Alaska sat awkwardly in the uncomfortable, cold chair. The metal froze on the back of her legs. Juvie and the hospital smelt oddly similar. They made Alaska feel the same too, out of place and uncomfortable. People were sobbing, talking, yelling in both places. Only difference is there were security guards watching your every mood here.

"Alaska." a voice brought her out of the anxious look around the room. Alaska eyes snapped forward as they softened, a small smile forming on her lips as she went to stand before remembering they told her they weren't allowed to touch each other, "What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you." Alaska said as Robby sat infront of her. His face was swollen, a black eye and busted lip. She wanted so badly to reach across the table and comfort him, she felt so helpless just staring at him, "I missed you."

"You did?" he asked her with a sad smile, "Are you mad at me?"

"Yeah, I am." Alaska said as he gave her a sad look, "But I know you, and I know you didn't do anything on purpose. I'm so sorry this is how it had to be, and i'm sorry it took me so long to come and see you."

"It's okay, i'm just glad you're here." Robby said quickly as Alaska gave a sad smile toward him, "I haven't gotten many visitors, just your dads lawyers."

"They're really fighting for you to get a shorter sentence. They're really good, I did background checks on all of them." Alaska said quickly as Robbys face softened at her words, "Are you okay? Your face.."

"Some of the guys in here just got a little rough." Robby spoke as Alaska reached across and grabbed his hand suddenly. He was freezing, he had always been warm.

"Hey! No touching." the guard warned as Alaska pulled her hand away quickly, not bothering to look his way.

"This isn't fair, i'm so sorry." Alaska apologized to Robby as if any of it was her fault, spoke like she was the cause of something, "I'm gonna get you out of here really soon. I put a tape recorder in my dads office when the lawyers came, I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't think we'll get you out soon."

Robby stared at her a moment, like he didn't believe her before a smile formed on his face, "You're serious?"

"As serious as an overdose." she spoke, a smile on her lips as Robby grinned and laughed.

"Jesus, thank you. I- I can pay you-" he began before she cut him off quickly.

"Don't worry about it. I just care about getting you out of here, safer. Do you have anywhere to stay once you get released? Have you talked to your mom?" Alaska went on, speaking fast because she knew they didn't have all the time in the world.

Robbys face fell slightly as he shook his head, "Shes at a rehab center."

"My dad says you can stay in the guest bed room, i'll talk to your mom about it." Alaska nodded as Robby gave her a guilty look, "We have the money to."

"I know but you're just doing all this stuff for me when I can see that you're really anger at me." Robby spoke as Alaska fell silent for a moment, "I can tell, you're really easy to read."

"Miguel's my family." Alaska said as she cleared her throat and set her hands on the table, "I know you didn't intentionally throw him off that balcony but you still didn't stop and think what could happen. I was yelling at both of you that you were close too to the edge, Miguel listened to me while you didn't. I know you were angry, but there needs to be a balance between anger and control."

Robby nodded her way, listening to every word she had to say because he knew he owed her that, "I know, I hear you and what you're saying isn't something I haven't already told myself. I should have clicked before it was too late, I know that."

"What's important is that Miguel will be okay. He's working really hard to regain feeling in his legs so he can maybe walk again, but he's alive. What we need to focus on is how we can get you out so you can start over, fresh and safe." Alaska went on, pulling papers from her bags and placing her pen on the table, "You need to sign this to give your new lawyer the papers that will show you moved in with us. Your mom will have to sign too but let me worry about that, you just have to agree in writing."

"Why?" Robby asked as he signed the three papers she placed infront of him.

"To show the judge that you agree and have a place to stay, it'll show that you have somewhere to go home to. Therefore, as sad as this sounds, the courts will see you have money connections." Alaska said with a sigh at her own words, "Its sick that the world works that way, but rich people don't sit in jail. With you being connected to my family somehow, it'll for sure catch their eye."

"Alaska, thank you." Robby said as he looked as her. He pulled puppy eyes off ridiculously well, she'd always though so anyways, "You're good at this."

"What?" Alaska asked with a half grin, "Being a complete boss bitch?"

"Yeah, exactly." Robby grinned her way, "I'm glad you came, I was hoping you didn't hate me."

"I think we moved pasted the hating each other stage." Alaska said with a knowing look his way, cracking a grin, "Character developed, really, ours is the best out there."

