Alex was thankful having been in the hot tub, loosed him up more. He dried himself off and got changed. When he was done, he saw Little Grace sitting on his bed.

"Hello Alex," She said quietly.

"Hey," Alex said quietly.

"Are you ok, Alex… I heard Nat and your dad talking, they're really concerned about you." Little Grace asked as Alex came and sat down on the bed beside her.

"It's just so hard." Alex said frustrated, "There was so much I wanted to do this year…. And now I can't…"

"Awwwww Alex," Little Grace said softly and put her arm around Alex and hugged him.

"I was going to go skating with Juanita all the time, and now I can't because I get exhausted to easily, and the hurting never stops," Alex said softly and tears began running down his checks.

Little Grace hugged Alex tighter. She had never put any thought into what Alex did for the rest of the year.

"Alex, I know she is your best friend, she'll understand," Little Grace said.

"It's not that, I want to be out there doing things. I want to be active…. I can't even do gym." Alex sniffed.

"Alex, I know you'll find away to keep active," Little Grace said, she could see how disheartening the year looked for Alex.

Alex felt a bit better.

"Do you want to get some breakfast?" Little Grace asked him.

"Yeah, maybe some food will help," Alex said softly standing up.

Little Grace watched him walk for a few seconds before following him.

An hour later and they had finished breakfast. Alex got a little better as he ate.

"You seem a little happier now bro," Nat said to Alex.

"Yeah, I just wish things weren't so hard." Alex said not looking at Nat

Alex slowly finished breakfast, he saw Little Grace and his dad, put Alex's wheelchair in the car.

Alex stood up and walked over to the car. He sat in the front seat, and Little Grace got in the back.

Once they were Mr Wolff started the car and began driving.

"So Alex, are you ready for the concert next week?" Little Grace asked, she remembered how devastated Alex was when their concert was cancelled last time.

"I don't want to do the concert anymore," Alex said softly.

"What? Why?" His dad asked him.

"You enjoyed the concert in Vancouver," Little Grace said quietly.

"Because none of the fans will like me, because I have a broken back and will suck," Alex said staring at his feet.

He imagined all his fans who he imagined were disillusioned and now hated him because he was weak.

"Alex, the fans love you. They support you. I'm going to have to get you a new phone because so many fans somehow got the number, and it has been ringing off the clock." Mr Wolff said

He had held onto Alex's phone since Alex was in hospital, and because Juanita was still there, he didn't have a massive need for a new one… but Mr Wolff thought talking to Juanita would cheer Alex up a lot.

Alex wasn't convinced, and his dad could see it.

"Mr Wolff, turn left up here," Little Grace said quietly.

Mr Wolff obeyed and they drove half a mile down the avenue. They came across a massive billboard, in prime advertising real estate.

"New Orleans Loves Alex Wolff!" The billboard read, and had a couple of pictures of Alex on. One with him in his wheelchair, and the other when he was in his Polar Bears suit before the Santa incident

Mr Wolff stopped the car, in the middle of the road so Alex could look at it. People honked there horns as they drove around them.

"See Alex," Little Grace said. "A lot of people here, donated money to put these up for you,"

The billboard made Alex feel better, seeing that he wasn't hated because he spent a lot of time in a wheel chair.

Mr Wolff heard a quick whirl of sirens as a Police car pulled up behind him. The cop fingered his weapon but didn't draw it as he semi cautiously approached the car.

"Is there a problem?" The officer asked.

"We wanted to show Alex the billboard," Mr Wolff said gesturing to the billboards.

The officer glanced quickly before looking inside the car again. He saw Alex looking at the billboard, he could see he was touched by the gesture.

"Alex, Good luck man," The officer said.

Alex looked at him and said thanks. Before turning back to the billboard. It wasn't fancy but it gave Alex a feeling that he couldn't describe.

"Take as long as you need, I'll divert traffic until you leave," The officer said kindly, before making sure that traffic was merging smoothly into the single lane.

"Why did they do it?" Alex asked after ten minutes.

"The people love you Alex, you are such a symbol of strength. You might not know this but despite everyone's difference what happened you brought everyone together. The first time a lot of people held vigils, cities stopped for you. It happened again the 2nd time. You have given everyone a new perspective Al, and I think if you ran for president today…. You would win." Little Grace said softly, it was a lot like the response during 9/11.

Alex felt a whole lot lighter, he didn't feel so bad now.

Mr Wolff called out the window and thanked the officer, before driving off. They drove into the city before parking.

"Alex are you ok to walk or do you want me to get out the wheel chair?" Mr Wolff asked as he undid his seatbelt.

"I think I should be fine," Alex said, "…..I hope."

"Ok Alex," Mr Wolff said softly and they all got out.

"Dad, I want a hat. I don't want everyone bugging me," Alex said as a group of people walked passed and whispered excitedly.

"I don't think a hat will hide that you are you," Little Grace giggled.

Alex looked at her.

"I just want to make them think twice…. If they are unsure the might leave me alone," Alex replied.

"Ok Alex," He knew Alex wasn't ready to be bombarded by masses of screaming fans, Alex had been able to avoid that in Vancouver.

Mr Wolff locked the car and they began walking down the street. They walked down the street passing a number of shops for ten minutes before finally turning into a clothing shop.

Alex looked through the shop for quarter of an hour before he found a hat he really liked. It was a charcoal style hat, that reminded Alex of the blues brothers.

"Blues Brother styles," Alex said throwing the hat to his dad. They went and looked at board shorts but they were mostly men's sizes.

"I'm supposed to swim in the hot tub, not these," Alex said giving up after seeing there was none in his size.

Mr Wolff laughed before they went up to pay. Alex hung back so the cashier couldn't see him.

Once his dad had paid they left the shop and Alex put his hat on his head. They walked up and found a Wal-Mart. They went in and found some board shorts in Alex's size. They got a few pairs before paying.

"It's bright out here," Alex complained shielding his eyes.

Mr Wolff looked at Alex, the concussion he had suffered would continue to cause some light aversion and big headaches

"Is it bearable?" He asked.

Alex shook his head, it really hurt his eyes.

"Are your sunnies still in the car?" Mr Wolff asked.

"Yep" Alex said now completely covering his eyes with his arm.

"Little Grace would you mind running to the car and getting them?" Mr Wolff asked.

Little Grace smiled and held out her hands for the keys. Mr Wolff handed them over and Little Grace literally ran to the car.

Mr Wolff guided Alex to a bench and they say down and waited.

Little Grace was back in five minutes. She passed Alex his sunnies and gave Mr Wolff the keys and Alex's medication. She realized they would be in town a while, and she overheard her mom and Abigail talking about Alex needing his medication with each meal.

"Little Grace, you're a life saver," Mr Wolff said and smiled at her.

"Thanks Little Grace " Alex said wincing a little before he put his sunglasses on. "That's so much better,"

Both Mr Wolff and Little Grace smiled, it was pleasing to see that Alex appreciated the little things.