April, Come She Will

By: Aubrie1234

When he got up, Shawn wasn't surprised to find Alex already up and about, bags under his eyes. The boy clearly hadn't gotten any, if much, sleep. Silently, knowing that Juliet would kill them if she found any crumbs on the couch, Shawn fixed the boy a toasted cheese sandwich and let him stay on the couch. Alex had been angry the entire evening, refusing to speak to either of them even as they tried at times to get him to talk. He gave Shawn a small 'thank you' before munching on the sandwich. Shawn left him alone and returned to the kitchen, finding Juliet awake and fixing some breakfast for them. Shawn moved behind her and put his hands on her waist, kissing the back of her neck.

"Nice to see you finally up and about." he commented. He was sure Juliet was rolling her eyes.

"You're the one who sleeps in, Shawn, not me. Is Alex up yet?"

"Yeah, he's on the couch." Shawn rested his head in the crook of his wife's neck. Juliet hummed.

"You okay?"

"As okay as I can be about Alex."

"At least it's my off day, I can help keep an eye on him. We just stay home while you try to figure out this case."

"Careful with him." he advised, "Alex's mood can turn on a dime and anything can set him off. He's also way too curious for his own good. But were you able to get any info from Alex's scars?" Just the thought of the word left a bitter taste in Shawn's mouth. No kid deserved to have scars, even though he knew Alex was no kid. Juliet bit her lip.

"As much as I hate to say it, no. There's nothing since we don't know the specifics of his scars."

"Right."

"Shawn." Juliet turned around, "Don't beat yourself up about it. None of us could've known what he has, we don't know him that well. He could have so many terrible things we don't know about. This whole time you've been wanting me to trust Alex and I do, so you need to trust that he'll tell us everything when he's ready." She kissed him, "Promise?"

"I promise, but you stay safe, okay? I don't know why, but I get this feeling about Alex, whenever he's in danger, like he kind of attracted it, I guess?" Shawn scratched the back of his head, "It's hard to explain, but it feels like he's a walking bad luck charm. I love him, but I'm afraid you're gonna get hurt."

"I'll be fine." Juliet smiled, "I've been through a lot with you and if I can survive that insanity, I can survive a lot more." Shawn smiled, but it wasn't genuine like Juliet's.

"Just be careful." They kissed again before Shawn left her alone. After losing so much time yesterday after the shooting, he wanted to get a headstart on making progress in the case. He ducked into the living room to say goodbye to Alex, "Hey buddy. How you feeling?"

"Better." Alex's attention was still on the TV. Shawn glanced at it. Like when he'd come in the first time, it was playing local news.

"I'm about to leave for the day. Jules is in charge, she's staying with you today. Stay safe." Alex looked up at Shawn, somewhat surprised.

"Oh. Okay." Alex went back to looking at the TV. Shawn glanced over Alex and found him tenser, frowning slightly.

"Do you want to come with me?"

"A bit, yeah."

"Sorry, but not today. I don't want you almost getting killed again."

"I'd be fine." Alex said.

"I know, but I can't help but worry." Shawn reached and patted Alex's shoulder, "Like I said, Jules is gonna be with you. Be good." Shawn then left the apartment, leaving Juliet and Alex alone. He didn't move at all and soon enough Juliet entered to join him.

"Being a lazy bones today, huh?" She sat beside him, pausing when she saw the plate, "Did you eat something in here?"

"Shawn made me a sandwich." Juliet nodded. She could allow that.

"Do you wanna go anywhere?" Alex glanced at her.

"It doesn't matter to me." There was a pause before Juliet sat forward, trying to see Alex's face.

"Ever shot a gun?" He looked at her.

"Yes."

"Wanna go to the shooting range?" Alex blinked.

"Sure." Juliet smiled.

"After breakfast we'll go."

"Okay." Alex went back to watching TV. Juliet knew he wasn't the type of person to get sucked into it and she wondered why he was watching the news, of all things. She didn't try to change the channel, however, letting him watch what he wanted. She was a little worried that he'd shot a gun before, but he was old enough to have gotten in the booth with someone to get some experience in. She briefly wondered how good Alex was with a gun, then supposed she'd get to see it soon enough.

Juliet had brought her own gun to practice with and had the confidence to allow Alex to handle it if only he would let her show him how to work with it. Much to her surprise, when the gun was in his hands, he needed barely any adjustment at all. It could have just been beginner's luck or an instinct on how to handle the gun, but Juliet was sure that he'd handled one before and quite well if his posture was anything to go by. Because he was under eighteen she was required to be in the booth with him, but she was pretty certain he didn't need her there. For every shot she made he could match it, just like Shawn, but not as close. His aim was usually off by a few centimeters, but it was close enough. A mixture of pride and worry bloomed in Juliet, proud that her 'son' could shoot so well and worried about how well he could shoot. Shawn and herself both had excuses for their accuracy, Alex's only excuse was if someone took him to the gun range a lot, and for some reason Juliet doubted that. Also, it didn't help him blow off steam. In fact it seemed to depress him somewhat, alarming the policewoman, but she didn't show it.

