Chapter 7 – What a family.

Beck's POV

A week passes by fairly quickly and, soon enough, Friday evening rolls around once again. I'm halfway through my trial period at the pub and, I can't deny it, I've actually grown quite comfortable here. Over the past few days, outside of my evening shifts at the pub, I've spent my time further exploring the town and its surrounding area and it's honestly not a bad little town... as soon as you get over the fact that most of the shops shut ridiculously early every day. There are woods nearby, not huge but big enough for me to get a good run in whenever I feel like letting off some steam, and now that I don't have to worry about finding a source of water I can appreciate them more. I've got everything I need here and, as nosy as some of the people can be at times, I've managed to meet quite a few interesting characters. When you're constantly trying to dodge people's questions by asking questions of your own, you quickly learn a lot about the townsfolk.

"Ugh!" Alexa complains as I enter the kitchen, and I pause briefly on my way to the sink to watch her take her frustrations out on the coffee machine sat on the back counter. "You stupid piece of-"

"Everything alright, Blondie?" I ask, unable to keep the amusement out of my voice as she straightens her back and pivots to look at me.

"No," she says, her hand moving up to rub her forehead. "Bruce is still late and this stupid crappyass coffee machine has decided to stop working with Jo sat out there."

Jo being a thirty-something year old woman with an extreme addiction to caffeine... and she also just so happens to be Darcy's aunt.

See? I know things now.

Placing the dirty dishes I'm carrying down on the counter, I decide to go and check out the coffee machine myself. It's clear that the extent of Alexa's knowledge on electrical appliances only runs as far as hitting the thing and switching it off and on again... which would be fine if that actually did anything at all.

"What's wrong with it?" I ask.

"It's not working."

"Yeah, I gathered that much," I say sarcastically as I roll my eyes. "Move over."

She quickly does as told, seemingly all too happy to let me deal with the broken machine all by myself.

"You actually know what you're doing?" she asks me, somewhat sceptically, as I start to take the top off the machine. "Can you fix it?"

"Depends on what the problem is," I reply with a small shrug. "I've picked up a few things here and there. You know if there's a tool kit lying around anywhere?"

"Probably in the storeroom... I'll go check," she replies, heading out the door to begin her search as I continue my inspection.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be some mechanical expert here. I used to live in a cave for crying out loud. I have, however, become somewhat of a self-taught quick-fixer. Over the years I've read whatever I could get my hands on, most of which being manuals for all kinds of different things. I'd often end up helping Maggie out at the Swing-in whenever something decided to randomly malfunction on her as she often didn't have enough money to buy new machines, it was the least I could do for my favourite barmaid.

"I come bearing tools!" Alexa announces, holding up a black metal box as she walks back into the room. She quickly opens the box and sets it on the side next to me, watching as I locate the source of the problem. It's a simple fix, just as I hoped it would be. One of the screws on the inside panel has come loose, stopping the inner mechanisms of the machine from working properly. I have the machine back up and running within seconds.

"And we're ready to go," I announce, placing the top panel back on.

"And Jo will forever be in your debt," she replies, moving back in front of the machine to continue on with her order.

Bruce informed Alexa half an hour ago that he was going to be a little late tonight. I don't know why, I didn't ask, but it unfortunately means that we're a staff member down on one of the busiest nights of the week. Alexa has temporarily taken Bruce's place in the kitchen whilst I singlehandedly work behind the bar.

It's kind of boring working alone, I'm not going to lie. The sooner Bruce gets here the better.

Until then, however, the pair of us get back to work.

When Bruce does eventually turn up fifteen minutes later, he throws me a quick apologetic glance as he makes his way through to the kitchen to release Alexa from covering for him. Within minutes she's returning to the main room of the pub and joining me behind the bar.

"He okay?" I ask, nodding towards the kitchen as I mix a vodka and coke for a waiting customer.

"Yeah," she replies, leaning her hip against the bar and watching as I place the drink onto the counter and exchange it for the guy's money. "His babysitter was late, then bailed, so he had to stay with his daughter until he could find an alternative. It's the third time it's happened this month; I don't know why he doesn't just sack her and find a permanent alternative."

"Bruce has a kid?" I ask, somewhat surprised. He doesn't exactly strike me as a settle-down family man.

