∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆Sammie's POV∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

By the time Sammie stumbled through the front door, there was no point in even going to her room. She'd be getting up soon on a normal day. After checking for signs that Alex was awake (he wasn't), she started a pot of coffee. She'd need it today. She didn't need very much sleep.. what most people would consider a long nap, really, but staying up on top of hours of using her magical had her so she felt like the walking dead.

At least she wasn't in pain anymore. Her body only ached a little, nothing compared to what was now technically yesterday. Samuel had kept his word. He did manage to get her more pink goop. Or as she just found out, monster skin. Her body felt better during the walk.

She sat at her usual place at the table while she waited on the coffee. The couch was out of the question; lumpy as it was she might fall asleep if she sat there. She stared at the ceramic piggy bank they had. Her head was empty. To be honest, the rest of her felt empty, too. She was too tired and strung out for thinking.

The coffee maker gurgled in the kitchen. Five minutes, give or take, and then she could head to her room and try to make a start on the dresses.

“Babe? Sammie?”

She sat up suddenly, blinking. She knocked the salt over.

“Wha…?” When had she fallen asleep? She didn't even remember putting her head down. Well, damn.

Alex looked her up and down, concern written in his face. “Uh, what's up, doc?”

“Nothing,” Sammie said, still dizzy from an inadequate amount of sleep. “Just drifted off, I guess.”

“Huh. Hey,” Alex said, “your face looks better.”

Her hand came up to her jaw on a strange impulse to hide it from view. “It's concealer, actually.”

“Really? Looks good."

Which was bullshit, she owned no concealer, but he wouldn't know. She wasn't even using her make up now, since she looked like shit anyway. After her training session with Samuel, she probably looked fairly convincing.

Alex brow ticked upward a fraction of an inch as his gaze dropped to the floor at Sammie's feet. “You know, you're always nagging me about tracking dirt onto the carpet.”

She followed his gaze to the damp patch around her shoes, and the smaller patches leading from the table to the kitchen to the door.

“Sorry,” she said. “Forgot I still had them on.” Usually, she'd stomp out all the dirt off on the welcome mat, but she hadn't wanted to make any noise.

“Where'd you go?” Alex asked, idle curiosity injected into his voice and posture.

“Wasn't sleeping well,” She said. “Went for a walk.” She got up to make toast, though she wasn't hungry, it gave her an excuse to get up and move around. Anything to avoid his gaze. With no use, since Alex scuffed along after her.

"In yesterday's clothes?” He questioned.

While she was up and nearby, Sammie supposed she might as well have that coffee. She normally use her skull mug but it wasn't big enough for how much coffee she needed today. She reached for the pink cat mug that Angela (cough.. more like Melissa) gave her last Christmas.

“You do it all the time,” She muttered as she poured herself coffee. “You're doing it right now.”

“That's because I'm an unrepentant slob,” Alex said, huffing. “And I think we discussed how I feel about you biting my style. I can't believe you slept in your clothes again. Or did you even go to bed?”

He watched Sammie fix her coffee, frowning. She turned away, no longer caring to even look awake.

“What does it matter?” She rolled her eyes, kinda glad he couldn't see.

A loud bang on the countet rang through the air as Alex brought his hand down on the dinner table.

“Because you need rest!”

Sammie jumped, coffee sloshing over the rim of the mug onto her chest. It wasn't hot enough anymore to burn, but her shirt (and bra) were soaked through. She sighed. Great, she had to go change now.

Alex cleared his throat, and, at a lower volume, said, “Are you okay? I didn't mean to, um...”

She nodded. “It's not that hot, I'm just wet.”

Alex leaned back against the counter, massaging his hand.  She went to sit at the table, ignoring her wet shirt.

“You were out in the woods again, weren't you?” It was more of a statement than a question. “Did you stay out all night? But, hey, I guess you passed out at the table for god knows how long,” he said, shrugging, “so you're all good now, right?”

“Don't use that voice at me,” Sammie said, irritation flaring up in her chest. She just wanted to drink her lukewarm coffee and get to work. Was she this annoying when she nagged Alex?

Alex blinked. “What voice?”

“That voice you get. It's like you think I'm stupid, or that you think I'm still a child!”

