"I'm not trying to be rude," Quinn said as Ale walked into the living room. "But you look awful."
The concern was evident in his voice and Ale couldn't help but smile, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch of Quinn.
"I had a difficult time sleeping last night," Ale shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal of it. She hadn't had nightmares, per say, but she just couldn't stop thinking about her family and what happened in the room with Buchamp's men. She didn't have any nightmares because she never really fell asleep for all that long.
"Anything you want to talk about?" Quinn offered, raising his eyebrows. Ale noticed that he was already showered and changed into a new dress shirt and pair of jeans.
"I'm okay," Ale smiled, taking in the smell of Quinn's shampoo as it wafted across the room.
"Would you like some breakfast, then?" he asked, Ale shaking her head.
"I'm just going to grab a granola bar or something after I shower. Do you mind if we go to the hospital today?" Ale asked, Quinn shaking his head, but looking a little skeptical.
"Great," Ale smiled, going up to her room. "I'll be down soon," she called down the stairs, humming happily to herself as she thought about the day she was about to have.
Quinn was a little concerned about Ale. She looked exhausted, and she wasn't really eating a good breakfast. He didn't want to hover, though, so he let it go.
For now.
He did want to know why they could possibly be going to the hospital. Quinn knew, from Eliot's report, that Ale had volunteered there for a while after her dad died, so he assumed it had something to do with that.
When Ale came downstairs she had her hair loose, soft curls adorning her dark hair, cascading over her shoulders and down her back. She wore a lilac sundress, the skirt stopping just above the middle of her thigh, showing her toned muscles. She looked adorable, Keds tied on her feet.
She looked a million times better than she did that morning when she came down the stairs, a light in her eyes.
"Are you ready?" Ale asked, looking at Quinn with raised eyebrows. He realized he had been staring and quickly cleared his throat, nodding.
"Absolutely," Quinn smiled, Ale smiling back before she grabbed an apple off the fruit bowl in the kitchen.
"We have to make a few stops first. And we should probably take the truck," Ale instructed, locking the door behind her.
Quinn couldn't help but laugh as Ale stuck the apple in her mouth, holding it there as she struggled with the many keys Eliot left her for all of the different locks.
"S like Alscataz," Ale mumbled Quinn taking the apple from her mouth.
"What?" he said, Ale continuing to focus on all of the locks.
"It's like Alcatraz," Ale repeated, finally getting all of the locks secured. Quinn handed her back the apple, Ale putting the keys to the pickup in his hands.
"Whatever you do, don't crash Eliot's truck. You'll be out of a job because he'll kill me himself," Ale said, smiling up at him and taking a bite of her apple. She looked adorable, and it took all of him not to take a bite of the apple, too.
Ale could hardly contain her excitement. She was so excited to get back to the hospital and help people. It made her feel like she had a purpose.
Ale gave Quinn directions to the closest toy store, Ale practically running into the building.
"Can I ask what we are doing here?" Quinn asked, looking at Ale with an amused look on his face.
"No. But you can push the cart," Ale teased, raising her eyebrows at him.
Ale walked through the aisles until she found what she wanted. She loaded the carts with coloring books and crayons. They continued walking, Ale finding the next aisle she wanted. She grabbed at least twenty tiaras and twenty foam swords, looking at Quinn and nodding.
"We're ready. Let's go," she said, turning down the aisle to go to the cash register.
When the total came up Quinn couldn't believe how much money Ale was spending on coloring books and tiaras.
"Do you want some help taking these to your car?" the cashier asked, the young man obviously thinking Ale was cute.
"We are all set," Quinn answered, the boy nodding, as if he understood. Quinn loaded the cart with the bags upon bags of coloring books, crayons, tiaras, and swords. In the parking lot Ale stole the cart from Quinn, starting to run with it. Just as she gained speed Ale hopped onto the back of the cart, her hair flying behind her as she rode the cart to the car. Once she reached the truck she hopped off, loading the bags into the bed.
Quinn laughed at Ale, loving how one minute she could seem so mature and how just a few minutes later she was telling jokes or had the innocence of a child. When he finally reached the truck Ale looked at him, smiling even brighter.
"Why are you smiling?" Ale asked, laughing a bit.
"You just…you make me smile," Quinn shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Ale laughed again, sticking her hands in the pockets of her dress. It was then that Quinn noticed the small locket resting between Ale's collarbones, which were bare due to the strapless nature of the dress.
For some reason, the locket made him sad. It was probably given to her by her family, her Mama and Papa picking it out for her carefully, a younger Ale no doubt loving the gift, amazed with it's the beauty and the fact that she had her own locket.
Quinn wondered what she was like before her family died, and what she missed most about them. He wanted to know what she thought about when her eyes went dark or she cleared her throat to most likely clear tears from her eyes. He wanted to know her, not what she went through or how much he would get paid for the amount of time he spent with her. He just wanted to know Ale, because, he could tell, she is absolutely beautiful.