"You were pretty good." Juliet commented as they left the range, heading for her car, "Who taught you?"

"My uncle." Alex said quietly. Juliet nodded.

"What else do you wanna do today? Maybe go to the arcade, get lunch? It's your day to spend with me, Alex."

"I know, but I don't feel like doing much of anything." Once they were in the car, Juliet turned her gaze fully on the younger blond.

"Is it because you thought you were going with Shawn today?"

"A little. I want adventure, but I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me."

"Because of you? Alex, I don't think you could hurt anyone unless you had to."

"Don't say that. You don't know anything about me." Alex wasn't looking at her. The woman sighed.

"I'm not asking you to tell me anything, but I'd like you to try trusting Shawn and me. I know you don't like having us as your parents but that's what we are now and we're only trying to help you. We can't do anything if you don't trust us." Alex glanced at her, then looked away again. He was completely silent. Juliet didn't know what else to do to get him motivated. He turned back to the steering wheel, "Well, buckle in. I'll see if I can find a place for us to go see."

Alex waited for Juliet to get their meal. They were sitting in at a McDonald's and Alex had gone to find them a seat. It was a table by the window, only two chairs, and Alex stared outside, a mixture of bored and worried. Part of the reason why he had gone along with Shawn and Gus was to protect them, but without him his luck wouldn't affect them, right? So they'd still be safe. Alex rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hated his luck so much. 'Luck of the Devil' didn't even begin to describe it. He turned to stare at Juliet's chair and paused when he saw someone else sitting in it. It took him a moment to recognize the other teen but then his eyes slid closed because there was no way Tom Harris was sitting opposite him in a McDonald's in Santa Barbara, California. Was he going mad now, imagining his only friend in front of him to have some comfort?

"How you doing, Al?" Alex shrugged.

"Good, I guess. You?" Imaginary!Tom shrugged back.

"I'm doing as good as you think I am."

"So either very good or very bad."

"Don't be so negative!" Imaginary!Tom said, "But seriously, how are you feeling? I know you weren't exactly at your highest point after what happened to Jack."

"I'm fine." Imaginary!Tom gave him a look. It worked as well as Real!Tom's and so Alex sighed, "I'm not suicidal. I wanna reach sixteen, but I doubt my luck's gonna last much longer. I'm just being realistic." He stared out the window, "Once, I was very much suicidal, but now, not so much."

"Then what are you gonna do?" said Imaginary!Tom, "You lost the Pleasures, yeah, but now you've got other people who care about you. What's gonna happen to them when it comes time for you to leave?"

"Give them a goodbye? I dunno, I'll probably end up saving their lives in exchange for mine in some way." Alex closed his eyes, "Sometimes it's just not fair, Tom."

"Who are you talking to, Alex?" It was Juliet. Opening his eyes again, Alex saw that Tom was nowhere to be seen. Figures.

"No one." He took his Coke from the tray and began drinking. Not one word he'd said to the figment of his imagination was a lie, since he couldn't really lie to himself, but it helped him realize that every second could be his last. Everyone knew that, but to him it had a bigger impact because of the bad luck and death that followed on his heels like hounds. And, looking at Juliet, he knew making good times with her would end badly for both of them but he ought to give her at least one day of fun.

"Is there an amusement park around here?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You said we were spending the day together and I'm sorry I haven't made it fun. We could go there and go on some of the rides, right?" Juliet smiled.

"Sure we can. Finish lunch and we'll be off."

When they'd started playing the Water Gun game, among others, they attracted a small crowd because of their skill and competitive streaks. Well, Juliet had one for sure, but Alex was making it hard for her so that she'd have fun. This continued to happen with other carnival games, but the Water Gun and Skee Ball games were the ones that got the most attention.

"Rah!" Juliet threw the ball up the length of the lane and managed to get the ball in the 50-point mark, causing her to smile. But, looking over at Alex's pile of tickets, she knew she was barely in the lead. And yet her competitive streak was only overtaken by the small smile that adorned his face. Alex had barely smiled all day, so it brightened hers to see that he was having fun. He glanced at her, meeting her eyes, and then his next shot clearly didn't have enough power to make the 50-point mark and went down to the 10. Had he purposefully just thrown the game?

"What are you staring at?" he asked, taking up his pile of tickets. Juliet wanted to ask but decided to let it go. It was only a game, after all. Gathering her own pile of tickets, she was surprised to be met with cheers from the onlookers for winning the game. She blushed, smiling widely regardless, and then they were turning their tickets in for a prize.

"Haven't seen a game like that before. Maybe you two should come by more often!" said the vendor.

"No thanks." Alex shook his head, "Glad to put on a show, though." He was still smiling, even as he let Juliet choose what she wanted by using all the tickets combined. He wanted nothing, clearly, but Juliet still got him a little stuffed bear. He gave her a questioning look but said nothing, tucking the bear close to his chest. It was only when they were leaving the amusement park, the sun starting to set, that he asked, "Why?"

"Why what?" Juliet was carrying her giant stuffed unicorn and dog under her arms.

