Far Too Young To Die

Chapter Twelve

"Look, Vic, I've got eyes all over the city and I'm sending people to your hotel as we speak in case they come back there or they make their way back here. Take a rest, you haven't slept for at least twenty four hours." James said, sitting in the passenger seat of  car with Nathan, the boy who got them to where they were at this point.

"I can't just rest! If he dies it's my fault and I told I wouldn't let anyone hurt him—" Victor was at a pretty weak point right now, desperate to have his baby back by his side. He wished he never left for that smoke, wished he never even started smoking. Oh god, Alex is probably terrified...

"You will rest because if you don't you'll crash your fucking car and you won't see him again! Find somewhere to stop because if I hear you got into an accident I swear to god..." The blond snarled through the phone, knowing full well it was the only way to get through to him. And eventually, Victor reluctantly agreed and hung up. After he had done so, James slumped back in his seat and sighed softly.

He glanced over at the boy in the driver's seat, watching his brows furrow in concentration as he drove. After some consideration, James estimated that Nathan only stood at about five foot five, if that. Pretty adorable. He had sandy blond hair with a fringe that hung over his very light brown eyes a little, so every so often, he'd flick it out of the way. He's an eye catching guy, what can he say? It's not like he loves him or anything, though. He's only just met him for real.

"We'll find him, I know it. I mean...he's not in the best of situations right now but with all of us rounding up together to find him, I know we can do it. Does...Does Victor always worry so much?" Nathan asked softly, looking over at James with his soft gaze as they stopped at a traffic light. He almost sounded afraid to ask the question, like it was some sort of taboo. It brought a smile to James' face.

"He worries a lot, yeah. He doesn't usually show it so much...but I think he really loves this guy, though...I'm not quite sure that's the whole reason he's freaking out so much. It's more...well, you know what happened to his sister right?" He asked softly, voice lowering on instinct as it was often something that was discussed between the members and only them. No one ever brought Olivia up to Victor.

"Yeah, she got taken by that Michael guy, right? I saw it on the news when she first went missing...I can understand why he's scared then. If I was him, I wouldn't be able to cope with something like this after that whole thing. It'd be too much." Nathan said with a soft sigh, sounding sympathetic as he began to drive once again.

"I'm not sure he'd be able to cope if he lost Alex too. Vic is a good actor...but he's human. If you've known him as long as I have, you can tell what he's feeling even if he doesn't show it much...he's not a monster like everyone thinks."

***

Alex walked out of a less shitty hotel than the one he was in with Victor with Jack following close behind. Alex was exhausted after his whole ordeal, so the eldest had gotten them a room for the night. He figured the younger boy deserved a bed rather than sleeping in the car or something. Plus, he wasn't a vampire and he had to prepare himself to carry out what he had agreed to do. This certainly wouldn't be easy.

"Okay, as much as I think we should get back to where you were asap, we need food. I'm starving. What are you thinking?" Jack asked, getting in the car and starting the engine once Alex had his seatbelt on.

"We can find a cafe or something. I'm not fussy, I just...I need to see Victor again. He's probably going crazy right now..." Alex said with a small sigh, almost as though he felt guilty. Jack noticed this, and frowned.

"Hey, Kid, you didn't ask to get kidnapped or some shit. Don't feel bad, Victor is a big boy and he can take care of himself. Now, let's go get food and I'll bring you back to your hotel. Sound good?" He asked, mustering a smile as he pulled out of the parking space. Honestly, he was surprised at himself. He really managed to make Alex trust him, he managed to trick him so easily...maybe he was better than he gave himself credit for.

"Sounds good..." Alex nodded slightly, slumping against his seat as they began to drive. Again, something wasn't quite right about the way Jack spoke, or the way he was emoting. It was almost like he felt awkward, or he was forcing it. Kind of like when you and a cousin you haven't seen in years are left on you own by the adults at some family reunion. Maybe that's just how Jack was, though. He didn't really know him, so he decided not to read into it a whole lot. After all, he'd saved him, hadn't he? Surely there wouldn't be anything unsavoury about that...ah, stop it, Alex!

He still had questions to ask about how he knew where they were, and how he knew who he was, but he didn't have the energy for it. He wondered what Victor would say when he saw him again, wondered what he'd say when he saw Jack again...he wanted to know if he was trying to find him alone. Well, who else could be looking? His gang hated him. James was trying to hold them off. And...yeah, there was no one else. God, he hoped Victor was okay.

The car ride was silent, the only thing that could be heard was others passing them. It was a little later on, so luckily they missed the rush hour. They drove around for a little while after coming off of the motorway in search of a cafe that looked halfway decent. Eventually, they found a chain coffee shop which looked good enough, so they went in.

"I can order for us, what do you want?" Jack asked, taking his wallet from his pocket as they headed inside.

"Just a cappuccino and...surprise me. I'm not that hungry." Alex said with a weak smile, going off to find them a table. It wasn't too busy despite the time, so it was easy enough to find a seat at the back next to the window. While he was happy he was getting to see Victor again, and that he was alive at all, he just felt tired. Probably down to the late night and mass amount of adrenaline that was taking over last night. It's not every day you get kidnapped, after all.

Jack soon approached the boy with their food and drinks, the food being a roll with some random filling. Good enough for him, it'll fill him up at least. He then took his coffee with a small 'thank you' and glanced at the drink the elder had bought for himself. Black coffee. A lot like Victor, he thought to himself.

"So...if it's not too nosey to ask...how do you know who I am? And how do you know where my hotel is?" Alex asked after a few minutes, biting into the roll in his hands. He was still wearing Victor's hoodie, so his sleeves were covering his hands as he hadn't rolled them up. Normally, this would bother him seeing as he hated getting his clothes dirty if it could be avoided, but right now he was too interested in Jack to care all that much.

"Well..." The boy across from him began, taking a sip of his drink and making face before adding several sugar packets to the hot liquid.
"I like keeping tabs on Victor...well, that sounds creepy. It's more like...I check in on him every so often. I keep an eye on him because even though I left...I care about him." He admitted quietly, as though he was scared to say it. Huh...again, it seemed as though there was something off...no, surely not. Why would he have done what he did if he didn't like Victor?

"I see...and how did you know that those guys had me? And where they were?" Alex carried on, hoping Jack didn't mind his questions. He was pretty sure he didn't, seeing as he probably wouldn't answer them if he did. Still, he couldn't help but worry a little.

"Well, I was in the area. Saw them, I know all the license plates of the cars they use. I followed them, and originally only had plans of keying their car or slashing their tires. But then I saw you looking out of the window, and...well, I know what they're capable of. I didn't want you to suffer because I know it would kill Victor if something happened to you. And...I don't mean that metaphorically...." Jack said the last part quietly, giving a soft sigh as he took a bite of his own food. Alex himself was...shocked, to say the least.

Victor wouldn't...you know...if he lost him, right?