Disclaimer: I am not Lynette Noni.

Also, the translations are going to be at the end of the scene where they ARE needed. Originally I wrote this chapter that Alex's abuela died, but I was rereading my fic and decided I've gone a little over the top. So yeah. The second part is a rewrite.

Enjoy!

xxi. Alex

"Well," Alex said lightly. "That definitely went better than what you boys were anticipating."

Kaiden's response was a good-natured eye roll, his hand resting soothingly on her leg. Despite it being well past midnight, he'd accompanied her in the dorm, both sprawled on Alex's bed, her legs thrown across his lap.

She liked having him there in the dorm. It was often lonely without the presence of D.C. to fill it, and then like always, there was a stab in her heart at the thought of her fallen best friend. To cast her thoughts away from D.C., Alex nudged her boyfriend and mustered a teasing smile to her lips.

"Go on. Admit that I was right."

Kaiden shot her a wry look. "Mustn't happen often enough if you're pestering me about it."

"Exactly. I have to relish those moments."

He chuckled quietly, leaning forward to tenderly brush his lips against her own. He tasted like apple pie and quality homemade cooking. When he pulled back - or more like, Alex permitted him to do so - he murmured softly, "You were right. This whole family introduction dinner wasn't as awful as us boys said it would be."

"Damn straight," she replied as he leaned back. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you."

Kaiden arched his brows questioningly. "Forgot to tell me what?"

"I'm heading to Freya tomorrow. Just for a few hours."

"Fine by me. Stay out of trouble, okay?" He leaned forward to kiss her again, and Alex twisted her fingers in his shirt, yearning for a few extra minutes where her mind wouldn't drift to D.C.'s stark absence in the dorm.

/

"Something has you distracted today, mi precioso," tutted Abuela as she stacked her treasured tins of Spanish spices and herbs back onto a shelf. "¿Qué te ha estado haciendo ese chico?"

Alex struggled to fight down a crimson-red blush as she responded, switching effortlessly between languages. "I was out late last night. Two of my friends' siblings are dating and they were introducing their families to one another. E incluso si lo fuera, no es nada de lo que deba preocuparse."

"How lovely. Mira lo que estás haciendo, o te verás golpeado en un abrir y cerrar de ojos."

Alex promptly choked on her tea at Abuela's string of Spanish words. "Abuela! We're not - we're not like that!"

Abuela made a disbelieving sound as she turned away, shuffling out of the kitchenette. "You never know what teenage boys are like, mi precioso, until you give them exactly what's on their minds."

She was shaking her head adamantly before Abuela had even finished her sentence. "Kaiden wouldn't use me like that. Ever."

"Kaiden? Un nombre de chico blanco. But what makes you so sure, mi precioso?"

"Because … because …" Alex trailed off, biting her bottom lip as she deliberated how to explain. "He's - he's made some pretty consequential choices that really helped me out, but definitely endangered him when he could have gone uninvolved. No guy who wants me just for … that … would go to the lengths he did."

Not to mention, no guy like that would have the patience to put up with my trauma unless he really did care about me, she added mentally.

"What were these lengths?"

"Important ones, Abuela. Dangerous ones. He ... Without the risks he took to help me out, I'd be long dead."

Abuela tutted as she shuffled towards one of the squat red armchairs, sinking into the velvet and coaxing El Mocoso into her lap. The cat reluctantly slunk into Abuela's lap, but began purring in content when the old lady's withered fingers moved to rub his ears. "I do sometimes wonder about you, mi precioso."

Alex froze.

"Wh- what do you mean?"

"Well, even before your parents passed away, que sus espíritus estén en reposo, you have always been so different from other girls your age. Not that I mind that, just look at your brat of a cousin. But … I have always worried, wondering what it was like for you to be raised so differently. For a very long time, I was concerned that you wouldn't receive the adequate education to establish yourself in the world -"

"Abuela, you sound like one of my teachers. Or Kyia."

"Who is Kyia?"

"She's a friend." Alex bit her bottom lip, making a mental note to visit Meya as soon as she could.

"You've never spoken of her. You've only spoken about your other friends, and that boyfriend of yours. Not much else, mi precioso." El Mocoso let out a yowl, a demand for attention, and Alex wasn't sure whether to laugh to be horrified as Abuela bodily thrust the cat off her.

"I've got to be a teenage girl sometimes," Alex said. Her voice was hoarse.

"Ah, but not with your abuela you will not. One silly granddaughter is enough bother. You will behave and tell me interesting stories, sí?"

"Sí. ¿Con qué maravillosos cuentos te regalaré?"

Abuela let out a cackle of laughter. "How about you begin with the basics, mi precioso? Pero mantenlo interesante."

