Graduation becomes the topic of the times.

"I think it's a real graduation." Then I glance over at Mom, who is sitting on the couch, watching the last few minutes of her Soap Opera. "Hey Mom, do I get a real graduation?"

"Yeah, you're graduating with the other seniors that are in the same Homeschooling program as you."

"I'm showing up with a big neon sign that says "Lexinardo FTW'."

"I still can't believe you made a shipping name for us..." I mumble, shaking my head in disbelief.

"It was actually a pretty fun activity."

"Activity?" I repeat. "What, did you all gather together while I was asleep and discuss it?"

"Too bad we can't say it in front of Leo because someone is too afraid to confess her feelings!" Rose exclaims.

"Mm..." I pretend to think about it. "Too bad."

Mallory groans. "Come on, Lexi..." she throws an arm around me. "It's obvious he likes you back. Just admit it!" As she says this, Noah walks through the front door without knocking.

"Great, now because of your poor etiquette, Noah is walking in without knocking!" I exclaim to my best friend. "Thanks, Mal."

Noah laughs. "So what were we talking about?" Before I can step on her foot to keep her from answering (not that that would've worked anyway), Mallory answers.

"We're trying to convince Lexi that Leo likes her," Mallory explains. Hm...it's never too late to step on her foot. I stomp, but if it hurts her, she barely shows it. Noah looks amused and slightly curious. I'm glad when I don't see any jealousy in his expression, but I'm also a bit surprised.

"Why? Does she like him?" he asks casually.

I bite my lip. But I don't even have to shoot my best friend a look because she knows when enough is enough.

"We're just teasing. They're really good friends and we think they would be a cute couple. But they're always so defensive and try to prove that they have no romantic feelings for each other. It's kind of annoying," Mallory explains smoothly, ignoring his question. "But what we do know is that it's obvious Leo likes her. Don't you think?"

I scoff and roll my eyes. "Why would you ask him? How's he supposed to know?"

"Quiet," she hushed me and turns to Noah. He almost has a guilty look on his face.

"She's right," he says, and Mallory cheers. He rolls his eyes. "No, not you. Lexi. How am I supposed to know?" Mallory mutters something and then crosses her arms, slouching on the couch. I laugh at her defeat.

I hear Rose laugh and we look over at her to see she's looking at her phone, smiling.

"Ooh..." I tease. "Someone special?"

She rolls her eyes. "No," she says. "It's Gabe. You know...our cousin."

"Ew Nevermind," I mutter.

She laughs and then looks up at Noah. "So Noah. Is there anyone special in your life?" He's quiet and hesitant before he answers her question.

"No," he says, shaking his head. "Not really." Rose and Mallory both look surprised, like they want to ask more. Mom is the only one who actually does so.

"No girlfriend you had to leave to come up here?" Mom asks. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"I've had three," he replied. Half my heart is relieved to hear that, but the other half is disappointed for some reason. Why am I disappointed? I don't like Noah like that.

"What happened to them?" Mallory asks.

"None were really the one." I can tell by the tone of this voice that he doesn't want to be having this conversation right now. And because I know exactly how he's feeling, I save him.

"We should be heading to work soon," I say, standing up. "Want to join us, Noah?"

"Sure," he responds immediately, nodding.

Just because I'm in love with Leo doesn't mean I can't still be close with Noah.

"So we've gathered our photos and other evidence," Serena begins. "And we've come to a few conclusions that may connect and work its way toward a conclusion that may be the death of your family if you aren't careful."

She clicks a switch and I flinch back. On the screen, there is a picture of the man who had tried to kill us a few months ago. The man with the gun on the freeway.

"That's the guy who tried to shoot us!" Benj exclaims, his eyes widening.

Serena switches the screen to another slide, a slide that shows our car after it was damaged. "We took a few pictures of your vehicle after the attack and noticed some...odd things. There were dents that no human man would be able to make." Another slide appears and it's once again, a picture of the guy in action.

"How'd you get these pictures of him in the car?" I ask wearily. This is a man I had hoped to never see again. I hoped that after we'd arrested him, he'd be in jail and no threat to my family, or anyone for that matter. But considering the fact that Serena is showing us a slideshow four months after the incident, the reason can't be good.

"I had some cameras built into our car in case of something like this," Mom explains. "He managed to smash a few but we still got some pictures."

After a few more slides, she comes to one that really makes me jump back. It's a picture of him aiming the gun at Mom through the window.

"You remember this, right?" Serena verifies. I have the urge to scream, "Yes, of course I remember the night my family and I almost died!" But I don't. I can't. I just nod and wait.

"Well...we've come to the conclusion that the man wasn't aiming for Emmeline." She paused. "He was aiming for you, Alexandra." My heart stops.

"Wait, hold up," Raph says, crossing his arms. "The gun was pointed at Emmeline."

"The gun was pointed near her, but this man was clearly a master-mind. Emmeline, you own a bulletproof airbag, right?"

Mom simply nods. I glance over at my mother: her eyes have something I can't understand. It isn't fear of being in danger...it's fear, definitely, but I can't name the type of fear. I inwardly groan. Why am I so observant? We are talking about a possible murderer out for us and here I am noticing people's facial expressions!