"No kidding." Robby spoke, a real smile on his face. He hadn't had any friends in juvie, hadn't had anyone visit him. She was the only one, Alaska Lee. The same girl who use to want him sitting exactly where he was, "You really think I can get out sooner?"

"We'll know tomorrow at the court meeting." Alaska said with a smile.

"Keene! Times up!" the guard shouted from the door. Both their faces fell as they stood on sync. Robby watched worried as Alaska eyes scanned the area quickly, he knew the look. Before anyone could stop her, Alaska launched herself at him in a tight hug.

"No touching!" the guard repeated himself as he walked over.

Alaska held Robby as long as she could before the guard began dragging her out of the room, "I'll get you out of here, Robby! I promise!"

"Babe!" Alaska gasped as she ran to the door, dropping her wings on the plate. Gina let Hawk into the house when he arrived, Alaskas large family flooding the living room and backyard. Alaska hugged him quickly, as if she hadn't seen him just a few hours ago. She felt different now though, after her talk with Beth in the car, "I'm so happy you came."

"Aw, Alaska." Eli flushed at her affection, tucking into her side slightly before backing up, "I always forget how big the cook outs are."

"Apparently every family member is starving and has to come eat our whole house once a week." she gave a shrug, holding his hand and pulling him toward the back door, "They probably just don't recognize you if I had to take a wild guess. My aunts are the only ones that's bothering to talk to me after the fight on the news."

"Does it bother you?" Hawk asked, keeping up with her as the pair headed toward the table with all the food.

"They'll come around." Alaska shrugged, handing Eli a plate and rubbing his shoulders, "We've got everything you can think of. I took the whole bowl of guac though but if you're sweet i'll share some with you."

"Sweet?" he scoffed, feeling her arms wrap around him from behind, "I'm not sweet."

"Aw, yes you are." Alaska hummed as she planted gently kisses to the side of his face, "Such a sweet boy."

"Only for you." Eli spoke, giggling when Alaska's lips tickled his neck slightly, "Whats going on with you?"

"Can't I just want to kiss all up on my boyfriend?" she asked, walking by his side and picking at the few things she hadn't bothered putting on her own plate, "I like kissing you."

"I know you do." he waved her off with a grin, "I have chapped lips because of you."

"I could always just stop, you know." Alaska said with a knowing look his way, "Just absolutely be anti kisses, cancel kisses."

Hawk leaned over and kissed her on the cheek twice, "I like that you kiss me a lot, you're good at it."

"You can thank twelve year old me for that. I watched a whole bunch of youtube videos on it thinking you'd kiss me at science camp." Alaska confessed, grabbing two drinks as Eli gave her a grin, "Just had to take the lead five years later I guess."

"You should be thanking me for not pressuring you." Eli joked, his arm rubbing against Alaskas arm gently, "I was extremely respectful of your personal space, you were the one always throwing yourself onto me."

"Because you were so cute in your little sweaters, and you're warm." Alaska went on as the pair grinned, "Besides, you're the one that did that little thu-"

Alaska was cut off by colliding with someone to her right, "Oh, sorry."

Her face fell as she saw who it was. The infamous brother her mother invited to the family cookout, "Hey, sis. Shouldn't you be doing a line of coke somewhere?"

"Shouldn't you be ripping out bellybuttons?" Alaska asked him in disbelief with a harsh glare, "Why the hell did you come, Trey?"

"Mom invited me." the darker boy smiled, the same boy who yanked her bellybutton piecing out eleven months ago, "I am apart of the family."

"Is there gonna be a problem?" Hawk jumped in quickly, putting his plate down and puffing his chest out, "You're pissing my girlfriend off."

"My bad, big man." Trey said sarcastically with a laugh, "Just trying to get to know my dear sister."

"I'm not your sister." Alaska glared at him, "Blood doesn't mean shit to me, get that through your head before I do it for you."

"You know what they say, don't you?" Trey asked before he eyed Hawk by Alaskas side, "Bloods thicker then water."

"Yeah? Wanna test that theory?" Hawk threatened as he took a step forward.

Alaska mimicked his actions, "We have a fountain of water, wonder where we'll get the blood from though. Babe, do you know?"

