Lara had tenaciously decided to sit three seats over from Alex in the small waiting room. The room was small and painted an almost obnoxious shade of light green that he supposed was supposed to brighten the mood of those waiting anxiously, yet all that it did was crowd Alex's vision with the all too bright colour. Two white framed windows were placed along the rooms longest side, letting in some light, and a boring view of the car park below.
He shifted his gaze from the walls to the rows of chairs. There were black chairs lining the perimeter of the room and then a few in the centre. He had decided to sit close to the wall on one of the sides, and Lara had followed him, sitting just those few chairs distances from him.
He could feel her eyes on him the entire time and he had assumed after a few moments that he was being given the silent treatment that was until she whispered out, "I don't like you."
To Alex, she sounded like a toddler who had just been ratted out by their sibling for doing something naughty. He didn't say anything to that, he just looked at the rows of chairs, not sure what he would even say if he did reply to her. He had done the wrong thing, he had handled it all wrong, but she didn't know the reasons why he did what he did, so it wasn't like he blamed her for not liking him.
She then scooted over those three seats until she was sitting directly next to him, her body turned in the chair to face him head on. He met her gaze, and she was looking at him suspiciously.
"My brother means the world to me, and if you hurt him again I will not hesitate to chop your balls off and feed them to you," she threatened in what was probably the most threatening tone that a young girl such as herself could muster.
Alex stifled a laugh yet his words were completely serious and sincere. "That won't be necessary, I won't hurt your brother again."
Lara's entire demeanour changed after he spoke and the once hard, protective expression on her face was completely removed and replaced with an almost vulnerable one, one that he hadn't seen very often on the hard shelled girl.
"Good, because he has been hurt enough, and he deserves to be happy, but if you're looking to mend fences, why don't you start with your brother?" There was no anger or accusation in her words, and that proved to Alex how much this little girl did care for her brother.
Alex sighed, he had really made a mess of things with his family and he didn't even know where to begin to try and fix things. His mother probably hated him for wanting to leave and his little brother probably thought that he didn't care about him at all.
"Honestly, I wouldn't know how," he told Lara.
Lara's tone softened. "I don't know what happened to make things so bad between you guys, but your brother loves you and all he needs is proof that you love him too."
Alex nodded, but before he could say anything, Carter's mother walked into the waiting room.
"Can I speak to you for a moment?" she asked Alex politely, and he nodded, somewhat hesitantly, before getting up out of the chair and following her into the hallway. He wasn't sure if being accosted by Lara or her mother would be worse. They both had equal right to harbour some not so nice feelings about him.
The stopped in the hallway, a few rooms down from Carter's and moved off to the side so that they weren't in the way of anyone. The hallway was quite empty of people, nurses occasionally using it to move between rooms. They stood on the white tiles, and Alex tapped his foot against the hard tile in an inconsistent, nervous rhythm.
Alex could hear the sounds of low beeping that came from the many machines in the rooms that surrounded them. He wondered what she wanted to talk about, especially why she insisted that she spoke to him here, in the hallway, instead of with Carter or with Lara.
"Is everything alright?" Alex asked, searching her features for any sign of a problem, but she seemed fine and calm. She met his gaze with a calm, yet serious expression on her face. He wasn't surprised though, the woman had always been calm in most situations, always good humoured and supportive, even when times were hard. He had been there with the family during their hard times, and he knew just how level headed and strong she was, and he wondered in the back of his mind whether he had hurt her by pulling away just as he had hurt his own mother.
Alex still didn't know what she had wanted to speak about, but he prayed that her words would be kind, he couldn't take it if he had disappointed yet another person.
He was relieved when she spoke in a calm and appreciative tone. "I just wanted to tell you that I trust my son, and he says that you've changed and that you really are going to care for him, and so I wanted to say thank-you."
Alex was grateful that she wasn't going to try to convince Carter to break up with him for all the hell he had put him through, but he wondered why she was saying thank-you to him. "For what?" he asked her.
This caused her to smile ever so slightly. "My son hasn't been the same these past few months without you, and I never knew what it was. I knew that something was different but I couldn't put a pin in it, and today, when I talked to my son I saw that spark, that glint in his eyes that told me that he was," she struggled to find the words, "...complete..I guess. I don't know what happened all those months ago, but I want you to know that I am here for you, and I will accept you and my sons relationship with open arms, but only if you do one thing for me."
"And what is that?" Alex asked, slightly apprehensive.
"Apologise to your mother. Your mother is one of my best friends and I know that you two haven't been on the best of terms lately."
Alex threaded an anxious hand through his hair as he muttered, "I don't know if she would ever forgive me for how I've acted lately."
