Continuation from TFLN - (for thenewnormal)

[neverlooksaway]

He doesn't reply because he's spotted Alex, and, yes, he's eager for whatever they end up doing, but he really is a tiny bit concerned Alex thinks he doesn't want people to know, like he's ashamed of it or something. He's a bit confused, still, because it's so new and nothing he had any inkling of he started noticing Alex, but he's not ashamed of it.

It's just...theirs. And in the Summer of Awful, he needs something good.

Still, his smile is bright with relief that Alex isn't really upset with him, as he pulls up next to him, and reaches across to open the passenger door.

"Wanna go for a ride?"

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[neverlooksaway]

Michael pulled back enough to stare at him, horror flickering through his expression. The mere idea made his stomach twist right back up in knots, just when he was starting to relax again, as much as he could after spilling his big secret.

"No," he said, protesting. "I don't need you to keep me safe. I need you to stay. I can protect myself; I don't..." He swallowed back the panic that was catching in his throat, hating himself for it, because it proved how much Alex meant and Michael had made a point of not letting anyone but Max and Isobel mean that much. But he'd told him his secret, and it wasn't like he hadn't basically said it before. It just felt more after sharing what he had. "I don't want to lose you, too."

He'd lost his whole world, his family, his name, his language, his people, stuck on a world that never felt like it wanted him until this boy smiled at him, was kind to him.

He fumbled a little clumsily to wrap his fingers around Alex's. "Please stay..."

[thenewnormal]

“I was helpless,” Alex said softly. “I just stood there and did nothing. It’s what I’ve done my whole life.” Sure, he stood up to his father, but only until his father pushed back, sometimes literally. “I…you’re too important to me.”

If he’d just stood up to his father, he might never have found out about Michael. But the thought that he might never be able to stand up to him was terrifying. Weak, he heard in the back of his head. The problem was that the voice wasn’t wrong. He was weak. And he didn’t want to rely on Michael to protect him.

“You’re not going to lose me, I promise.” He didn’t tell Michael that he’d thought about it. Just leaving. But that the urge to see Michael, make sure he was okay, that had been stronger.

“Look, I’m not going to go sign up tomorrow, but it’s something to think about. Who better to protect your secret than someone in the area of government who’s supposed to be hiding the existence of aliens.” Because everyone knew that it was the air force. Even if it wasn’t. …he didn’t think, at least.

[neverlooksaway]

"Then we...I don't know. Learn to fight. We leave, and we go somewhere with more people, where they'll have dojos or whatever and we can learn to fight. You don't have to be in the military, or go to war, to learn to fight back."

He clung a little tighter to Alex's hand, even as frustration flared inside. He hadn't told Alex his secret, risked everything in doing that, just for him to go ahead and leave anyway, just like everyone left.

"I don't want you off somewhere protecting my secret. That's not why I told you. I told you because I trust you, and...and I want you to know who I am, and..." He didn't fully have the words, didn't want to pathetically beg Alex not to leave him, but he could feel everything roiling around inside of him, and he hated the feeling. "You said if I could get my hand fixed, you'd go away with me. And now that you know, you want to leave?"

[thenewnormal]

"I need to be better," Alex said desperately, wishing Michael could understand. Except he hadn't just stood there when Alex's father had confronted him. He'd fought back and stood up for both himself and Alex. And Alex needed to be able to return the favor. He needed to be able to protect Michael when it came down to it. Especially now that he knew.

"I need to be better for you. Stronger for you."

"I'm...I'm..." He was such a coward that he couldn't even say the word and sometimes he wondered if his father didn't have a point about how pathetic he was. He could stand up to his bully, but only because he'd known that bully before he was such an asshole.

He didn't stand a chance against his father.

"You can't fight all my battles, Michael. I don't want you to."

[neverlooksaway]

"I don't want to fight your battles for you, Alex." Michael's eyes were brimming with tears he didn't want to let fall, and he was repeating himself, but he didn't know what else to say. "People learn to fight every day without going to war."