"Yeah, little Gracie," she tells me with a fond smile. "She's a great kid, about nine I think. Her mom split when she was born and left the two of them in quite a pickle. Bruce really stepped up, though. He's a good dad."

I think back to my own father, remembering how he was with me after mom died. He didn't step up as a dad, the only thing he did was become more violent and even less tolerant. Fucking prick.

"You know anything about fridges?" Alexa then asks suddenly, still leaning against the bar as she faces me, and I raise an eyebrow slightly.

"Sure. They're those things that keep food cold, right?" I question sarcastically, smirking slightly when she rolls her eyes at me.

"I thought those were called ovens?" she replies, equally as sarcastic as she feigns confusion.

"Oh, yeah, my mistake," I say.

"Okay. Firstly, you're an idiot-"

"Thank you," I interrupt her.

"Secondly, I think my fridge at home might be dying and I was wondering if you might know why," she finishes off.

"Aren't there qualified people you're meant to call for that kind of thing?" I remind her. Why is she asking me?

"Ah, I'm glad you asked. Yes, yes there is, but my dad's an idiot and declared years ago that the only guy in this town who doesn't have rip-off prices would forever be his mortal enemy," she explains, rolling her eyes.

"Sounds intriguing, tell me more," I reply, resting my forearms on top of the counter and turning my head to look at her.

"It was all over a girl, back when they were in school," she informs, shaking her head. "That's all you need to know."

Ah, a girl. Of course it was over a girl. Everything is always about a girl.

"So what's wrong with it?" I ask, moving back to the topic at hand.

"I don't know. Something. It started making a funny noise a few weeks ago and it just seems to be getting louder. It keeps turning off sometimes, too, but it's not that old so it surely can't be on its way out already, right?" she asks.

"Sounds like it could be the condenser fan," I tell her, shrugging slightly. "Can't know for sure, though."

"The what, what?" she asks, staring at me blankly.

"The condenser fan... you know... the part that keeps the temperature cool and gets rid of excess water? There could be a problem with the motor," I explain. It used to happen to Maggie's fridge all the time.

When Alexa continues to give me a blank stare I roll my eyes and chuckle slightly.

"I could pop over at some point and check-"

"Would you? That would be great!" she agrees before I can even finish my offer. "I've swapped shifts with Jodie tomorrow because mom wants some kind of big family meal thing at dinner. If you wanted an excuse to skip work you could come round before then? I think we're eating at seven or something."

"Sure," I agree. "I can't promise I can fix it, though."

"That's fine," she waves off my warning. "As long as you can tell me whether or not it's about to explode. I'm fed up of walking into the kitchen and thinking I'm about to die."

"Now that I can do," I say with a laugh.

"Great. You're a lifesaver," she says with a triumphant smile, obviously happy that she doesn't have to tackle whatever deal her dad has with the other guy.

Shortly after, a group comes over to order drinks and we both get our minds stuck back into the long night ahead.

***

Friday night rolls into Saturday morning, which then eventually becomes early evening, and at quarter to six I start my way towards Alexa's house. As she told me she would be last night, Alex took the afternoon shift today and so I went down earlier to ask her if I was still needed. She told me she was pretty sure there was some kind of monster living inside of her refrigerator. I took that as a yes.

She briefly told me where I could find her house... and I almost walk straight past it until I recognise the stone dragon she described earlier sitting by the front door. If I'm being honest, the thing looks closer to a duck than it does a dragon. Apparently her parents received it as a Christmas gift or something... his name is Roofus.

Walking up to the door, I tap it a few times with my knuckles and wait. It opens pretty much instantly as a very tired looking Alexa steps outside and stands in front of me, a smile on her face despite her clear lack of energy.

"Hey, you made it," she says, shutting the door behind her to block out the noise from inside the house. It sounds quite busy. Maybe they have guests over. "I wasn't sure if you'd find us or not."

"Pretty hard not to with that eyesore on your front porch," I tell her, nodding my head towards the dragon-duck creation.

"Don't let them hear you say that," she says, motioning back to the door behind her with a laugh. "That thing is probably more valuable in this family than I am."

"A stone dragon?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

"My little sister named him," she says with a shrug as a means of answer.

"You have a sister?"

"Five of them, actually," she replies.

