"Guess what?"

"What?"

"You're supposed to guess!" Crystal insisted, grinning from ear to ear.

"Um…" His eyes flickered and white glints appeared.

"No psychic stuff. Guess!"

"Uh… you, um, found out something?"

"I'm getting a baby brother!" Crystal beamed, practically jumping with excitement. "I can't wait!"

"Brothers are annoying."

"Oh no, I'm going to train him to be my little minion." Alvie smiled at that. "Oh gods, I'm so excited!" Crystal hug-tackled him, laughing. "What should I call him?"

"Aren't your mom and Nico picking the name?"

"No." Crystal paused. "Not anymore. I- oh my gods, I need to get that!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to a prize claw machine. "That's perfect!"

A day at the seaside is what the Jacksons had planned. Alvie had invited Crystal along, but he hadn't realised how much she loved claw machines, even if she lost.

After her sixth attempt of trying to get the blue teddy bear, she begged him to use his psychic powers to get it for her.

"Please, please, please." She pulled on his arm. "I need the teddy for my brother!"

"I can't feel my arm."

"Sorry." She dropped her hands quickly and then tried for a sweet smile. "Please get it for me." Alvie nodded and she squealed happily, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "You're the best." She grinned, slotting a coin into the slot.

Alvie got the toy effortlessly in one go. Crystal figuratively crushed the stuffing from it before noticing something. "You didn't use your-" She waved a hand near her head, noticing a passing tourist shooting her quizzical looks. Alvie just shrugged it off. "So, you read, you cook, you do a girl's hair, you're really clever and you win at these things." She nodded at the prize claw machine. "Did I miss anything?"

"I don't know, did you?"

"That's why I'm asking you." She spotted something else and gasped excitedly. "I want to go up there!" She pointed. Alvie turned and his heart sunk.

She had pointed to the top of the cliff overlooking the sea.

Before Alvie could say anything, she was already pulling him through the crowds, her baby brother's teddy clutched to her chest.

They reached the very top minutes later and Crystal was instantly leaning over the edge, studying the cluster of rocks far below with a great number of birds nesting amongst them. "Alvie, look! There's thousands!"

When she didn't get a response, she stood up, still leaning on the banister, and looked at him curiously. His silver-grey eyes were fixed on the horizon and he looked queasy. "Are you OK?" He looked at her, pointing at the drop and making an anxious expression. "You're scared of heights?" He hesitated before nodding admittedly. "Then why did you let me bring you up here?"

"Uh…"

"And I asked you if you were scared of heights! You said no!" He stared at her blankly. "When Tobias was teaching me how to dive. Your leg was broken then and I said when it's healed, you could dive too. I asked you then!" She sighed, looking down at the teddy bear. "He's a silly whatsit, isn't he?" She made the bear nod.

"Sorry." Alvie mumbled, glancing around shiftily.

"No, it's OK. You didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." She smiled kindly. "Besides, I'm scared of small spaces."

"Claustrophobic?" She nodded, throwing her arms out.

"I like wide open spaces with lots of people to torment." She grinned devilishly. "Here, let's get off this rock and get some ice-cream. Or doughnuts. What do you want?"

"Doughnuts. Ice-cream."

"Both?" She offered a lopsided smile and took his hand, trekking back down the cliff.

His fear of heights now made sense though, explaining why he had refused the roller coasters and the ride that went right up and then dropped like a stone- he even avoided the Ferris wheel.

Crystal watched him quite happily share his hot sugar doughnuts with his younger siblings, ending up with only one for himself, but he didn't seem to mind. He was sweet and, despite the autism resulting in social awkwardness, he got on relatively well with his family.

Alvie was on his way over to Crystal's, a present for her stashed safely in his jacket pocket. Well, technically, Max's jacket as it was bigger and warmer and Max had insisted. The present was in a white box and wrapped as tidily as he could in several layers of green tissue paper.

Normally, he would be somewhat ecstatic to visit his girlfriend, but the closer he got, the more he sensed a bad feeling in the air. It altered his own mood and left him, on the doorstep of Nico's apartment, in half a mind to turn around and go home.

But if Crystal was upset, he wanted to see if he could help. Besides, his present for her might cheer her up.

He knocked and waited a few seconds until Joy opened the door. She beamed when she saw him and hugged him excitedly in greeting.

"Thank you for getting that teddy!" She exclaimed.

"It's OK." She kissed his forehead and waved him on.

"She's in her room. Do you want anything to eat?"

"I'm OK, thanks."

"Well, let me know." She skipped off to the kitchen, singing happily. Alvie closed the door and listened to Joy teasing Nico and laughing.

Crystal was lying on her bed, staring gloomily at the ceiling. She had her headphones in, listening to some Skillet. She didn't hear the knock on her bedroom door until Alvie cautiously peered in, obviously concerned for her.

"Oh, hi." She smiled weakly, removing her headphones.

"Are you OK?" He quizzed. She nodded, sitting up. He hesitated before padding over and sitting next to her.

"I didn't know your name was Maximus."

