Death was a rather peculiar thing. Even though you know someone is dead, you've seen their lifeless body laying there in front of you, and you've felt their lack of pulse, it's still hard to accept. I had woken up with my head laying on Alex's chest. For the past three days I had begged him to stay with me. I couldn't bear to sleep alone. I kept my eyes on my door, half expecting my mother to walk through it and reprimand me for letting Alex sleep in my bed. I kept expecting to walk down the stairs and see my mother's smiling face. I kept expecting to see her standing behind the kitchen counter, holding my morning shake and my small cup of vitamins.
I even found myself walking down the stairs, hoping that I had awoken from a bad dream. I saw the empty living and turned to see the empty kitchen. It was more than just empty though. It honestly felt like a piece of the house was missing. I knew that a piece of me was missing. I walked outside and thought maybe I could feel her presence by her flowers. I was wrong about that too. There was nothing, just a void left in her place. The sun had yet to rise, and I stepped out onto the cold, wet grass.
I was aware that I was in nothing but shorts and a tank top and that it was about forty degrees outside, but I wasn't cold. I just felt numb. I decided to sit down and watch the sun rise. As I felt the coldness hit my skin I remembered the look that Jackson had given me when he found out that I was a hunter. His eyes had lost all of the warmth and love that he once looked at me with. I knew that he was going to be upset, but I never would have expected that he would have been this upset. And I definitely thought that once he found out about my mother's passing he would have shown up to see me. But I was wrong.
Stiles and Scott had shown up though. I made Alex send them away. Stiles even protested, saying that I didn't need to be alone right now. But I wasn't alone, I had Alex. Even if he was all I had, I was okay with that. Today was probably going to prove the worst of them all though. Today I would have to face those in the community that had a chance to meet my mom and today I would have to face my father. It'll be the first time seeing him since I told him he wasn't my father anymore.
"What are you doing out here? You're going to catch something." I turned around and saw Alex carrying a blanket and walking towards me. When he reached my side, he wrapped the blanket around me.
"Thanks." I wrapped the blanket tighter around me.
"You don't even have shoes on Olivia. Come on." He put his hand on my shoulder and started trying to turn me around. "Let's go." I let him guide me in the house. "I'm going to make you a nice cup of hot tea." He set me down at the table and rubbed my shoulders for a moment. "Green tea with pomegranate?" He asked me, but I couldn't make myself answer. I heard the cup being banged around slightly out of the cabinet and onto the counter.
"I keep expecting her to walk through that door. Or be right there in that kitchen. Cooking us food and making me…" He appeared at my side with a glass of water and a very familiar small cup.
"Take your vitamins." I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile. He knew exactly what I was talking about. I heard the water boiler steaming and then Alex walked back into the kitchen.
"She loved you like a son. You know that?" He set a cup of hot tea in front of me and then sat down with one of his own.
"As did I love her like a mother. She was the only one I've ever known after all." He reached over and placed his hand in mine, it felt like a blazing fire against my cold skin. "Are you going to be able to make it through today?" I saw concern and worry in a way that I have never seen before in his eyes.
I pulled my hand out of his and gave him an empty smile. "I'm a Hamilton. We survive everything and anything." That was all I said. "Bending but never breaking."
"Everyone breaks Olivia.." That wasn't true at all. My father never broke. Not once have I ever seen him weak in the slightest.
"I'll be fine Alex." I stood up and leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I am going to go upstairs and begin getting ready." I took my tea with me.
-000-
Two hours later, I was dressed in my best black dress and heels to match. I sat in front of my mirror, just trying to fix all the stray hairs and eyelashes.
"You couldn't look more perfect even if you were a porcelain doll. You look like your mother." I saw Alex in the reflection of the mirror. That made me smile a little bit.
"You're biased." I put in both of my earrings and turned to look at him.
"But I'm the best kind of biased." He grinned at me. He offered out his arm and I stood and took it.
"Don't leave me today, okay?" My voice was shaky but he understood me.
"Never." He placed his hand over mine and led me to the car.
