𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐌𝐂𝐅𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves²

12│A LIGHT SUPPER

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀʀᴛʏ ᴍᴄғʟʏ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ʟɪɢʜᴛ sᴜᴘᴘᴇʀ ꒱　


❝ IF YOU GET [ DAD'S ]
HELP, I'M OUT ❞

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Alexa groaned as she woke up, feeling the headache come on. Something— someone— shifted underneath her and spoke: "good, you're up."

She blinked, lifting herself up slightly to see the face of a very familiar boy looking up at her with a slightly bored expression. Immediately, her face warmed. "Uh, morning?"

He snorted. "It's still the same day. Now get up." He gently prodded her into a standing position. "You might want to brush your teeth. We're going to meet Dad."

Her dismay must have shown on her face because he backtracked: "not alone. Hopefully the others will meet us there."

"Bu-but Dad? Five, I can't—"

The boy stood from the bed, clothes slightly rumpled and he approached her. "Hey, Lexa— I'll be there. I'm not going to leave you to face him alone." She looked incredibly worried but he wouldn't budge on this. "We need him. The only other option is something I definitely don't want to do."

Alexa frowned, still unconvinced. "But—"

The blonde broke off as Five stepped closer to her and reached for her hand to grasp it gently. "It's going to be fine, Lexa." His gaze met hers and she saw how serious he was. "He doesn't know us yet, he's got nothing on us."

"That's not what you said a few nights ago."

He sighed. "You don't have to come," he said quietly. Then he hesitated before he admitted, "but I'd really, really like it if you did. I don't want to face him alone either and I don't know if anyone else is coming."

She swallowed nervously. "Promise you won't leave? Like— like last time?"

Of course, she meant the last time he'd argued with their father and disappeared into the future for forty-five years.

"Not like last time," he said firmly, then he paused. "Is that why you don't want to see him?" he asked as the idea came to light. "Because-because—" He couldn't finish the sentence.

"In part," she admitted. "He-he made one of the people I care about most in the world disappear almost forever."

One of the people I care about most in the world. She definitely almost sober now. He swallowed. "Well, forever is an awfully long time."

Alexa gave a little nod and repeated her words from the previous night as she whispered, "that was one of my greatest fears."

Five had never been great at emotional comfort and he certainly wasn't any better at it now but there was something he was familiar with. His gaze flicked down to her lips. Would that help? With too many unknowns in the equation, he pushed aside the thought. "I'm not going to disappear this time," he told her softly instead. "Would-would you come with me?"

The blonde hesitated and then gave another nod, knowing that she couldn't leave him to face their father on his own.

☂☂☂

Alexa and Five were the first ones in the elevator that evening and she couldn't help but be glad for the stop over they'd made to her apartment. There, she'd cleaned up and brushed her teeth to be more presentable while Five paced in her living room. It had almost given her a strange sense of normalcy.