Jay had finally wrapped up all they could for their current case around 10:00pm and headed home. He hadn't heard from Alex since her last text about coming back late, which was concerning, but he had convinced himself that she'd already be home waiting for him because it was past 10pm by the time he arrived. She'd probably shown up a while ago, put on a movie, and forgot to text him. A simple explanation.

To his surprise, the apartment was empty and there was no sign that she'd been back yet today. After pacing the living room to gather his thoughts, he pulled out his phone and called Alex multiple times - each one going straight to voicemail. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Alex, the warehouse didn't have cell reception once they had moved further into the building, so all his calls and text were going unreceived.

The panic started to settle in. Will and Jay always had to be back by 10:00pm growing up, so the fact that Alex was still out and her phone wasn't working sent a shiver down his spine. He went to grab his car keys, ready to set off into the streets to find her, but he realized that he had no freaking idea where to even start. He didn't know her friends, had no idea where she hung out, and didn't have a clue where to start. He paced the room some more, before he gave in and called his girlfriend. "I think Alex is missing," he blurted out as soon as she picked up.

"Wait, what? What happened?" Erin immediately put down the glass of wine she'd been drinking in case she had to go back out tonight.

"She hasn't come home yet, and I think her phone is off or it died. None of my calls or texts are going through," he said matter-of-factly. Jay was managing to keep his tone calm and stoic, but Erin could feel the concern slipping through his hard demeanor.

Erin took in the information for a minute, not wanting to jump to any conclusions like Jay already had. "What time was she supposed to be home?" she asked.

Jay pulled the phone away and glanced at the last text message he'd received from her. "She just said that she'd be back late. And it's late."

"What time was her curfew?" Erin pried more, trying to get all the facts to see if this was truly a missing person or if Jay was spiraling out of control.

"Curfew?" Jay instantly replied without much thought.

"Yeah, curfew. Doesn't she have one?" Erin questioned, truly confused. For being the control freak that he was, she was surprised that he'd overlooked such a major detail. In reality, this was all so new to him that he had no idea that he needed to confirm a curfew. Their father had never let him or Will stay out past 10:00pm at this age, so he had assumed she would abide by the same rules. What he didn't know was that their father gave up caring what time his daughter came home, and just let her do whatever she wanted.

"I thought it was 10:00pm, but I didn't….we never discussed it," he admitted.

Erin took a deep breath before grabbing another sip of wine. "Then this isn't a missing person, Jay. She's probably out being a teenager who is taking full advantage of not having a curfew and her phone died."

"But–," he tried to interject.

"No buts. Now go grab a beer and try to relax. If she's not back by midnight, call me and we'll figure something out, okay?" Erin had to be the voice of reason, so Jay didn't call in the whole team on this.

Jay ran his hand down his face from exhaustion. "Okay. Midnight. But no later."

She smiled, happy that she'd convinced him to take it down a notch. "Now if you need something to keep your mind off this for the next two hours…I could come over and be your distraction," she whispered seductively.

Oh how that was what Jay wanted - what he craved right now. To caress and get lost in one another. But his responsible brotherly side forced his pleasures away. His anxiety was too heightened for him to truly enjoy anything right now. As sad as that was. "Raincheck?"

She decided not to push any further, knowing why he was turning her down, and it was okay. "Just make sure you cash it within a week or you'll lose it," she joked flirtatiously.

Finally around 11:15pm, Alex had partied enough for the night and she was ready to go home. As she exited the warehouse and regained cell service, an onslaught of voicemails and texts from Jay blew up her phone.

What time are you coming back?

Where are you?

It's after 10pm, you should be home now.

Are you okay?

Why aren't you answering me?

Call me immediately.

The texts had grown increasingly concerned and angry. Shit. Why was he saying that she should be home by 10pm anyway? She popped another breath mint in her mouth as she took off in the Uber back to his apartment. While the text said to call him, she didn't want to deal with that so she took the easy way out and texted.

On my way back. Be there in 15.

Jay felt the tension in his shoulders release when he read the text twice. She was safe. He tried to keep his anger in check about the lack of details she'd provided, and he set a mental note that they needed to establish ground rules.

Alex walked in and sat her bag on the floor by the door. Jay was immediately on his feet the second he heard the lock release. While he tried to keep the emotion out of his words, he didn't fully succeed. "Where have you been?"

She looked at him for a moment as she made her way into the kitchen. "I told you. I was hanging out with some friends."

"Where?"

Grabbing a cup out of the dishwasher, she lied smoothly, "At my friend Nick's house."

The realization that Jay had no idea who any of her friends were or where they lived sent another wave of panic down his spine. It was all starting to be too much. "Where does he live?" he questioned.

"In Chicago," she quipped.

"Enough with the smart ass replies," Jay said firmly.

She poured herself a glass of water and took a sip before returning her gaze to her brother. "Am I like on trial or something? What's with the interrogation?" Her dad had never asked such specific questions, and Jay wanting to know small details about her life felt strange. He'd barely been involved or cared to know before, so it was uncharted waters and she was innately testing boundaries without realizing it.

However, her nonchalant attitude was rubbing Jay the wrong way. "Because these are crucial details, Alex. You can't just go parading around Chicago without telling me where you are. Especially when you were supposed to be home over an hour ago."

There it was again - that strange assumption that she was supposed to be home at 10:00pm. "What do you mean? I don't need to be back by 10."

"Just because you aren't living with Dad anymore doesn't mean that the same rules don't apply."

