. I know what patients they give oxy to." She stared into Mason's golden wolf eyes. "I know that it's cancer Mason." He whined and she looked away still crying. He nudged her with his nose. When she didn't respond he licked the tears o her cheek.

"Eww," She complained whipping her face. She laughed as he licked is lips. "But thanks." She smiled and went upstairs and put back the phone.

"You wanna unpack now or later?" Connie asked her daughter. Sonny plopped down on her big green couch letting out a long breath.

"Maybe later. I'm kind of tired. It was a long flight." She said.

"So how was the show last night?"

"It was great," a small smile played across her face. "I saw Alex."

Connie looked surprised. "She went all the way to L.A. just to see your 1st BIG gig?" Sonny's brow furrowed as her smile faded.

"Actually, I don't even think she knew I was performing. She's a big Tegan and Sara fan. Said she was there to see them."

Her mother starred at her as she thought about the previous night again. "Okay," she said. "You were JUST smiling. Now you look upset. What the hell Allison?"

"She acted a little weird. Or maybe it was me. I mean I even thought I almost heard her say 'girlfriend' when she was saying where she got the tickets. And I thought I saw her with someone while I was onstage. But she was alone when I talked to her. Or at least until Juliet showed up talking about Ste-"she stopped as she realized what she was saying. Juliet was supposed to be OLD and banned from the mortal world. "Stevie?" she whispered the name. No way, Juliet she could handle. She's only a vampire older than time itself. But Stevie? Stevie's dead. 'I had to have heard her wrong.'

"Who?"

"Nothing." Sonny said with a wry smile. "I just want to take a shower and get ready."

"Ready for what?" Her mom asked.

"To go talk to Alex. You should come with me. Mrs. Russo would probably be happy to see you."

"Not a bad idea kiddo." She smiled at her daughter.

**********
Alex woke to the sound of Stevie lightly strumming her new guitar on the other side of her room. Alex sat up and watched her play a few notes, stop and write on a piece of paper, and play a few more notes. She looked so at ease playing music. Kind of the way Sonny looked when she'd play.

"Hey." Alex said to her. Stevie looked up from her paper and flipped her bangs out of her face while the rest hung in a lose pony tail. She flashed a half smile at her as she walked to the corner where she Stevie sat. "How are you feeling?" she asked the girl with the shaggy hair.

"A hundred percent better." Stevie answered. Alex gave her a weary smile and reached out to tuck her bangs behind her ear. Caressing Stevie's cheek with her thumb she noticed her normal, loving, beautiful warmth wasn't there…again. Her brows came together.

"Are you sure?" She asked again.

Stevie put down her guitar and cupped Alex's face in her hands as she tenderly kissed the wizards lips. She pulled out of the kiss and looked into Alex's chocolate brown eyes. "I'm fine." She said and kissed her again. This time Alex felt that comfortable warmth flow into her lips and cheeks and she relaxed.

The gentle way Stevie kissed her made her heart race and confused her at the same time. 'She never kisses me this way,' she thought as Stevie disconnected their lips and smiled. But despite her confusion, Alex returned the smile.

"Sonny called again." She said. Alex's breath caught in her throat. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I…" she didn't know what to say. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Lying to me hurts. You being friends with your ex girlfriend doesn't." Alex nodded. She was speechless. "I don't care that you're friends. Just don't lie to me Alex. No secrets remember?" Alex starred for a moment before her again, nodded quietly. "Now call her back for shit sake. She called really early and woke me up."

"You answered it?"

"No, why would I?" Alex shrugged. 'Why would she?'

"Have you seen my phone?" Stevie asked.

"I think Juliet still has it. It fell out of your pocket when you passed out last night." She looked at the sheets of paper spread out in front of Stevie on the floor and realized it was sheet music. She picked up the first page and read the notes as the music played in her head. "You wrote this?"

"Yes'm." She flashed her cocky smile.

"It's pretty."

"You can read it?" Stevie looked surprised.

Alex nodded and smiled. "Sonny taught me how to play the piano. We broke up in before I finished learning to read sheet music. But I continued to study it for a while and I can pretty much hear the music in my head when I read the music."

"Ah, so you DO play more than just the drums." Stevie teased and Alex giggled. "So why'd you stop?"

"Alex shrugged. "Art and Fashion Design interested me a little more. And I was better at it."

"Nonsense! I bet you're better than you think."

Alex scrunched up her nose.

"Yeah well I played for YOU."

"Someday." She teased and stood up to walk toward her bed. "I'm gonna call Sonny."

"That's what I thought!" Stevie yelled before tackling her on the bed.

After a playful wrestling match and a quick make-out session Stevie got ready for her shift despite Mr. and Mrs. Russo's suggestion to take the day off. Alex texted Sonny and walked with Stevie down stairs just as the lunch rush finished. Stevie went into the kitchen and Alex sat at the counter. Max was taking an order to a table of 3 and Theresa was taking another tables order.

"Hey Lexi." A familiar voice rang in her ears giving her butterflies. She turned around to see Sonny's warm smile as her arms pulled her in for a hug.

**********
Stevie heard an excited greeting outside the kitchen. She peeked out the window to see Theresa hugging a woman with dark hair and a friendly smile. She looked over at the front counter where Alex was hugging Sonny. A small strike of jealousy crept up in her but she forced it away. 'I trust her.' She told herself. Alex seemed to be hugging her back awkwardly and she laughed quietly. Max stood looking back and forward between his mom, Alex, and her.

'Keep working.' She told him mentally.

*********
Alex looked at her mom over Sonny's shoulder hugging Connie, Sonny's mother and smiled to herself. She'd always loved Connie. Then her eyes fell on a confused looking Max. 'KEEP WORKING' she shouted at him mentally. So he did. She inhaled the vanilla-coconut body mist Sonny wore once more before releasing her. "We have a lot to talk about." She said leading Sonny to a booth on the train car in the substation.