Sammie blinked, that wasn't meant for Alex. Was is? Even so, Alex used that voice on a lot of people, not that they ever seemed to notice. Maybe he didn't notice, either.

“I don't think you're stupid,” Alex said, tilting his head to the side. “I'm just, um...” He trailed off and looked away.

Silent Kitchen Hangout Time was becoming a tradition in record time.

“A-anyway,” Alex said, visibly pulling himself together. “We're missing a few things for this recipe I wanna try. So, I thought I'd go, um, do that. Anything you need while I'm out?”

Sammie sipped what was left of her coffee. “Nothing that isn't already on the list,” she said, out of habit. When her gaze caught the bare fridge door. “Ugh,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I forgot to make a list.”

Grocery shopping hadn't been a high priority lately. To be honest, she even has been slacking on her cleaning. There wasn't even a list of food on the fridge, which was usually so easy to make. It is unlike her, since she is -er was as a foodie. She usually kept a running list of things they needed or were running low on, in the hope that Alex would take it upon himself to pick up a few items now and then. Usually he didn't, but sometimes he did. Sometimes he even got everything on the list. For reasons Sammie hadn't grasped until very recently, having a list to go off of seemed to make the chore easier for Alex.

Right now, the thought of even looking through the kitchen to write a list out was too much. Her exhaustion must have showed. If she looked half as bad as she felt, it was probably pretty obvious. Alex just shrugged. “Don't sweat it, I can handle it. It's just groceries.”

“Are you sure?” Sammie supposed they could always go together, but on the other hand having an hour or so alone was looking very attractive. She needed some time to gather himself. Maybe bathe, or at least change her clothes.

“I'll be fine,” Alex said, rolling his eyes. “It's probably my turn, anyway. You just take it easy.”

God, she must look terrible.

While he was at the store, she showered and changed, and got started on mending the red dress. She was glad to have time to start on it.

Hopefully Ms. Soya can wait for them. The dresses all look stunning. Something a movie star would wear. She was the Mayors wife, so it would make sense.

When she heard the door open, Sammie took a break to help Alex put away the groceries. With the way her morning had been going, she needed to take a break. Eight in the morning. She needed to go to work soon. Ugh.

Surprisingly, Alex had done a decent job, though he'd gotten a good deal of random items that didn't seem like they could go together. As Sammie sorted out things that needed to go in a cupboard from things that needed to fit in the fridge, she spied a distinctive brown paper bag in amongst the rest.

She picked it up, pulling it free of the bag. It was heavier than she'd expected it to be. It turned out to be more of a jug than a bottle. She glared at it skeptically.

“I seriously doubt your recipe calls for alcohol, let alone this much.”

Alex looked over from the cupboard he was filling with several varieties of small boxes. The grin on his face brought a small smile to her face.

“Hey, at that price I couldn't afford not to get it.” He winced, and put his hands up in surrender. “Hey, don't look at me like that! It's not like I'm gonna drink it all today.”

“I fucking hope not.” Sammie wasn't sure if it were even physically possible to drink that much at once, at least not without significant consequences.

Once the groceries were squared away, Sammie went to get ready for work.

Work wasn't as tiring as she expected. Everyone had been nice enough to let her sort the back. Maybe it's because she look like hell, she thought.

By the time they stopped to for lunch, she'd rearranged the whole back of the shop. She smiled, as she eyed her handy work.

"Sammie, I need to hide. Oscar is back." Ross ran through the back and into the bathroom. "Tell him, uh, that I'm not here."

Sammie shook her head at Ross, but headed to the front to tell Oscar anyway. Happy for a distraction.

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The recipe Alex wanted to try was a meat pie.

Which they were definitely not going to do correctly. Misaburn wasn't such a big town to carry a huge selection of different kinds of foods. This meant they had to make a few substitutions to the recipe. It would probably work out.

“Okay,” Alex said, spooning something into a large bowl. “She said we're supposed to separate the eggs.”

Sammie picked the required number of eggs out of their carton, tilting her head. “Separate them from what?”

“Um...” Alex's eyes went serious, his face taking on a vacant expression. “You know,” he said. “I have no idea. Probably should have asked.” He picked up an egg, turning it over and over in his hands. “Separate them...from the shells, maybe?”

