Chapter 12:

I do not own Alex Rider.

It was nearing 6:30 by the time Alex had to say goodbye to Rosie. Needless to say, there were tears. It had been a long day all around.

With patience Alex wasn't sure he could possess; Michael held the little girl in his arms as she wailed and tried to calm her down.

'Come on now, Sweetheart. That's enough of that. It's time for Alex to go home.'

She wailed louder at the prospect of her new best friend leaving. Rebecca decided to step in and have a go.

'Now, Rosie. Alex has to get home for his bath and quiet time before bed. He's had a long day, hasn't he.'

Alex furred his brow at the implication that his bedtime was before 7:00, only to nod enthusiastically upon the notable decrease in volume from the little girl.

'And,' she continued. 'Alex can come back and play anytime he wants to. Isn't that right, Alex?'

Alex turned his gaze to Rebecca, her eyes piercing into him expectantly.

'That's right. I'll come play with you real soon.

'Promise?' Rosie whimpered.

'I promise.' Alex nodded.

'Pinkie promise?'

Alex was baffled again. Until she held out her little hand, tiny pinkie finger hanging in the air in front of his face.

'Pinkie promise.' He confirmed, shaking the finger with his own.

Rosie let out a final sniffle and nodded. Still not happy but satisfied at the very least. And calm enough that for Michael to pass her over for a quick and final farewell before carting her up to the bathroom to get ready for bed whilst Rebecca ushered Alex to the car.

The radio remained off this time around. Alex clutched his bag in his lap and kept his eyes glued to the tense, white knuckles that gripped it.

The first 10 minutes were awkward to say the least.

'I feel like I owe you an apology. My first impression must have been a little much, huh.'

Alex kept his head down, not knowing how to respond. Though, Rebecca took his silence to mean something quite different.

'God. I really am sorry, Alex. I swear, I'm not that emotional normally. The last thing I wanted was to make you uncomfortable.

'No.' Alex jumped in. 'It's not that. It's just been a long day I guess.'

They drew up to a traffic light and she looked across to him briefly.

'I suppose that is an accurate description. I hope you don't mean that to be a bad thing though. And you're aloud to say if it was. A little girls party isn't exactly the place to be when you're a teenager.'

He huffed. 'No. It was alright. Rose is really sweet.'

'She is a one, that's for sure. But, even so. There must be other things you'd rather be doing on a Saturday.'

Alex could feel the sideways glances as the slogged their way through the London traffic. He simply shrugged.

'Such as…' She pushed on.

He looked up at her only briefly. 'I guess I do have some extra revision I would have liked to get in.'

'Homework?' Glancing away from the road, Rebecca looked absolutely scandalised.

Alex felt the heat rising in his cheeks. 'Shouldn't you be focusing on driving?' He sulked.

She rolled her eyes but she did turn them back to the road ahead. 'You've secretly got a bit of a smart mouth on you, haven't you. So you enjoy school then I suppose?'

'I mean, yeah. I guess. Sure.'

'You don't sound super sure there.'

He just hummed.

Rebecca understood the shutdown immediately and went about correcting her mistake. 'I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. If you don't want to discuss it, that is your prerogative and it's not my place to push you. You hardly know me after all. And for what it's worth, homework is a perfectly acceptable past time. Very responsible for a boy your age. Just some friendly advice though. Have a little fun whilst you're at it.'

Alex sighed out and leaned his head against the cool window. 'I'll take that under consideration. And, for what it's worth, I truly do like school. Just, not all of it. Everything comes with pros and cons.'

'That's far. What are the pros?'

That court Alex a little off guard. She was very clear in her attempts to dissect what he was saying to her. The questions was: Why? He weighed up his options before answering. Considering every possibility in less than a moment.

'I suppose,' He said eventually. 'I like to learn.'

'Ooh. Nice answer. And the cons.'

Quicker this time he responds: 'Pretty much everything else.'

'Ah.'

The car lapsed into silence. Even so, Alex could feel the tension rising. The way Rebecca's eyes continued to shift between him and the dark streets. The way she tapped her fingers against the steering wheel. Alex could feel her desperation to ask him further. Maybe it was her reluctance that encouraged him.

'It's just…' He took a breath. 'After Ian, my uncle that is, died. I went through some stuff. And I missed a lot of school. And there were… rumours. As to the reasons. They got pretty wild and now. Well.'

'That's ok. I think I understand.'

Alex drew his courage into a deep breath and looked to the side, only to meet Rebecca's gaze, fully, for what must have been the first time.

'You don't have to explain yourself, Alex. But I'm glad you felt like you could trust me.'

The silence this time was, whilst still tense, not nearly as suffocating. Rebecca put the rest of her attention on the unfamiliar rout to Alex's home whilst the boy in question gazed listlessly out of the window.

The newly cleared air also did a lot to speed the journey and before he knew it. Alex was looking out into the street that housed his latest dwellings.

The car pulled up and Alex heaved himself out of the car with no real hurry and turned to say goodbye and the thank Rebecca for the lift. He was surprised, however, to find her stepping out as well.

'I just want to make sure you get in safely.' She responded to his unasked question.'

She walked with him to the door and waited whilst he knocked. Then it only took Mrs. Harold a number of seconds to get the door open, even with her multiple locking mechanisms.

'There you are. Wonderful. Did you have a nice time? It's so nice to see you getting out and socialising. A boy your age. Honestly. And Mrs. Best. It's so nice to meet you. I'm Alex's foster mother, please call me Alison.'

As Mrs. Harold did what she did best, Alex had no trouble slipping through the door past her and up to his room with only a quiet thanks to Rebecca.

He had never been good at big farewells.

And that is Chapter 12. A lot of talking. A little bonding. Maybe even a tiny bit of healing. Don't worry though, it will be getting worse before it gets better.

On that note, the action will be kicking off next Sunday. With it, Alex mental health issues. Soo just take care of yourself. PTSD, as I think I've mentioned, will be a major theme.

On a jollier note, happy pride month. I had been looking forward to going to a parade or two, but that will obviously not be happening. As such, I will be posting LGBTQ+ fics on my account on Ao3. As mentioned last week. A whole bunch of fandoms. Tomorrow I intend to post a Spider-man one. Hope to see you there.