Outside on the deck, Alex was in the one helicopter sitting in the back wearing a loose white muscle shirt and grey cargo pants with her dog tags hanging around her neck and a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes. She was reading again and wanted to get outside in the fresh air. Plus no one ever bothered her when she was out there. Or so she thought because after a nice, quiet forty-five minutes of reading Merrick showed up. He leaned against the entrance of the helicopter and looked at her. She picked her head up and looked at him. "May I help you?" She questioned before she noticed his stern expression. "We need to talk." He said.
"About?"
"You."
Merrick climbed into the helicopter and sat next to his sister. She set the book off to the side and gave him her attention. "Okay, what?" she asked. "I heard you in the cafeteria this morning talking to Hesh." He told her. "I was going to get coffee and heard what you told him. Is that really true? That you refuse to care about anyone new because you're afraid of the hurt if you lose them?"
"What is so bad about that?" Alex questioned.
"It's selfish. And unfair." Merrick told her.
Alex went to defend herself, but Merrick cut her off. "No you listen and I talk because you need to hear me on this Alexandra." He said with a steady tone. Alex crossed her arms and sat back. "Look, I know it hurt when Ian, James, and Stephan died. I know that was hard for you. And I know when Ajax died it hurt too even of the two of you fought like cats and dogs. But what do I always tell you about the Ghosts?"
Alex looked at her brother. "We're all we've got." She answered.
"Exactly." Merrick said. "People are going to die and it's always going to hurt no matter how much distance you but between yourself and them. But that doesn't mean you forget them. You can't forget the things you should remember. You never talk about Stephan, Ian, and James as if they faded from your memory and you can't do that, Alex. It hurts, I know that, but Logan and Hesh are never going to replace them. They're here now though and the best way to honor our brothers is to remember them and accept those who have come after them. Do you understand me?"
Alex nodded. "Yes." She told him. "I understand."
"Then give them a chance. Not for them or me, but for yourself. Not because I'm asking or telling you to, but because you need to. They are one of us." Merrick told her.
"Fine." Alex agreed. "I will give them a chance but if they piss me off I swear I will-"
"Put up with it." Merrick cut her off. "Because I have to put up with you every damn day."
Alex chuckled and Merrick stood up to get out of the helicopter. Alex watched as Merrick returned back inside before putting her head against the seat. She let out an annoyed breath. She hated it when he was right which was ninety percent of the time so she hated her brother a lot. But she still loved him immensely. He had a point. A very good one too. Kicking the seat in front of her she grabbed her book and climbed out of the helicopter to go back inside. Might as well get it out of the way early and see if she could get a clean slate with Hesh.
OOOOO
Inside, Hesh was in the gym by himself while Logan took care of Riley. At the moment, Hesh was doing pull-ups and felt as if his arms were about to fall off from how many he's done. "You seriously have a tattoo?" a voice questioned. Hesh looked at the door and saw it was Alex. "So now you're the one bothering me?" he asked as he did a couple more pull-ups.
"Don't flatter yourself." Alex said walking in. Hesh dropped to the ground from the bar and grabbed his towel to wipe the sweat from his face. "Yes I have a tattoo." He said, regarding her previous statement about the tattoo on his side. It was really simple and basic. It was him and Logan's mom's initials and the date that she died.
Alex stopped in the middle of the room and crossed her arms as Hesh pulled his t-shirt on. "So what do I owe the pleasure of you stopping by? Or are you just going to yell at me again?" he questioned. "I actually came to apologize." She told him. Hesh dropped his arms. "I haven't been fair to you since you got here and I'm sorry. You know my reasoning and maybe you get it and maybe you don't either way I don't care. So I was wondering if we could start over."
Hesh looked at her for a moment and tried to see if she was being true to her word. He could tell she was and walked over to her, extending his hand. "I'm David Walker." He introduced himself. "But everyone calls me Hesh." Alex smiled and shook his hand. "Alexandra Merrick." She replied. "But everyone calls me Alex."
"Well Alex it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too, Hesh."
Hesh let go of her hand and she laughed and so did he. "I'll see you later. I have to go talk to Elias." She told him as she walked backwards. "Yeah, see you later." Hesh replied. She left the room and Hesh looked down at his tattoo. "I swear women are too complicated, Mom." He said as he turned back around to go work out for a little longer.
OOOOO
Later that night when Alex was in her room, she dug out some of the photos of her and her brothers that she put away after they died. She put them back around her room on her desk and dresser and smiled after she was done. They were smiling in most of the photos and the one photo that was taken on the front lawn of their old house showed Ian with Alex over his shoulder when she was sixteen and he was twenty-two. It was one of her favorites because they were both laughing in the photo and also showed Stephan and James off to the side. Merrick took the photo. Another photo that was just of her and Merrick showed the two on the back of a truck with their guns in their lap and Merrick had an arm around Alex's shoulder. They both had a smile on their faces and it made Alex smile as she thought of all the different memories. She missed her brothers more than anything, but Merrick was right. Remembering them did hurt, but it also made her feel better at the same time.