You walked into the hostel and noticed your friends standing near the main hall as if they had only arrived a few minutes before you. When they turned around, they noticed you walking nearby. You noticed a gap between Chase and Gert, so you assumed they must have gotten into an argument. Gert also appeared to be feeling better, so you figured she had received her medication.
Your gaze fell on Molly, who hastily averted her gaze, a look of guilt and hesitancy on her face. Molly realized that her words had wounded your heart right after she went away last night. Because of her own rage, Molly forgot and became blind to how you also had to deal with witnessing someone close to you be crushed before. She had also heard your screams, but she couldn't bear herself to face you just yet.
"Glad for you to join..." Chase spoke up. "...a little too late, though."
As you came to a halt from walking, you clutched the sleeve of your jacket. 'Uh-oh, looks like they did something, and you were left out again.' You pursed your lips and fixed your focus on Gert. "You look okay now..." You said softly.
Gert nodded. "I got my meds..." She replied, her eyes falling on Chase, who was still angry at her. "...by calling his mom."
As he placed his laptop on his desk, Alex adjusted his eyeglasses. "How's your date?" He asked, completely uninterested in Adam but eager to learn what had happened between you two.
You sighed. "It's not a date."
"You went on a date?" Gert questioned incredulously. "While we're on a mission? That explains why you didn't show up for the meeting earlier. We assumed you were just in your room."
Your eyes widened as you stood there dumbfounded. "You—what? Hold on, what did you guys do?"
Karolina took a quick peek around the room before looking at you apologetically. "We tried to stop Jonah from healing himself. He was taking someone to sacrifice and he held it in the Church. Turns out he kidnapped Alex's dad."
You turned your head to gaze at Alex as you pondered Karolina's words. "I-Is your dad okay?"
As an answer, Alex nodded quietly. You locked your gaze on Nico. "You and Alex knew where I was going... and you didn't try to call me?"
Nico sighed. "I didn't want to bother you and besides, we had it under control."
'Useless.' You winced as you took a step back, startling your friends, especially Alex, who dropped his façade. "(Y/n)?" He asked in sudden worry. He knew he couldn't stay irritated at you just because he was jealous of your meeting with Adam. You will always be one of his top priorities.
'Selfish.' You shook your head as you walked towards the stairs. "I-I'm fine." As you took a step up the stairwell, you smiled reassuringly at your friends. "I'm really sorry if I wasn't able to join you guys earlier. I'm glad you guys stopped Jonah. Just.. excuse me for one second." Your friends were stunned and perplexed as you ran up the stairs and into your room.
Nico quietly cursed to herself while Molly looked down in worry. Karolina placed her hand on Nico's shoulder. "I'll talk to her." She reassured Nico before going up the stairs to follow you.
Karolina opened your door and found you breathing heavily by your desk, fists clenched as well as your eyes shut closed. When you heard footsteps, you raised one of your fists up and pointed it towards Karolina in defense. Karolina noticed your glassy eyes glowing and psionic energy radiating from your fists. "It's me," Karolina reassured you with a soothing voice as she took a step closer.
You stared at her with wide eyes before lowering your fist and powering down. "What are you doing here?" Your question wasn't meant to be in a harsh tone, but you were incredibly frustrated and didn't mean to come across as an arrogant jerk.
"Look, we're sorry. I understand that you're upset that we didn't include you in the mission," Karolina said as she stood in front of you. "We never intended for you to feel excluded."
As you walked away from your desk and plopped down on your bed, you shook your head. "I should be saying sorry. I've always felt like I'm left out." You confessed. "I... I came late to the group. If I wasn't here, nothing's going to change anyway. So I'm glad you didn't include me in the mission. It's not like it'll make much of a difference." You weakly smiled.
"(Y/n), you have done things that helped us." Karolina approached you and knelt down, her hands holding yours. "Stop torturing yourself with negativity. It's eating you alive and... it's killing you."
As tears welled up in your eyes again, you refused to look at her and kept your sight fixed on your lap. "I should've died when I touched that stone..." You whispered as a tear trickled down your cheek. "She's right, I'm just useless... I'm selfish... I didn't even get to save him, I—"
Karolina pulled you into a warm and comforting hug, interrupting your sentence. You broke into tears as you clung to her as if you were going to fall. Karolina despised seeing Nico's adopted sister upset since she had never witnessed you that vulnerable before. She believed that following the Topher's incident, you got too emotional and distraught to deal with things, particularly your feelings.
Karolina pulled away as she brushed away your tears. "Hey, what if we get out here for a while, hm?" She suggested. "Maybe I can teach you how to fly, now that today's mission is over."
You slowly nodded, which brought a smile to Karolina's face. You two stepped out of your room to go outside, oblivious to Alex, Nico, and Molly who were hiding in a corner. Since they were nosy, the three listened to what you and Karolina were saying. They were too curious about you, and they felt terrible for not being able to console you.
Alex pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed with himself. "Nico, just kill me." He muttered. "I hate myself, goddamn it."
