Chapter Text
Fluorescent lights shone brightly into his eyes when Alex awoke. Groggily, he recognized the clinic around him just as Harvey peeked around the privacy curtain.
"Oh good, you're up. How are you feeling?" Harvey asked as he thrust a granola bar and juice box into Alex's hands. "You fainted and Sebastian thankfully found you and brought you in. You scared him pretty good, that's for sure."
Alex stabbed the little straw through the foil of the juice box and took a big sip. Apple juice had been a huge staple of his childhood, and he knew the drill by now: Harvey wouldn't leave him alone until he ate something. The granola bar was 's'mores flavored', which sounded pretty good, so he unwrapped that and took a bite, washing it down with another sip of apple juice.
"Do you know why you fainted, Alex?" Harvey was watching him intently. The disapproving look in his eye indicated that he already knew why Alex fainted. Alex did not want to play these games right now, so he remained silent. "Alex. You have to make sure that you're eating enough every day. We've talked about this. I know you care about your fitness goals but you can't lift if you're passed out on the ground. I also had to clean up that nasty cut on your hand. You need to be taking better care of yourself."
"I didn't do any of it on purpose," Alex snapped back, crushing the now-empty juice box in his fist. "It's been a rough couple of days, okay?"
Harvey's gaze softened and he sat on the edge of the bed near Alex's feet, where a green jacket was draped on the edge of the bed. The events of the morning came flooding back, and Alex quickly glanced down, worried about the state he had been brought into the clinic in. To his relief, he was fully clothed, shirt and all. Sebastian must have dressed him before getting him to the clinic. Alex's stomach dropped at the thought of earlier; he wasn't gay. This morning was a weird alcohol-induced grief-twisted poor decision.
This was going to suck to explain to Sebastian... he imagined how the conversation would go. 'I know I made out with you and let you suck me off, but I'm not gay, sorry.' Alex's face twisted at the thought... alternatively, he could just avoid Sebastian for the rest of his life. Harvey must have misinterpreted the look on Alex's face, thinking it was directed at him, because he shot back to his feet and instead pulled up a chair.
"Alex. I'm so sorry about Evelyn. And I'm so sorry about... cancelling the wedding... and all that. Are you still meeting with a therapist regularly?"
Glazing past the question, Alex crinkled his brows at Harvey. The wedding. "How do you know about the wedding?"
"Oh... uh... Robin uh texted me yesterday. There were pictures of... Taylor's... infidelity. And she told me that the wedding was off." Harvey explained, wiping sweat off his brow. "Sorry, I guess it wasn't... your idea... to tell everyone?"
On any other day, blind rage would have overtaken Alex. But in this moment, he was back to feeling nothing at all, aside from maybe a tiny blip of anger.
"How much do I owe you for today?" Alex said, flatly. Already on his feet and grabbing his jacket, he moved to grab his wallet from his pocket. His empty pocket.
"We're good, Alex. No charge for today." The pity in his voice was palpable, but Alex had no choice but to brush it off. It wasn't like he had any money on him to pay the doctor. Where in the Valley his wallet was... that was still a mystery. Thankfully his phone was in his other pocket, so at least he had that. If he could have felt anything in the moment, he would have felt relief.
Alex <| Do you have my wallet |
The message was read immediately and a plethora of replies came streaming in soon after.
Sebastian <| No, it wasn't in your pants when I washed them |
Sebastian <| Are you okay? |
Sebastian <| You kind of just passed out on my floor |
Sebastian <| I told Harvey I found you in the town square |
Alex sighed. Finding his wallet was his top and only priority right now. Alex tapped the back button to view the countless other messages on his phone from the past day.
Louis <| Hey sport, sorry to hear about the wedding. I'll refund your deposit on the square. |
Louis <| And I'm sorry to hear about Evelyn. She was a great community member. |
Robin <| THAT BITCH! I've never trusted a farmer. I'm so sorry Alex. About everything. |
Haley <| alex, i know we haven't talked in a while but i'm so sorry to hear about everything with taylor and your gram. if you wanna chat, plz txt me <3 |
The message from Haley made him smile. Alex hadn't talked to her in ages, but he couldn't deny that he missed her. Taylor didn't like how close they had been, so he had to distance himself. Well, in hindsight, he hadn't had to do it, but it didn't feel like a choice in the moment. His phone dinged again -- Sebastian was still messaging him. Swiping back into the thread, Alex scrolled up a bit, past his message about the wallet. There were a lot of messages from the other night.