-000-
When we pulled up to the graveyard. The place was packed with people, all dressed in black of course. Most were here for Kate Argent's funeral though. I walked up to the spot that I had picked out for my mom. It was in the corner, near a large tree. Mom always loved trees. She used to say that they held the secrets to nature. They were the signs of when the seasons changed, when it was going to rain, when storms were coming; they were nature's own little weathermen.
I had a death grip on Alex's hand. I kept hope in a small place in my heart that Jackson would be here, but I still saw no sign of him. When I reached the spot that my mother was to be buried, I felt my heart warm a little bit more. There stood Scott and Stiles. Stiles reached out and took my hand. They didn't say anything, nor did they have to. It just meant so much that they were here.
In came my father, all tall and proud. It stood a ways away from me. I felt Alex squeeze my hand when he noticed me staring at my dad. I couldn't help but notice that the way he stood it was like he felt obligated to be here, not that he wanted to be here. He had no sign of sadness on his face nor did he look like anything in his life had changed within the past three days. Like he hadn't made the decision to pull the plug on his own wife, my mother.
I saw Scott fidgeting out of the corner of my eye and glanced over at him. He was staring pretty intently at Kate's funeral. I glanced over and saw who he was looking at. It was clear that Scott wanted to go and check it out but he wasn't leaving because of me. He fidgeted some more and then it finally got to him.
"I'll be right back." He got up and crept behind all of the tombstones. Stiles reached down and started holding my hand that Alex didn't have.
When it came time to leave the flowers and say good-bye, Stiles looked over at me. I knew what he was going to ask, so I just went on a head and gave him that permission.
"Go and find Scott." He leaned in and gave me a quick hug before running off.
My dad hung back. He didn't make any advances on trying to speak to me, and I wasn't going to try and speak to him. I placed the butterfly irises on her casket and kissed my hand before laying in over the flowers. Alex never left my side.
He began walking me down the hill towards a black car. It wasn't my car, but Alex said that he had something to take care of before we left.
"This is Blake. He'll take you home and I'll be right behind you." He lowered me into the back seat. "I promise." He said while he squeezed my hand and then closed the door.
-000-
Alex's POV
I closed the door, reluctantly. The last thing that I wanted to do today was leave her by herself. She hadn't been herself the past few days, and I was honestly a little worried to leave her alone. I turned around and started walking back up the hill. There was something that I was going to have to take care of and I didn't need Olivia around when I did.
I walked up the hill and found Mr. Hamilton by Olivia's mother's casket. The graveyard worker was lowering her down into the ground.
I waited for him to begin walking back to his vehicle before I actually approached him. I followed him and he grabbed out his keys from his pocket. He paused before he opened his door though.
"Alex." He turned around and looked at me. "I was expected this talk to happen."
"I just wanted to formally give you my request to withdraw my position at the training center." This was the professional part of the talk.
"Is this because of my daughter?" He was now leaning against his truck and looking at me condescendingly.
"This is because of what you did. Olivia needs to be left out of this conversation." I needed to establish that before he had a chance to use her against me. That's one of the things that he did best. He would find your weakness and then exploit it. And it wasn't a secret that Olivia was my weakness.
"Are you quitting because you think that you have to stay by her side? That you owe her that?" He seemed so relaxed that it was unsettling.
"No. I'm quitting because I have no place in this world anymore. Very few live by the code anymore. We are supposed to protect the humans. Not become animals ourselves." I stood a little bit taller and squared up my shoulders. "I'm out Charles."
I started to walk back towards the car, but he stopped me.
"You can't make her happy you know." I turned around and he was now standing with his door open. "No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to make her happy. All you will ever be is a daily reminder of the world that she has grown to hate so much. A reminder of what took her mother away. And a reminder of why she lost everything. It'll never work out for you."
"I didn't take her mother away and neither did this world. You did." I kept a cold glare on him.
"Leaving us will be the biggest mistake you will ever make. You're one of our best." I would have thought that was a compliment, if I didn't know that he was trying to trick me somehow.
