For some days Alex avoided any contact, he made bare minimum contact with his students and after each class finished he would return to his room until he either had a another class or it was morning. Darwin had on two occasions tried to make contact with him.
The first was the morning after revealing he was still alive. He had knocked on his door quietly, even though it was past 8am and he should have been awake. Alex opened it, pale blue toothbrush stuck in his mouth, his blonde hair tussled, his Pj's creased. Alex was not expecting Darwin; otherwise he would not have opened the door. But when he did his face was filled with a mix of shock, embarrassment at his state and something else. Taking the toothbrush from his mouth he ran a hand through his hair and stood half hidden behind the door.
"I'm busy" was all he said closing the door, but not before Darwin stuck his foot in the way.
"Please can we at least talk" Darwin pleaded, wanting nothing more than talk, to at least try to make a connection. From behind the door Alex sighed and opened it letting his face show.
"Tonight, I promise" he lied before faking a smile and closing the door. That morning he did not turn up to his first class. Instead he left the building to hide in his tree out of sight of the students and teachers.
The second time was some days later, a Thursday maybe. Alex had ventured outside his room and down the hall and to the library, that he knew would be almost empty that time of night. After sitting at a desk for some hours, to the point where his lamp was the one of the only three in the room. He lifted his head feeling a slight strain as he did so.
"Alex" the voice called out. The blonde head shoot up looking around in the twilight like darkness for the face. The voice was still so familiar yet foreign to him.
"I just wanted to talk" Darwin muttered stepping from the shadows and in front of the desk, leaning his hands on the back of the spare chair. Alex shook his head in protest, about to say no.
"God damn it Alex, we are going to talk" he almost shouted his knuckled tightening around the chair. He was sick of the stubborn attitude, of the avoidance like he wasn't there. He might as well have been dead.
"Why" Alex retorted standing to stack some of the book to the left of the desk, from biggest to smallest like he always did.
"What should we talk about Darwin?" he asked his voice sounding slightly of edge as he looked up at the other Mutant.
"I'll tell you how the conversation would go" walking around the desk he faced the other man, a couple centimetres shorter, yet bigger built to make up for it.
"'Hey Alex how you been?
Oh just great, you know?
That's great, oh by the way I don't blame you?
Oh well that's fantastic, let's be BFF's braid each other's hair, how about we go drink" Alex paused for a moment his eyes staring into the others.
"As much as you want to believe, you blame me, some small part of you. Deep down" Alex poked Darwin's chest where his heart was.
"And I can't deal with that. Not again" shaking his head he turned and left. He knew he should have been nicer, more welcoming. But he couldn't, not then. He needed time, needed something. What, he was unsure of. But he knew something was missing.