JUST PRETEND ↠ ALEX SUMMERS ✔️ [EDITING]

Chapter 9

Charles and Hank were still acting weird around Devin. But Charles mentioned that there was a mutant that he needed someone to find and she volunteered straight away. Maybe it would give her an excuse to stay away from Alex. Ever since Jean mentioned how she didn't know what it was like to love someone who only considered her a friend, her couldn't stop thinking about Alex.

As more than just a friend.

Not only that but she might be able to question Charles and Hank and ask why they had been skirting around her the past couple of days. Hank seemed to avoid eye contact with her and busy himself in the labs, locked away. While Charles was always dealing with another student or talking with Hank. It was annoying her, they were the ones who wanted to help her, now they were avoiding her like the plague.

She knew that Charles was in his office, meaning Hank should be with him too. The plan was to use Erik's helmet to sneak up on them, but Erik had hidden it after finding out about her Star Wars adventure. Thanks Scott. So, her new plan was to just walk in and if either of them tried to escape, she'd guard the door making it impossible for them to leave.

"Charles." Devin opened the door and walked in, as she thought, Hank and Charles both looked up from the desk and to her.

"What are you doing here?" Hank shuffled on his feet nervously.

"Well, last time I checked I was here about the solo mission." She smiled sarcastically, Hank looked away from her and back to the desk. "And to ask the reason behind why you've been avoiding me like you witnessed me killing every single life form on this planet." Devin stayed by the closed doors with her arms crossed. "You see, Charles-" He looked up to Devin once more. "I don't know if you know this, but just because I can heal myself doesn't mean that I can't feel pain." Charles looked back down slightly ashamed.

"I'm sorry..." He shook his head with a sigh.

"You can't just ignore your problems when the biggest one is standing right in front of you wondering what she did to deserve the freeze out from the two people she considered both friends and family."

"We're sorry-"

"I wish I could hate both," she told them, both noticing her eyes watering slightly. "But I don't hate you. I could never hate you. That's the problem." She scoffed to herself. "Just tell me if you don't think I'm cut out for this, I know you're hiding something from me." Charles glanced to Hank.

"We wanted to tell you but-"

"I didn't even care about what it was after a day, what I cared about was you both pushing me away and what I could have done to make you both hate me."

"We don't hate you, I can assure you of that." Charles shook his head quickly and came over to her, he gently took hold of her hand with a small smile, looking up at her.

"Someone once said 'all it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy' I think they were right." Devin looked at him. "Don't ever shut me out like that again, talk to me instead." He simply nodded. "So, about this mutant?" Hank looked back up to her with a smile.

-

"What did they say?" Alex pushed himself off the wall opposite Charles' office and towards Devin. She jumped slightly, not expecting him to be there, she had been avoiding him, so she would have thought his fist question would be; 'Why are you avoiding me?' Not that.

"Just about what to expect." She shrugged.

"That's it?" He glanced at her. "That's all they said to you? Really?" Devin sighed and continued walking back to her room to pack a bag. Alex was walking next to her, still not believing that it was all that they said to her. She thought it was sweet that he cared, but it couldn't be more than just a friend caring about another friend. No matter how badly she wanted it to mean something more than that.

"Alex, I'm going on a possibly dangerous mission to collect a mutant who doesn't even know of their powers." Devin glanced at him before walking into her room, hoping that was the end of it but Alex walked straight in and sat on her bed while she got a duffle bag out.

"Then why is it a solo mission?"

"You're so nosey." She shook her head and shoved a few clothes in before going to her bathroom to collect her stuff.

"I want to educate myself." Devin rolled her eyes as she walked back in. She could feel Alex's eyes on her at all times, following her body and her every movement. She wasn't sure how to feel knowing he had his eyes on her body. "Talk to me, we're best friends, we shouldn't keep things like this a secret from one another." He was trying to guilt her into telling him, and it annoyed her for some reason that he called her his 'best friend', which was stupid because that was all she was to him.

"No, Alex." She shoved more into her bag.

"Tell me." He placed his hand on her bag, stopping her from picking it back up.

"Alex!" Devin yelled.

"Why can't you just tell me?" His voice was just as loud as hers now.

"It's a solo mission because I might not be coming back!" She let go of her bag and stepped away from him, running her hands through her hair.

"What?" His voice was deathly quiet now.

Throughout her entire time of knowing Alex, he had always been like a beacon that helped guide Devin back to reality, not only just for her but for all the others who joined the first class. He would almost shine just as brightly as the stars, something about him just made her feel like she was going to be okay.

So, as the sun light from her window shone on his face, she could help but feel as though he was the night and she was the day. They paired together well, but were never meant to be as one at the same time. She envied how childlike and innocent his voice sounded in this moment, how pure it almost sounded like because even the sun can envy the stars.

"It's dangerous," she told him, "and I volunteered." Devin sighed.

"Why the hell would you do that?" The tone of his voice became almost like a shy child, he sounded like a whisper. "Have you lost your damn mind? Because if you die, I'm going to kill you." He stared at her.

"Alex," Devin breathed out and cupped his face with her hands. Her mind drifting every now and again as the warm of his cheeks spread to her hands. "I just need to prove that I'm useful to this team." Devin rubbed her thumbs against his skin gently.

"You don't need to prove that to us, we already know you're useful." She shook her head.

"I need to prove this to myself." Devin smiled painfully.

"I can't stand the thought of losing you." He pulled Devin closer to his body as he continued to sit on her bed and wrapped his arms around her, stopping her from going anywhere else but closer to him. He held Devin for what felt like decades. "But if this is your way of telling me to go, I will."

Devin shook her head quickly. "I can't do that," she spoke softly. "I need you in my life. Just say it's okay, I need you to say it's okay."

He shook his head this time. "But it's not okay. I just wish you could see yourself the way I see you." He rested his head on her stomach.

"I'm going to have to leave soon, you know that right?"

"Yeah, soon. That's not right now, so I can hold you for a little while longer."

Devin slowly moved her arms to his shoulders. He stood up from the bed, not letting go of her. His arms were tightly around her waist, pulling her body closer to his, the heat from his body already warming hers up. Devin stood up on tip toes with her arms around his neck.

"Promise me you'll come back home, promise me you'll come back to me." She could almost feel her heart break.

"I can't promise you that, Alex." He held on tighter. "I have to go, Alex." He buried his head into her neck and mumbled.

"No."

"Alex, please don't do this..."

The words he spoke next, having heard those words before, suddenly made Devin realise their meaning. His voice sounded like it had cracked and shattered—and with it, so did her heart;

"I love you."