Chapter 157

Alex was in the kitchen doing dishes, trying to distract himself from thinking about his old pack. The rest of the two packs were crowded in the living room, watching another movie. Kevin and Todrick were down the hall cleaning up the bedrooms. Scott went into the kitchen to grab a snack, when he heard the soft crying. He snuck up behind Alex, who was hunched over the sink, crying quietly and hoping the sound of the water would drown it out. Scott set a hand on his shoulder. "Alex?" Alex jumped and turned around, wiping furiously at his eyes. "Hello, Sir. I'm sorry, excuse me a second." Scott reached up and wiped some of Alex's tears with his thumb. "What's the matter, Al?" Alex put a hand on his own shoulder, arm draping across his chest. "Nothing. Sorry, I didn't mean to cry." "Crying is okay, darling. Just tell me what's wrong. Do you want me to go get Travis?" Scott asked quietly. "I wish that you wouldn't.." Scott nodded. "Okay. Fair enough. Now, what's wrong?" "I just can't get them out of my mind, you know? The thought of them showing up at any second.. God. It just.. Really really scares me." Alex admitted, avoiding Scott's eyes. "I know it does. Mitch is the same way. But you know very well that Travis won't let anything happen to you. And neither will I, for that matter." Scott tried to reassure. Alex shook his head and met Scott's eyes, tears forming again. "I know... But the things they did to me.. You don't understand, Sir." "Yes I do. Mitch had to go through it too, Al. I know exactly what they did to you. And words could not even begin to express how sorry I am that you had to go through that. But it won't ever happen again. You just have to trust us." Scott said, wiping another tear off of Alex's face. Alex nodded and looked at the ground. Scott turned to leave, and Alex put a hand on his shoulder. Scott turned back, and Alex jumped on him in a huge hug. Scott rubbed his back a little. "It's going to be okay, Xander. Don't you worry." "Thank you.. Thank you so much. And thank you for taking care of Mitch. He deserves someone like you." Alex said softly. Scott pulled away from him and gave him a sad smile. "He deserves the world. Much more than I could give him. But I promise I'll take care of him." Alex nodded and looked away again, turning back towards the sink and starting to do the dishes again. Scott walked up next to him. "Hey. No more frowning. I thought we just fixed that. What's wrong?" Alex just shook his head. Scott smiled a little at Alex making the same mistake that he always makes. Scott leaned over a little. "I'm pretty sure your Alpha doesn't like silent answers. Neither do I. Talk to me, Al." Alex instantly looked over at him, panicked. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to disrespect you, Alpha. Oh God, please don't tell my Alpha..." "I won't. It's okay. Just tell me what's wrong." Scott said, putting a hand on Alex's back. Alex looked down at the dishes in front of him. "Mitch told me that he's just about as afraid as I am. And.. I don't know. I really care about that little guy. There was one time.. Back at the old house.. He was always optimistic, telling me we would make it out of there. But the first time they.. Y'know.. Raped him.." Alex said the word in as quiet a tone as he could. Scott nodded, egging him on. Alex kept his eyes downcast. "After that first time.. I think three of them hurt him all at once. And it was like.. Mitch was a completely different person. He went an entire week without smiling, I swear to you. A whole week. That's when I realized that.. He had been there for me, and I needed to keep him fighting too. He was already so skinny... If he gave up, he would just... Starve.. Oh God." Alex had to turn the sink off again, just to dry more of his tears. Scott gave him a sideways hug. "Hey, you can stop. I didn't mean to make you think about all of that.. He's fine now, I promise. I make him eat all the time. Thank you for protecting him before I could." Alex nodded, hunching over a little more, gripping the counter tightly. "You know, Alex... You and I actually have a lot in common. You seem like the kind of person that cares about other people a lot more than yourself. And so do I. But it's a flaw in both of us. You have to look out for yourself sometimes too." Alex nodded again. "I'll work on that. Thank you." Alex rolled his shoulders a little bit, trying to relax them. Scott just smiled sympathetically at him, and moved behind him to try to massage his shoulders a little. "You're going to be okay. Just calm down. Put a little faith in the Alphas in this house. We'll protect you."