OnlyUs

Gracie

Therapy has been going well for Alex. He's not quite open about the explicit details of what happened, and he's not sure if he ever wants to be, but he's included Jack in the last two sessions. He wasn't asked to, nor did Jack ask to. He chose to include Jack himself.
He's on week six of being home now, and things are looking up for him. He went outside at least. It wasn't for long, and it wasn't to anywhere particularly public.
The beginning of May has pretty weather, and Alex asked Jack to push him in the wheelchair around the neighborhood for a little walk.
"The trees look really pretty." Alex says quietly, looking around, surprised that things seem brighter than they did before. Then again, every color seems brighter now that he's not trapped in a dark basement longing for death.
"They do" Jack muses, a small smile playing on his lips as he pushes the wheelchair around the corner, heading back home.
"I want to go with you somewhere. Like an actual place." Alex looks back and up at him.
The shock must be apparent on Jack's face, because Alex chuckles a bit at his expression.
"What?" He smirks at his boyfriend.
"Nothing, I just didn't think you'd want to. Where do you want to go?" Jack asks, being sure to make a mental note to control his facial expressions.
Alex tilts his head, thinking about it, "The grocery store I think. I can ride on one of those electric scooters they have, I've never done that before and it sounds kind of fun. You'd be right there with me, so I think I would be okay." He shrugs his shoulders.
Jack smiles at him, "The grocery store it is then. Today?" He says, pushing Alex back towards the house.
Alex shakes his head "No. Not today. I want to build myself up to it. Deciding to even go anywhere in the first place is giving me enough anxiety." 

Media had given up a couple of weeks ago, realizing that they weren't going to get any sort of information. The hype had died down and Maryland was onto it's next juicy story, which at the moment is two local girls who got accepted into some singing competition that Alex can't be too bothered to care about.
"I want to cook tonight please." Alex calls a bit loudly to Jack from his spot on the couch, who's in the laundry room.
"Shit!" Jack shouts a little, making Alex jump. 
He sits up and grabs his crutches. He can't get too far without the wheelchair, but he's at a point where he can move around the house a little bit better on his own, "You okay?" He asks, gimping his way to the laundry room.
Jack sighs, coming out to meet him in the hallway, "Yeah I'm fine. The stupid washing machine just won't turn on at all. I put the laundry in, got detergent in and tried to start it. It dropped a little water in and just stopped. So I don't know what to do." He frowns. Laundry for Alex especially is rather important, considering he basically has to sit around all day, sweating and on more than one sad occasion, Jack didn't get to him fast enough when he had to pee. Having clean laundry and bedding is a necessity that can't wait.
Alex frowns, "We can go to the laundromat...I need that laundry done."
"Can it wait til the weekend?" Jack asks, "We're okay for right now."
Alex shakes his head "No. What if I don't make it to the stupid bathroom again? I'm not saying I need my wardrobe full but I want to have enough to change into and enough clean bedding to change out." It isn't that they have nothing, they do. There's plenty for Alex to have, but at the same time, he went for two months with nothing. No change of clothes, no clean bedding, having to sleep in his own mess until that monster allowed him any semblance of cleanliness.
"Please Jack." Alex asks, the nervous look on his face telling Jack all that he really needs to know.
"Okay. Yeah. Let me bag it up. I might as well pull our sheets off the bed right now and add the laundry from our room. You sure you want to come with me?" Jack kisses his cheek, returning into the laundry room to empty the laundry load into a mesh laundry bag. 
"Jenna is at work...My mom is working...My dad is out of town...My sisters have their own lives...I don't think I have much of a choice unless I either call one of them and make them come over or want to stay here alone, and I don't want to do either of those." He'd be a flat out liar if he said he wasn't nervous to do this. Not even an hour ago he was deciding on making the simple trip to the grocery store in a few days, after he had a chance to process the decision and psych himself up for it. Now he's leaving the house for the first time without the chance to prepare.

The laundromat itself isn't so bad, there aren't many people in today and it isn't a very big place. The fact that Alex can see all four corners of the building from where he's sitting helps. It's a very well lit place and that does a lot to ease his worries.
That and Jack is sitting right there with him, watching the laundry swirl around the washing machine.
Jack looks at his phone as it chimes for the millionth time, "Who the hell is that?" He asks, zooming in on his screen.
Alex peeks over to see him on the app for their security cameras. Jack had them installed right after Alex came home.
"Alex, this guy has been in and out of the little side yard for like fifteen minutes...We need to go check on it." Jack says, trying to zoom in on the screen again.
"You can go...If you don't take long." The shakiness in Alex's voice isn't very convincing.
"I'd rather you come with me..." Jack frowns, looking at his phone as the alarm goes off again.
Alex shakes his head "How long would it take?"
Jack shrugs "Half an hour? Long enough for me to get there, see what's going on and come back?"
Alex bites his bottom lip, thinking about it. He looks around the laundromat again, taking in his surroundings.

Nearest to him is an elderly woman reading a magazine in front of the washing machine she's using, across from her is the counter to pay. Then there's a couple of vending machines. To the other side of him is a younger couple sorting a large amount of laundry between two washing machines and two dryers. 
"I'll be okay I think...Go ahead." Alex offers Jack a small smile.
"Okay." Jack sighs, hesitant. He kisses Alex and heads out, hating the fact that he agreed to go alone. Still, there's a stranger around their yard, and he does not like that at all.

