Chapter 201: Acting Normal
Alex barely remembered the drive home.
Her hands stayed tight on the steering wheel the entire way while her thoughts spiraled endlessly through:
the elevator,
the confession,
the certainty in his voice,
the fact she stayed.
By the time she pulled into the driveway, the house lights were still on downstairs.
Of course.
Phil believed sleep was optional whenever family were unstable.
Alex sat in the parked car for another full minute before finally whispering to herself:
"Get it together."
Then she walked inside.
Immediately:
"Alex?" Phil's voice echoed from the kitchen. "Is Haley secretly moving to another country? Everybody keeps disappearing."
Normal.
Warm.
Completely unaware.
The guilt hit instantly.
Alex stepped into the kitchen carefully and found Phil eating cereal at midnight while Haley sat at the island in oversized pajamas scrolling absently through her phone.
The sight nearly stopped Alex cold.
Because suddenly reality returned in full:
Haley.
Her sister.
The person who trusted her most right now.
Haley looked up first.
"There you are."
Simple sentence.
Still enough to tighten Alex's chest painfully.
Then Haley narrowed her eyes slightly.
"You look weird."
Alex forced herself into motion and grabbed water from the fridge casually.
"I'm sleep-deprived and emotionally overexposed." She shrugged. "Basically my natural state."
Good.
Normal Alex answer.
Phil nodded sympathetically.
"That's how I felt during tax season in 2007."
Neither sister acknowledged that.
Then Haley studied Alex more carefully.
Haley knew her incredibly well.
Too well.
"You okay?"
The sincerity in the question almost hurt physically.
Alex drank water mostly to buy herself time.
"Yeah."
Not technically true anymore.
Then Haley frowned faintly.
"That sounded fake."
God.
Alex forced herself not to panic.
Because the terrifying part was that Haley's emotional instincts had become sharper since the fallout.
More cautious.
More observant.
Then Phil stood suddenly from the kitchen stool.
"Well." He pointed vaguely upward. "I'm going to bed before this kitchen turns into another emotionally tense Scandinavian film."
He kissed the top of Haley's head automatically on the way past.
Then Alex's.
And disappeared upstairs humming to himself.
The second he was gone, silence settled between the sisters.
Haley looked down at her phone again before speaking quietly.
"Did you see him tonight?"
Direct hit.
Alex's pulse stumbled violently.
But Haley's tone carried sadness, not suspicion.
Gael.
Of course she meant Gael.
Alex forced herself to answer carefully.
"Yeah."
Haley nodded slowly like she expected it.
"How is he?"
The question hurt unexpectedly.
Because even after everything—
Haley still cared.
Alex leaned lightly against the counter and chose honesty carefully.
"Not good."
That much was true.
Haley stared at her phone for several seconds afterward.
Then softly:
"I hate that part of me still worries about him."
Alex's chest tightened so sharply it almost became unbearable.
Because now she carried a new layer of betrayal underneath every conversation with Haley.
Then Haley laughed weakly under her breath.
"You know what's pathetic?"
Alex stayed silent.
"If he asked for another chance right now…" Haley swallowed once. "I honestly don't know what I'd do."
The words hit like emotional whiplash.
Because suddenly Alex realized:
Haley still loved him enough that reconciliation remained possible.
And upstairs inside her own chest—
guilt collided violently with happiness again.