Alex had to chuckle at that one. He clearly thought that she had a curfew at home. "Hate to burst your bubble, but Dad never gave me a curfew."

Jay had to do a double take at that comment. "What?"

"Guess he trusted me more than you and Will," she retorted as she headed over to the couch to sit. In reality, she had missed curfew so many times that Pat just gave up caring to keep track of her.

He wasn't thrilled by her comment as he followed her over to the couch, but refused to take a seat to show his authority. Her comment was meaningless, because he knew that wasn't the case. Pat had made that very clear when he'd picked up Alex - there was little trust between them. "Well even if that is true, it doesn't apply while you're living under my roof."

"So then what are the rules in this humble abode?" Alex motioned her arms around at the apartment before taking another sip of water.

Jay hadn't fully thought through his reply, but he led with his overprotective side. "You're home right after school on school nights and by 10pm on the weekends."

Alex about spat out her water but caught herself just in time. Home after school? What did he expect her to do? Sit around on her ass alone every afternoon and evening. What the actual fuck! She wasn't happy in the slightest about this. She enjoyed hanging out with her friends most days after school to just shoot the shit, drink, occasionally go to parties, and from time to time, do homework.

"Why can't I do anything after school?" she asked with more teenage attitude than she'd expected.

Years of practice keeping calm under unpleasant circumstances were paying off for Jay. "Why would you need to go out after school?" he countered patiently.

Alex didn't give herself enough time to think through a response. Judging by how he was reacting, saying that she wanted to hang out with her friends wouldn't be an acceptable answer, because then all the questions would start - who are they, where do they live, what do you guys do, etc. So against her better judgment, she blurted out confidently, "Debate team."

"Debate team?" This was news to him.

Alex had no choice but to fully commit to the lie and she did so with ease. "Yeah, I joined the debate team, okay? Dad said if I liked arguing so much, I should make better use of my time. So I joined this year." She was almost impressing herself at how real this was all sounding. "We meet to practice a lot during the week."

"You joined the debate team?" He was honestly shocked to hear that. He never saw her as being outgoing enough to be on the debate team and basically do tons of public speaking. But then again, there was already so much that he didn't know about her, so it fit the bill that this was just more information he hadn't been privy to.

"Yeah. I never said anything because I didn't want you or Will making fun of me," she continued to lie. She waited to see if he was buying everything she was selling.

Jay's face softened, clearly believing her. "Well you're right about that - Will is totally going to make fun of you."

Alex chuckled. "So it's okay if I go to practices and meets during the week?"

"Yes, as long as you let me know when you'll be home." Jay took a seat on the couch beside her. "But the 10:00pm curfew on weekends still stands," he stated.

She ran her tongue along the inside of her bottom lip, making sure to keep her frustration in check. 10:00pm was excessively early for a weekend! She'd already won one battle, so she pressed her luck. "How about midnight? All my friends can stay out till then."

"I said 10:00pm."

"That's so early!"

"There can't be anything important that happens after 10:00pm," he challenged.

"That's not the point!"

"That's exactly the point," he said firmly.

"Jay, come on!

Jay had never been known for his patience, and he was on the verge of losing what little he had left. "This isn't negotiable right now."

"You can't be serious?!" Alex threw up her arms. She wasn't used to this side of her brother - he'd never really been any type of authority or decision making figure in her life, and she didn't like how tightly wound he was. "You're out of your mind."

"I could say the same for you," he quipped, frustration showing in his tone.

"This isn't fair! You can't just start making shit up."

"I'm not making anything up. 10pm is a reasonable time, Alex."

"Reasonable my ass!" Alex yelled back. "Everyone is going to–"

He stood up to try and signal that this conversation was over, seeing how it was just escalating. "We're not discussing this anymore."

However, it only prompted Alex to stand up as well. It didn't help much because Jay still towered over her. "You're such a fucking prick!" she yelled in pure frustration at not getting her way on this. She'd had a ton of freedom before, so having it ripped away from her was enough to set her off.

Before Jay could stop himself, his eyebrows flew up in shock at her choice of words. He knew Alex cussed but he'd never been on the receiving end of her words or such disrespect. "Alexandra Grace, that's enough!" It was said in a loud, threatening tone that commanded obedience.

Instantly, Alex's eyes squeezed shut for a brief second, she took a step back, and she ducked her head all at once without realizing it. And Jay froze. He felt his breath get caught in his throat as it closed up. He just scared his little sister. He scared her enough that she very clearly thought the next movement was going to be something physical toward her.

Alex's cheeks flushed with embarrassment when she snapped back to reality and realized what she'd done. She knew that Jay had never physically harmed her, but her body and mind was pre-programmed to react defensively when that tone was used with those words.

"Alex, I didn't mean–"

She forced a smile and cut him off right away so they could move on from this moment before the questions started. "Sorry." She averted her gaze to the ground. She no longer wanted to pursue this conversion or have his concerned eyes on her. Concerned eyes that were starting to silently demand answers…answers she couldn't…wouldn't give. So she quickly got herself in line and replied obediently, "10:00pm is fine. I'm going to bed now." She didn't wait for another word before she scurried off into the studio bedroom behind the wall. Launching herself onto the bed, she buried her face under the covers as she overanalyzed every part of the conversation they'd just had and the lies she told.

Jay now hated himself more than ever. She had been pushing his buttons, but he was an insensitive ass to his sister that had clearly been through a lot more trauma than he had anticipated. As unfortunate as it had been, this reignited his fire for finding out what exactly had been going on behind those closed doors.