𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟

Chapter 14 : Papers

The silence is eerie as the boys sit in the living room, unsure how to fill it.

Mason is in the chair, his leg bouncing restlessly. Kin is seated on the carpet, in Ivy's usual spot, because she seems to prefer the ground to any other kind of furniture. Dexter paces around the room uncharacteristically, while Luca leans stoically against the wall.

Alex watches them from the couch, sitting beside Tyler, whose focus is fixed intently on the black screen of the TV.

It’s so quiet that Alex can almost hear the thoughts racing through their heads, all of them wondering how they’re supposed to fix this.

Alex's guilt hasn't lessened in the slightest, and the urge to soothe it is stronger than his fear of speaking up.

"I'm sorry," he says, his voice breaking the silence. "I shouldn't have told her it was you, Lu. She kept asking, and I couldn’t hide it from her. How can she trust me if I keep things from her?"

"That was the whole fucking point, Alex..." Tyler mutters without looking away from the screen.

"Look, Al," Luca sighs, "I know your heart was in the right place, but the problem is Ivy doesn’t see it that way. She’s worried about the consequences of you finding out."

"But why should she be worried?" Alex protests.

Dexter stops pacing, leaning against the dining table. He looks at Alex with a frown.

"It’s complicated, isn’t it?" he asks.

Alex hangs his head. "I thought last night would make it easier. She was so open, and I took advantage of that, but I went about it the wrong way. This morning, she woke up and realized I knew."

Mason stops his leg from bouncing and whips his head toward Alex.

"What do you mean, ‘open’?" he asks. "Ivy and ‘open’ aren’t words that belong in the same sentence."

Kinwo nods slowly but remains silent.

Alex clears his throat, sitting up straight. "So, uh, last night I woke up from a nap, and Ivy was in the kitchen, on the ground with... well, she had a—"

"Spit it out, Al," Tyler hisses, his eyes closing in an attempt to stay calm.

"She was drunk. Vodka," Alex blurts out.

He hears a faint "oh shit" from the others, but what bothers him more is the way Tyler stiffens at the mention of vodka.

"I guess she had to find some kind of distraction after the whole Michael situation," Alex continues, "and I tried to—I swear, I did everything I could to get her to stop. But I couldn’t exactly grab her and force the bottle out of her hand. I tried to guilt her into giving it to me by mentioning you, Tyler, and how disappointed you would be to see her like this, but—"

"But she didn’t care," Kinwo guesses.

"Not at all," Alex shakes his head. "She didn’t look sad or angry, just... really childlike. And I felt bad for trying to ruin her mood, but—"

Tyler snorts. "So, instead of protecting my sister, your selfish ass lets her drink just so you can fill the gaps?"

The words sting, but Tyler is only saying aloud what Alex has been regretting all night. He deserves them.

"Tyler, stop bein’—" Mason starts, but Alex cuts him off.

"Don’t, Mace. He’s right. I should’ve put her safety and health first, but I made it worse somehow."

"How do you mean?" Luca asks.

"At some point, she gave me a chance to take the bottle from her, but there was a condition. And, well, let’s just say it wasn’t something I could do," Alex says, his voice lowering.