Huh, that's quite a lot... but it must be nice. Being an only child myself, I know it can suck a lot of the time being all alone. I wouldn't have wanted a brother or sister with Kailen being our father, though. In another life, if my world wasn't so messed up... it would've been nice to have a proper family.

"And four brothers."

Say what?

"You have nine siblings?" I can't help but ask.

How the hell do her parents cope?

"Yeah... that's how most people react when they find out," she says with a shrug, laughing slightly. "You should try living with them all, it's a nightmare."

"I'm good at the pub, thanks," I reply.

"Damn, you sure? I'd be willing to swap if you're offering," she jokes, pushing the door open behind her and silently beckoning me in.

"Sorry to disappoint," I say, holding my hands up in a helpless gesture. "Maybe next time."

"I'll keep that in mind," she says with a grin, leading me down the hallway towards what I presume to be the kitchen.

When we enter the room I'm immediately hit with the smell of food and, I'm not going to lie, it smells amazing. Cooked meals are generally very rare for me... proper cooked meals, at least.

"Hey, mom," Alex says, causing the blonde woman standing at the stove to turn around and look at us. "This is Beck. Beck, this is my mom."

"So you're the infamous newcomer," her mom says to me, a warm smile gracing her face.

"That would be me," I reply, somewhat awkwardly.

Meeting friends' parents is also a rare occurrence for me... mainly because I don't have that many friends. Not that I'm complaining; being a lone wolf suits me just fine.

"Call me Sarah," she says, holding her hand out for me to shake. "Thank you so much for doing this. My husband can be a real pain in the ass sometimes; he refuses to swallow his pride and ask Trevor for help."

I assume Trevor is the mortal enemy.

"I don't need Trevor's help," a man, presumably Alexa's dad, announces as he enters the kitchen carrying a small duffle bag. "The guy's useless anyway."

Blondie and Sarah both roll their eyes at him.

"I don't even know why you're sulking about it," Sarah tells him. "You got the girl, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," he replies, smirking at his wife as his daughter's face twists in disgust.

"Ew," Alex interjects, causing her parents to both laugh.

"I'm Craig, by the way," her dad introduces himself, and I shake his hand when he holds it out.

"Beck," I reply.

"Well, Beck, I got our tools from the garage," he tells me, placing the bag down by the fridge. "If you need anything else just let me know."

"Great, thanks," I say, making my way over to the fridge and taking note of the questionable sounds emanating from it. I get why Blondie was worried; refrigerators aren't supposed to sound like that.

Suddenly, a load of shouting erupts from upstairs, causing all four of us to look up at the ceiling.

"This one's on you," Alex tells her dad. "I dealt with it last time."

With a small sigh, Craig exits the room.

"Okay," he calls out, and a few seconds later I hear him start up the stairs. "Who's murdering who and why are you doing it?"

"Five pounds on it being Dylan," Alex says to her mum, taking a seat on one of the wooden chairs at the table.

"I'm not supposed to be encouraging you to bet," Sarah replies. "What sort of mother would I be if-"

"Ten."

"Deal," she agrees and I can't help but laugh.

What a family.

After unplugging the fridge and pulling it out from the wall slightly, I sit down on the linoleum floor and set to work. If the problem is the condenser fan, as I'm fairly certain it will be, then I need to take off the rear access panel to take a closer look. It takes a while but, when I finally get the panel off, the problem becomes clear.

Over the years some dust has gathered on the motor blades, blocking it up and keeping it from turning properly. It happens from time to time and it doesn't look to have damaged the fan, luckily for me or this job would take a lot longer. Maggie's used to break all the time and I'd have to order the new parts in and replace them. It's a tedious job.

"It gonna blow up?" Alex asks me, and the corners of my lips lift up at the question.

"Not quite," I reply. "You got a cloth?"

"Sure," she says, quickly hopping up and going to the sink to retrieve one before handing it to me. She then returns to her seat and continues to watch me work.

After cleaning out the build-up of dust and giving the fan a quick onceover with the cloth, I proceed to replace the access panel. When everything is back in its rightful place, I stand up and move to plug it back into the wall.

"You done?" Alex asks. "Is it fixed?"

"We'll soon find out," I reply, flipping the switch and listening as the fridge starts back up, this time sounding a lot healthier than before.