Sammie didn't know what else they could possibly separate them from, though why Alex's mysterious recipe benefactor couldn't have told him to crack the eggs in plain language was beyond her.

She cracked the eggs into the bowl and mixed them with the rest of the ingredients. Alex added the salt and pepper. Well, Alex insisted that this woman was a good cook, although he'd never actually eaten anything of hers.

“So what's her name?” she asked, as she stirred. The mixture wasn't looking very appetizing so far, sort of unpleasantly slimy.

She took a moment to wonder if she was having fun and just hadn't realized it. Alex was cooking with her... this should be a dream come true. And still, she couldn't recapture that feeling. It was like a feeling of almost happy, but it was washed out with gray.

Maybe she was trying too hard. She put the thought from her mind and just stirred, watching the yolks mix in and disappear.

Alex blinked. “I don't know.” He shrugged, and went back to helping her with the food. A pungent smell soon permeated the kitchen.

“How long have you been talking to this person?”

“I dunno. A few months.”

Odd to think it had been that long. Alex spoke of this person with more warmth than most of his other acquaintances put together, she almost felt jealous. Okay, she did feel jealous.

“You've never asked her name?”

Alex layered meat in the bottom of the pre-made pie crust. Evidently, the woman had given him instructions on how to make the crust, but Sammie found herself agreeing with Alex's own assessment that they were not the kind of people who made a crust from scratch. One step at a time.

“I mean,” he said, after a thoughtful moment, “I think she would have offered her name by now if she wanted me to know it. And after this long, it'd be kinda awkward to ask. I just call her by her gaming name Ms-Bowtie.” He wiped his fingers on his hoodie. "All I know is her user name, her voice through the headset, and that she's from Saint Leina. Though, I haven't had the courage to ask to meet her."

"Why not? You'd have a new friend to selfie with." Sammie joked.

Alex shrugged. “It doesn't really matter to me.”

Alex didn't elaborate any further, and she didn't press. She had to admit, she was curious about anyone who could get Alex to do something like this just by making him want to try. The best Sammie had ever managed was nagging and arm-twisting him into some semblance of action. Or, lately, worrying him half sick.

Sammie thought that maybe Alex was better off with a woman that could make him want to try.. someone who was not like Sammie.

Finally they set the pie to bake. The smell it gave was......strange. Sammie was about to say something, but seeing the pride in Alex's face. She let it go.

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Sammie studied the wedge of what was suppose to be a meat pie on her plate. It looked more or less the way she expected it to look. The smell, though, was very...interesting.

“Well,” Alex said, poking at his own plate. “I guess it looks alright.”

Mostly, it did. She wasn't happy with it but Alex was. There was no turning back now. She had to at least try it. In one quick motion, she popped a bite into her mouth. The next few seconds were spent trying hard not to spit it back out.

Alex watched her chew. “Um, how is it?” He hadn't taken a bite himself, yet.

It definitely tasted about how it smelled, except more so. Sammie gulped, trying and failing to suppress the weak cough that followed.

“It's...” She tried to find the words. “It's not so bad.”

She couldn't hurt his feelings when he'd gone to all this effort.

Alex brightened up at that. “Really? Because it smells literally like garbage.”

Sammie nodded, with what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “It's a little salty? But it could have turned out worse, I think.”

That was the honest truth. Sort of. Kind of. Not really..

Heartened by this, Alex took a bite. Slowly, his eyes crossed. “Oh. My god,” he said.

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” She said, trying to gather up the courage to take a second bite.

"Oh! That was unspeakable,” Alex coughed, pressing a hand to his chest as if to steady himself. “You lied...”

She stared down her next bite. At this point, it was her or the pie. And she couldn't back down from this challenge.

“I said it could have been worse,” she said.

At least it wasn't very sweet. It was still slightly sweet, though, which was odd and didn't seem right. There were a lot of things not right with this thing. How did Alex even managed to make this sweet? That was magic on its own.

"Well, this was a bust." Alex said, wiping his mouth.

"There is room for improvement,” She nodded, putting on her best smile.

