Sequel: Bad Blood
Status: Complete! Sequel Up Soon!

Love Shows When It's There

Zack's POV

"It as awesome of Alex to get us these sweets," Ross said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Yeah. It was," I replied, eyes fixated on The Avengers. We had put it on as background noise and I pretended to be watching it, but really I was lost in thought.

Alex hadn't really been trying to deal with what he'd been through. I'd cried on Ross countless times over what had happened. Matt had cried on Vinny even more often than I had on Ross. I'd asked Jack. Alex barely cried. It was like he took all the emotions he felt and everything that had happened and buried it down until he didn't know it existed. And then he slept and it all came back. It was his routine.

Wake up, shove feelings down, smile, shower, eat, school, work, study, hang out, sleep, unlock box, nightmare, wake up, repeat. And God knows it killed Jack. I hadn't had a proper conversation with Alex in quite some time. Every time I went to talk to him, I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what I could say. Like, there was no amount of words on this earth that I could use that could make anything that happened to Alex any better.

I couldn't say "how you holding up?" 'cause it wouldn't help any. I couldn't ask him to talk to me about what happened for fear of losing him as a friend. There was literally nothing I could do or say to help him and it killed me. Alex was that friend that everyone loved to have. He was that person that didn't care about himself if someone else needed help. He never ever put himself over anyone else. He was my best friend (besides Ross) and there was nothing I could do to help him.

I sighed softly and leaned my head on Ross's shoulder, tears pricking my vision. Ross looked 'round at me as the first fell. He paused the movie quickly and got up, kneeling down in front of me.
"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, really concerned.
"It's Alex," I replied as more tears fell.
"What about him, darling?" he soothed.
"I can't help him. I can't talk to him. I wanna be able to help him through this and I just don't know how," I cried.

"Baby. None of us know how to help him. We're all at a loss. Even Jack doesn't know sometimes. Alex is a ticking time bomb right now. We can't say or do anything extreme in case he explodes. It's just because of what he went through. None of us know when to ask if he's okay or what to do. You're not alone in feeling like this. The best thing you can do for him right now is make sure he doesn't feel alone. Make sure he knows you're there. Subtle things like hugs, watching movies, going for coffee and just having random conversations. That's how you make sure he doesn't feel alone. That's all we can do right now baby. And I know, it's frustrating. He's your best friend. You wanna help him. But darling, give him some time. He'll deal with it. Trust me," Ross said, kneeling a little higher and wrapping his arms around me. I started sobbing into his shoulder.

"I-I love you," I told him through tears.
"And I love you baby," he replied, tightening his arms around me.
♠ ♠ ♠
So here's an update for you guys. Won't be long on this bit though. Need to fold and put away washing, take the recycle-y stuff outside and go for a shower all before four and it is now ten past three. Update later :) Loves