Britts Savior

Recliners

Britt moved around slightly as she felt around with her good arm she could feel a body beneath her. Her eyes shot open. They first landed on the arms that were wrapped protectively around her. Her brown eyes traveled up the arms before landing on Alex's sleeping face. Even though she didn't want to she knew it was probably for the best to leave his grasp.

As she tried to move his arms stayed in place stopping any action from her. Once more she tried to move only getting a grumble from him. A sigh escaped her lips. Maybe one more try. As she moved once more she heard him grumble again before his nose buried into her hair. She just about froze at the action.

Everything in her said to just melt into him but something about it felt wrong. She didn't want to force him into something he didn't want and he was too deep in sleep to be able to realize what was happening. Gently her hand moved to his bicep before she lightly shook him.

Alex tensed and his eyes shot open. When he realized who had done the action a long sigh escaped his lips as his arms fell from around her and his head fell back into the chair.

"I-I'm sorry Alex." Britt said quietly before he shook his head.

"Its not your fault Britt. Honestly." Gently her head moved to rest along his chest and that's when she heard his heart racing.

"You alright?" She asked quietly. He nodded before his hand reassuringly ran along her back.

"It's a long story but I am. Just.... Took me back." She looked up at him just as he looked down at her. Their eyes met and he knew she wanted him to say more. Before he could answer, her phone rang. As she looked at who it was she was also watching him.

"Do you mind if I answer this here it's Jamie." He shook his head. She had told him about Jamie before telling him about the close relationship they had. As she answered it she leaned back into him. His hand was running along her back and she knew it was more for him to calm himself than her. Her head moved to rest along his collarbone and she could just about instantly feel him relax. Slowly his hand stopped before coming to rest along her hip.

Once she hung up the phone she turned to him. While she wanted to question it she could see he wasn't ready to talk about it just yet. Gently her head tucked back into his neck. Almost instantly she felt his fingertips gently play with the ends of her hair. The action caused a long sigh to escape her lips.

"This reminds me so much of my sister." Alex said and Britt instantly understood his reaction. "I don't mind it in the slightest. It just...."

"Takes you back?" He nodded. "How much younger was she?"

"Four years." Throughout their conversations he would tell her about himself but he rarely would talk about his family so when she got information about them she tried to get as much as she could to understand him more. "When we were younger we used to sit just like this. Our parents would be in another room screaming their heads off and we would just sit like this watching some sort of princess movie to keep her distracted from it. Most of the time it worked. She'd fall asleep and she would sleep through it so I could just take her to her room and it would be like nothing happened. But other times it simply didn't work. The fighting would spill out into the living room. The majority of the time it would happen while I was asleep so she would shake my arm to tell me that we needed to go."

"Did they ever...?" She trailed off as he nodded.

"I got smacked a few times by them. Mainly because I wouldn't get out of the room in time. It was always my job to make it seem like our house was perfect even though it was far from it." She carefully adjusted so only her legs were draped over his lap. His arm stayed around her as her head moved to rest along his shoulder. "They never dared to put a finger on her though. I honestly think I would've snapped if they did."

"Have you tried looking for her?" He sighed adjusting slight before he nodded.

"I did but when I left Pittsburgh the first time it made it all but impossible to find her after that. The number I had for her wasn't in use. I'm pretty sure she changed her name and honestly I don't blame her. When I went back I tried all the place where I thought she might've been but was hard to know where someone would be when you're used to them being fourteen not twenty." He looked at her as he saw her adjust the sling on her arm. "You alright?"

"I'm fine this things just annoying." He chuckled before he nodded.

"That they are. Here...." Gently he adjusted the sling so it was on a different part of her good shoulder. His fingertips just barely grazed her neck sending sparks through the both of them. He cleared his throat before pulling away. Without even realizing his hand moved to rest along her thigh as the other moved to its previous position along her hip. It took everything in her to stop herself from melting into him.

"What was her name?" Britt asked once she finally composed herself.

"Lacey." She could hear the pain in Alex's voice at the name. Gently her good hand moved to run along his forearm.

"Can I help you try and find her?" He shook his head.

"She doesn't need me in her life Britt. The last thing she need is for me to come into her life only to fuck it up again. I-I can't do that to her again Britt." She looked up at him and she could see he was absolutely petrified at the thought of reuniting with his sister.

"Alex. You can't tell me you aren't a completely different person than you were back then, can you?" He shook his head remaining silent as he stared up at the ceiling. "Then why are you so afraid? You're always going to be her big brother no matter how many years it's been. I'm sure she's been looking for you and you don't even realize it because the only two apps you have on your phone are amazon and eBay...." Alex cut Britt off stopping her words almost instantly.

"Britt. Please." Gently she grabbed his jaw forcing his eyes to be on hers rather than the ceiling.

"Alex. Please. Just let me help you and repay you for all that you've done for me. You might not believe it but everyone deserves their happy ending and for you it's not falling in love with someone it's finding your sister. You aren't who you used to be other than the fact that you are one of the most caring people I know even if you don't realize it. Please. Let me help you find her." She could see him reluctantly nod as he looked elsewhere hiding his fear. "Alex if it's the meeting part that is scaring the fuck out of you I can be there with you." Alex's eyes met Britt's and his next words came hesitantly.

"If you can find her. I'll meet her with you."