"Why'd you get me this?"

"Hey, you're a kid. You need stuff sometimes." The woman smiled.

"Okay." Alex didn't smile back. Juliet's face dropped.

"Did you have fun, at least?"

"Yeah, I did." The boy nodded. He said no more and so Juliet took them home. She'd bonded with her 'son' somewhat today, so she hoped they'd managed to connect. When they arrived, Shawn was already back and working on her laptop.

"What have I said about touching my stuff?"

"Ask you first." Shawn mumbled from behind his head, which he was leaning on, continuing to stare at the screen as he tapped away. Juliet rolled her eyes.

"Well, we're home. Alex and I got stuffed animals!" She held up her prizes.

"That's great, Jules." Shawn still didn't look up. Juliet frowned.

"Good luck with him." Alex left for his room. Putting down the stuffed animals, the woman sat beside her husband. She looked at what he was staring at and found him scrolling through news articles.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Shawn nodded, "Just trying to finish up tracing this one lead." Juliet nodded. She watched him work for a few moments before he wrote something down and turned the laptop off.

"So how was your day?" she asked.

"Good." Shawn rubbed his tired eyes, "The woman we tried to see yesterday, Joseph? She'd been planning to sue the company for tons over something that happened at the restaurant while she worked there. But whoever murdered her did it before she could even start making a claim."

"Do you really think she was murdered just to keep her quiet, like Ladzinski?"

"No way." Shawn shook his head, "Unfortunately, I think she was a victim of the woman who tried to kill Alex. She had nothing to do with this whole thing, except for what she was trying to sue about." He showed Juliet the paper, "Before Otto came along, she filed a complaint about another employee who had been harassing her, someone who had a known history of violence but only after she filed the complaint. His name is Arnold Schroeder."

"So we have another lead we can try tracking down."

"Yeah." Juliet glanced at him.

"Is there something else?" She had heard the change in his voice.

"I tried looking up more about Alex, trying to find out about the scars, but I couldn't. It's like everything went silent. I couldn't even get in touch with Dr. Verduzco."

"Shawn." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I understand, both of us want answers, but if we can't get any, then sometimes we just have to let it go."

"Even with Jones and Crawley, who basically had us adopt him without our permission? I mean, I love him, I can't not, but it scares me what other connections they have to Alex if they could so easily do all this."

"I know." Juliet had found her workdays filled with thoughts about them and Alex but she had tried not to worry about it, "I'm not saying forget about it, but right now what we need to do is solve this case and care for Alex. Right?"

"Right." Shawn took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Right." He turned to her, putting the paper aside, smiling, "So, what did you guys win again?" Juliet jerked a thumb over her shoulder, smirking.

"That."

"Wow. I hope those aren't gonna replace me and my cuddles." He hugged her.

"Maybe, maybe not." She kissed him, "We had an awesome day. It took awhile to get him happy, but he had a good time, I think."

"That's good. I was kinda afraid he'd give you a hard time."

"No, he didn't do anything to disobey me, he was just not into it, I guess." Her smirk turned into a smile, "You should've seen what we went through to get the prizes, though."

"You can tell me later, when we're in bed. I fixed dinner. I hope it's not too cold."

"Only if you let it set for an hour."

"Good thing I didn't, huh?" Juliet rolled her eyes again.

"Just try not to overstress yourself with this. Aren't you supposed to be the fun one in this relationship?"

"Maybe." They got up and moved into the kitchen together, Shawn calling for Alex. It didn't take long for him to join them and they talked together, talking about their days, and the adults were surprised Alex didn't prod about what Shawn had found out. Again, he was mostly silent throughout dinner, and when it was time for bed, he actually smiled when Juliet went to tuck him into bed. There was still not much customization to the room with the exception of the bear, which was leaning up against the pillow. Alex took it into his arms, dressed in his pajamas as Juliet sat beside him on the bed.

"Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded, "Did you?"

"Of course I did. I'd always have a good time spending the day with you." She hugged him, "Now I might be gone by the time you guys get up tomorrow, so be good for Shawn and don't get into trouble, okay?"

"Okay." Alex was smiling when she pulled away, "Juliet, I wanted to say something."

"Yeah?"

"Ever since what happened to Jack, I really haven't had a good day, but today kinda changed that. I wanna have another one soon."

"Sure, sweetie." After saying goodnight, Juliet returned to Shawn and they wished Alex sweet dreams before closing the door. He sat in the darkness for a moment, then tugged the bear to his chest and laid on his side. He had said that just to make his 'mom' happy because he knew that he'd never get the chance. Either something would happen to her, Shawn, or himself and it would never happen. He only hoped that Juliet wouldn't be so heartbroken when it was time for him to go.

Notes:

The title is a reference to the 80s movie Sixteen Candles.

I understand that things might be becoming OOC but I'm trying to make it all fit. This was supposed to be a 'Day in the Limelight' kinda thing with Juliet, since she's as much Alex's parent as Shawn is so they could bond. I also wrote this in a single day. I hope you guys like this newest chapter! Please read & review!