"I have a few things in mind but it's up to you." Eli went on with Alaska words as she gave a hum, staring at Trey with a fake pout, "Maybe the waste of space in front of us has some ideas?"

"Probably not, you do need a brain in the first place to use it." Alaska spoke as she stared as her mother's son, "Maybe I should knock on his head to see if anyone's home in there."

"Better do it pretty hard, gotta make sure someone hears you." the red haired boy nodded his head toward the darker girl by his side.

"Both of you are fucking crazy." Trey said in disbelief as he grabbed his drink and walk off, eyeing the pair over his shoulders.

Alaska smiled as she wrapped her arms around Elis neck with a hum, "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

"Read my mind." he hummed, following close after as Alaska drug him away from the shit show of a family cook out.

"Why when you take me placing, there's always water involved?" Eli asked as Alaska drug him into the private pool room Zane recently got in the backyard. Alaska shut the door behind them and locked it to avoid any of her younger cousins coming in, "Neither of us are water signs, we cant even swim that good."

"Because I fantasize about drowning you, of course." she said casually in a joking manor, her hand snaking into his pocket to grab his phone and walked to set it on the ground, "Dads gonna kill me if he knew we were in here."

"Then why are we?" Eli giggled as Alaska unzipped his jacket and pulled it off his arms.

"That's the fun part." she said with a wild look in her eyes, yanking his shirt over his head, making sure to avoid messing up the mohawk, "Besides, he's all talk, that man loves me more then Cedric loves me."

"Maybe you, but what if you'd dad finds me first? Me, he would most definitely murder." Hawk spoke, mimicking her actions and pulling the navy blue shirt over Alaskas head, "Is that part of the fun too?"

"No." Alaska said as she looked at him with a grin before her hands grabbed his arms, "But this is."

Before Eli had time to react, she threw him into the water quickly. Alaska grinned as she lost her shorts, jumping into the pool with him. When Hawk swam up, he made sure to stay in the shallow and wrap her legs around his waist. They weighed nothing in the water, "Your whole family is going to see my hair like this."

"I'd rather drown here with you then have to face any of them again." Alaska spoke honestly as her hand ran through the wet, gelled locks, "Sometimes water is thicker then blood."

Hawk grinned as her, leaning in and connected their lips quickly before pulling away nearly a minute later, "You taste like chlorine."

Alaska laughed as she held his face, a thumb running across his pale, clear skin. Eli had always had nearly perfect skin, rarely getting acne and if he did it was only a pimple or so. Alaska had it bad in middle school, so bad that she had acne scars on her face that she covered with concealer every morning. Yasmine and Kyler use to tease her able it really bad, calling her names around the horrible acne she had and couldn't manage to get rid of. As she got older and worked with a dermatologist, it thankfully went away the summer before freshman year.

"Can you stay the night?" Alaska asked hopefully as she pulled the locket around her neck down some to avoid it chocking her, "I might as well have stayed up all night last night thats how badly I didn't sleep. I got so use to you staying over and letting me spoon you."

"I'll stay as long as you don't tell anyone i'm the little spoon." Eli begged as Alaskas face lit up, "I feel safe that way, or when you let me lay on your heart."

"Duh, I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Alaska said in disbelief as the pair started to feel their skin prickle from the amount of chemicals in the new pool, "The robbers would have to go through these babies first."

Alaska let out a growl as she held her arms up, flexing the muscles in her arm that made Hawk laugh at her, "Ain't no one gonna mess with my sneaky link!"

"Alaska, stop!" Eli begged her through his laughter, making Alaska join in as she hugged him, head falling in the crock of his neck, "I wouldn't let anyone hurt you either, never again."

Alaska went silent a moment as her heart raced horribly, the words basically vomiting from her throat, "I love you more then anything else in this world."

"I know." Eli said nearly immediately with a soft smile on his lips, letting a few seconds pass before speaking again, "I love you more."

And maybe he did, maybe he did love her more, maybe she loved him just as much. Neither of the pair knew truly, all they knew, and for a fact, was that they loved each other the most... and that would never go away. Not even what was to come in the next twenty four hours.

•

kylie speaks

very long and
very sweet and lovey
chapter before i
gotta heart all of
us in the next one.

i told y'all that you
better not take advantage
of me filling the past
chapters with them!

x