"No. Leaving will be the biggest mistake you ever made. Olivia is an amazing person. And you should be proud to have her as a daughter." I did leave this time. I left with high hopes that I would never have to face him again.
The whole drive home though, I couldn't help but think about he had said. About how I would never be able to make her happy. And right now I knew that I wasn't the one that was making her happy, Jackson was. And where the hell was that guy today? I knew that she really wanted and needed him there, and he wasn't decent enough to show up?
So I decided to make a detour.
I pulled up at his house ten minutes later.
I knocked on his door, knowing he was home because his car was in the driveway. He opened it and I could see that he was going to close the door so I stuck my foot in the way before he had a chance to get the door closed.
"What the hell do you want?" He was holding his head high and clearly not interested in what I was about to say.
"As much as I hate to admit this, we have something in common." Jackson stepped out on the porch, intrigued by where I was going with this probably.
"Well, it's obviously not looks." He threw his hands out by his sides. "It's not money, because I drive a much faster car than you. And I live in a bigger house." He grinned. "And it can't be girls because well, you don't have one." He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, still wearing that cocky smile that made me want to punch him. "And it can't be the face that we both work out, because my muscles are bigger…"
"It's Olivia, you jack ass." I said simply. He knew why I was here.
He looked at the ground and didn't meet my eyes. "I don't want to talk about Olivia." His words came out as more of a grunt then anything.
"Well too bad. Because you are going to talk about it. Where were you today? She needed you and you weren't there." I took a small step towards him. I wasn't going to let Olivia get her heart broken twice in the same week.
"I wasn't aware that my attendance was mandatory." He spoke sarcastically.
"Don't be an ass. So what if she is a hunter?" I just exposed the big elephant on the porch. It wasn't as if we needed to beat around the bush anymore.
"I'm not being an ass. She lied to me. She used me. And she let me think that she actually cared." He was looking me in the eyes now, and I was sure that the emotion that was expressed on his face was the most emotion I had ever seen on him.
"And she knew that you wanted to become a werewolf. Even after she knew that, she still stayed by your side. Because she cared. Open your eyes you over glorified high school jock. The only reason she lied was to keep your ass safe. You became a target of the werewolves the moment that she fell for you. She didn't want you to become a part of her world because she didn't want you to be in any danger." I saw realization of his stupid misunderstanding dawn on his face.
"She just buried her own mother no more than an hour ago. And instead of you being by her side, you are sitting in your living room sulking like a little girl." I looked at him and his whole expression had changed. "She's back at the house. It would probably be nice of you to show up with flowers and an apologetic smile. Her favorite movie and skittles would probably get her to forgive you quicker than anything." I advised him. He started to open his mouth but I had already guessed what he was going to ask me. "Her favorite movie is Top Gun." I saw him smile and knew it was because of Olivia's movie choice.
"I expect you to show up within the hour on her front door step. If not then I will come back here and beat the crap out of you." He looked up at me and was clearly going to say something that was drenched with testosterone. "Before you even think that you have a chance against me. You saw how bad ass Olivia was right? Well, I was the one that trained her." That was all I said as I began walking back to my car.
"Why are you doing this?" I turned around and saw his skeptical look on his face. "I mean, I thought that you had feelings of your own for her?"
"I don't have feelings for her. I love her. Which is why if you break her heart again, I will kill you." With that I got into my car. I had some sharp pains go through my leg. The doctor told me that I didn't need to walk on it. He said that I should use crutches if at all possible. But I had been shot before, and I could handle the pain. Just as long as if I didn't stand up for too long.
-000-
Olivia's POV
I found myself sitting on the front porch awaiting Alex to come home. Normally I wasn't so needy, but I hated being alone. Anytime I was in that house, I just kept seeing her everywhere.
I had been waiting for an hour when I finally decided to go upstairs and lay down. I went to go and find a larger t-shirt to put on over my boyshorts, and my fingers glided across a familiar one. It was an older Skillet concert tee. I remembered back to the day that Jackson had lent it to me.