Alex lets out a little sigh as he keeps watch on everything and every person around him, glancing at his phone every few minutes hoping he'll hear from Jack. Maybe it was a fluke, maybe it's just someone at the wrong house and Jack can come right back.
Half an hour is what he agreed to, but half an hour might be longer than he can handle, and he knows that. 
He finds comfort in watching the laundry spin, it's distracting. That half an hour comes and goes though with Jack not returning.
That's when the panic and the worry starts setting in. When the questions about what could've happened to him start buzzing around in his mind. 
He sends him a text message.

Alex: Jack...Where are you? It's been 45 minutes...

No response.

Alex: Jacky...

Alex: Please answer me.

He decides that maybe a phone call would be the better choice, so he calls and it rings through to voicemail.

Alex's heart feels heavy, his stomach feels nauseous and his head feels rather fuzzy.
The way that the clothes spinning in the washing machine are no longer comforting, they're giving him motion sickness now. The way that each and every sound seems so much louder than before, and how it feels like every single person in the room is staring at him.
The washing machine blares loudly, signifying that the laundry is done and Alex nearly falls out of his wheelchair.
He closes his eyes for a moment to center himself, takes a deep breath and wheels himself to the machine. 
The space around him feels more dense as he turns his back from everyone and everything to pull the clothes out and set them in the basket to take to the dryer.
He feels pure fear as he sets the next load into the washing machine, feeling like it's taking him too long to pour the detergent in and press start.
It takes him too long to get the wet clothes into the dryer.
At this point, his heart is racing, his entire body feels like it's being weighted down.
He is alone and he's fully realizing it.
He doesn't know a single one of these people. What if they want him too?
What if something happened to Jack? 
What if Jack needs him and he can't get to him, just like Jack couldn't get to him when he was trapped in that dark basement?

A light tap on his shoulder terrifies him. He lets out a near silent yelp.
"I'm sorry to frighten you." A small, gentle voice says.
Alex turns to look at the person behind him. It's the elderly woman from a couple machines down.
"Oh..." His tone is timid, shaky, "That's okay...I was just thinking."
"You looked a little scared. Are you alright?" She offers him a small smile.
Something about the way that she reminds Alex of his late grandmother brings him the smallest bit of relief, "Yeah...I'm just worried. My boyfriend said he'd only be gone for half an hour. It's been almost a full hour now. I just worry too much. I'm sure he's fine." He doesn't sound very convincing and he knows it damn well. 
This sweet woman takes a seat next to his wheelchair on the little bench, "Do you mind if I wait with you until he comes back?" It's her comforting smile that reminds Alex the most of his grandmother, Evelyn. He nods, "Please." 

They spend a good twenty minutes talking about her live, she introduces herself as Gracie, which Alex smiles at, his grandmother's middle name was Grace. She talks about her four grandchildren who live in California, and her two dogs, Marley the pit bull that she rescued from the side of the road after her husband passed away. To her, Marley felt like he was sent for her from her husband. Her second dog, Shorty the pug was a gift from her granddaughter who had decided that Marley needed a friend.
Alex had to laugh at one of her stories where the dogs hated each other for at least two months straight. Marley would sleep in Shorty's bed, despite it being too small. In retaliation, Shorty would pee in Marley's bed. The two would go back and forth until one day, she found them cuddling on the couch together and they'd been friends ever since.

Even with the distraction, Jack is on the back of Alex's mind, ever present. Scenes playing over and over of what could've happened.
He's imagining a car wreck, maybe this stranger was at their home because they saw smoke and their house is on fire, maybe Jack got distracted. So many different thoughts are swirling around in his nervous mind that he almost doesn't notice Jack walking in.
Still, he can't miss that big blonde chunk of hair as the lanky man sits down next to him and Gracie.
"Hey" Jack says quietly, not expecting it when Alex nearly lunges at him, pulling him into a tight hug that nearly cuts off his oxygen.
Jack hugs him back tight, "It's okay" He whispers to his clearly worried boy, "I'm really sorry Alex. I got stuck in traffic. I tried to answer your phone call but dropped my phone and it fell in between the seats. I couldn't reach it. I tried to tell Siri to call you and put you on speakerphone, but it didn't get it right. It was too far away from me to follow what I said properly." 
Alex shakes his head "It's okay...It's fine...I'm okay now." He sighs, "What happened at the house?"
Jack kisses his cheek, "Just the maintenance man checking the gas meter. He was new and didn't know where ours was." 
Alex rolls his eyes "All that worry for the stupid gas meter. Anyway." He sighs, "This is Gracie. She's my new friend."
Of course, Gracie strikes up a conversation with Jack just as easily as she did with Alex, filling him in on everything she and Alex had discussed about her grandkids and her dogs, which made Jack mention that he'd like to get a dog. They wound up talking until Gracie's laundry had finished and it was time for her ride to come get her.
Alex actually gave her a hug, told her that he hoped to see her again soon.

His first trip out wasn't so bad after all.

(AN:// This is a filler chapter. I'm sorry! I wanted to put something out. I'm working on new things to do here during Alex's healing process. <3)