JUST PRETEND ↠ ALEX SUMMERS ✔️ [EDITING]

Chapter 2

The steam from the hot water began to fog up Devin's bathroom like a sauna, making the air slightly too moist to breathe in comfortably, but she needed to get the sweat, dirt, and blood—from her now-healed wounds—cleaned off. The water by the drain was slightly stained from the dirt and blood but slowly began to fade to a clear bubbled mess the more she cleaned. The heat from the water increased, but it made no difference to her as she turned to face the water, sighing as the water began to run down her back from her hair.

She let the water pour over her face, drowning out the rest of the world as she let her thoughts wonder. She couldn't help but think about the mission. She knew that Charles had said it was meant to be an easy one—well for the older mutants, including herself—but if anything, it was still just as hard, and just because she healed quickly it didn't mean that she wasn't able to get hurt. Devin sighed as she stepped back and turned the water off, grabbing her towel to wrap around her body and hair up, wiping the mirror only to see it fog up again.

"Probably for the best," she muttered before opening the bathroom window.

The steam was almost instantly pulled out of the room, the cold air began to sweep in and it grazed lightly against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine. Once the mirror defogged she just stared at the sunken eyes before her, blinking slowly before it began to get too cold and she needed to change into sweatpants and an old shirt—probably one of Alex's old ones.

Devin quickly dried her hair and tied it back messily, just so it was out of her face. She looked at her phone to check the time, squinting at the bright screen, it was only midnight, it was a good time to go wake Alex up to get something to eat. She put socks on and left her room, heading straight towards his, knocking on the door a couple of times before she heard a grunted response.

"I'm coming in and you better be wearing clothes." She opened his bedroom door, he was laying on his bed without a shirt on, laying back, his legs hanging off. His phone was raised above him as he scrolled down the screen. "Put a shirt on fool." Devin kicked his leg lightly before laying face first on his bed next to him. She heard him laugh lowly before he turned his head to hers. "Get food with me," she mumbled before burying her face in his blankets.

"Okay, but first this fool needs a shirt." He patted her back as he got up and went to his wardrobe, throwing his phone onto his bed.

Alex had decided to stay in the mansion even though he had his own place, he claimed it was something about helping Scott out if he needed it. But Devin knew he just didn't want to pay for his roof anymore, not like it really mattered anyway, his apartment was tiny and in a sketchy part of town. Living at the mansion was free, although she guessed that going out on missions was one way of paying Charles back for letting them all stay there, not that she minded one bit, so it was one of the main reasons why she stayed behind.

Alex paused and glanced back at her. "Hey...Is that my shirt? If so, is there a particular reason as to why you're wearing my shirt?" He grinned, resting his arms on the opened doors of the wardrobe as he faced her.

"Yes, but I don't really need to tell you. It is one of the reasons why you don't have any shirts to wear. I wear them...I mean I can always-" She began to take it off but he held a hand out to her.

"Wait, don't take it off. It looks good on you." He shrugged again. She rolled her eyes at him. Devin got up from the bed after Alex finally put a shirt on and they both made their way to the kitchen.

-

Warren was sitting at the counter eating a tub of ice-cream, while Scott, Jean, and Jubilee were sitting at the table eating pizza that Charles must have ordered before they all got back. Devin opened the cupboards but only saw a jar of peanuts, it was better than nothing. Alex grabbed a slice of pizza while Devin opened the jar.

"Anybody want a peanut?" She asked as she picked one out.

"Just one? A singular peanut?" Warren questioned.

"If you want two, you can." He laughed at Devin before shaking his head. "Okay, actually, how long have they been in this cupboard?" She went to find the expiration date but couldn't find it on the jar. Alex walked over and picked up the lid.

"This has been here since we were recruited," he told her with a glance before placing the lid back down, Devin picked out a peanut. "No, don't eat them." He took the jar from her and put it on the side. "Grab a slice of pizza." He motioned to the table behind him.

"Or..." She drew out before taking his from his hand. "You can grab another." She took a bite and sat down at the counter near Warren.

"Or I could grab another." Alex sighed before Scott handed him the last piece.

"Oh, you're here," Erik mumbled as he walked in, Devin turned to look at him.

"With all due respect, which is none, go to hell," she replied.

"I find you intensely irritating most days." He grabbed a drink from the fridge before turning to her with his eyebrows raised. "You realise that right?" He had a faint smile on his face but he didn't wait for her response as he left.

"Love you too!" She yelled back. Alex sat beside her on her right and laughed at her interaction with Erik. "He loves me really, he just doesn't want to come across as an actual living life form in front of others, he cries easily." She took another bite of the slightly cold piece of pizza.

A gust of wind behind them informed them of Peter entering the room.

"Thank you." He took Alex's slice of pizza, causing Alex to looked at her annoyed.

"Sorry." She handed him back his original slice, before turning around and facing Peter, he had a peanut butter sandwich in his hand and Alex's pizza in his cast-covered hand. "Nice cast." She pointed to the already completely covered cast of drawings, he looked to his arm then back up to her with an eyebrow raised before his face formed a smirk while looking Devin up and down.

"Nice...Everything." He shrugged. "I have a question regarding food," he started.

"The three-second rule doesn't apply to sticky foods," Alex piped up before Peter could ask his question. Peter huffed and looked at the sandwich before he took another bite of the pizza. Devin pointed to Alex then back to Peter.

"I agree with that." She nodded.

"What about point three seconds?" He tried to point at Devin with his bad arm and an eyebrow raised.

"The three-second rule, or any given number for that matter, doesn't apply to sticky foods, if you drop it then you've lost it. It would just be gross to eat sticky foods from the floor." Alex grimaced before glancing back to Peter, Devin, on the other hand, was still in thought about it, technically not enough germs would have collected, it would be as if it never fell to the floor in the first place.

"That changes things," she replied.

"Are you really taking his side against me?" Alex asked her. Devin shrugged at him in response.

Peter grew bored and decided to leave the room, the sandwich on the counter, his attention span didn't last very long. Warren mentioned how he was going to bed, clearly exhausted from the mission. Jubilee also decided to go to bed, pulling Jean with her, continuing some conversation that they had going from before.