/ TRANSLATIONS \

¿Qué te ha estado haciendo ese chico? = What has that boy been doing to you?

E incluso si lo fuera, no es nada de lo que deba preocuparse. = And even if he was, it's nothing you need to worry about.

Mira lo que estás haciendo, o te verás golpeado en un abrir y cerrar de ojos. = Watch what you're doing, or you'll find yourself knocked up in no time flat.

Un nombre de chico blanco. = Such a white boy name.

Que sus espíritus estén en reposo = may their spirits be at rest

sí = yes

¿Con qué maravillosos cuentos te regalaré? = what wonderful tales shall I regale you with?

Pero mantenlo interesante = But keep it interesting

/

(AN: Back to the fic ...)

/

Alex arrived back at the academy later than she normally did - it was well past nightfall, and she suspected she'd missed dinner - as she emerged from the Tower into the cool grey air. Soraya had materialised, trotting obediently at her heels, as Alex made her way across the courtyard. Her stomach would have been rumbling with hunger, if it wasn't for the fact Abuela had crammed an endless flow of delicious homemade Spanish cuisine down her mouth earlier.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Alex set out to locate her friends. Just as she had finished searching the Rec Room, frowning and wracking her brain cells as they were nowhere to be seen amongst the mass of chattering and relaxing students, she heard a voice call out to her, and a scramble of approaching footfalls.

"Wait up, Alex!"

Alex turned to find Mel O'Malley hurrying towards her. It was evident she'd been crying, with her eyeliner smearing her cheeks like panda circles, and the bloodshot glassiness of her eyes. Alex suspected Pipsqueak had been comforting her, noting the appearance of her classmate trailing after Mel.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Alex said, her words sharp with concern as she took in Mel's clearly distraught appearance.

Wringing her hands, and ignoring the look Pip speared her with, Mel whimpered, "Did I ever have a chance with Jordan?"

Biting back some rather hostile comments, Alex sucked in a fortifying breath, calming her thoughts. She knew exactly what this was about - Jordan must have gotten bored of the flirting, and rejected Mel when she finally tried to make a move. She'd been meaning to tell him off about it, but she'd never had the heart, knowing he was just trying to erase his heartache.

But Alex knew she also had to be supportive of both teams. She tried to put herself in Mel's shoes, imagining that Kaiden had really just been leading on her for a laugh or to get over another girl. Her hands clenched at the very thought, and she forced them to slacken as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, Mel, but … no, I don't think you ever really did."

"Excuse me?" piped up Pip, stepping forward with a keen hostility in her eyes. "How do you explain all the flirting from the past few days?"

Alex sighed. "He was leading her on."

"What?" Mel released a furious, choking sob. "Why? Why wouldn't you at least tell me he was doing that -"

"Because it's not my business." Alex grimaced apologetically. "Look, I'm sorry for what he did, I truly am, and I'm not saying what he did was right. All I'm saying is that he's certainly not gotten over Dix, and he's not dealing with it well."

"But … but … what made Dix so special anyway?" Mel burst.

"She was a complete bitch until about nine months ago," Pipsqueak added.

Oh no she didn't.

It took all of Alex's willpower - her gift was definitely at its utmost restraints - to not slap Pipsqueak for those words she had dared utter. Her words rang repeatedly in Alex's mind … and suddenly anger was pulsing through her, anger unlike anything she had experienced in a long time.

"Excuse me," she spat. Her voice shook with lethal fury as she continued. "But that's my best friend you're talking about."

Pipsqueak shrugged indifferently. "It's the truth."

She had just insulted Alex's best friend.

The very best friend that had been sent plunging to her death.

The very best friend who Alex had watched die.

The very best friend whose empty presence left the dorm so hatefully empty.

The very best friend who Alex still constantly craved, still craved a best female friend.

The very best friend who Alex, and Jordan, and Bear, had only been able to share such a short time with.

And she didn't fucking need the reminder.

"You want the truth?" Alex spat, her voice gradually rising with every poison-filled syllable. "You fucking want the truth, Pip?"

Pipsqueak faltered, before she folded her arms and raised her chin defiantly. "Sock it to me. Dix was a bitch, plain and simple."

Barely leashing her anger, Alex hissed, "You're a coward. You're a coward because you sat back and let people die, without doing anything to help. You're a coward because you're so selfish you can't see past what everyone actually needs you to do. You're a coward because you never say what you actually think about people to their face, only behind their back."

"Don't call me a coward." Pip hissed back.

"I'll call you whatever the fuck I want, if you think you can say those things about Dix and get away with it." Alex shot back, before spinning on her heel and marching from the room.