Carter's mother shook her head slightly. "Alex, she is your mother, she would forgive you for anything. I know that you feel bad about how things have been going, I can see it on your face, and you've managed to turn things around with Carter, so why not try with your mother as well, she might just surprise you."
"I-I'll try," Alex promised her, and suddenly she wrapped her small arms around his body in a makeshift hug. She was too short and small to really be able to wrap herself around the larger boy, but she tried, and Alex, in turn, hugged her back. It felt nice, it felt to Alex like acceptance and home. Carter's mother had always been there for him, and he had hurt her son, and yet she had forgiven him, she had welcomed him back into her family's life. It gave him some hope that he might be able to salvage his relationship with his own mother and brother.
She pulled back. "Go talk with Carter for a little while," she nodded in the direction of his room, 'and then go home to your family.'
They made their own way, Carter's mother walking back towards the waiting room, while Alex crossed the small distance between where he had been standing to the door of Carter's room. The door was already open, and Alex could see Carter was sitting on the bed, staring out of the small window along the wall of the all too white room.
"Hey," Alex got his attention, and Carter turned his head towards Alex, a smile gracing his features.
"Sorry to throw you to the wolves out there, I hope that Lara didn't bite too hard."
Alex brought his lips up in a half smile, sitting at the edge of the bed. "Nah, I survived."
"Alex?" Carter got his attention with his concern filled voice. "What's wrong?"
Alex shrugged, and he didn't plan on answering, but then the voice in his head reminded him that if he could confide in anyone, it would be Carter. Alex was so used to pushing back any emotion, any problem that came his way, that it was hard to be open, but he would do that for Carter.
"I, uh, now that I'm staying, I need to fix things with my mom and brother....badly," Alex said, letting as much emotion as he could allow to slip into his voice.
"I think that's a good thing."
"How do I do it Carter? How do I fix this?" Alex didn't want to sound desperate, but if he was honest with himself, he was out of options. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to fix this.
"Go home and be your mother's son, go be Jayden's big brother. You don't have to tell them everything and have some big explanation, just go make dinner with your mom, go watch a movie with Jayden. They will forgive you."
Alex bit at his lip. He was still not sure.
"Alex," Carter slipped his uninjured hand against Alex's and intertwined their fingers, and he spoke as if he was reading his mind like a teleprompter. "You do not need to worry about hurting them. You can control it, I know you can. You are strong, you love your family and there is no way that you will hurt them. You have control of it now, and if there's any doubt in your mind just know that I love you and no matter what, you have me."
Alex smiled and squeezed Carter's hand. "I love you," he told him.
Carter did it again, he looked at Alex with that expression that for all that time he had thought he would never see again. Carter's blue eyes were wide and full of love, and his lips were brought up in that perfect smile that said I-love-you just as much as the words would have. Suddenly Alex had the overwhelming feeling that everything would be alright.
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Alex walked into his house with a smile on his face, something unheard of for the past few months. Every other time he had been hoping that as he passed the kitchen he wouldn't see his mother, who would have asked him how his day was, and smile that smile that was full of hope until he crushed it by giving her a slight nod before continuing on his way. He loathed the idea of passing his brothers room and hearing his brother call out, 'Do you want to play a video game with me?' only to ignore the request and lock himself up in his room for hours on end.
This time was different, this time he was smiling because there would be no hope crushed half smiles today, no disappointed sighs.
He walked straight into the kitchen where his mother was sitting at the bench, a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked up at him with that hopeful smile. "How was your day at school Alex?"
He smiled back, but instead of answering her, he walked straight up to her and wrapped her in a hug. She stiffened in his hold for a second before hugging him somewhat fiercely.
"What's gotten into you?" she asked as Alex pulled back.
"I just love you mom." She gasped slightly but seemed to catch herself before doing something ridiculous like passing out from shock. Alex turned to walk out of the kitchen, but as he reached the door he called out over his shoulder, "Oh, and I'm not going to Italy."
The smile on his mother's face as he glanced back warmed his heart. He stopped by the TV, picking up his brothers favourite game before almost running up the stairs. He stopped just outside of his brother's room, opening the door to reveal his brother sitting on his bed, a book in his hands.
Jayden looked at him with a confused expression on his face. Before he could say anything, Alex waved the video game around. "Wanna play?" he asked his brother.
"Really?" Jayden asked, somewhat suspiciously.
"Yeah, but only if I get to be Mario. You can be Luigi."
Jayden's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He huffed in mock annoyance. "That doesn't seem fair." The giant smile on his face contradicted his words tenfold.
"Come on, Luigi," he motioned for Jayden to follow him and the mock annoyed huff that followed had Alex smiling.
"Can I be Mario? Please!" Jayden called out after him, and for what seemed like the millionth time that day, Alex felt like everything would turn out alright.