September 16th, 2023
Paxton
I came back from college excited to see Noah and Nova again. Instead, I find Noah inside the bathroom, bawling his eyes out. This was before school started, so I wasn't worried about him missing class or anything. See, at first, I came here with Peter and MJ even though they were here a week ago. I haven't seen Mom or Noah in 2 weeks. That was the whole reason I came here.
Now, my best buddy, crying in the stall, this is not what I came here for. I walked into Mom's advisory to talk to Noah before school, but he wasn't in the class, and his sister was sick at home. I asked Mom about his absence, and she told me he was in the bathroom. As quickly as possible. I sprinted down the hallway towards the bathroom.
Usually, when Noah's alone in the bathroom, it's cause he's crying and doesn't want anyone to know. I rush through the door, calling out Noah's name.
"Noah!!" I yell, push opening all the doors until I look at the last one.
"Noah, buddy, I know you're in there," I tell him, banging on the door since he locked it. Eventually, I gave up and slid down the door.
"Noah, buddy, please. Can you tell me what's wrong?" I question, still with my back to the door.
I hear a sigh, then a click of the door, and I fall backward. I peer up at Noah, smiling a little at seeing his face. My face turns into a frown instantly at the sight of his teary eyes. I stand up and bring him in for a hug. He tenses but relaxes and slumps against me. I slid down the wall with him, guiding his head to my chest. He sits there listening to my heartbeat before he starts to talk.
"My grandparents are coming over," He whispers.
"I'm scared," He whispers again, letting out a small whimper. I caress my hand up and down his neck. He whimpers again and presses his face into my chest. I feel tears on my shirt, but I'm not bothered.
"How'd you feel when you met your grandparents for the first time?" He questions, removing his head from my chest and standing up, wiping away his tears. I get up with him, leading him out of the bathroom.
"Well, yesterday I told you they broke into my house. I was shocked at first, but they were so caring and loving, and I love one of them so much," I tell Noah, leading him back into the classroom. Luckily, he didn't hear the last part.
"Can you finish the story?" Noah asks, making me nod my head.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Past( September 21st, 2016)
Well, Mom and Peter were both at school, and Yelena was. Well, I don't. This meant it was just grandma, grandpa, and me. I, at the time, didn't know that. I was currently in dreamland, dreaming of video games and pizza. Unfortunately, I was ripped away from my dreams by a hand on my ribs. I giggle a little, trying to push the hands away. Eventually, the hand started squeezing both my ribs. I squeal and open my eyes.
"STOHOHOP!!" I squeal out, twisting and twisting to avoid the hands.
"Get up then," A voice says from above me before they shove their hands up my armpits. I squeal again, not knowing that my armpits were another ticklish spot.
"LEHEHEHENA, STOHOHOP!!" I screech, kicking my legs out, finally making out the figure.
"Alright, enough, Lenaochok," A voice says, shoving their hands up Lena's armpits. She squeals and falls backward into the arms. I sit up a little, tugging the covers off my body.
"Hey baby," Grandma says, kissing me on the head.
"Hi," I reply, falling into her arms and wrapping my legs against her waist.
"Lena's going to walk Fanny for a couple of hours, meaning it'll just be you, Alexei, and I," Grandma tells me, bouncing me as she walks through the house. I nod but whine as Grandma sets me in a chair at the table.
"Can you make me pancakes?" I ask, placing my head in my arms.
"Sure thing, baby," Grandma replies
"Aw, Paxton, wow, I missed you so much," Grandpa says, kissing me and squeezing my thighs. I giggle a little and lean on him. He sits in the chair next to me. I let all my body weight flop onto him.
Grandma and Grandpa were talking with their eyes, which I wasn't aware of. I was eating pancakes, and suddenly, they were in the next room. I still wasn't aware until I walked into the room they were in.
"Go fuck yourself, Alexei, how come you always put your work before your family?" Grandma questions, unaware I'm in the room with them.
"Lina, I have to make money somehow," He says, unaware of me in the room.
"Fuck it, Alexei, you've always wanted the money, ever since Ohio," Grandma tells him, making him smack her across the face. I gasped loud enough for both of them to hear. I ran upstairs, not wanting to get in trouble with them.
"Look what you did," Is the last thing I hear before I slam my door shut. I can't breathe, and I'm pacing around the room. I did the one thing I could think of. I called Mom.
"Mo-Mom?" I stutter out
"Pax, baby, what's wrong?" She questions, concern flowing through her voice as she excuses herself from her class.
"I-I, Grandma, and Gran-Grand," I say before breaking down in tears, putting my phone on speaker, as I curl up in a ball on the ground.
"I'm coming home right now. Stay on the phone," She tells me, and I can hear the engine on her car start.
"Pax, tell me five things you see?" She questions.
"Uh th-the be-b-bed, my ph-phone, my wat-watch, th-the tv, a-and th-the wind-window," I tell her.
"Four things you could touch right now?" She questions
"M-My pho-phone, my blan-blanket, m-m-my pillow, an-and my wat-water bot-bottle," I say, crawling across the floor and picking the phone off the ground.
"Good. Now, three things you hear?" She questions, honking the horn
"Grand-grand," I say before giving up.
"Hey, why'd you stop?" She questions, but I give no indication I heard her.
"Alright, Pax, I'm a minute away. Can you stay on the pho-," I hang up before she can finish her thought. I feel bad, but it was too much.
I wait patiently for a minute before the door opens. Grandma and Mom step into the room. I throw myself at Mom, hugging her. Then I looked at Grandma and wrapped her in a hug. I hugged her longer for the comfort of me.
"I-I'm so-so-sorry," I choke out through my tears.
"For what?" Grandma asks.
"Gran-Grandpa h-hit y-y-you," I stutter out, hiding my head in Grandma's chest.
"It's okay, Pax, Alexei's a dick," Grandma says, Mom agreeing right after. Grandma and Mom talked some more in my room. I played on my phone, not hearing anything they were saying.
Yelena walks in a few hours later, with Peter trailing behind her. They step into the room, and Mom explains the situation to them. They look at me, and Mom explains why I was crying about the whole situation.
"And where's Alexei right now?" Peter questions, the girls shrug and head downstairs, Peter and I following. Mom turns on the TV, and we have a family movie night.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Sorry to all my Alexei stans. I never liked him and never will. David Harbour or Hopper those two are okay. I feel if he wasn't there, Melina would've tried harder to protect Natasha and Yelena. Anyways enough yapping, this will be a five-part chapter. The next part will start with Noah and Paxton. Then it will go back in time and we'll celebrate Paxton's birthday. Proofread by Grammarly cuz we love Grammarly.
BYE BYE POOKIES!!
Word Count: 1300