"I'm not sure how to apologize to her," Molly whispered. "I mean I do know how, but... I've never said those harsh words to her in person. So it's hard to apologize..."
Nico shook her head. "No, guys, we can do this. Maybe we can speak with her once she and Karolina have practiced flying."
Alex nodded. "Okay." He started walking away until Molly caught his arm. "Hey, hey. You're not gonna wait?" Molly asked.
Alex looked at Nico and Molly in confusion. "What, you want us to sit in this corner while the two of them finish their training outside?" He asked. "I have to talk to someone. I'll be right back."
Molly released her grip on Alex and allowed him to walk away. When Alex entered a room, he saw his father, Geoffrey Wilder, restrained and unconscious. Alex chose to lock his father up in the room after rescuing him from the Church. He scoffed, dragging his lower lip by his teeth as he kicked his father's leg, waking Geoffrey up.
As he recovered consciousness, Geoffrey grunted and blinked a few times. He moved his eyes up and saw his son. "Alex?" Geoffrey asked hoarsely. "You saved me?"
With a shake of his head, Alex scoffed once more. "No. No, I didn't save you." He replied. "I kidnapped you. Now we can call it even."
Geoffrey tried to move but felt the restraints around his body that keeping him in his place. He sighed. "What are you going to do with me?"
Alex took a step closer to his father with his jaw tightened. "I ask the questions. I make the rules." He lowered his head to face his father with a smirk. "You're under my roof now."
°•○●○•°
Karolina was walking down the stairs when she noticed Alex repairing his equipment. She knocked quietly on his desk, attracting his attention. "Hey..." She greeted.
Alex looked up at her and nodded. "Hi." He greeted back. "Have you patched things up with Nico?" Alex asked before turning away from Karolina to arrange his belongings.
After you left earlier in the morning, Karolina snapped at Nico because she was agitated. She didn't mean to, but she went to Alex for help because she was debating whether or not to tell Nico the truth she had learned from Jonah.
Karolina shook her head. "I'm just on my way to her room, but I thought of visiting you first. Nico's apologizing to (Y/n) right now."
When Karolina mentioned your name, Alex went silent. He redirected his gaze to Karolina, who was already smiling at him. "How is she?" He asked.
Karolina crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "I think she's doing better now. She did great at flying today. She's a natural and a fast learner."
Alex looked at the ground and nodded quietly. Karolina cocked her head to the side as she stared at Alex. "Alex, come on. To you, it may seem like it isn't obvious, but it's obvious."
"What's obvious?"
"You like her and you're jealous she went out with Adam."
"She said it's not a date," Alex grumbled as he sat down on the ground. "And right now, I don't have time to like anyone. Having a human as a girlfriend is not my priority."
Karolina chuckled as she shifted her stance. "You and (Y/n) said the same thing. You two should get married." After saying her sentence, Alex gave her a look which caused Karolina to laugh. "Sorry, sorry. Too soon."
Alex watched Karolina take a seat next to him. "There's nothing wrong with liking someone and caring about them, Alex," Karolina stated. "If you don't care about us, fine. But (Y/n)? I saw how you hold her, how you talk to her, and the way you look at her."
Alex was going to say something when Karolina cut him off. "And don't say you just see her as a friend or I swear I'll push you off a cliff."
"No." Alex stifled a laugh. "I was going to say that... I'm not sure how to tell her because there's so much going on right now. And what if she rejects me?"
"At least you got to tell your feelings, right?"
You heard a knock on your door, so you opened it to reveal Molly looking as guilty as ever. You blinked twice in confusion. "Molly? What are you doing here? It's—"
Molly wrapped her arms around you and hugged you tightly, which caught you by surprise. You took a moment to grasp what was going on before hugging her back, prompting Molly to hug you even closer, but she was cautious not to crush you, having her incredible strength. "¡Lo siento, (Y/n)! I really am sorry for what I said before! You did great and you even saved me. I shouldn't have said those words."
Molly's apology was genuine, and you knew it. You knew she had no intention of hurting you. But it was difficult to forget what she had said once she had spoken it. The damage has already been done. And Molly knew that.
You smiled and pulled away, tucking a strand of her curl behind her ear. "I admire what you see in people, Molly. I understand that you were just upset about what happened to him. You don't have to apologize."
Molly shook her head. "Stop it. Stop thinking that everyone shouldn't apologize to you. You deserve one. What I said was harsh and too painful especially when your adoptive brother..." When you looked down, Molly paused her speech. "The point is, you're not always in the wrong here and we're not always in the right. We all make mistakes."
You sighed and pulled Molly back into a hug, which she accepted and threw her arms around you. As the two of you lingered in each other's arms, you leaned your cheek on top of her head. "Do you want to watch a movie?" Molly suggested with a grin.
"Thought you'd never ask."
-•-°-•-°-☆
I JUST WATCHED THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY SEASON 3'S TRAILER AND I'M FCKING EXCITED!