“You don't have to keep eating it,” Alex said, watching her take another bite. “It's godawful.”

Sammie gagged, looking at her plate she saw it was just big enough to shove it all in her mouth. Might as well. "I'm going for it."

Alex met her gaze across the table and grinned. Obviously, she was doing something right if he was smiling. It was kinda worth it.

“Don't be a fool!” He stood with a dramatic flourish. “No one could survive another bite!”

“Screw you, pie! Your reign of terror ends here!” She pointed her knife at it, as if to threaten it. But it was just a meat pie.

With great solemnity, Alex walked to the kitchen, returning with the bottle of alcohol and two glasses.

“Here to wash it down with."

Alex took the first gulp of alcohol, his face scrunched up. It must be strong.

In the end, Sammie wasn't sure exactly how much bottle they'd each drank, but after close to an hour of steady work, the bottle was closer to empty than it should have been. Maybe half of it was left.

“Take that you fucking pie,” Alex said, emptying his glass for the third time. “Ain't nobody messes with us, were team badass!”

“At last,” Sammie giggled, her vision blurring slightly. “The world is safe again.”

“That's right! We're un-fucking-stoppable.” Alex leaned back in his chair, and smoothly toppled over backwards. His momentum carried him through a graceless somersault.

Sammie stood, bracing herself against the table. Was he hurt?

"Are you alright?” She walked unsteadily over to Alex, who was lying on his face and giggling into the carpet.

“Babe, I don't think I can read the book tonight,” Alex said, voice muffled against the floor. “You wanna just watch TV?”

She nodded, which made the room tip to one side. It was a bad idea to nod, she thought.

“Yes,” she said, once she realized he couldn't see the gesture. “Yes, I think that would be best.”

So much for being productive today. Well, if the dresses had been put off so long, another afternoon wouldn't make a great deal of difference.

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They ended up both settled on the floor, using the couch as a backrest. The television cast a cool light over the room as they let the afternoon pass by. It was too late for Emily Rosario, so they settled for a Pokemon reruns.

Sammie toyed with the bottle of alcohol in her hand. Somewhere in the back of her mind, in a small corner that wasn't yet saturated with alcohol, lurked the thought that she'd almost certainly had too much to drink, and should probably stop.

Besides, it whispered, you have training later. Wouldn't want to show up unable to fight, right?

One more swig filled that corner up nicely, and she handed the bottle back over to Alex. This went on for one and a half episodes of Pokemon, the bottle slowly but steadily growing lighter.

“I don't get it with this guy,” Alex said, slurring a little. “Doesn't he ever age?”

Sammie shrugged. “Maybe he is magic. I mean, Pokemon, right?"

“Seems kinda pointless.”

Sammie, had she been sober, might have been able to make an argument that the cute monsters in a kid show was the was just that. The show was made to be fun and carefree. Not to be tied down by our worlds expectations or boring logic. But she wasn't sober, and it was too many thoughts to string together.

They lapsed back into a comfortable silence. Alex's head laying on hers, it felt like something that should have been nostalgic to her. But it was missing something.

Despite herself, she felt her chest warming up. She wasn't sure why, since she knew she wasn't in love with Alex..no, her heart was solely for ..herself? That didn't sound right.

Alex sighed, as he leaned on her a bit more. It felt nice, but it was still missing something ...or someone?

No! This is how it was suppose to be, her mind yelled. Not based off fear and anger. You need to stop being in love wit-

Sammie blinked, unsure of where her mind was taking her. She didnt want to think about that. Sammie pushed those thoughts down. Hopefully, never to see them again until her next meltdown.

She looked up at the clock. It was seven already. She faked a yawn stretch in order to get Alex off.

“So,” Alex said, his voice serious, yet still slurring. “I think you should stay in tonight. Take a break from that jogging shit tonight, okay?”

Lord, not this again. “Why?”

Alex gave her a sidelong glare. His eyes gave away nothing, or maybe she was too drunk to tell.

“'Cause you're making yourself sick. Your bruises are gone, but you still look like crap.”

Alex took a long pull from the bottle and handed it back. “Even you need to rest now and then."

