Family Affairs [IC]

[alderwitch]

It was easy for Alex to ignore the rumors on campus. So, she shrugged off the few kids who did approach her as she headed accross the quad to find Eddie once classes were over.

"I need to talk to you," She greeted Eddie without preamble, her expression unusually tight.

[quotemyname]

Eddie sighed. "Is this about those rumors?" Eddie had been hearing all sorts of things around campus these days. The one's about him didn't bother him. But he had been hearing some pretty nasty ones about Alex.

"No wait... Those don't bother you, do they." The ever present smile suddenly faded away from his face. He was worried, and it showed. "What's wrong, Alex?"

[alderwitch]

Alex shook her head even as Eddie answered his own question. Her shoulders were squared as they had been most of the day. Most kids assumed it was the rumors but Alex really wasn't phased by public opinion She knew just how easy that was to manipulate. Her tone had Alex's usual forthrightness but with the core of inner strength that wasn't usually seen outside of a crisis. Of course, Alex had been in crisis mode all day. "I want to talk to you about Zoe. Let's have a seat."

[quotemyname]

"Uh oh." He frowned. "What's wrong now?" Zoe had a penchant for getting herself into situations almost as much as he did. Though he usually did it unintentionally, her not so much. "Is she okay? Did she have another breakdown? Is this about her parents?" He was all questions, now he was visibly worried.

[alderwitch]

Alex took a seat, folding her legs up under her before she answered, "It's sort of about her parents, in the end. We'll get there. I know that you guys have had sex. Not from the rumors, but from what Zoe's said. What are your feelings for her?"

She looked up at him with the full focus of her attention on his features. Alex wasn't the sort of person to read her friends minds. Even as agitated as she was right now, but she still saw emotions the way normal people saw colors and her eyes were very intent on Eddie's face.

[quotemyname]

"What are you, her mom?" Eddie said sarcastically as he sat down. "Seriously, though. I like her. Why is it a big deal that we had sex? Did she tell you something that I should know?"

Eddie's manner was completely different than what Alex usually saw of him. The usual joking attitude he carried around was no where to be found. He looked a bit dejected all of a sudden and looked off to the side. "She did leave in an awful hurry the morning afterward, but she said that was because she had to get to work..."

[alderwitch]

"Yes, actually," Alex said tightly, her eyes narrowing at him in warning. "Sex IS a big deal, Eddie. Not only are there any number of physical consequences, there are emotinal ramifications as well."

[quotemyname]

All of a sudden, Eddie felt annoyed. He really didn't like being bossed around by people who thought they had some sort of authority over him (worse so when they actually did have authority over him.) "Very funny." Came his droll reply to the mom comment.

Eddies mouth twisted to the side in consideration. Alex was his friend, and she wasn't trying to boss him around, she just cared about Zoe. But so did he...Sometimes he wondered why people just couldn't seem to take him seriously. Maybe he cried wolf too much...

"Look, Alex," He lightly rested his hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes, just to show her he meant what he was about to say. "I'm serious. I really care about Zoe. I'm not gonna let anything happen to her. I'm not gonna hurt her feelings. We're careful when we do these things. She should have told you that too. She sometimes forgets to tell all the important details, even though I know she remembers them, you know? Your right. This is serious. That's why I'm being serious about it." He sighed as he removed his hand. "Your right. This is serious. That's why I'm serious about it."

[alderwitch]

"You had better be, Eddie," Alex said seriously. "Zoe is more vulnerable than you can imagine right now. She's impulsive and impatient. If you want things to work out, you're going to have to be the one slowing things down. She won't. She'll burn through things with you as fast as she started them because if she slows down, she'll have to feel everything she's been shoving to the side."

Alex tucked her curls back behind one ear as she continued relentlessly, "I don't want to see either of you hurt, but if you care about Zoe, you'll have to read between the lines. Zoe deals with things by running, and no one can run forever."

[quotemyname]

Eddie opened his mouth to say something, and even went as far as raising a finger to emphasis what would be a good point... that never got made. He shut his mouth and dropped his hand back onto his leg.

He turned and leaned his back up against the picnic table they had been sitting at. As he was looking out off into the distance he started to talk. "Well then what am I supposed to do? I'm kinda trapped, don't you think? If I force her to slow things down, then its just going to end up hurting her. It'll force her to think about the things she doesn't want to, and I will no longer be that distraction that she need so much. But if I don't slow things down, we might just crash and burn because we'll go so fast it'll just burn things out..."

Alex had never seen Eddie look so unhappy. Clearly this was something he had been thinking about. Without looking back at her, he said almost to himself, "Besides, I like how things have been going."

[alderwitch]

Alex narrowed her eyes at the last statement although she wrestled her temper under control. She had not been having a fabulous day already, after all. After a moment to enhale slowly, she pointed out, "Try talking. Provide her with the oportunity to talk about things. Repeatedly. Ask her questions about herself and try not to get distracted when she turns everything physical to avoid the conversation. Zoe would much rather do than think and if both of you just keep doing the follow your instincts thing, eventually its going to crumple."