Ale and Quinn got back into the truck, Ale asking him to drive around the shopping mall's parking lot to an entrance so she could run into a store.
"I really should go in with you," Quinn said, Ale sighing. She just needed to run in, pay and come back out. She wanted to do something alone.
"Please Quinn. I promise I will be in there for seven minutes, at the most. I know exactly what I need, and I will be in and out. By the time you drive around once I'll be ready for you to pick me back up," Ale said, looking at Quinn with her best puppy eyes. He finally agreed, Ale giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"You are my favorite bodyguard ever!" she called over her shoulder, walking into the small music store.
Then, as she got what she needed, she thought about what had just happened in the car. She had kissed Quinn, albeit it was on the cheek, but still. She had kissed him. And earlier, he had said she made him smile.
If she wasn't careful, Ale was going to fall for Quinn.
Quinn was expecting Ale to run into the music store to get some CD's or gift cards or something small.
He did not expect, however, that when he pulled up to the store where he dropped Ale off, of her to have a guitar case strapped to her back. Ale was smiling, talking with a little boy who looked like he had been crying.
Quinn climbed out of the truck, Ale smiling at him.
"This little guy got a little turned around and ended up here all by himself. Do you think that we could maybe help him find his family?" Ale asked, Quinn smiling back. He could tell that Ale was worried about the boy and that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Of course," Quinn nodded, locking the car and going into the mall, watching as Ale scooped the boy up in her arms, asking him questions about what he remembered and what his parents' names were. She never made it seem like the boy was lost, and she made him laugh and asked him other questions, like what his favorite animals were and if had ever been in a spaceship.
The boy was perfectly content by the time Ale had made it to the security office, Ale knocking on the door confidently.
"Can we help you, miss?" a young officer asked, smiling at Ale.
"Yes. This is my friend Thomas, and his parents were silly and wandered off. He tried to tell them to stay close, but you know parents, they never listen," Ale said, rolling her eyes at Thomas as if to say 'what are we going to do with them?'. Thomas smiled at Ale, laughing a bit.
"I was just wondering if there was some kind of way you could put an announcement over the PA system? Or if there was a different kiosk in the mall they would have been sent if they asked a different security guard?" Ale asked, the officer nodding.
"I will radio in to the other officers. You can leave him here if you would like, Miss. You have certainly done enough," he said, sounding sincere.
"I think I would like to say. Thomas and I haven't quite finished talking about his time in the spaceship," Ale said matter-of-factly, setting Thomas down in a chair in the office. She slipped the guitar off of her, sitting down in front of him.
"I told ya I haven't been in a spaceship," the little boy giggled, Ale putting her hands on her waist.
"Are you sure? Because you look like an astronaut to me!" she said, the boy laughing again.
"Um, Miss, the parents were at the other office. They are coming right down," the officer said, Ale nodding.
"Thank you," she smiled at the officer, looking back to Thomas. "I told ya they weren't lost!" Ale said, Thomas nodding.
While we continued to wait Ale taught the little boy how to play Miss Mary Mack, a game that Quinn had seen his little sister play with her friends and awful lot when he lived at home.
Eventually, two very worried, yet relieved looking parents showed up in the office, the woman immediately crying when she saw Thomas.
"Thank God you are alright!" she cried, picking the boy up in his arms. "You are so brave."
"Mommy I wasn't scared. I was just worried cause you got lost," Thomas said, just as Ale had. His mother laughed, his father also laughing as he thanked the officer.
"Don't thank me. That young woman found him and brought him here. And calmed him down," the officer said, pointing to Ale. She was now standing and had her guitar strapped to her back again.
"We can't thank you enough," the man said, holding his hand out to Ale. Ale took it hesitantly, looking a bit bashful.
"Don't thank me. It was the decent thing to do. Plus, Thomas helped me find my way, too," Ale said, sending a wink Thomas' way.
"Thank you Ale," Thomas said, blowing her a kiss. Ale laughed, blowing him one back.
"See ya later, Thomas," she said, waving as the family walked out of the office.
Quinn looked at Ale, completely amazed with her. She had taken this scared, panicked boy and calmed him down when she didn't even know him. It was incredible.
"Are you ready? We still have to get to the hospital," Ale said, excitement in her eyes.
"You are something else," Quinn replied, Ale rolling her eyes.
"Why? Because I still play Miss Mary Mack?" she asked, waving to the officer as she led the way out of the office. "I know the game is ancient, but it's good, wholesome fun."
"No. Because you are you," Quinn replied, Ale pretending to ignore the comment. "And what are you going to do with that guitar?" he asked, Ale smiling as she climbed into the truck.
"You'll see," she said, turning on the radio as Quinn drove so that he couldn't ask any more questions.