He tried to think of something else to say that wasn't totally pathetic, but he couldn't, and the tears that had been blurring his vision fell. His throat was so tight he didn't think he'd get any words out, but eventually, they came.

"Please don't leave me."

[thenewnormal]

Alex wasn’t sure what to say to that. He didn’t want to leave Michael either, but he felt useless. Worse than that, he felt like he was a burden. If he hadn’t needed protecting, if he’d been able to stand up to his father and tell him to fuck off, then they wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.

“I’m not leaving you,” he whispered. But even as he was saying them, he didn’t know what the promise meant. He wouldn’t go off and enlist? He’d take Michael with him? That whatever decision they ended up making, they were going to do it together. Maybe that one. He needed to be able to stand up to his father, he knew that much.

And being in the air force, well, wasn’t it the air force that was supposed to be responsible for hiding the existence of little green men? Even if the men in question (and woman) were neither green nor little. But he could see that he wasn’t going to be able to logic his way into or out of his with Michael and, to be honest, not with himself, either. They both needed time to recover from the last few days.

“Let’s find you a cast, though,” he said after a minute while his brain tried to work through the problems at hand. “If it looks like it’s being taken care of, nobody will question how well it heals.”

[neverlooksaway]

Michael didn't quite believe him, because people always left or sent you away, but he had to be content with it for now. He'd work on convincing Alex that there were other ways to stand up to his father. For now, he could trust that Alex wasn't going to just run off behind his back, at least. Hopefully.

So he nodded a little. "Maybe the free clinic will do one without too many questions? Or lab work?"

Because otherwise, he's not sure how to actually get one--he's not going to the ER. There are too many pieces he can't control there.

[thenewnormal]

"“We could always try making our own?” Alex suggested. “That’s what the internet is for. I bet there’s a Wikipedia article or something about it.” Well, maybe not Wikipedia, but he was sure he could come up with something that would at least look enough like a cast to pass muster. And with enough luck, his father wouldn’t question it. And no one else would.

He took a little breath and it helped steady his nerves. Because there was some kind of plan. They were doing more than just going in circles. They needed to fix Michael and then make it look as if he weren’t fixed.

And only then could they figure out what they were going to do next. Maybe by then he could convince Michael that getting some kind of training was the best option."

[neverlooksaway]

"That could work." Relief flashed in Michael's eyes, even as he kicked himself for not thinking of it first. Yeah, they'd both had a lot of upheaval today, but Alex was thinking clearly, apparently, and, technically, he'd been the one to get a lot thrown at him.

"Okay. We should...get back to town, then?" He was a little disappointed by that idea, when they'd come out here to be alone, but. Once his hand was healed, they wouldn't have to be so careful, either.

Though he'd have to figure out what and how much to tell Max.

[thenewnormal]

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. You have to deal with your hand and I need to do some research." And figure out how he was supposed to tap dance around his father. Because as soon as he father realized that Alex wasn't going to join the military, Alex was pretty sure that he was going to get kicked out. But that was a problem for another day when he could figure out what he was going to say. Maybe he'd tell his father he wanted to get his degree before going into the military.

Or maybe, by that point, he could just run away with Michael in tow.

"Where are you staying, now?" Since he couldn't be staying at the shed anymore.

[neverlooksaway]

Michael leaned in to brush a kiss over Alex's lips before shifting back and wrapping his good hand around Alex's more firmly. "Okay. So. Back to town..."

Even though he was reluctant to leave the cave, even for that. But the sooner his hand was fixed and they dealt with this part of it, the better they could think about the future. He just had to figure out what he was going to tell Max. Not that he'd told Alex, surely; at least, not right away. Max would have a fit, might not fix his hand just to punish him or something. (Not that Max had ever punished him, but it was an automatic thought and reflex).

His smile was a little crooked as he led Alex back out and answered his question. "At the junkyard."