She sighed and relented enough to add, "I believe you are serious about this, Eddie, or we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I just don't want to see Zoe get hurt. We've already peeled Mike off of someone once today already."

[quotemyname]

"What happened with mike?!" Eddie was shocked his docile friend could have gotten into any trouble at all. "No, wait... In a minute. Lets finish this bit about Zo, then you can tell me all about Mike."

Eddie had turned to face Alex when he had gotten excited. Now he looked right at her.

"I've talked to her Alex, I have. She knows she can tell me anything. And I ask her on multiple occasions. But she never really tells me much. She's mentioned that her parents are dead. But she hasn't told me how or why. And yea, I have stopped her from kissing me sometimes. Sometimes I get a little more, sometimes I don't. But it's never really anything important. Sometimes she just talks. Which is good. I like hearing her talk. But..." He shook his hands in front of himself in frustration. He looked down for a second, then back up at Alex. "She says she knows that she can talk to me, but sometimes I don't know if she does.

He sighed. "Sorry, I guess I just needed to get that out." He shook his head for a second. He looked back up at Alex, expecting something.

[alderwitch]

"She's been keeping her parents secret because of their identity. She hasn't been able to talk about it. Now, she can." Alex said patiently, "You've just met her but Zoe's known all of us her whole life and you have to realize the people she knew were very different. Older, to start. She already has preconcieved notions of who you are. What you're going to do or say. I'd even say its likely she's trying to make sure that you have a very different impression of her than the other, adult version did."

At that, Alex's face screwed up a little to make a 'yick' face as she knew full well the Eddie that Zoe knew was in his mid forties. Her daughter's fixation with a probable uncle figure had all sorts of infinately distressing ramifications for Alex.

[quotemyname]

"I...Wait... What?" Eddie shook his head. This was news to him. "Your saying that wherever she came from, I also existed there, but I was older? Weird. Like how much older? Like mid twenties? Was I rock star yet? Man I should be asking her this stuff." Eddie had gotten excited, and thankfully glossed over the obvious and awful implications of what Alex had told him.

Eddie made himself slow down again. "Alright, look. I promise I'm gonna take good care of her. I'll make sure we talk and stuff, don't worry, Alex. Now what happened with Mike?"

[alderwitch]

Alex watched the stars flash in Eddie's eyes with an impatient sigh. Being Alex, hoewever, she answered his questions despite the frustration of trying to get Eddie to focus, "Mike heard the absurd rumors about me and decided to discuss them with Mark about twenty feet over the quad. Everyone is fine and unbruised."

[quotemyname]

"What? That's crazy!" Eddie cried in surprise. "Oh man, this is probably going to cause a ton of problems. Are you and Mark still together after all this? I know this type of thing can easily split people up..." Eddie laid a sympathetic gaze on Alex as he waited for the answer.

[alderwitch]

"It's fine. The situation was inevitable even if the chain of events was improbable. Mark and I will always be friends even if the romantic aspect has ended," Alex said calmly. "I haven't had a chance to talk to Mark but I know he held no deep emotions for me so I imagine any hurt he has won't linger."

She stood up and smoothed her hands over her skirt, stepping away from Eddie. "Parental affection for Zoe moves me to add a warning about hurting her feelings, Eddie. I may not be the strongest or fastest on the team but I would like to point out the leading causes of erectile dysfunction are generally psychological in nature."

She turned a sunny smile on him, "I trust you'll treat Zoe with respect. But, In short, if you hurt my daughter, I will likely lose my temper and do something we will all regret. "

[quotemyname]

"It's fine. The situation was inevitable even if the chain of events was improbable. Mark and I will always be friends even if the romantic aspect has ended," Alex said calmly. "I haven't had a chance to talk to Mark but I know he held no deep emotions for me so I imagine any hurt he has won't linger."

Eddie's eyebrows raised in surprise, "Oh so it IS over. I guess I'll give the guy some space for a bit then. You really should tell him explicitly before things get out of hand, you know. I don't know how long ago this happened, but you don't want to let something like that stew."

She stood up and smoothed her hands over her skirt, stepping away from Eddie. "Parental affection for Zoe moves me to add a warning about hurting her feelings, Eddie. I may not be the strongest or fastest on the team but I would like to point out the leading causes of erectile dysfunction are generally psychological in nature."

She turned a sunny smile on him, "I trust you'll treat Zoe with respect. But, In short, if you hurt my daughter, I will likely lose my temper and do something we will all regret. "

Eddie raised his hands in front of himself apprehensively. "I promise - promise I am not going to hurt her. You don't need to threaten me. You don't have to scramble my brains." Eddie said this with a good natured smile on his face.

