found

dan and alex

dan was still blissed out in bed 30 minutes after phil had left. he had to go do a big shopping spree and told dan to stay in bed because he was going to be back as soon as possible to lay with him again.

dan really didn't want him to leave but there was practically cobwebs in their cabinets.

they had made love, and it was perfect. his fingers trace the path phil's fingers had taken on his body. he touches his lips. the part of his body that phil refused to let go of the most. everything about last night was slow and deliberate and that's what made him grin the widest.

he hears the opening of a door downstairs and then alex's voice yelling bye to whoever brought her home. dan looks down at his body. he was sticky and most likely smelled of sex. he looks to the door beside the closet, thank god there was another bathroom in here.

he shifts to stand up but his legs shake a little and he feels slightly sore in some places. burning with embarrassment, he hobbles on to go take his shower.

***

he walks out the room dressed in a white long sleeve and sweatpants that he forgot when he went shopping for but they were comfortable, and walks across to the door that was shut tight in front of him.

he takes a breath before knocking. they were okay now right? he could do this?

"oh i thought everyone was gone."  alex's hair and clothes were the exact look at staying over at a friend's house.

"you look...tired." dan replies.

she just gives him a look and dan shifts his feet uncomfortably. "uh, phil went out to get groceries so i hope you ate at?..."

alex yawns. "maddie's, and i had a chocolate bar and a soda so yea i guess i did what is it that you want?"

dan didn't want to bring it up out of the blue if she had forgotten but maybe this could finally tie some invisible knot between them. he knew she didn't want just a suggestion to talk, he had to peak her interest.

"i thought you wanted to know what happened that night with colton and phil remember?"

she leans against the doorframe and stares at him for a minute. "i remember."

"great then we can talk." dan stands there. wondering if she was going to invite him in or not.

"my rooms a mess and so am i. i'll meet you on the porch like in those old cliche movies."

****

dan and alex sat on the porch with the last steaming cups of coffee he could make this morning. both had light jackets on and woolly socks. they sat crossed legged, looking at the pavement in front of them. it was still cold this morning but the sunshine warmed dan's skin up a little. he takes a sip of the sweet elixir.
"so why ryan and not colton?" he says.

she smiles. "ryan gets me, and gets life. he's not like the people that just succumbs to it. he knows it sucks. colton...like i said he has a psycho girlfriend and cares to much about his trophies."

"and if he didn't care about either of those things?" dan gives her a sly smile.

he thought he saw a blush but her hair fans out in front of her face as she sips her coffee. "ryan is the one for me."

"your dad-"

"my dad wants everything his way. he didn't even get to know him."

dan looks at her. "from what phil has told me, there's a life of crime and hurt on his path. he just doesn't want you to get pulled into that same mess and the truth is alex, i'm expendable. i can afford to be lost you...phil would be crushed if something ever happened to you."

she swirls her coffee.

"from what i heard from colton, dad thought you were cheating on him." alex states, she had changed the subject drastically.

dan's eyes flick to hers. he felt like they were staring straight into his soul. "not..not exactly. it was just a little jealously that's all."

"everyone these days thinks i'm still the naive 10 year old girl that they can just coax and misdirect until they're satisfied."

dan doesn't say anything because it was true. he was at least trying to coax her or calm her down so she wouldn't freak out. "i-"

"my dad has been doing that to me ever since he adopted me. telling me, 'it's okay alex, baba isn't going to hurt you. everything is going to be fine. you're safe.'"

the situation that neither of them really spoke about. in fact, dan hasn't heard about it since the day he came back to meet phil. they keep that drawer locked tight.

dan watches alex. her hands were shaking and her lower lip was trembling. "i just..i just don't understand why he feels the need to protect me from his problems now. i'm 18, and i can handle it."

"alex he's not ever going to stop protecting you. if he did, that's not being a good parent. that's not phil."

"he didn't tell me exactly why you're here or even how you know each other fully. all he said was that you were a past boyfriend that came into our present and to trust you and.."

"and not to worry." dan finishes silently.

alex nods softly. she sniffs, puts her coffee to the side before drawing up her knees and hiding her face in her arms. dan looks at her helplessly as her shoulders shake.

he could see how that could make any kid frustrated. hell, when his mother first told him about george he was surprised and asked some questions but he trusted his mother's judgment. with alex, her dad's ex was some crazy madman and when dan just pops up claiming to be phil's ex boyfriend anyone would get a little suspicious.

he didn't blame alex at all for hating him at first. phil telling her not to worry about this mystery man is like a kick in the gut before being shoved in a dark room.

dan was so interested in phil and phil in him when he showed up, he just kinda pushed alex aside. it was dan's fault that his daughter was beside him crying.

he reaches his hand out tentatively, hesitating whether she would like him comforting her. fuck it. he thinks as his fingertips brush her shoulder. she tenses and so does dan. he stays there for a split second before moving back. okay so that line is not yet crossed.

dan clears his throat awkwardly. "so um...tell me about colton's psycho girlfriend. she talks to rocks or something?"

alex's laugh is muffled as she sniffs again. "i wish but..she's the daughter of a psycho."

dan chuckles. "her mom can't be all that bad."

"oh she is," she brings her head up from her arms. her cheeks were tear stained but she was fighting a smile, "you're going to flip the fuck out."

"why?" dan didn't like the way she was smiling at him.

"because you know her if i get the ages and years right in my head. or from what my dad told me. two words...blonde hair."

dan's mouth drops open. "oh hell no!"

ah he he ha ha you guys thought y'all were safe from angst??? YOU WERE SADLY MISTAKEN.

~alivia :)