Felix Fractured

6 : flight

ALEXIA

"You see," I try to explain the situation as best as I can. "I tried to talk to him and he-"

"Locked himself in his room?"

"Yeah."

She scoffs. "He does that," She pushes a few loose strands of hair out of her face and stands up. "He needs to get over himself. Come with me."

I follow Gabby back up the wooden spiral staircase. We approach Felix's room, and she knocks. In a precise manner, I may add, two light knocks consecutively, a pause, and one firm knock following.

In about five seconds, the door swings open. "Yes, mom?" He clearly doesn't have the guts to say "no" to his mother. His eyes land on me, and his expression softens.

Gabby shakes her head in amazement, "You better apologize."

"'Sorry," he says, completely devoid of emotion.

She glares at him, "Apologize like you mean it, damn it," Then she turns for the stairs, "This will be a whole other conversation if you do this again."

Once her steps have receded, he speaks up. "I am sorry."

I glance up at him and freeze up when I meet his dark eyes. There's a ton of emotion present in his gaze, even if he can keep his tone bland. I decide to believe that there is a meaning behind his persona. After earlier in the woods, I wasn't entirely sure what to think. I can only cling to the truths I am able to decode. The evidence seems to point mostly in my favor, but there are still so many frustrating moments. My patience, though it is being tested, is strong. The mixed signals, however, can burn me up. He must have some sincerity to him!

"You can come in if you'd like. I apologize for the mess in advance, though." His voice almost makes me jump. God, I have to get out of my head and see what's right in front of me! A mess was an understatement. As a personal neat-freak, I wanted to start barking orders and clean it up, but I figure this probably wasn't a good time to mention that.

I lean against the bedpost but keep my gaze away from him. Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say. Or maybe I do. I just don't know how I should bring it up. How do you talk to someone that acts like a brick wall?

"You want to know why I'm like this, don't you?" He finally asks, and I feel like I can breathe again. The silence was crippling me.

"If you're willing to share," I nod towards him.

"I guess now is as good of a time as ever." He maintains his emotionless tone, but I know he does have feelings. He is just trying to hide them. I wish I could read him better, but I suppose with time it will get a little easier. We were put together for a reason. He grabs a change of clothes and disappears into the bathroom. I sit on the very edge of his bed. In the disaster that is his room, he actually made his bed. How strange.

I glance at a picture on his dresser. It appears fairly recent and includes a brown-haired boy on his right and a girl with blonde hair on his left. They both have their arms around him, and he doesn't appear bothered by being so close to them. His eyes seem to sparkle, and I suppose that's the closest he'll ever get to a smile.

"That's Carpenter and Scout," I swirl to face him, attempting to capture a glimpse of the emotion he just exposed, but his voice returns to its usual state, devoid of feeling. "They're my cousins."