Hold my hand.

~6~

[Sunday.]

'I need details!'
'Shh! I don't want Blake to hear you.'
Perrie nervously looked at the children playing in the living room.
Leigh-Anne finished emptying the dishwasher, then went to join Perrie. 'Wasn't Blake there?'
'He was asleep. He has no idea Alex came over.'
'Why didn't you tell him?'
'He doesn't need to know. I don't want him to grow up with the idea that is normal to have social workers around all the time.'
'But you said it wasn't work related, was it?'
'Still...'

*Flashback*

[Thursday night.]

'Hey, nice to see you. Sorry, it took me longer than expected.'
'No worries at all. Blake is asleep, though. We'll have to be quiet.'
'Sure.' Alex took his shoes off and left his coat on a chair, before handing Perrie the old laptop.
Perrie felt slightly nervous as she wasn't expecting him to stay for long.
'Thank you so much, Alex. I really got no words. You're so kind.'
'I was a bit worried you would have get it the wrong way.'
'No, not at all.'
They both smiled, then looked at each other quietly, a bit embarrassed.
Alex broke the silence. 'Do you know how to replace the keys?'
Perrie scratched her head. 'Ehm... not really. I'm sure I can figure it out. It can't be that difficult, can it?'
Alex laughed. 'I can show you if you want.'
'I don't want to waste any more of your time. Really, I'm sure I'll manage.'
'Don't be silly, I'll show you.'
He smiled and pulled out a chair. He sat in front of Perrie's laptop and moved all of her papers on one side.
'I don't know how you do it.'
'Do what?' Perrie timidly sat next to him.
'All these numbers.' Alex said moving all of Perrie's papers onto one side. He then turned her laptop towards her. 'Sorry, I'll need you to close all the tabs.' He continued whilst beginning to take off all the keys from his broken keyboard.
Perrie was relieved Alex didn't notice all this one tabs contained different jobs hours and descriptions.
'It's very easy. You basically just take them off one keyboard and then pop them back on the other one.'
Perrie smiled. 'See, I could of figure it out myself. You must be tired.'
'Not more tired than usual.'
'Do you normally finish work this late then?'
'Sometimes I never finish.'
Perrie looked at him with a puzzled expression.
'I'm pretty much always on call. If there's an emergency, I want my clients to know I'm always there for them. Day and night, especially for some of the children I work with. Blake is lucky to have you.'
The girl, who should've felt honoured by hearing this words from a social worker, just felt even more inadequate in her role as a mother.
'If you say so... you're far from the typical stereotype of a social worker. How come you chose this career?'
Alex went really serious and kept looking at the keyboard. 'I once was one of those children.'
Perrie cursed herself for asking that question and not minding her own business. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to.' She quickly tried to change the subject. 'Can I offer you something? Tea, coffee?'
'No, it's okay, thanks. I'll go and have dinner soon.'
'Alex, you really shouldn't have waisted your time for me.'
'Who said it's a waste of time?' Alex looked at the blonde and smiled. After a few moments of silence, he continued. 'I thought you just started your new job.'
Perrie was confused. 'Ehm, yes. Why?'
'Why are you looking for another one then?'
Perrie felt her face begin to burn. Alex did notice all the open tabs on her screen. 'Oh... that... well...'
'Perrie, relax. I'm here as your friend tonight, not your case worker.'
She then took a deep breath before answering. 'When I moved to London three years ago, I didn't have anything. A family I used to know when I was younger helped me out by letting me rent a room in a property they own and since I couldn't really pay for the rent, they said I could pay them bit by bit. Since then I've been struggling to give them the money back. She's losing her patience and I don't have any other choices that to find an extra income.'
'That's sucks, I'm sorry. Surely she should understand your circumstances. Raising a little boy by yourself and working two jobs is not easy.'
'I'll manage, like I always did.'
Not long after that, Alex finished with Perrie's laptop.
'I cannot thank you enough Alex, really.'
'As I said, it was my pleasure.' Arrived at the door, Alex stopped before exiting the apartment. 'Listen, if you ever need anything... just give me a ring, okay?'
Perrie nodded before he was even finished.
'You've got my number right? And I don't mean my work one...'
Perrie could not shake away the idea of Alex being a social worker being there to inspect and find faults in hers and Blake's lives.
'Why are you doing this, Alex?'
'Because you remind me of someone... and I wish I could have help them too.'

*Flashback ends*

'P, he's a real godsend.'
'I don't know about that. I know he wasn't there for a work related matter, but I still felt on edge as soon as he entered my house. I'm scared, Leigh. These people are so good are twisting this kind of things. I want him and social services in general to be involved as little as possible in our lives.'
Leigh-Anne didn't necessarily agree with what Perrie was saying, but she knew that her friend rarely changed her mind. Perrie was so used to be able to count just on herself that she found it hard to completely trust anyone else.
'Anyway, it's late and you've done enough for us. Thank you for feeding Blake.'
'It's okay. Did you eat yet?'
Perrie looked at the clock. It was almost half eight in the evening and she had just finished a shift from her new weekend job. She didn't have any intention to go home and cook for herself but she didn't want to bother her friend anymore. 'I'm fine. We better get home, it's a busy day tomorrow. Thanks, Leigh. Speak to you later.'
Blake fell asleep on the bus on the journey home, so Perrie had to carry him up the stairs and put him into bed, still dressed.
The girl then opened the fridge and cupboards, looking for a quick fix for her dinner, with scarce results.
Perrie flicked the kettle on and sat on the kitchen chair, waiting for it to boil. She wasn't one to cry so easily, but she just couldn't help but wonder if she would ever find peace.

[Hello lovelies :) how are you all xx
It's back to work tomorrow and although I enjoyed a week off, I can't wait to go back and have a routine and stop eating mini eggs all day long lol
Next chapter's out, as always, I can't wait to hear what you think about it :)

Also, did you guys see the post about Alex and Perrie's house on Instagram? It's absolutely dreamy 🥰 I so want new Alerrie content tho 😭💔
Peace and love and keep safe everyone xxx]