"That sounds promising," she says, standing up as I push the fridge back against the wall.

"The fan was just blocked, is all," I tell her. "Not even worth calling someone out to fix it. Nothing's broken so it wouldn't have been worth the money."

"My husband will be glad to hear it," Sarah says from where she still stands by the stove, stirring whatever it is she's cooking.

The noise has quietened down from upstairs now, so I'm assuming everything's been sorted out.

"I think I'm going to tell him that Trevor needs to be called out, anyway," Alex announces. "Just to piss him off."

"You'll do no such thing," Sarah tells her, shaking her head slightly. "I'd be the one that would have to put up with his ranting. There's only so much a girl can take."

"And guys say we're the drama queens," Alex says, rolling her eyes.

Okay. Wow. Kind of feeling outnumbered here, not gonna lie.

"Say, Beck, why don't you stay for dinner?" Sarah suddenly asks, taking me off guard slightly. "It's the least we could do for calling you over here to help."

"What?" Alex asks, raising an eyebrow at her mother.

"Spag bol okay with you?" Sarah then asks, ignoring her daughter completely.

"Um..." I say, unsure of what to reply. Looking over at Alexa for help, she simply shrugs at me in a noncommittal way... which is so not helpful. "...Sure, sounds great, thanks," I eventually reply.

"Great," she says. "Food's going to be ready in a few."

Alexa seems to take this as her cue as she automatically stands up and heads to one of the drawers, gathering up the cutlery and proceeding to set the table. When everything's done she moves to the doorway and shouts out, "Grub's up! Come get it!"

A stampede then ensues.

Two boys are at the front of the herd, one looking slightly older than the other but both clearly younger than Alexa. Craig is right behind them.

"Mason," he says when he notices both Alexa and Sarah's questioning looks, causing the older woman to let out a triumphant laugh as her daughter sighs and fishes out a tenner from her pocket to hand over.

"You suck, Dylan," Alexa tells the eldest of the two brothers, causing the kid to frown in confusion as he takes a seat at the table.

As the others file into the kitchen Alexa quickly introduces me to them, and I do my absolute best to remember everyone's name. I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that I'll have forgotten at least half of them by the time this meal is over, though.

For the most part they all seem to accept my presence, not thinking too much of the newcomer that's butting in on their family time, although a few of the younger ones seem a bit shy at first. I suppose that's only to be expected when they meet a complete stranger standing in their kitchen, though. As we all sit down to eat it doesn't take long for them to warm up to me a bit more.

As the family is so big, not everyone fits around the table, and so we have to make the best of what space the kitchen has to offer. The four younger ones (Daniel, Layla, Clara and Cora, I think their names are) sit and eat at the kitchen island whilst the rest of us try and utilise the space at the kitchen table to the best of our abilities. Teddy, the youngest of the Rowland family, is apparently upstairs napping as he's already been fed.

Overall, the meal goes fairly smoothly. Sarah and Craig ask me the odd question, mainly about where I've come from and where I'm planning on heading, and I do my best to answer as vaguely as possible.

I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. I have no plan in place. I'm just winging it.

Craig picks up on the slight Irish accent that, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to shake, and I mention that I spent a lot of my childhood in Ireland. Obviously, I don't go into the specifics, and the meal carries on without a hitch.

It's not until Sarah asks me about my family, however, that I stumble slightly. How am I supposed to talk about the fact that I have no family without putting an instant downer on this whole evening?

"It's just me," I eventually settle for, shrugging slightly.

Her parents fall silent and I can't help but wince internally.

Shit.

"Okay, so this is where the interrogation stops," Alexa decides, shaking her head at her mother's involuntarily foot-in-mouth disorder.

"What happened?" One of the brothers, Mason, asks.

"Mason!" Alex snaps, clearly kicking her kid brother under the table.

"Ow!" he complains, glaring at his sister. "What? I was just asking."

"It's okay," I say, cutting in before a full on sibling squabble breaks out. I'd witnessed enough of those from Jess and Amy to last me a lifetime... and once or twice I think I was lucky to escape with my life. "It just is what it is, I guess."

Everyone seems to accept that and, thankfully, the conversation moves on.

