CHAPTER TWELVE: HOME ALONE

As it turned out, things were definitely not okay.

It had only hit Alex when she had returned home. Her parents were the biggest assholes in the world (though she already knew that). The fact that they kept her own little brother hidden away from her for sixteen years....she was justifiably angry. And also sad. And also a little happy at the fact that Andrew had grown up as such a nice guy. She was a mess of emotions and this wasn't helping while she was out on patrol.

She had almost beat someone to their death. Okay, yes, the man was a criminal. Yes, he had tried to rob a young woman. But she had almost killed him. And that horrified her. Because she wasn't the one to beat them up. Alex just liked to rough them up a bit.

Everything had been thrown since the damn visit. Nothing was helping. At times like these, Alex would have loved Hal's dumb texts, but he wasn't even on Earth. (She would never admit this out loud. Especially not to him)

Never had she felt more lonely and more unwanted.

Alex was skipping out on patrol today. She was too tense, too wound up and didn't want to accidentally kill someone because she felt like she would. She sighed as she shifted her position on her bed, staring up at the stark white ceiling of her room.

"I really need more friends," She mumbled under her breath. "And a distraction too."

Alex raised her right hand above her head, lighting it up. She watched the golden energy dance around her palm, almost mesmerized. She was basically brooding in silence. A second later, that statement hit her and she sat up straight, dropping her hand to her side. She was not some grumpy, brooding billionaire like Bruce Wayne. She was Alexandra Smith and she knew exactly who to talk to.

She grabbed her phone from her bed and quickly opened it, dialing the number of the person she was thinking about. After three rings, he picked it up. "Heyyy, what's up?"

"Hey Barry, I need to tell you something," Alex said the moment she heard his voice from the other end. "It's important."

"Woah woah woah, are you about to confess your undying love for me?" Barry said, laughing. "Because you shouldn't do that. It would make things really awkward between us."

Alex snorted. "That's not it, you idiot, I'm beginning to think you and Hal share one brain cell."

"You're mean," Barry declared. She could almost hear the pout in his voice. "But anyway, what is it?"

"Oh you might wanna sit down for this," She told him. "It's a big one. Gotta do with those assholes that I have to call parents."

In what she hoped was a calm and collected voice, Alex told him everything. From her mom's phone call at the precinct to them arranging a meeting to that day and finally, the important part; she had a younger brother. "So, that's the gist of it. I guess I've got an actual sibling. He's really cool though."

"Geez, that's a bit much," Barry said, expressing his shock and slight anger. "You deserved to know you had a brother and the fact that your parents hid it from you makes me so angry on your part."

"Trust me, I was the same this whole week. I don't know what to do, Bar. This whole thing has just thrown me completely."

"It'll take time but things be okay, I promise. And if you need me, I can be there in a flash."

"First of all, stop making that stupid pun. It's gotten old. Second of all, I'll be fine. I just need some time to cope with all of this."

"Well, you let me know when you need something. I'll even cover patrol for you if you want," Barry offered, speaking in a comforting tone. "Crime's been pretty dead in Central lately."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be okay," Alex replied. Though she was still sad (and would be later), she could feel part of her worry slowly ebbing away because of Barry. "You take care, Barry. And say hello to Iris for me."

"Will do," Barry said. "See you soon, Alex."

"You too, Fast Boy," She said, smiling a little.

"Seriously? Are you ever gonna stop - what I am even saying?" Barry responded. "You'll never stop. Bye, Alex. Take care."

"Bye, Red." With that, Alex hung up. She fell back on her bed, tossing her phone next to her. Once more, she stared up at the stark white ceiling of her room, feeling decidedly better than before.

Maybe Alex could go on patrol after all.

The pain of everything that had happened considerably lessened over a month. Okay, so Alex was still angry at her parents for keeping her brother a secret from her. But otherwise, she was doing good, somewhat. She'd been talking to Andrew and learnt that Supernova was his second favorite hero, right after Green Lantern. She would have been outraged usually to be placed below the big green dumbass, but right now she was fine with it. At least, she was getting to talk to her little brother.

But still...Alex felt incredibly lonely. (And the one person she wanted to see wasn't even on the damn planet...yeah, that was a thing.)

Work was luckily going well, so she didn't have to worry about that. Although she was pretty sure both Jake and Jackie were a little suspicious about the slight change in her behaviour. But thankfully, she had managed to keep them from being too suspicious. Barry was the same. He was always checking on her, but as much as she appreciated it, she also didn't want to constantly answer questions if she was okay. She wanted to be alone.

Alex snorted, tapping her pen on her open notebook page. She was such a contradictory person. She wanted to be alone and at the same time, she didn't want to be alone. So weird.

'What was I even doing?' Alex thought to herself, continuing the pen tapping on the page. 'Ah yeah...I was making plans for my birthday.'

This whole year had been strange, what with the Darkseid invasion, the formation of the Justice League (which was a much better name than what Shazam had suggested) and the fucking fantastic revelation that she had a sixteen-year-old brother. Life had really squeezed those damn lemons straight into her eyes.

But...back to the matter at hand. The invasion had happened in the early weeks of May. She had bid a temporary goodbye to Hal and also had a terse reunion with her family in the last week of May and now June was coming to a close. Which meant that there was a little less than a month left to her birthday. August 1. She could only wish the day would come sooner.

Alex pushed her hair behind her ear, the star-shaped earrings glinting in the light of her room. 'Think, think, think,' With each word, she tapped the empty page with her pen. 'What will you do? Definitely not a party though. It's not like I've got anyone else to invite besides Hal and Barry.'

'You're not turning 30. Stop planning everything in advance. Go with the flow or something,' A silly, childish part of her brain whispered to her. 'It'll be okay. Just wait for Hal to come back and ask him over for a birthday dinner.'

Alex's cheeks immediately flared up. "Shut up!" she hissed at herself. But that silly part of her brain was silent now. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She was not attracted to Hal. Sure, they flirted a little bit here and there. And maybe there had been a couple of moments where she couldn't help but stare at his cheekbones and his disgustingly cute smile and his dimples. And sure, Barry had been teasing her about this. But there was nothing between.

Alex was definitely not attracted to Hal.

(or was she....?)

All I'm gonna say is that was just a filler chapter, but the next chapter is a big one. 'Cause you know, Hal returns. And there's gonna be some stuff I think you all would like...😏😏

I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!