“Thanks for that.” She swirled the drink in the bottle, watching it spin into a little whirlpool. She'd long passed the point of being buzzed. On the rare instances when she did drink, she was always the responsible one, always knowing the exact point to stop. Right now she was well and truly drunk, and not having much fun being so.

Wasn't drinking suppose to be fun?

She took another drink, passed the bottle back to Alex.

“It's true, is all. What's the point of doing this to yourself, huh?” Alex didn't hesitate, taking a huge gulp, head thrown back. He took a moment to regard the bottle, idly picking at the label.

“Doesn't flare up as bad if I'm tired enough,” Sammie said. Which was true. That itching feeling had been gone all day, and even yesterday's ...incident hadn't pushed her over the edge. She'd been able to hold her magic down even through the pain.

Samuel could be right or wrong about whether their new nightly practice would help her get back the control she used to have, but in the meantime the constant exhaustion would keep her from hurting anyone. Alex seemed to think on this for a while, still picking away at the bottles label. The show wasn't very interesting anymore, even if pikachu was hugging ketchup.

Sammie shifted, slumping so that she could rest her head on the couch cushion and crossing her arms over her chest. She watched the light from the TV flicker across the ceiling.

“Please don't worry so much,” she muttered. “I'll get this figured out.”

The only reply was a grunt. For a few minutes, the only sound aside from the TV was the soft click of fingernail on glass and the tearing of paper. That sort of thing used to drive her up the wall. Another mess to clean up. She couldn't recall where she'd last left the vacuumed, come to think of it. She used it but can't remember where she left it now. She was losing her mind, wasn't she?

“Um...” Alex sat up a little straighter, setting the bottle down between them. “You know you're my whole family, yeah?”

Sammie blinked. That was an inaccurate statement. He had an outing with his parents over his career choices, so he hasn't spoken to them in years. They had set him up to be a doctor. Once they found out he dropped out of school, they moved to out of town. Since he refused to leave with them, he stayed behind with Sammie.She remembered his parents, they are very sweet people. Loving, understanding, goofy, and alive.

Sammie could only wished that her every own parents still were alive. Here's Alex fighting, and pushing his parents away. Did he know that Sammie and Angela would have thrown the fight out the window just to be with their parents? Just to hug them, and know that they're alive and well.

When Alex and Sammie were in first grade they bonded right off the bat. Him being sick so much he was usually never there long enough to make friends, and her off to the corner, reading so much no one approached her to befriend her. They bonded so quickly as kids, it was as if they were soulmates they had said. All they'd ever had was each other as kids. It had never bothered her, not really. It was nice to just have a best friend vs multiple friend who weren't so close.

“Yeah,” she said. She kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling.

“And even if we weren't 'soulmates' as we joked as kids, you'd still be my best friend,” Alex went on, the alcohol rendering him wordier than usual. “But we are connected in a magical way, and it's always been just me and you, hasn't it? Right down the line.”

“That's true.” Sammie could feel the oncoming guilt trip, and braced for impact. She didn't even want to mention Angela to him at the moment. Angela, she knew, felt resentful of Alex for being the way he is with his parents. Yet Angela was nice to him for Sammie's sake.

Alex fell quiet, as though collecting his thoughts. Her thoughts were everywhere, she could only imagine his.

"And that's never gonna change, alright? There's nothing you could tell me that would ever...”

He trailed off, losing either his train of thought or his nerve.

“Anyway,” he said. “I'm always here for you, so...so don't think you ever have to go it alone, okay? Because you don't.”

Alex leaned back against the couch and sighed. He stared at her, as if he was going to say something.

There were a thousand things Sammie could say to that, and it was an effort not to blurt out the wrong one. The only safe answer was none at all. A question would be safe.

“Why is every day bad?” She blurted out.

Alex broke the stare, his gaze sliding away as he heaved a sigh. Wrong time to bring this up. Seconds became minutes, and Sammie thought that perhaps that she pushed too hard. But at last, he sighed again.

“Ever feel like you have a duty to prevent someone from doing something that could kill hundreds of people?”

Aaaaaaannd Alex was officially too drunk for cogent thought. Sammie started to get up so she can get him coffee or water.

“No,” Alex said, grabbing Sammie by the wrist and hauling her back down. “I'm trying to be serious. You asked.”

