Oh No, Aliens

Hadley drifted in and out of consciousness as the night wore on into early morning. Her leg had been patched up; thankfully the prowlers’ claws were not also poisonous, though the scratch stung pretty fiercely for a while. Eventually the ringing in her ears subsided and the pounding in her head retreated to a dull ache. Mostly she was just tired.

Brand had been there when she woke up, which had been a mild disappointment. Jack had brought her water and then disappeared, which was a stronger disappointment. When her daze began to wear off she stood up. She swayed a little and Brand hurried to put an arm around her.

“Maybe you should keep laying down for a while,” he suggested.

“Other people are going to need the infirmary,” Hadley said. “I want to go to my own room.”

“Of course. I’ll walk you.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

But he took her anyway, staying close and keeping a hand on her arm in case she swooned again. She wanted to shake him off but her energy was currently spent. It was exhausting just making the walk to her room. So she endured it, figuring the sooner she got to her room the sooner she could shake him.

She spotted Jack down the hall heading into his own room and managed a weak smile and a wave. He gave her a sort of half wave in return, barely even looking her way as Brand told her if she needed anything, to let him know.

“Sure,” Hadley said dully, watching Jack disappear into his room. She felt a little stung that she had very nearly died and now he was just avoiding her. Alone at last, she curled up on the bed and was out like a light. When she woke hours later, she felt more herself. She took a shower and put on fresh, unbloodied clothes. Then she went out to search the base. She came across Tommy, who broke into a grin and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I came by to see you in the infirmary, but you were sleeping,” he said. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Brand had no such qualms,” Hadley muttered. Tommy grimaced slightly and then laughed.

“Yeah, he’s not exactly a subtle guy and he’s really into you.” Tommy studied her. “But I get the sense that it’s not exactly a mutual attraction.”

“Brand’s fine,” Hadley said. “He’s just...not what I’m looking for.”

“He’s not, say, Jack?” Tommy arched an eyebrow and Hadley’s ears grew warm.

“It doesn’t really matter,” she sighed. “Jack has barely spoken two words to me since this all went down.”

“Well, maybe he was just tired too. It’s been a rough time for all of us. Everyone just wants to sleep for the next month.”

“Maybe you’re right. But hey, did we win?”

He grinned again. “Little sis, we kicked their asses. And there was a need for mass clean up outside thanks to you wiping out an army of prowlers. I’ve never been so proud.”

Hadley smiled. “We should probably downplay the life threatening parts a little bit for mom though.”

She looked for Jack when she went into the mess hall that evening, but when she tried to make her way to his table she was intercepted by Brand, yet again. By the time he finished asking how she was feeling and offering to get her a tray, Jack had disappeared again. Hadley spent the next day helping with clean up, and Jack still seemed to be making it a point to be anywhere that she wasn’t. And Brand was practically following her like a love struck puppy.

By the end of the day, Hadley was starting to get fed up with it all. If Jack thought he could just brush her aside that easily, he was in for a surprise. But first, she had to deal with Brand. She would try to let him down easy; he was a nice guy but he was getting on her nerves. Both of them were getting an earful from her today.

The next time he approached her with his signature dimpled grin in place, Hadley barely let him get the first flirty sentence out.

“Listen, Brand. You’re a great guy-“

“I try my best,” he said with a laugh.

“-but I’m just not interested. In you. In dating you.”

He blinked at her, looking like a confused deer.

“I’m kind of...not seeing someone, exactly, but I have a situation with someone and I’m just trying to deal with that right now.”

Brand’s confusion melted into a grimace. “It’s Jack, isn’t it? He said you weren’t together.”

“We’re not.”

“I haven’t even seen you hanging out together since the assault.”

“Yeah,” Hadley sighed. “I know. It’s complicated, I guess.”

“Stuff like this shouldn’t be complicated.”

“You’re right. So I need to go uncomplicate it.“

He sighed, looking genuinely disappointed. “Well. I can see that I’m not changing your mind. But if it doesn’t work out with you two, get my number from Tommy. You can call any time, and I’m never complicated.”

She almost laughed. “See you around, Brand. Thanks for looking out for my brother.”

”You’re sure I can’t change your mind?”

Hadley patted him on the cheek and walked away, her stroll turning into a march as she drew closer to Jack’s room and her frustration threatened to boil over. She knocked on the door so hard she hurt her knuckles. Her hands were planted on her hips when Jack opened the door.

“Hadley, what-“

“You have some nerve, Jackson. We go through all of this shit together, you bond with my family, and then you just ignore me?”

“I wasn’t ignoring-“

“I mean what the hell, was it all just some kind of act and now that the danger is passed and you’re in Houston you’re just going to drop me like a moldy potato?”

“No! I-“

“I just want to know exactly what your problem is, because I thought we had become friends but I guess I was crazy, is that it?”

“Hadley-“

“You can’t just come into a person’s life like this and then just walk out of it without so much as a how do you do.”

“I’m not trying to-“

“What did I do that’s driving you away, because I thought everything was fine. So if you want to go separate ways then I can’t stop you but at least have the decency to tell me why.”

He looked at her warily, waiting to see if she was going to berate him some more. “I wasn’t trying to drop you. I was giving you space.”

“Space for what?”

“For...whatever you wanted.”

She crossed her arms, getting impatient.

“It’s just, Brand was always around and I thought that you wanted that and I didn’t want to get in the way. We were just friends and he‘s so obnoxiously charming and good looking and really, really likes you. I didn’t want to be weighing you down if you wanted to be with him.”

Hadley scrunched up her nose. “You’ve been avoiding me these last few days because of Brand? Are you freaking kidding me, Jack?”

“Uh, no?” He was looking at her like a wounded puppy but Hadley just wanted to shake him.

“You’re a bonehead,” she said. “A giant, monumental, bonehead. First of all, if you were avoiding me because you thought I liked him, then that would imply that you have feelings for me.”

Jack fidgeted, color rising in his cheeks. “I uh, may have some feelings of the more romantic variety.”

Hadley did shake him then, gripping the front of his shirt. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Because I didn’t think you felt the same way. Hadley you don’t owe me anything and given what our history is like...we’re friends now but I didn’t think you’d want to be anything more than that. And Brand-“

“I don’t want Brand!” Hadley said in exasperation. “You dumb adorable idiot.” She shook him again for good measure, then pulled him down and kissed him. She wasn’t shy about it this time. He looked dazed when she pulled away.

“Now, does that make things clear to you, or are you still of the fool ass idea that I’m interested in dating Brand?” she asked.

“No, that was pretty clear,” he said weakly.

“Good. I know I didn’t like you in high school, and out history isn’t great. But that’s what it is, history. I told you, you’re not that guy anymore. And I want to be with the guy you are now. Got it?”

He nodded, still looking like someone had clubbed him with a two-by-four. Hadley leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Now less moping, more kissing.”

He cracked a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”