Okay this is a pretty long chapter, but I think you're gonna like it. Things start picking up, and secrets come to light.
Alice wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, feeling well rested and calm in a way she hadn't felt in a while. Her face hurt and she moved her mouth, trying to get the taste of yesterday's food out of it, and the memories of the fight came back to her.
She couldn't remember much about after it, but something in her gut told her she had ended up at Spencer Academy.
That would explain why Reid, Pogue, and Caleb were sleeping on the floor, and why Tyler was sleeping in the bed across the room. She must be in the dorms.
It's still dark outside the window, but the stillness in the outside air makes her think it's somewhere between 4 and 5 in the morning. She sits up, already planning on how to get out of the room, down to her truck, and out of there. She didn't know where the keys were, which means she would need to hotwire it. That's okay, it's not like she hasn't hotwired a car before.
"Don't even think about it," Pogue's voice stops her train of thought. He sits up, the closest to the bed, and pulls himself onto it. She folds her legs to give him space, "Don't even think about leaving. Don't think about disappearing, don't think about cutting us off."
"I wasn't," Alice looks away from him, the lie blatant on her face.
"Alice, I know you," Pogue doesn't make a move to touch her, but his voice makes her look back, "What's going on?" He cocks his head, giving her the worried puppy eyes.
Alice feels like crying. "I've just had a lot on my mind," She says instead, not looking at Pogue. He says nothing and she continues, "It's just, shits getting really hard." Her head feels fuzzy and heavy, but still awake.
"What do you mean?" Pogue takes her hand gently, the brotherly vibes coming off him making her continue and spill everything.
"Ram's in California and I'm in an apartment all by myself and I can't have a life because I'm working 2 jobs but I can't drop one of the jobs otherwise I lose the apartment and the seizures have bizarre side effects I can't wrap my head around and everything just feels like it's trying to drown me and I think it is," Alice sobs softly without tears, looking back up at Pogue, "I can't feel anything. I'm numb, drowning, and I'm terrified. I've stopped sleeping, I haven't applied for universities yet, and nothing makes sense in my head anymore," Alice doesn't cry, but her voice cracks.
Pogue looks at her as if he's seeing her for the first time.
"What about your parents," He says softly and Alice lets out a sad huff. "What?"
"My parents died when I was 7," Alice says softly, almost inaudible, "I was in a foster home from then until Ram turned 18. He's not my real brother, just another foster kid. We had the same social worker, we bonded, and he got me out. The person who taught me and him about cars was our social worker. Every Christmas I go up to Maine to visit the foster house I grew up in, to volunteer there with the kids. I don't have anyone to help me. Sorry I lied to you about having parents, I just don't have anyone."
"You've got us," Pogue says, "If you don't push us away."
"I'm unstable and a burden," Alice contradicts, "I don't want to put that on you."
"Reid unstable and sometimes a burden," Pogue counters.
"Reid's a Son of Ipswich," Alice fights in a low voice, "He's been with you guys from the start. I don't have that bond, eventually, you're going to get fed up."
"Hey, no," Pogue shakes his head, "We won't get fed up. The guys adore you, I care about you like a sister, the girls want to petition the school to give you a scholarship so they can spend more time with you, we will never get fed up."
"But I am a burden. You can't just say you won't get fed up now when worse comes to worse you're going to drop the ball." Alice shudders, "Everyone drops the ball."
"We have enough wealth to never think of you as a burden," Pogue reaches out a hand and pulls Alice closer to him slowly, "And there's 4 of us. I can't promise that we'll be there always, but there has never been a time where at least one of us hasn't been free. You don't have to be alone anymore."
"You were never alone in the first place," A voice from down below adds, Reid sitting up from where he was sleeping on the far side of Caleb, "Ever since Pogue met you, all he talked about, besides Kate, was Al the Mechanic. You always had him, and now you always have us." Caleb rolls over, looking at her, nodding in agreement.
Alice lets a tear roll down her cheek.
Tyler sits up and walks over to Alice and Pogue. Gently, he reaches out and hugs her and she lets him.
One by one the boys hug her, careful of her face, and she cries silently.
"You have no idea how much it means to me," She says softly as Reid hugs her tightly. The blonde makes her feel even calmer like he could protect her from the world, and she squeezes him right back.
"Everyone should have someone to help them get through shit," Caleb says, looking at his brothers before staring down at her, "Even public school girls who work two jobs."
Alice sticks her tongue out at him, giddy from the euphoria of being loved unconditionally. A small part of her is scared of when the ball drops, but for now, she's content.
"Can we go back to sleep?" She asks suddenly as the boys continue standing around, "It's too early," She lays back down and uncrosses her legs.