We were in the school's weight room and when I walked out he thought it would be funny to push me into the pool. I had a change of pants, but I didn't have an extra shirt. So he let me borrow this one. I hadn't given it back, because it was rather comfortable and it smelled like him. Like every other girl in the world, I liked to steal guy's clothing.
I pulled the shirt on over my bra and walked into my closet to find my slippers. My feet were icy cold and I didn't feel like pairing together a pair of socks at the moment. When I walked into my closet though, I was stopped in my tracks at the sight of the box that held my Riddick blades. The same ones that Alex had given to me the night that Peter died. The same night that my mother had died.
I pulled the blades out and ran my fingers over the engravings. I had lived by those words my whole life, until now.
I heard the front door slam shut and I placed the blades back down in the box and slammed the lid closed. I rushed out of my closet and closed the door. I had told Alex that I was through with everything that was involved with the hunting world, which included my weapons. I didn't want him to see me playing around with the blades.
Alex came up the stairs and into my room. He was carrying a brown paper bag and wore a huge smile.
"I brought home Chinese food!" He said happily.
"I'm not really…"
"If you say 'that hungry' I will smack you." He sat down on my bed. "You haven't really ate in three days. Those awful protein bars don't count either. And neither does skittles. I have found all of your stashes while you were asleep this morning. I've hidden them all. If you eat real food then you may have them back." I reached under my bed and heard him laugh. I glared at him as I stood up.
I walked over to my dresser and pulled open the second drawer. They were gone. I walked over to my closet and pulled out my snack bin from the top shelf. The skittles were gone from there too.
"I also took the two stashes from the kitchen. One from the fridge and one from behind the cereal boxes. I took the one from the drawer in the lamp stand in the living room and the stash you had under my bed from when we have movie nights." I looked at him with my mouth wide open. Then I remembered where I had one more stash.
I started to walk out of my room, but Alex stopped me. "The one out of your car is gone too." He said without even looking at me. I stomped my foot down like a little kid and marched myself back over to my bed.
Alex was laughing and I wanted to punch him. "I hate you." Was all I said. He opened up the bag and handed me my chicken lo mien.
"I brought your favorite. You can't hate me." This was true. I took the little white box hesitantly. The minute I smelled the food though, I realized that I was indeed starving.
"I can still hate you." I looked at him and gave him a small smile. "But thank you for bringing me food."
He smiled back and pulled out his sweet and sour chicken.
"Alex?" He looked up at me. "When I get to feeling up to doing stuff again. The first thing that is on my to-do list is kicking your ass for taking my candy. Just so you know." He laughed and it was a nice sound to hear. I hadn't much nice things the past few days.
-000-
It was about an hour later and I was in my room drawing. This time I was drawing the person I thought my mother would have looked like when she was a young hunter. Gorgeous and fierce. The perfect female warrior.
I heard someone pulling into my drive way and I stood up to look out of my window. Jackson's car was parked in my drive way. My heart jumped a little bit. I watched as he brought a flower arrangement to my front door. I expected him to knock or ring the door bell. But as I waited to hear one or the other, neither happened.
Jackson was now walking back towards his car, hands empty and my heart cracked just a little bit. I lifted up my window and yelled out, "Do you hate me that much that you can't even come up and say hello?" It was probably a little mean to say, but I needed to know if there was any chance that we could move forward after all that has happened.
I heard my front door open up and then I saw Alex standing my front yard. Jackson was looking up at Alex and then he glanced at me before looking back at Alex.
"Of course he is coming Libbs. He just needed to get something out of his car. Right Jackson?" She reached into his car and pulled out a bag. He looked back up at Alex and gave a tight smile.
"Yeah."
I heard the front door open and then close. I heard some muffled voices a moment before I heard footsteps come the stairs. Jackson knocked softly on my door and I opened it up.
I was a little nervous. I have never had a relationship before, let alone a fight in a relationship. So I didn't know how to fix it. Did I start with an apology? Or did I wait for him to start the conversation or what?
"Is that my shirt?" He looked down at the shirt I was wearing and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks slightly.