Sebastian <| Alex I know I don't know you very well but where are you? |
Sebastian <| Alex I'm worried about you, where are you? |
Sebastian <| Alex please answer me |
The messages got more and more frantic, and matched up with the number of missed calls from the same night. Sebastian really had been worried about him. Alex really wasn't sure how he had even found him in the mountains last night. The mountains. That's probably where his stupid wallet was.
Alex <| Where did you find me exactly in the mountains last night? |
Sebastian <| Why? |
Alex scoffed at this. Why the fuck was Sebastian asking 'why'? Why did it matter 'why?'
Alex <| So I can look for my fucking wallet. |
A dot dot dot popped up, then disappeared, then reappeared before Sebastian sent a screenshot of a map with a little star drawn on it. The star looked like it was near the abandoned quarry bridge. Why in the Valley had he been there?
Sebastian <| I'm going with you |
Alex <| No the fuck you're not. Fuck off. |
Sebastian seemed to have gotten the point because he did not reply to this final message, even though Alex could see that it was read. Huffing with satisfaction, Alex pulled on his jacket, thanking Harvey as he walked out the door. Making a hard left, Alex headed to the mountain path, taking his time and keeping his eyes peeled in search for his wallet. As he made it past the community center, a sense of déjà vu was hitting him. He supposed that this meant he was on the right track in following his footsteps from the previous evening. Why had Sebastian wanted to come with? The mountains were safe enough, and its not like Alex was drunk this time. Unfortunately, Alex was going to need to pass by Sebastian's neighborhood. As luck would have it, the lights were off in every house, so, even though Alex wasn't sure which belonged to Sebastian, the man wasn't around to follow him.
The scene of his accident was very apparent as he approached; there was old blood on the ground and an empty liquor bottle. Even in the long grass aside from the path, though, there was no sign of the old leather wallet. It wasn't like he had much cash in there, and he could get his cards reissued. And, nobody in the Valley would steal his identity or spend his money, other than maybe Sam. The wallet itself, though, had belonged to George. Evelyn let Alex have it when George passed, as her own father had hand-crafted it. If she knew he had lost it... Alex's eyes welled at the thought. Pushing it out of his head, and picking up a large rock, Alex hurled it into the lake before continuing on the path to the location Sebastian had designated. It made a nice splashing sound.
As Alex rounded the final twist to the quarry, a tall man in dark clothes came into view, leaning against a cliff wall.
"What the fuck are you doing here Sebastian?!" Alex shouted as he drew nearer. "You have no right to be... be... stalking me!"
"Found your wallet." Sebastian said bluntly, tossing it to Alex. This forced Alex to slow his aggressive approach in order to catch the wallet, before opening it to check the contents. "I didn't fucking steal anything."
Without a word, Alex turned to leave. He had what he came for. And he never needed to speak to Sebastian again. Then the hair on the back of his neck stood up -- a clattering noise had come from behind him. Alex turned as an echoey splash came from the bottom of the gorge. Sebastian was looking at him over his shoulder, searching his face. The tall man then turned back, picked up another rock and tossed it. This was filling Alex's chest with a feeling of... emptiness... that he couldn't quite place. He was frozen in place, a prickling sensation covering his body, and he shuddered. What the fuck was going on?
"Sound familiar?" Sebastian had walked away from the edge and was coming up to Alex. Alex snapped out of his daze and turned to walk away again. But a hand grabbed his shoulder and he whirled back towards the man who had been on his knees for him just a few hours earlier. Why was Sebastian doing this?
"Leave me the fuck alone." Alex smacked Sebastian's hand.
"Do you not remember what you were doing here last night?"
No he didn't fucking remember what he was doing. Had he thrown something important into the ravine? Had he hit something with a rock?
"What in the Valley are you talking about? What's your problem? What do you want from me?? I'm not gay if that's what you want me to say or admit or whatever." Alex was just spitballing at this point, because he had no idea what was going on. He had wanted to say the last part with a bit less malice, but it was too late to take it back.
Resignation, tinged with something else... sadness maybe... swept over Sebastian's gaunt face. He slipped some sunglasses over his eyes, cracked a half-assed smile, but didn't answer as he walked away. And Alex let him. He was fucking exhausted. Watching Sebastian go, Alex thought of his hand wrapped around the man's thigh earlier. Cringing, Alex pulled his eyes away. He had no right to be looking at Sebastian like that.