“You're not making sense.”

Alex could be confusing even while sober, but the topics only got worse when he'd been drinking. Generally it was some of his magic hocus pocus talk that went over Sammie's head. This was nothing new. Though now that she new magic wasn't all rabbits and hats, she found herself wondering again how she missed all the signs he gave her.

“Don't worry about it,” Alex cracked a smile, leaning back against the couch. “It doesn't matter. I can't even find the green guy, much less the rest of them. Ha, that's funny. Great joke on my behalf."

This was new. Sammie sat up, her own concerns forgotten. “What do you mean? What green guy?”

A tight knot of worry took up residence her chest. Green guy, like green magic? Like her magic? The rest of them? How many more of her kind are there? Oh god, did Samuel find others? Alex's grin slipped, too heavy to hold up. She didn't care, she had to think of the others too. Oh my god. How many were there?

"Well now, if you're gonna make me explain the joke, it really won't be funny.” Alex gathered up a handful of label bits and tossed them into the air like sad confetti. She was going to have to clean that.

“Nothing I do matters,” he said, as the paper floated down around them. “At all.”

“That's not true.” Sammie didn't know what else to say. If she tried to talk too much she was sure she'd start crying, and that wouldn't help anything.

“It is, I was given the chance to do right and I fucked it all up. Twice.” Alex tapped his fist against his chest. “Believe me, babe, I tried real hard to convince myself different.”

"But I know you're not worthless! You mean everything to me, I-I mean," Sammie looked away, blushing hard.
Self-consciousness radiated from her.

Alex smiled, tipping his head against Sammie's shoulder, he flashed a goofy smile. “I-I love you Sammie.”

"Love you, too,” she whispered, feeling like shit. She meant it, but she wasn't being honest with him about everything she did. How could she have the right to say she loves him?

It was clear though, that neither of them needed anymore alcohol. She reached out to grab the bottle before Alex over-did it. He mistook her reach, though. Placing the bottle aside, he grabbed her and kissed her hard. His breath of alcohol, and something sweet.

This is not based off fear and anger, her mind whispered. This love is kinder.

"This love"?

She froze then kissed him back with everything she had. Their tongues circling, and she let out a moan. His hands explored her body intimately, taking his time to feel everything as if he wanted to mesmerize how she felt. She clawed into his back, not wanting to let him go.

He pulled off his hoodie, and threw it to the side. She let out a soft moaned as he kissed down her neck. He had her pinned down, but she wanted more. Hungry for him in a way she didn't really understand.

"I need you, Sam, please," he said, his voice huskier. It wasn't her first time, but she was still nervous.

Her mind finally caught up, is she really doing this? Did she even what to have sex? Yes, she answered, more than anything in this world, but not with him. Not drunk.

“I'm sorry,” Sammie said. "We..shouldn't. N-not drunk, at least."

She gave him a gentle push, he reluctantly sat back. His face red, but she was sure hers was, too. This was embarrassing.

“H-hey,” Alex finally said, muffled as he pulled on his hoodie. “Don't worry, it was dumb to think of this happening...drunk. I- let's just..”

Sammie got up quickly, sudden dizziness hit her. She fell back down. No way, was she in her right mind.

Alex laughed to himself. His face cover with his hands, she almost mistook it for crying.

"You...you okay?"

He shrugged. “No, it's all pointless. Don't know why I'm still so broke up over it,” he said, and rasped out a single, humorless laugh. “That's unfair, don't you think? I tried my best but they're still dead.”

“D-dead? Who's dead?” Sammie felt head head swim. Where the fuck did this come from? He grabbed her arm and squeezed her hard, with a muttered curse.

Then he stood, wobbling and unsteady. Pulling her, he headed to the door.

“C'mon,” he said, grabbing Sammie's hand, making their fingers intertwine.

Alex stopped. “There's something I need to show you,” he said, staring into her eyes, swaying only a little.

“Yeah?” Sammie met his stare, mystified and a little scared. What was going on?

“You have to promise you won't freak out.”

Last time she heard those words everything went horribly wrong. She had learned of magic, and seen destruction.

But how bad can things get now?