Babysitting the Bad Boy's Brother

23

"Hey Claire. Still not feeling well?" Becca asks, standing in the doorway.

I shrug and turn away from the door, nearly kicking Malone off the bed.

"Want some brownies for breakfast?" Her voice is hopeful.

I shake my head no.

"Okay." I think she expected me to say something, because she just stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time. "Well... Let me know if you need anything."

I spend most of my day in bed. I scrolled through twitter and then started to vaguely answer some text messages.

There's one from an unknown number:

Are u doing alright after last night?

Alec. Slightly wondering how he got my number, I delete the message and throw my phone off the bed dramatically.

The next day, I manage to drag myself out of bed for an extended period of time.

Becca was relieved and ecstatic. One would think I was holed away for half a century, not one day.

We're sitting on the couch watching tv when the doorbell rings. I obviously don't make a point to answer it, so Becca gets up with a sigh. I hear the door open and then a small gasp.

Her gasp sends my mind into overdrive. My heart starts pounding and I feel my palms sweat. What if it's a police officer, or  what if that guy found my address? I'm about to make a beeline towards the back door when I hear a deep voice. "Is Claire home?"

Damn my fucking luck.

"I'll go get her. Uno momento!" Becca speedwalks over here. "Hello! Hot hunk of meat is here to see you!"

"Oh, uh... it's probably for this project." I fib. She raises an eyebrow skeptically. "I really don't want to think school right now. Can you make him go away?"

"No! You tell him yourself!"

"Ugh." I walk straight outside with my arms crossed over my chest. The door gently shuts behind me and I shiver. "What do you want." I squint to see him in the dark. Is it night time already?

"Hello to you too." I kind of just glare at him and he glares back, clearly not willing to initiate actual conversation.

"Okay. I'm leaving now." I turn around and he reaches out for my arm. I nearly scream. The next thing I know I'm on the ground.

"Jesus, Claire." He helps me up and leads me over to the stairs as I struggle to get enough oxygen into my lungs.

"I don't-" I pant. "I don't.. want to be.. touched." 

He removes his arm from around me and scoots over a couple of inches. "I'm so sorry.. I didn't realize.."

"It's fine. I'm... fine." Real convincing, Claire. Maybe try breathing like a normal person instead of hyperventilating, huh? "Why are you here?"

"I texted you a couple of times to make sure you were alright. I'm assuming you haven't told anyone?"

"You're assuming right."

"I ended up telling the police about the attack."

"You... what?!" I stand up on wobbly legs and shakily back away from Alec. "I can't believe you!"

"No, Claire. Let me explain!" He stands up and moves towards me. I respond by backing up further until I'm pressed up agains the deck railing. I make a point to look away from his face. "Look, I only said I saw him attacking some girl, and I intervened and she ran. I never clearly saw the girls face and I didn't recognize her. That way the police can step in and you don't need to get involved."

"That's just great. Really. Now the police have a lead to find me. I wonder how difficult it'll be to find a girl with blue hair!" I point to the top of my head, where a god awful messy bun sits.

"Why would they need a reason to investigate?"

"I don't know! So I could testify or something?" I take deep breaths so I don't hyperventilate again.

"I never told them your hair color. I just said it was dark. Nobody has to know, and you don't need to worry about him. The police officers said they'd detain him as soon as he's released from the hospital."

A huge weight lifts off my shoulder. I didn't realize how afraid I was until Alec took away my reason to feel afraid. I'll never accidentally encounter that stranger near the store, he will never be able to hurt anyone else.

I think about it for a few minutes. He kind of just stares at me and looks away from time to time. The scowl returns to his face when he realizes I have nothing to say. I'm sure he assumes I'm still angry. He turns to leave.

In a small burst of spontaneity, I run to Alec and wrap my arms around his torso. "Thank you so much." And I just cry because he did such a nice thing for me and I'll never be able to repay him for it.

He keeps his distance at first, but then slowly moves closer and wraps his arms around me.

We just stand there like that for what feels like hours, but couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Eventually he breaks the silence.

"I was worried about you."

"I'm fine." I say softly.

"If panic attacks, spontaneous crying, and hyperventilating were synonymous with the word fine, maybe I'd buy that."

I unwrap myself from his torso. "You're an insensitive ass."

"Believe me, I can be very sensitive." He says as I groan in annoyance.

"Good night, Alec."

"Good night, Claire."

I walk over to the door and wipe any remaining tears from under my eyes. Without a second glance towards the idiot standing on my porch, I let myself in, lock the deadbolt, and run up to my room.

Malone comes up shortly after and hops onto my bed.

I send a careless glance over to my violin and elect to crawl under the covers in peace.

Now I just need to get fucking Alec Hirst out of my head, and everything will be perfect.