𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟

Chapter 14 : Papers

The silence is eerie when the boys are all sat in the living room, not really sure how to fill it.

Mason is on the chair and his leg won't stop bouncing. Meanwhile Kin is sat on the carpet, in Ivy's usually spot because she seems to prefer the ground over any other furniture one normally sits on.

Dexter is uncharacteristically pacing around the room, contrasting with Luca's stoicism when leaning against the wall.

Alex is watching them from the couch, where he's sat next to Tyler whose focus is set intently on the black screen of the T.V.

They are so quiet, Alex can almost hear the thoughts rushing through their heads, wondering how they are supposed to fix this.

Alex's guilt has not lessened in the slightest and his need to soothe it is stronger than his fear of speaking up,

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told her it was you, Lu. She just 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 mumbles, still eying the screen.

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

"But, why on earth would she have to worry ?"

Dexter opts for leaning against the dining table instead of pacing and looks at Alex with a frown.

"It's really complicated for you to figure it out, isn't it ?"

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 and this morning she woke up and she realised I knew."

Mason halts the bouncing of his leg and whips his head in Alex's direction.

"What do you mean open ? 'Ivy' and 'open' are not words that fit into one sentence."

Kinwo nods slowly but stays silent.

Alex clears his throat before sitting up straight, "so uh, last night I woke up from a nap and uh, she- Ivy was in the kitchen, on-on the ground with, um, and, she had a-"

"Fucking spit it out, Al," Tyler hisses, eyes closing in an obvious attempt to keep calm.

"She was drunk. Vodka," Alex blurts.

Alex hears a faint 'oh shit' but what bothers him is the way Tyler stiffens when he hears the word 'Vodka'.

"I guess she had to find some sort of distraction after the whole Michael situation and I tried to- I, I swear to you 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 Tyler and how disappointed he would be to see her like this, but-"

"But she didn't care," Kinwo guesses.

"Not at all," Alex shakes his head, "but she didn't look sad or angry, just really child like and I felt bad for trying to ruin her mood but-"

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

The words sting but Tyler is only saying out loud what Alex has been regretting all night, he deserves them.

"Tyler, stop bein-" Mason scolds him 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."