Curled Hair, Blue Eyes

Chapter Nine // The Hall's

- Sadie's POV -

I entered the lounge in college the next day, Wyatt had his head down on the table and Alex smiled slightly once he noticed me. I approached them and sat down quietly to avoid waking up Wyatt as he clearly didn't sleep last night. There was a weird vibe in the air, it was filled with tension and awkwardness. 

"So.. How are you?" I asked Alex quietly, he glanced across the table at me and smiled.

"I'm good, great actually.." Alex muttered before lowering his head, liar. The drama with Alice had left my head once I was aware of Alex's background, I felt afraid when he wasn't in my company. I shuffled across the sofa so that I was sitting beside him, Wyatt snored loudly and we both giggled. 

"Are you really going to deal when you are eighteen?" I whispered to Alex with a frown on my face, he glared at me as if he was angry at me for bringing up that topic. 

"I have to, all of my older brothers work there except for one" Alex explained, I slouched and sighed loudly. I felt guilty for not knowing much about him, I know about Parker and Wyatt's families and back stories but not Alex. I didn't even know how many brothers he had or what their names were.

"Except for one?" I repeated his words, he nodded at me but didn't reply. Alex seemed to hate talking about his family and they obviously made him feel low and miserable but I wanted to know more so I could possibly help him in the future.

"How many brothers do you have Alex? Tell me about them" I asked him while crossing my legs and turning to face him, he watched me for a moment before rolling his eyes and turning to face me also.

"James is twenty, he is the oldest brother. Dad loves him the most and the rest of us don't get that much attention, James is amazing at dealing and I'm pretty sure dad is buying another club for James to run on his own.." As Alex spoke I noticed his expressions get sadder and sadder, his hands shook violently and he tried his best to hide them from my vision.

"Then there's Mike and Max, they're twins and eighteen years old. Max left home when he was sixteen because he is incredibly smart and wanted to go to college. He is at university now studying to be a doctor but he hates us all because dad never supported his decision to leave. Mike deals in the nightclub also but dad barely notices him, I listen to him screaming in anger almost every weekend when they get back from work" Alex said while laughing, I frowned while listening because his home life sounded hard. I tried my best to put myself in the situation, if my parents forced me to deal drugs. I would most likely run away if that was the case. 

"Toby is fifteen and he is still in school, he is probably the only brother I actually speak to and care for. He steals dads stash and sells the drugs at school which is awful I know. Most of the time we don't get to eat because my dad is to busy wasting his money on drinking and hookers" 

I stared at Alex in horror, a fifteen year old is selling drugs in school in order to be fed?! How messed up is this family and his father?! I reached for Alex's shaking hands and held them tightly, he glanced up at me and smiled as much as he could.

"Is that all?" I asked, Alex shook his head and laughed.

"Eddie my two year old brother. This is hard to believe but my dad adores Eddie so much, he looks after him really well during the weekdays when he isn't working. We have a dodgy babysitter who gets paid in ounces of dope, classy I know" Alex sighed deeply once he had finished explaining his family, I pulled him across the sofa and hugged him tightly. For the first time ever he hugged me back, we stayed like that for a while because I knew he needed it. Now I know why he is always so drugged up, he wants to forget. 

"And.. Your mother?" I asked as we pulled away from each other, he nodded and lowered his head once again. 

"When Eddie was a few months old she left. She found dads stash in the spare room of our house and was so horrified, she left us all behind and never returned. I have no idea where she is" Alex explained, he looked up at me and laughed at my terrified expression.

"I'm used to this bullshit, you know? You don't need to feel sorry for me" He said, I rolled my eyes at him and tightened my grip on his cold hands.

"I feel awful for not knowing all of this, I'm your friend and I want you to be able to trust me. Even with this.." I explained to Alex with a frown on my face, he nodded. Wyatt began to toss and turn, we watched him in fear that he would fall off the chair he had fallen asleep on. 

"I'm just glad you guys have loving families that you can return to everyday. You, Parker and Wyatt deserve that more than anybody" Alex confessed with a forced smile on his face, I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him angrily. 

"You will have that one day, I promise you" 

Wyatt suddenly jumped up and ruined the powerful moment between me and Alex, he stared at us weirdly and noticed how emotional Alex looked. He sat up and began to run his hands through his curly hair.

"What're we talking about?" Wyatt asked with his eyes half open, I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to Alex who was grinning at me without me realising before. 

"Just how crazy the Hall's are" Alex told Wyatt, I shoved him for dissing his own family before sighing. After that conversation I felt like I needed to hide in my bedroom for a few hours to cry. 

"I think that Alex Hall is the most sane of them all" I commented as I stood up and got ready for the bell to ring, Alex smiled widely at me once again and Wyatt nodded in agreement. The bell rang as soon as I was prepared to leave, I held my hands out to Wyatt and Alex and they both took them as we walked out of the lounge to head to our first class.

"By the way.. Where the fuck is Parker?" Wyatt asked us, I rolled my eyes once again at how messed up Parker had suddenly became after cheating on Mia. Wyatt got out his phone and began to write a message to Parker, asking if he was attending college today. 

"He better be, I still need to figure out who else fucked Alice at the party."