Glee: World of Chances (the fourth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 43: How to Succeed

"How could you do something so stupid?" Julie asked on Tuesday morning, when Alex had finally retrieved enough of his energy to wake up. "And how could you let some stranger into our apartment?"

Alex, who was resting in his new hospital bed, chuckled at that last part. "I forgot about that..." he mumbled weakly, his voice coarse and unrefined. 

"Shh, don't try to talk!" she hushed him. "You need to recover."

"Well, stop asking me questions," he continued to laugh, his entire chest and most of his abdomen aching when he did. 

"Stop!" she told him again. "You broke some ribs and you're going to need to heal. Which sucks for you because Ellen wanted to do an interview."

"Are you serious?" Alex shot up far too rapidly. "Aw, man, that hurts... Not just the Ellen thing. That asshole really hurt me... Have you ever been knifed before, Vasquez? It sucks. Wait, what happened to the old man?"

"He's at a shelter we managed to squeeze him into last night when I went home for some clothes for us and saw him watching Oprah tapes on our couch," she answered. "By the way, why do you record that?"

"It's entertaining," Alex shrugged. "I'm glad I didn't risk my life just for him to end up on the streets again."

"I can't believe you did that," she shook her head. "I mean, it's noble, don't get me wrong. But it was really, really dumb."

"I had to do something," he defended himself. "Granted, I didn't really have much time to think of an action plan. It's just... I grew up rich. Filthy rich. And I know that some of my friends didn't have much growing up. Kara... Amity... Marley... I met them all and assumed they were rich. Each one of them. They were so strong and together. And I was just a dumb kid without a clue in the world. So when I saw that guy taking advantage of someone who had pretty much nothing and no way of defending himself, I just thought... 'Someone has to look out for him or else no one will...' You know? It sucks seeing the little guy being put down. I just kept thinking of watching the big kids pushing Dan down against the lockers or the mean cheerleaders giving Amity dirty looks if she wore something that was a little worn down... So I wanted to stand up for that man. And for everyone who society has screwed over."

"That's really admirable..." Julie mumbled, watching him and wondering where this Alex had been for the last couple of months. "But next time, try to find a way to do it without freaking out the rest of your friends. Speaking of, they all want to see you." 

"Oh, did I ruin Artie's script thing?" Alex remembered suddenly that they were supposed to be meeting for a second time to get through the rest of the script. 

"He kind of decided to shut this project down," she explained. "Realized it sucked... Besides, no one could think straight with you here. It's just a matter of time before the media gets hold of the story so Sebastian has been on the phone with your publicist trying to find a way to make you look even better than you already will. You're about to become a national hero and not just some vapid celebrity. Congratulations."

"Kara will be happy," he laughed. "It's all she's been going on about."

"I didn't tell anyone you were here until very late last night," she told him. "I figured you wouldn't want them around anyway."

"Thanks," he smiled. "But I should really not run away this time and just tell talk to them already. Kara and Amity."

"Ok," Julie nodded. Just then, there was a knock on the door and Kara appeared, with John, Leila and a bouquet of flowers. 

"Those are from John," Kara told Alex when he raised an eyebrow. 

"Makes sense," Alex said weakly. "Thanks, love."