Trust [Lams AU]

15

Trigger warning: violence mention, offensive language

A/N: I'm proud of this chapter :)

It was Saturday morning.

Alex was sitting on the living room couch doing homework. He was hunched over his notebook, writing so quickly that his hand was a blur flying across the page.

Martha walked out of the kitchen and sat down on the couch beside him, her hands nervously worrying at the hem of her shirt.

She knew exactly what she wanted to say, but she was afraid to say it.

Martha knew that it was necessary. Alex had a lot on his plate right now. He'd just moved to a new country and started attending school for the first time in his life, all while living with people he barely knew. That would be incredibly difficult for an adult to deal with, let alone a teenager. Seeing a counselor would help him adjust to all the changes.

From what Mrs. Jergensen had told her, his childhood in Nevis hadn't been easy. Perhaps seeing a counselor would help him with that too.

"Alexander, why are you writing so fast?" Martha said, watching as Alex furiously scribbled on the piece of notebook paper. "You write like you're running out of time or something?"

Alex looked up, seeming surprised by the fact that she was sitting there. Maybe he'd been so caught up in what he was doing that he hadn't heard her come in and sit down.

"Oh, yeah, it's a bad habit." Alex said, sheepishly putting his pencil down.

"At least it will come in handy for timed essays. You'll never have to worry about running out of time."

Alex opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and closed his mouth again, looking back down at his notebook. He twirled the pencil between his fingers, tapping it rhythmically against his thigh.

His hair was pulled back in a ponytail. His skin looked a bit better than it had when he'd first arrived. Some of the blemishes on his cheeks and forehead had gone away, and his overall complexion looked brighter and healthier. He'd even put on a little bit of weight.

Martha took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Alex, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Alex looked up. "Sure, I guess."

"George and I were thinking about taking you to see a counselor." Martha said. "Not because we want to punish you, but because we want to help you."

Alex's expression was unreadable. "Why do you think I need help?"

"You're dealing with a lot of changes right now. You just moved to a new country. You're going to school for the first time. That's a lot to deal with. We think a counselor will help you adjust to all of the changes."

"You're just like everyone else." Alex snapped, his eyes full of rage. "You think there's something wrong with me, you want to send me off to get 'fixed.' You want somebody to make me 'normal' so you won't have to put up with me anymore."

"Alexander, that's not what we think. Not at all. We don't think you need to be 'fixed', we just want to make this easier for you."

"You don't actually care about me, you just want someone to parade around. 'Look at us, we adopted this poor lunatic and now we fixed him to make him normal! Aren't we such good people!'"

"Alexander-"

But Alex had already stopped listening. He jumped up from the couch, throwing his notebook onto the floor, and ran towards the front door.