Message In A Bottle

Jan 25

A/N: Looking at my chapter plans and like... this is going to be the last semi-happy chapter in a... long time... maybe the last happy chapter ever depending on what you call happy... *sweats profusely*

Okay for real though, February is going to be a hard one to write (for me), and I've been tryharding this term for uni soooo we'll see how I balance academics with this! :) Stay strong shippers because there's going to be drama ehehehe

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It was a Wednesday, but the teens were having a day off due to something called a "staff development day". Nobody knew what it really meant but they didn't need to go to school, and that was a win for everyone.

Alex let herself sleep in for once. Her muscles were still aching from her time spent at the ski trip. When she woke up, she instinctively reached for her phone, but then remembered Arthur was probably busy because he said he an important group project due in a week.

Life sure was tough. Alex was glad for a break even if it was just one day. They all needed it to deal with the January academic burnout. Alex put down her phone and flopped on her bed.

Wait, was that the smell of bacon in the air?

Alex wandered to the kitchen and to her great surprise, she found her brother there making breakfast.

"Good morning," Alex greeted him, a little stupefied. "That smells great!"

"Thanks." Conner continued to flip the bacon in the pan. "Y'know, can't believe I actually woke up earlier than you for once."

"You're turning over a new leaf," Alex complemented him sincerely.

Conner yawned. "Don't get too excited about it, I'm just up early because I feel like it. And I guess it's because of Bree. She said her family takes turns making breakfast during weekends as some sort of family bonding moment."

"Oooh, very nice," Alex said appreciatively. Since their parents were at work, Conner had only cooked for the two of them. Slightly misshapen sunny side ups were on two slices of toast. Conner moved the pan and added bacon to the two plates. "Aaaand done!"

"Thanks for the breakfast! This looks great." Alex was genuine. Maybe cooking could be a new talent of her brother's.

Conner yawned. "Aaaand maybe I used up all of my energy for today. Perhaps I'll go back to sleep after this."

Alex gave Conner a stern look. Conner dramatically huffed.

"Yeah, I know we have work to do. Bree told me she spent so much time yesterday finishing her homework because she's got stuff to do today."

"Ooh, what stuff?"

"She's dying her hair with Dani," Conner said. "She said she wants to get highlights for her hair, not just for her bangs. And hair dying apparently takes a long time."

"Ahh, I have no experience with that," Alex admitted, "but it sounds fun! Dang, I wish I can go out too. Maybe I'll ask Arthur— right, he's busy." Alex sighed, already moping. "He's always busy."

Conner dug his fork into his bacon then started chewing thoughtfully. He gave Alex an unusually critical eye. "You're always talking about Arthur."

Alex felt oddly defensive. "Well, you're always talking about Bree."

Conner cocked his head. "Do I? Okay yeah, I do. Fine, correction: you're always moping about Arthur. Like, you're always waiting for his texts and you keep on talking about how busy he is."

Alex bristled. "You're also dating someone. You know how it's like."

"Okay, I might be whiny sometimes but... I don't really mope about Bree? I think? Yeah, fine, I do talk about her a lot, she's super cool, but it's like... something funny she told me, something we did." Conner exhaled. "Anyways, the point is: dating is supposed to be fun. You're supposed to help each other achieve your best selves. (Bree words this better than I do.) Go and enjoy your time with loverboy even if you don't think you spend enough time together."