See The Light 💜✨

viii.

I blinked for a few seconds, not sure what to do. But then Laddie seemed to tell me what I should do for the second time in the past ten seconds,"Get out."

He repeated it in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck raise,"Do I have to say it a third time or should I make you?"

"Laddie," Alex put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it a couple times which seemed to make Laddie stop tensing his body so badly,"Chill."

Laddie looked like he was about to pop off some smart remark but he held it back, biting his tongue so intensely that I was surprised there wasn't a hole in the center of it when he whispered in defeat to Alex,"Why is he even here?"

"Jay just wants to watch rehearsal, right?" Alex looked at me with his eyes sparkling, making me take an intake of breath to keep myself from freaking out over how cute he was.

"Uh, yeah, totally. I heard Aziz play the drums and thought it sounded good."

Laddie scoffed and chuckled a bit, almost sarcastically dark,"So...you're not only stalking me.." he stepped forward, making Alex look annoyed, roll his eyes, and raise his hands and then drop them in defeat,"but you're also stalking my brother?"

"I'm not stalking anyone, I was just-"

"What? Looking for a way to my dad?"

"No, I thought he was-"

"Boys!" Melody stepped in between us,"Shut up before I make you hold hands and give two hundred word apologies."

"In his dreams," Laddie scoffed again,"I could have him if I wanted."

I furrowed my eyebrows and Alex squeezed the bridge of his nose, as if he'd heard it a million times...but by the way Melody continued to look temperamental, I could tell he had said it a million times in the past.

"You know, Laddie, I could replace you," Melody pointed a finger at him and then poked his chest,"I could have Aziz take your position as bassist."

He licked his lips and looked down at her with a dark yet playful stare,"You know, Melody..." he grinned and knelt down to her height,"you're really cute when you threaten to kick me out."

"Shut up, Laddie, that's not going to work on me." But by the way her cheeks began to become tinted pink, I could tell it was working.

He shrugged and straightened back up,"Worth a try," then he turned back to me.

"Oh, here we go again," Alex grumbled, whom I, to be honest, forgot was there for a few seconds.

I found myself gravitate towards him a bit, almost two feet away from him as I swallowed. I had to hold myself back to grab his arm and bury myself into him.

"I'd suggest you back up from Xander before I find a way to get you out of Auradon within the next ten minutes," Laddie's voice was way more hostile than before, as if he really felt like he needed to protect Alex...as if he was actually scared I'd hurt him more than I'd hurt himself,"Unless you'd like to go back to your street rat dad at the Isle."

"Don't call him that," I don't know why I was so offended by that term.."street rat" sounded wrong, weird...weird because I shouldn't be offended by it but I was,"Isn't that what your dad used to be?"

"And he's who turned yours into one, who's to say I can't turn you back into one? If you've even changed..." he looked me up and down and approached me, standing toe to toe to me as he said in a lowered tone of voice,"So, are you going to back up from Xander or do I need to pull my executive power?"

"What executive power?"

It slipped out before I could even think about it. I had no idea where it came from, that's not how I acted. I almost gasped but, instead, I opened my mouth to apologize when I felt a hard object connect with my face.