"Can I get my bed back?" Reid asks hautly as Pogue and Caleb return to the floor and Tyler returns to his bed.
"No," Alice stretches herself like a starfish, "It's comfy and mine now," He chuckles and lies down on the floor next to it, the bucket having been removed once Alice had drifted off to sleep. He watches as much as he can of her as she shifts before falling back into a dreamless sleep, worries and concerns flitting over his mind.
She's an orphan? Her foster brother is her only confidant? She works two jobs just to survive? She's always alone? She feels like she's drowning? And the biggest question of all, what bizarre side effects to her seizures? Reid knows that seems minuscule compared to the others, but he can't shake the feeling that it's important.
He puts it to the back of his mind as he falls asleep.
In the morning, the real morning with the sun shining through the window and everything, Alice wakes up to her fingers carding through someone's hair. It's nice, she thinks as she wakes up, the feeling of hair between your fingers, the smoothness and simpleness of us. She snaps her eyes open abruptly, realizing instantly that her hand is hanging off the bed, the unfamiliar bed, and that she's basically petting someone lying on the floor.
Looking over the side, she realizes her hand is carding through Reid's hair, since she's in Reid and Tyler's room, and retracts it immediately. No matter how nice it felt, if she could help it she'd never mention this again.
She doesn't know who else is awake. As memories of last night come filtering back to her, of her breaking down with Pogue and the sheer amount of love she felt from the other boys, she's not sure she wants to know who else is awake.
"You know, if you want I can come up and you can continue playing with my hair," Reid looks up at her, his Casanova grin on his face, and her heart flips slightly at the thought. Reid wasn't supposed to mean so much to her, nothing was.
"In your dreams Casanova," Alice replies, trying not to convey how much she wants to put her hand back in his hair.
"You know you are Alice," Reid sits up, looking at her, "You fully awake or do you need another hour?"
"I'm good," Alice sits up experimentally, and when she feels no headache she smiles, "But don't you guys have to be in class now or something?"
"Yeah, but," Reid shrugs, glancing around and looking at the clock, "Not for another hour. Spencer starts late."
Alice glances at the clock and realizes that she would already be well into her second period of school at this time. She remembers how different Spencer and public school is, how different these boy's lives are to hers. Why would they want to keep her around?
"Hey," Reid brings her out of her thoughts, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Alice puts on a brave face, "Just thinking."
"About?" Reid presses, his eyes concerned, "You blanked out when I mentioned Spencer starting late."
"It's just," Alice huffs, "Your lives are so different from mine. If this were a normal day, I'd already be finishing second period, heading to third. If this were a normal day, I'd have been at the shop until midnight and then been doing work until 2, then waking up hours ago to drive to school. It's just,"
"We run on different wavelengths?" Caleb finishes for her, sitting up across from Pogue's form in the middle of the room.
"I really hate that you guys all listen in to conversations and then pop up randomly," Alice gives him a small glare.
"What, like this?" Pogue sits up, smiling.
"Or this?" Tyler sits up too, as if on cue.
"I hate all of you," Alice says, a smile on her face.
"Ah, you say that, but I don't think you do." Pogue stands up, the boys follow, and Alice attempts. She collapses almost instantly, Reid catching her.
"Whoa, you good," He asks, his hands holding her in place.
"Yeah, I think so," Alice frowns and puts the majority of her weight on her legs. They don't collapse like before. "Weird,"
"As weird as those side effects you mentioned last night?" Reid jokes. Alice stills at his words, remembering that she mentioned that. What would they say if they found out?
"Whoa, okay, you keep blanking out," Suddenly Pogue's in front of her, "We should get her down to the cafeteria, she needs to eat."
"I can't go wearing yesterday's clothes," Alice complains. She normally doesn't care, but the clothes she slept in and wore yesterday were starting to grate her skin.
"Here," Reid goes over to his dresser and tosses her a sweatshirt, "Wear that,"
Alice shrugs and drops it on the bed before moving to pull off her own shirt.
"Whoa, what the fuck are you doing Alice?" Pogue asks, averting his eyes.
"Cool your jets, it's a sports bra," Alice rolls her eyes and pulls it off. All four boys go silent as she changes. When she turns around to them, they're all staring at her, eyes wide.
"Alice," Caleb asks in a too calm voice, immediately, putting her on edge, "Why do you have a family crest tattooed on your spine and on your neck?"
DUN DUN DUN You'll find out next time how they react to Alice's biggest secret being revealed. Also, the fluff! Sorry I just had to, I love strong friendships and Alice is, in my mind, the perfect addition to this group. Remember to R&R!
-Margii