"Well if you look at the pictures, it wasn't aimed at Emmeline. It was aimed near her." It shows that she is correct: it's an inch or two off, and if you follow the lines drawn out, the bullet is supposed to hit the bulletproof airbag, and then me.

"Okay, why would they want to kill Lexi? I don't understand..." Noah mumbles, shaking his head and biting his knuckles.

"We don't know that yet," Serena says, turning towards Mom. "Do you have any ideas, Emmeline?"

For a moment, Mom doesn't look Serena in the eyes. When she finally does, she shakes her head.

"No," Mom says. "I don't know anything."

Serena nods and then dismisses us. I rub the back of my hands, nervous. But my eyes catch sight of a very troubled looking Mom. I catch my hand on her shoulder.

"Mom? Are you alright? You seem..." What's the word? Tense? Afraid? Angry? Different? She freezes for a moment, but then turns to me, smiling worriedly.

"I'm alright, sweetheart." Her soothing voice calms me down. Maybe I'm just overthinking things. "I'm just worried."

Before I can respond, she hurries away. I watch after her, and then take a seat at my desk. I find my hands dialing Leo's shell cell.

"Hello?"

"Leo," I let out a breath. "Hi."

"Hey, Lex...are you okay? You sound stressed." I don't know how I could've managed to let on that I was stressed, after simply saying two words.

"Um...yeah," I say, shaking my head. "I'm alright. We got some interesting news. I'll tell you about it later." Something tells me that informing Leo about a guy currently on the loose, trying to kill me, isn't the best idea, given his current condition. "But I called about you. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," he admits. "It really stinks not being able to get up and go places."

"I bet it does," I say, nodding. "I hope you're able to come to my graduation."

"There's no hopefully about that. I'm going no matter what Donnie says."

I smile. "You're so sweet." I pause. "I'm really glad you're not in as much pain."

"I'm glad you're not dead." His words may have been a joke to lighten the circumstances, but I flinch back anyway.

"Yeah. Well I need to get back to work. I'm glad you're feeling a bit better," I say, and I mean it.

"I'll talk to you later. Bye, Lexi."

"Agent Alexandra..." Serena's voice bellows. I turn towards her and find a grave expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" She doesn't answer. "Serena...what's wrong?" She hesitates before answering but when she does, I wish I hadn't have asked.

"The man who tried to kill you..." Her eyebrows draw together. "He's escaped from prison." My heart stops once more.

There is someone out there who wants to kill me. He can do it any time, any where, however he wants. And there's absolutely nothing I can do to stop it.

I shut my book and reach over to turn off my light. But I lay back down before I can. I can't turn it off in peace. Not knowing what I know, and feeling what I feel.

So I sit there, with my book in my hands and just listen.

"Can you guys be a little more protective with her? I know she doesn't like to be babied but I'm really worried," I hear Mom explain. I bite my lip and suddenly feel angry. The guys are already too protective - now they'll never leave my alone.

My cell phone rings. I dive for it before it vibrates off my bed.

It's Leo.

"Let me guess," I begin, my voice stale. "You heard the great news."

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? I can come over if you want-"

"Leo," I state sternly. "I don't need to be babied. I'm fine, okay? I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

There is a silence on the other end and I begin to wonder why Leo is always the target of my attitude.

"I know you're capable of taking care of yourself. You're a strong, independent young woman," he says gently. "But there's no reason for us not to be worried. What if something does happen?"

"I know...I'm sorry," I mumble.

"Look...I know you don't like it, but it's hard to know that there's someone out there wanting to hurt you. As a best friend, do you know how hard that is for me?" His voice sounds genuinely worried and hurt.

I try to put myself in his shoes. If someone was out to get Mallory, that would be really scary for me. Even though I know she can fight, I would still be worried. I would still want to be by her side at all times.

"I'm sorry," I say, shaking my head. "I know it's not easy for you. Especially since you can't move around that much."

"You don't need to apologize," he insists. "And by the way, Don says that I'll be able to walk around the lair tomorrow. Not leave the lair, but get my own food and things like that."

"That's good!" I'm glad to have the change of subject. We talk for a bit about that.

"You should probably be getting to sleep," Leo says. "We both need rest. It's been a long day."

"You're right. Okay. Bye, Leo. Thanks...for everything."

Leo laughs a little. "I don't know what I did. But you're welcome."

When I hang up, I feel like I can actually fall asleep. I don't know many who have that power.

~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Return of the guy who tried to kill the Kings...hm...wonder what he's been up to. Okay I KNOW that the fact that the guy wants to kill Lexi seems SO egocentric towards the main character, which is a major cliché but I promise there is purpose to that. Just keep reading.

And okay what's up with Emmeline?

And aw Leo's being as cute as always. I cANT WAIT FOR LEXINARDO

Okay in the next chapter, you're probably gonna hate Noah but then (if my hopes come true), you'll understand him a little bit more. And then hopefully you'll hate him a lot less. Ugh okay I'm literally so excited for the next few chapters! I hope you are all enjoying my story! Thank you so much for reading!