The Long Haul

Chapter 15

"Is that what you're used to? With Dad?" Jay asked, his voice shaking, a mix of anger and concern.

Alex's expression instantly changed at the mention of their father - it was like her body and mind snapped back into place in the present moment. The visibly shaken teenager vanished, replaced by a guarded, hostile expression. She swallowed hard once her brain had finally caught up with reality and digested what she'd just said, but the alcohol didn't let her dwell on it. She clearly wasn't grasping the gravity of what she'd inadvertently confessed. With her arms folded across her chest, she spat out, her gaze defiant, daring him to react. "Why do you care?"

Jay's heart clenched at her words, images of what her life with their dad must have been like playing in his mind. It only reiterated the urgency of getting to the bottom of what had been going on at that house. But right now he was in the midst of another problem that he needed to solve. He replied instantly, his tone pained but still assertive, "I would never hit you, Alex. That's not how I operate, and it's not how we're going to deal with things."

The defiance in her eyes wavered for a moment, replaced by a mix of confusion, relief, and vulnerability. But then the walls came up again. "Whatever."

Jay was lost in his own cloud of thoughts momentarily, but Alex's voice brought him back to reality. She was ready to move on, not grasping the intensity of the revelation. So she turned her drunken anger toward the other person in the room. "And fuck you for telling Jay about tonight," Alex accused, pointing a finger at Will.

"He needed to know. You're living under his roof now, " Will explained, keeping his tone the calmest out of them all, despite his heightened level of concern at this point. This was a side of his sister that he had never imagined existed.

She wasn't certain she meant anything she was saying at this point, and her current mental state wasn't helping. She was used to angry words being exchanged, to yelling, to hitting, to fighting, but she wasn't used to...the disappointment, the helicoptering, the level of...care and concern that was being shown. And she wasn't about to let down her guard. Not for a second.

"Yeah, well maybe I don't want to live there! I didn't ask for any of this!" she yelled back as she felt some rage tears push against her eyes. She fought hard to keep them from falling and succeeded. She turned her gaze to Jay. "You forced it all on me!"

However, anger simmered in Jay's eyes, building up like a raging tempest. Jay interrupted with finality, his tone brooking no argument. "That's enough. We're going home."

Alex, her inebriated fearlessness still very much in play, shot back, "That's not my home!"

Jay ran his tongue along his top teeth, trying to keep from screaming at her - they were in a hospital after all. He was quickly losing his inner battle with his temper. "Let me rephrase. We're going back to my place. Let's. Go. Now." He took a few steps toward the door, stopping beside her to gesture that she get a move on.

Alex didn't move a step. "You can't just drag me away. Emma is still here," she stated defiantly.

"She has her own family for that," Jay countered, the frustration evident in his voice.

Alex swallowed hard, trying to summon whatever sobriety she could muster. "Emma doesn't have anyone else right now. Her parents are out of town, and I can't just abandon her." As pissed as she was right now, she deeply cared for her friend. Emma had been there for her over the past year, and she wasn't going to abandon her in a freaking hospital.

Jay hesitated, his protective instinct clashing with his anger. "You think staying here is a way to avoid facing this?"

She shrugged, looking a bit more vulnerable now, "No. I just need to be here for her."