Then Eddie scrutinized Alex for a second before saying, "I know you think of your friends as your kids in the interests of being protective of them, but isn't referring to Zoe as your daughter a bit much? She's just your sister from an alternate dimension..."

That's when Alex realized that Eddie really didn't know about the situation at all. He had apparently heard a lot less from Zoe than she'd thought. And apparently he had thought she was joking earlier when she said the bit about being Zoe's mom.

[alderwitch]

"No, she isn't. That's what I've been trying to tell you. Zoe is my daughter. She's not from another dimension. She's from the future. I just found out." Alex said firmly, twisting to look at him. "She couldn't tell you because she's been trying to protect us. Zoe watched us die, thirty years from now. That's why I said she's fragile."

[quotemyname]

Eddie was speechless. His mouth dropped open and he simply gaped at her. Alex had seen it happen before. Eddie was often at a loss for words when something unexpected happened. But usually he managed to sputter out something. Now he was just completely silent. He stared at her dumbfounded, hoping there would be more of an explanation than that.

WHAT?!

[alderwitch]

Alex took pity on Eddie to sit down. Despite her own reservations about the wisdom of his relationship with Zoe she had genuine fondness for her friend.

"I ran Zoe's dna through some tests last night. We share enough genetic markers to be first degree relatives. She also shares the same genetic similarity with Mike. That makes her only possible relation to us as our daughter. The presence of terminus energy only confirms that. Mike and I both carry that energy from our in utero exposure. Energy we passed on to a daughter."

She patted Eddie's leg comfortingly, "I had suspicions so I ran the tests. Keeping it a secret has been a heavy burden on her shoulders as she didn't want Mike or I to find out. I imagine she could use someone to talk to about all of this now that her secrets out," The last was a less than subtle hint but Alex wasn't going for subtlety today.

[quotemyname]

Eddie's face plopped down into his hands. He spoke through his hands with his voice somewhat muffled. "So what you're saying is: I had sex with your daughter." He looked up at her again. "Coming from anyone else, I probably wouldn't believe it. But I know for a fact how impeccable you are about things like this. If it's one thing I've learned since being friends with you, its how much you pay attention to detail."

Eddie sighed. "I mean I knew there were similarities," his gaze stretched out over the quad, "But I took it just to mean that her story was true! But now I find out that she lied to me...Sure it was to protect me, (and you and everyone else) but that really doesn't make it right. Especially not after I sat her down and told her that I would listen to her. That she could talk to me about anything. Anything. And I would be there to listen. She still lied. In fact, I had to go that far just to get her to tell me the lie in the first place!" Eddie's face fell back into his hands. This was the first time that Alex had ever seen him actually upset about something.

"I had suspicions so I ran the tests. Keeping it a secret has been a heavy burden on her shoulders as she didn't want Mike or I to find out. I imagine she could use someone to talk to about all of this now that her secrets out,"

"I know." Came Eddie's muffled reply. He pulled his head back out of his hands. Alex could see that he was really upset, almost to the verge of crying. "I'll talk to her, don't worry. I just really hate it when my friends lie to me, you know?"

He was quiet for a second as he tried to compose himself. "You know...Even though I just found out that I've been having sex with the daughter of two of my best friends...And I don't even know how to say this properly...I'm okay with it. I mean I guess I should be really creeped out, right? I'm not though... I'm just okay with it." He looked up at Alex, possibly hoping for some kind of approval, but doubting he would find it from her. "Is that wrong?"

[alderwitch]

Alex sighed as she rested a gentle hand on his back. She projected a soothing serenity as she easily stepped into the role she took so often with her friends, "Wierd doesn't make it wrong. You're not related to her, nor is there a genuine chronological difference in your ages. There's nothing ethically problematic, its simply a bit bizzare."

She rubbed his back lightly, soothingly, "Of course she lied, Eddie, she didn't want to turn away from the offer to help. She's very emotionally invested in your relationship. But she couldn't tell you the truth. So she lied as little as she could. She's not very good at lieing."

The last was said with a bit of pride.

[quotemyname]

"Alright, thanks." He nodded his head.

Eddie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Nodding his head resolutely he looked at Alex again. "Alright, I'm gonna go try and find her and talk to her. I don't want to let this stew any longer. Besides, like you said, she might need someone to listen." Eddie stood up from the bench. "Thanks for cheering me up. I needed it." At long last, his signature bright beaming smile crossed his face again. It was relieving to see Eddie in a good mood again. Seeing him upset was like watching the world turn grey. It just wasn't right.

Eddie extended his hand to Alex, "You want to walk back together?"

[alderwitch]

Alex declined the offer with a smile and a shake of her head, "Thanks, but I'm probably going to head off campus for a bit. Clear my head. Go ahead and find Zoe. I'm sure she could use a friendly ear. She's still irked that I tested her DNA."

She stood up and brushed her clothes off and hefted up her backpack.