In Her Honor
Alex opened his eyes to see Jack. She was smiling at him on the shore of a beach. "Jack. You're dead."
The redhead smiled at him. Jack was just like he remembered. "Yes. I know."
Her eyes were soft. Alex felt a pang of sadness. The waves crashed behind him. "There's so much we never got to do together. I wanted to take you here, you know."
Jack sat down on a piece of driftwood. Alex let out a breath. She was here. "It's going to be okay, Alex. You'll see. The beach was my favorite place."
The waves crashed behind him again. The warm sun and cool sea air contrasted to make the perfect temperature. "I know. I'll never forget you."
She gave him a slight smile. The sun glistened across her hair. The waves rolled in the background. Alex sat down next to her and was pulled into an embrace. He breathed in the smell he recognized as uniquely Jack. "I loved you, Alex."
Alex let out a breath. They had never spoken like this in real life. "I loved you too."
He opened his eyes and she was gone. The beach remained in her stead.
Alex shot up in bed, his eyes flying open. He was in California. This wasn't France. And Jack was dead. Fuck. Fuck. He felt his throat close as he tried to hold off the sobs. Jack was gone. He gasped for breath and clutched at the bed covers. His eyes burned. Jack. Alex remembered watching her burn before his very eyes. His skin felt like it was on fire despite the cool temperatures of the California night. All he could smell was the acrid smell of gunfire and the stench of burnt flesh.
Alex felt himself beginning to pant. This was almost physically painful. He threw off the covers and got up to shower again. That was the good thing about Sabina's house. They all had their own bathrooms and no creaky hall to give away the fact that you were up at night.
The warm water did very little to soothe him as it ran down his entire body. It was nothing compared to the warmth he felt in the dream. It was almost too warm. He shut it off. Alex knew that getting back to sleep might be a problem. That dream had…well, it was almost worse than a nightmare. At least those didn't give him a false sense of peace before it was brutally torn away when he woke up.
Well, it wasn't like he didn't need the study time. He sighed as he pulled out his homework. The paper seemed dull to him. It probably was. It didn't need to be exciting, though. Just finished. And then Alex could move on to his next school assignment.
Alex rubbed his eyes as his alarm went off. He had already been awake for several hours at this point. Ah, well, time for breakfast and then school. The thought of food made his stomach turn ever so slightly. School didn't seem very exciting either. Jack used to make him breakfast. Scrambled eggs reminded him of her. It had been one of her favorites since it only took eight and a half minutes to make.
Alex let out a sigh as he began to fork them onto his plate to heat them. It was too early for anyone else to be up in the house yet. Liz and Edward would be asleep. Sabina wouldn't get up for another hour. He liked using the bus most days.
Alex leaned back and thought of Jack as he took the first bite. He needed to do something. There hadn't been a funeral. At least, not a funeral anybody had told him about. Perhaps her family hadn't wanted him there? Or maybe they didn't know. It wasn't like he'd talked with Joe Byrne about anything before coming here.
It came to him as he opened the door. The beach. They lived nearby one. It had been her favorite place. She had loved the sunshine and the ocean. Plus, all her favorite snack foods had been from America anyways. Alex felt his eyes sting and his breath quicken. Right. Now he just had to get through the day of school.
The afternoon found Alex taking a bus to a candy store instead of home. His bag was already heavy with textbooks and homework, but that wasn't going to stop him. Jack had always grabbed three snacks and that revolting sweet tea she liked that was served cold for some ungodly reason. He had already grabbed the tea from the school vending machine. His water bottle sat next to it in his backpack.
Alex entered the store and was immediately hit with the smell of sweets. A faint smile rose to his face. Jack would have loved taking him here. He walked around the shop. There was the root beer hard candy she had liked. Some sort of sour chewy lemon bites. And, then, there was fudge.
Alex grinned as he slid his purchase onto the counter. Ian would have had a conniption at the amount of pure sugar he was about to consume. The shop attendant rang him up and sent him on his way.
Alex walked towards the beach. He could already hear the waves. The seagulls were overhead. The feathery menaces were much smaller in America than in the UK. Jack had been outraged at the size of the vicious seagulls the first time she had taken him to the beach. The thought of her reaction brought a smile to his face.
Alex let out a sigh and opened the lemon candy. His shoes hit the sand as he ate the third lemon bite. The seagulls screeched overhead.
Alex spotted a decent-sized piece of driftwood that looked like the one in his dream. He walked over and sat down on it, setting his backpack down and pulling out the candy, tea, and water. The warmth of the sun hit his skin.
Alex stared out at the ocean and felt the grief he'd been feeling all day ease ever so slightly. It still wasn't okay. In some ways, things would never be okay. But, for once, Alex felt like he might be okay one day.
SCREECH!
He batted away a seagull from the revolting sweet tea. Alex took a sip. It was just as gag-worthy as always. Ah, well, it was time to just enjoy watching the surf. Alex shut off his phone and looked at the waves, content to eat his candy and watch them until sunset.
Fin