When the meal eventually ends, I feel accomplished in the fact that I've pretty much got everyone's names nailed. Out of everyone I think I get on with the eldest of the brothers, Dylan, the best after Alexa... despite the clear rivalry between him and his older sister. The twins are sweet, too, although I've learned that Cora is a nightmare when it comes to eating her vegetables. So is Daniel, although he soon got to scoffing them down when Craig threatened to not let him have ice cream for pudding.

Alexa, I've noticed, seems to be like a second mother to the younger ones and helps her parents out with the kids whenever she's needed. No wonder she often looks so tired, it can't be easy being surrounded by so many kids all of the time, although you can't deny her love for them all. Yes, even Dylan, who decided to throw a piece of carrot at her halfway through dinner.

It was an eventful argument that ensued, which eventually ended when Sarah told them that they'd earned themselves the right to cleaning the dishes afterwards. Then Dylan started arguing with his mother whilst Alexa just rolled her eyes.

All in all, I enjoyed being an innocent spectator that witnessed the entire scene unfold.

Family dinners really are something, aren't they?

When everyone's finished and people start excusing themselves from the table, I take that as my cue to head off. I don't want to overstay my welcome.

Alex offers to walk me out and, just as I'm about to leave, Sarah speaks up.

"Don't be a stranger, Beck. You're welcome round anytime," she says, stacking the plates up by the sink for Dylan and Alexa to deal with later.

I'm surprised by the offer, not used to people being so welcoming towards a guy like me. Oddly enough, they remind me of Amy and Jess's parents. They never had a problem with inviting me into their home either, probably because they'd heard so much about me from Lucy anyway.

And, just like that, thoughts of a certain redhead flow through my mind again.

Ugh. Why can I never shut her out?

"Thanks," I reply, saying goodbye to her and the rest of the family before following Alex through to the front door.

"Thanks again for the help," she says, holding the door open for me with a smile. "I'll feel safer walking into the kitchen now for midnight snacks."

"No problem," I reply. "Anytime."

"And sorry about my family," she then says. "I know they can be a bit... much, at times."

"Nah, they're alright," I say, smiling slightly as I look back at the kitchen door. "I've met worse."

"Sounds interesting," she tells me, a sheen of curiosity leaking into her eyes and immediately getting me to shut down. Curiosity can be a powerful thing when asking certain questions.

"Not really," I shrug, stuffing my hands into my pockets and stepping outside. "I'll see you tomorrow, Blondie."

"Night, Beck," she replies, her voice soft as she slowly shuts the door behind me.

I don't really feel like heading back to the apartment yet, not ready to be left alone with my thoughts and no distraction. So, with that in mind, I make my way towards the outskirts of town.

It seems like a good night to go for a run.

(Hey guys!! Yes! I am alive!! I know it hasn't seemed like it over the past few months. I'm reeeaaallllyyy sorry about that. My life has been pretty hectic and Uni did not happen as it was supposed to but I'm not gonna bore you with the details. I decided a few days ago that I'd put off this chapter long enough and so now, at 4am after I've literally just finished writing, I am finally uploading it :')

What did you all think of the chapter? I know it might be choppy in places so I might have to eventually go over and smooth those bits out but, overall, I'm fairly happy with it. You get to see a bit more into Alexa's home life.. what are we all thinking of her family so far? It was really fun writing about them :')

DISCLAIMER:! I know nothing about coffee machines or fridges so literally everything I wrote in this chapter about them I googled an hour or so beforehand :')

I'm sorry for any mistakes within this chapter! As I've said it's late and I'm super duper tired so I've probably missed loads when I read through :/ As with 'OMEGA' I will be going through eventually and fixing any mistakes so be patient with me on that one :)

Um... so, yeah... not really sure what else to say about this one. Again, I'm sorry for the long wait and thanks for being so patient :) I also posted the next chapter for 'Knife's Edge' the other day if anyone who's started reading that hasn't read it yet :) I'm really trying to get back on track with both stories. I don't know when the next chapter of this story will be uploaded as I, obviously, haven't started writing it yet. I do (vaguely) know what is going to happen in it though so it shouldn't be too long before I've finished it :)

Right, so, yeah, thanks so much for reading!! If you liked this chapter then don't forget to Vote/Comment/Add/Follow, thank you!! Until next time, byeee!!!)