"Huh?" She motioned at the back of his jacket. "Oh. Forgot about that." He studied her, white shards flaring against the stormy grey. Crystal looked at the clock on her bedside table, watching the second hand tick round. "Um… got you a pressie." She glanced at him as he retrieved a small green package from his pocket. "It's not much." He admitted quietly, holding it out.

There was a long pause before she took it. Alvie chewed his lip nervously- he always felt like this giving her presents, but something was off. There were no smiles or enthusiasm for the gift. She simply discarded the paper and removed the lid disinterestedly staring down at the silver charm bracelet amongst the black tissue paper.

It was different from her other one, various silver charms dangling from the chain. There were a few animals, a four leaf clover and some other symbolic things.

Alvie shifted uncomfortably, tasting blood on his lip.

"It's nice." She finally said in a monotone. Instead of putting it on, she placed it back in its box and returned the lid. She sighed dejectedly. "Alvie, I need to talk to you."

"What's the matter?" She met his gaze then and he was struck with an onslaught of misery and hopelessness.

"I don't… I don't think… I feel like…" She hesitated, looking down at her clasped hands resting in her lap. "I don't think things are working out." She told him quietly, looking up again.

Alvie didn't quite understand at first, but when he realised what she was saying, he crumbled.

"What-?"

"I'm sorry, Alvie. It's over."

"Hold on a second!" Tobias called. "Finn, get off! I need to answer the door." Finn just laughed, immensely pleased with himself to cling to his father's leg while sitting on his foot. "Ugh, fine." Tobias dragged Finn along.

He was shocked and slightly angered to see an utterly miserable Alvie lurking on the other side of the door.

Who the hell had upset his brother?

Tobias pulled Alvie into a hug. "Who needs their head kicked in?" Tobias felt Finn get up and heard his son toddling off and calling for his mother.

When Alvie didn't talk, Tobias directed him kindly inside, kicking the door closed behind him. The click of the lock seemed to open the floodgates. With confused, teary eyes; Alvie recounted the latest catastrophe.

At first, Tobias was stunned. Then he was angry.

After everything Alvie had done for Crystal- he nearly died for her- she thought it would be alright to pull a stunt like this and state her hopes of them 'being friends'.

Sophia appeared at some point. She managed to quell Tobias's anger into control with a pointed look before turning her attention to consoling Alvie. She was, undoubtedly, much better at this sort of thing than Tobias was, especially if he was ticked off.

Alvie had to repeat everything for Sophia's benefit and she was as equally annoyed as Tobias, especially upon hearing that Crystal had practically thrown a very nice gift back in Alvie's face.

"Where's the present now?"

"I left it there." Alvie mumbled, wiping at his eyes with his sleeves. Tobias produced a tissue and wrapped his brother in a hug. Alvie didn't talk further. Sophia eventually directed him to the sofa and made him sit. Tobias fetched a warm blanket and a box of tissues for his trembling and tearful brother while Sophia left to mix up a hot chocolate for him.

Tobias sat with Alvie until he had calmed down slightly. The Little Twins were happy to sit with their uncle, showing him pictures that they had drawn and talking happily about Tobias stepping on their Lego.

The phone rang half an hour after Alvie's arrival, an irate and worried Percy on the other end.

"Dad. Dad, chill, he's here." Percy sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank gods. Nico rang up ten minutes ago, saying Alvie was gone. He thinks something's happened." Tobias scoffed.

"Yeah, Crystal broke up with him."

"What? Why?!"

"Apparently, it wasn't working." Tobias put as much venomous sarcasm possible into the last two words.

"I'm on my way. Keep him there."

"Yeah Dad." Percy hung up. Tobias replaced the receiver and turned back to his brother. Alvie stared at him for a moment and looked down, realising he had been caught eavesdropping. "Dad's on his way, Alvie." Alvie just nodded and went back to listening to his niece and nephew.

"So, what'd you do this time?" Nico asked, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Joy hovered nervously next to him, chewing her lip.

Crystal glared at him.

"It doesn't matter."

"It obviously does if you're sulking, Alvie left without saying goodbye and you're ignoring the present he got for you." Crystal didn't feel like elaborating, fuming at her duvet instead. "Did you argue?"

"No."

"What happened then?"

"It doesn't matter." She repeated, glaring at both of them, her tone angry and guarded.

"Yeah, OK." Nico said, acting as unbothered as he could. This annoyed her further. "I'll just ask Percy when he's talked to Alvie."

"You do that."

"I will." And with that, Nico left.

Joy didn't. She stood nervously by the door for a full minute before venturing forward and sitting next to her daughter.

"Baby, talk to me." She pleaded softly. Crystal glanced at her and Joy saw, under the anger, that Crystal wanted to cry. Joy drew her into a hug and her daughter's resolve dissolved and she sobbed on her mother's shoulder.

"He hates me." She cried. "I called it off. I called it all off. Oh, Mom, you should've seen him."

"Why did you do it?" Crystal didn't answer that, seeing Alvie in her mind's eye. When the realisation of what she had said sunk in, his expression clicked from confused to sheer devastation. It didn't help that he had merely said 'OK' in a tight, pained voice and left seconds later, leaving behind the present he had wilfully bought her.

Dum de dum…

I'll be in the safe house…