"Uh…Yeah. I'm sorry. I just.." I didn't know what to say. Was it bad that I was wearing his shirt?
"It looks good on you." He said with a small smile. I was instantly relieved. I would hate it if he got upset because I was wearing his shirt.
I stepped aside and motioned for him to come in. I went to go and sit on my bed and he just kind of stood there, staring.
He finally decided to sit down on the bed. And I got to the point where I couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Jackson, look I am so sorry. I should have told you about me being a hunter. But then I was afraid that since you wanted to be the type of thing that I hunted you wouldn't want to be with me anymore. And honestly I was just so afraid. And I'm sorry." That all came out in one breath.
"Have you been drawing?" I stared back at him blankly. After all of what I just said, he asks me if I had been drawing?
"What?" I shook my head. "I mean, yes. But.."
"You have charcoal dust on your face." He pointed to my cheek. I reached up and tried to get it but he only chuckled.
"Here let me get for you." He reached up and started to smudge the charcoal spot off my cheek. The skin on his hand was a little bit rough, probably because he was an athlete. But the feeling of it on my cheek was a familiar one.
And usually right about now he would have kissed me. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to, but he was holding back. So I went with my gut. I leaned my lips closer to his, close enough to lightly brush mine against his own.
At first he was real hesitant, but then his hand slid to the back of my neck and pulled in closer to him. He kissed me hard before he pulled back, grinning at me.
"A kiss doesn't fix everything remember?" He looked up at me and I felt a weight come back down on my chest. He reached behind him and pulled his back open. "But, I think I have something that will." He turned back around and was now holding the biggest bag of skittles I had ever seen and my favorite movie, Top Gun.
I couldn't help the smile that came across my face. "Wait, does this mean that we are okay?"
I looked up at him and I saw that he was thinking about something. "Let's just say that you have one hell of a guard dog. And he explained everything to me." I smiled to myself. He was talking about Alex.
I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to him as Jackson was putting in the movie.
You're right. I don't hate you. I love you. Thank you.
I put my phone back on the night stand and curled up on my bed. I patted the spot next to me and Jackson smiled. He laid down and pulled me closer to fit my body tighter to his.
He leaned down and softly kissed the spot right under my ear. "I really could get used to seeing you in my shirts…" He whispered.
-000-
I must have fallen asleep. Because when I woke up I saw that Jackson was asleep next to me. He had one arm behind his hand and the other was wrapped underneath me. I started to get up and he started moving.
"Oh hey..I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you." I said apologetically towards him.
He smiled and then gave me his trademark grins. "You are more than welcome to fall asleep on me anytime. You get all cuddly when you're asleep." He stretched and then stood up. "I guess I'm going to head home. Do you need anything before I go?" He asked me, and he looked at me with such concern that it warmed my heart.
"For you to stay?" It was both an answer and a question within itself. I didn't want to be alone. Jackson looked at me and he was clearly hesitant. "If you don't want to stay then I guess I can just ask Alex to stay with me again. I don't like being alone." It was the truth, but I also knew it would get him to say yes quicker than anything.
"I'm staying. No worries about that. Alex will never have a reason to sleep in this bed again." I could tell that he was mad, but he wasn't going to say anything. He came over and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Can we go back to bed now?" I asked him.
"Careful making requests like that. That's how trouble gets started." He winked but he pulled me back on to the bed with him. I curled up next to him. And for the first time in days, I felt myself falling asleep peacefully.
Hello all!
So I know that this update is a little bit shorter, and not much happened at all. But no worries. In the next chapter, I shall be introducing a new character! So be excited.
I'll give a short spoiler. ****Don't forget that Olivia's dad didn't want Alex out of the hunting world. And the new character is a feisty little brunette from Alex's past.****
I love hearing from all of you. The reviews I get are so amazing, but they are few and far between. I write this story for you guys! I want to hear from you! I want to hear your ideas, or your feelings about what is going on in this story. If you are shy and don't want to leave a review…. PM me. I always respond. I love hearing and conversing with you guys.
I hope you are all having a lovely evening.
& As Always…
Much Love!
-Makayla