Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me and I make no money with it.

Spoilers: Up to and including Snakehead.

Summary: Alex just doesn't get girls.

Date: Dec. 23rd - 2 am, between Questioning and Light (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)

Edited: 30.11.10

5. Seeking Solace

It was late at night and even Jack had long since gone to bed when he heard the noise. A shuffling in the hallway, steps on the stairs. A quiet creaking, and then he knew it was Sabina, because Jack always made sure to skip the noisy step when she sneaked downstairs. He debated with himself for a moment, then he got up to follow.

Sabina had been staying with them for three days now. Not for any particular reason, her parents were fine and in the city as well, but it was just easier. There was a free guest room, and Alex and Sabina spent every day together anyway, so on one of the days she had stayed especially late they had simply called her parents and she hadn't gone back to the hotel at all.

It was strange. Spending time with Sabina, going to the movies, or on a bike trip, or just to the park... it all made him feel so normal he sometimes wondered when the other shoe was going to drop. They were just two kids having fun, laughing at rude jokes and talking about whatever. No assassins suddenly jumping out from behind cars. No kidnapping attempts. No conspiracies or plots or grand plans to kill countless people.

It was making him increasingly paranoid.

Now, as he was sneaking down the stairs and towards the kitchen, he contemplated the fact that nothing happening made him more nervous than an attempt to blow up their house would have. No wonder he felt so out of place amongst his peers at school.

Peeking into the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight of Sabina buried halfway in the freezer, obviously searching for something and muttering under her breath. A little bemused, he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, waiting for her to notice him.

Suddenly she gave a triumphant "A-ha!" and pulled a tub of chocolate ice cream out. He blinked, feeling even more mystified than before. Was it normal for girls to get sudden mad ice cream cravings at two in the morning?

She fetched herself a spoon, put the tub on the kitchen counter and went to sit down - saw him and screamed.

Alex jumped in surprise and almost would have yelped as well, but then he was already striding forward, whispering urgently, "Hey, it's just me, don't worry. Calm down, okay?"

"Alex!" She hissed under her breath, standing there in the dark room with the spoon clutched in her hand like a weapon. "God, you scared me! Kindly make some noise when you sneak up on people like that!"

He gave her a half-hearted smile and sat down across from the place she had intended for herself. "Sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you."

She waved a hand at him and sat down as well, sighing heavily. "It's just as well that you're here. But why are you anyway? I thought you'd be asleep for sure by now."

He shrugged and cocked his head at her. "I heard you in the hallway. Wanted to check if something's wrong."

She blinked at him for a moment and then shook her head with a little smile. "You're so strange, Alex."

He didn't know how to answer that, and so he just watched as she popped the lid of the tub and started eating ice cream at two in the morning in the middle of winter in the already freezingly cold kitchen. He found it somewhat ironic that she thought he was the strange one.

After a few minutes of companionable silence, in which Sabina consumed an almost awe-inspiring amount of ice cream in an extremely short time, he decided that maybe something was wrong. Besides, his feet were getting cold.

"Sab... what's going on?"

She glanced at him before going back to staring at the ice cream she was rapidly demolishing.

"Alex, tell me something. What exactly am I wearing?"

He blinked at her, seriously confused now. What was she wearing? What did that have to do with anything? Humouring her, he leaned over the counter so he could see all of her and nonchalantly described, "Black short-shorts and a tank-top. And?"

She sighed and shot him a kind of sad, frustrated look. "You had to check. I'm running around in my underwear and you had to check."

He frowned, not entirely sure he understood what she was getting at. She was eating ice cream because he refused to be a hormonal idiot and ogle her? ...the hell?

Sabina smiled and shook her head, noticing his confusion. She straightened up and pushed the tub a little to the side. "Lean over for a second, yeah?"

Not thinking much about it and trusting her, he did as she had asked him to and leaned over the counter, supporting himself on his elbows. She leaned over as well and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him an intent look. A second before she did it he knew what she was going to do and so he was only a little surprised when she kissed him, pressing her lips against his. It was soft, cold and tasted like chocolate ice cream. The first time she had kissed him she had thought he had been asleep and the second time had tasted like tears. He thought that this was a definite improvement about the first two times, but he also didn't quite get why the guys at school made such a huge deal about it. He didn't have any delusions about sparks and fireworks, but he still thought it should feel a little more special than, well, getting a goodnight kiss from Jack for example.

After a couple of seconds Sabina let go of him and plopped down into her seat again, grabbing the ice cream tub and pulling it to her. He frowned, half confused and half embarrassed, and slowly sat down as well, desperately searching for words.

"Uh..."

"You didn't feel anything, did you?" She didn't look at him as she used her spoon to carve swirly shapes into the ice cream.

He floundered, finding himself speechless for the first time in quite a while.

She waved him off again. "I didn't think you would. Like it, I mean. I expected this, really." She got another spoonful and sucked on it for a while. "Not that that makes it any easier."

Finally giving up, he shook his head and threw his hands up. He didn't get girls. "What are you even talking about, Sabina?"

She smiled, but it was sad somehow, wistful. "We've been spending every single day of the last two weeks together and you haven't tried to kiss me a single time. I sleep in your house but you don't come visit me in my room at night. I'm sitting here in my frickin' underwear and you don't even notice..." She shook her head. "The one time I like a guy who's younger than me and he's not interested at all. I just have no luck with men."

He awkwardly scratched his head and looked down at the countertop. He did like her, she was pretty much his best friend. She was great fun to hang out with, had a hilarious sense of humour, was pretty and sporty and just... she knew who he was and still didn't care.

But that didn't change the fact that he didn't particularly want to kiss her.

What was wrong with him?

A sigh drew his attention back to Sabina. Her smile looked more sincere now. "Don't worry, Alex. At least this way we'll stay friends until we're old and wrinkled - only that I will of course still be beautiful - and meanwhile, I get to eat guilt-free ice cream because it is for consoling-purposes. So, we good?"

He didn't get girls. He really, really didn't.

Giving a helpless little laugh, he nodded and agreed. "Yeah, we're good."

They smiled at each other for a few seconds, then Alex got up to get himself a spoon.