A Multi-ship Story **in Editing*

*Long Night*

As time passed, Alexis grew more comfortable with the Gibbs household. The funeral of her parents was hard... harder than any 15 year old should have had to deal with. But her best friend was right beside her, and she was able to find some solace in the new place she had in this family.

Jenny was kind, and Lexi liked her. She made it clear that she didn't want to take her mother's place, but she wanted what was best for her and would treat her as she did her own daughter.

Gibbs was difficult to get along with at first. He was so quiet, and at first, Lexi thought it might've been just around her because she was new. She soon learned, however, that that was just how he was. He didn't say much, but he was an excellent listener. Lexi, like her father, loved to talk, so she started to enjoy the mostly one sided conversations with Gibbs.

As her sixteenth birthday passed, the pain of losing her parents spiked again. Even though it had been nearly 4 months ago, she had expected so much for such a big birthday, and now she was spending it without her parents. It wasn't right, and she couldn't help but feel like she had to do something about it.

The evening of her birthday, Jenny picked a cake up from the store, and they had a small, but sweet, family birthday party for her. Lexi did enjoy it, and it was exactly like what they did for Lily's two months prior, but she still felt like she was missing out on... life.

The next day, on the way home from school, Lexi started the talk, as normal. "So, Chloe said she wanted to celebrate my birthday tonight with a couple other kids from class. She said to invite you if you want to come."

Lily scrunched up her nose. "Chloe?? She's notorious for getting into trouble with her parties. Do you really think you want to do something with her???"

Lexi shrugged, "I mean, ya only turn 16 once."

Lily scoffed. "You know, mom and dad would never let us go if they hear that Chloe is throwing it. Besides, I don't think I want to go somewhere where she's in charge."

Lexi rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm going. And if you really think your parents are going to cause such a problem, I'll just sneak out."

Lily whipped her head to stare wild eyed at Lexi, "Are you kidding??? Lexi, what are you thinking?"

"This is important to me, I want to have some fun before I'm old. You can't tell. Promise you won't tell."

Lily grumbled loudly. "Fine! I won't tell. But if they ask, I'm not going to lie to them. You go get into trouble, but I'm staying out of it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Lexi stared at her reflection in her room. She'd revamped the guest bedroom so that it now had her purple color she liked on the walls. The hanging mirror behind her door revealed her standing in the dress that she felt most beautiful in.

She glanced at the clock. She'd need to leave in the next 10 minutes to walk the few blocks to Chloe's house. She walked over to her window and unlatched the lock. She was just about to slide the window open when she heard a knock on her door.

"Just a sec!" She called, heart racing suddenly. She hopped into bed and brought her covers all the way up, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, too. She slipped the hood of her sweatshirt she'd slid on over her head.

"Yeah?" She called out. The door opened and Jenny walked in.

"I know you said you weren't feeling well at dinner. Is your migraine getting any better?"

Lexi shook her head and shrugged.  "I think I might just try to go to sleep now."

Jenny walked over and nodded, placing a hand on her head. "Well, you don't feel warm to the touch, so just let us know if it gets really bad. We can call Ducky and see if he has any advice."