not throwing away my shot

dimitri smirked, looking over at his best friend with a knowing expression on his face. “are you sure that you’re related?” he teased. alec wasn’t necessarily a negative person, but in dimitri’s eyes, he was definitely more of a realist. “lou is going to want to know if you’ve danced with anyone,” he started. “make up a name so i can appease her.” 

Alec chuckled a little under his breath at his friend’s question. “I do question it sometimes,” he replied. Sometimes it was just hard for him to separate the tiny baby with tubes sticking out of her with the capable young woman his sister was now. “Does Rowan count?” he asked, even though he knew it didn’t. 

      IT’S THE WAY BASH IS EXPECTING ALEC TO SAY THIS, but the laughter that spills out of his lips is still awkward. it’s weird to be hanging out with his friend when he hasn’t seen him for so long.   “ thanks, ”   he says with a little sarcasm in his tone, chugging some of his drink.   “ i didn’t give it to her, for the record. ”   he doesn’t want to look like a liar.   “ ah, how’s being back ? ”

“Right sure,” he drawled back. Mandy herself hadn’t actually been the one to tell him. He had seen the joint in her dorm and by some asking around, had found out who had been supplying on campus. It was a far cry from the Bash he had known last year but at the same time his friend did seem more...relaxed. “A little weird but it’s good to see everyone.”

“Queen Bey? Now that is something that I would never have thought would come out of your mouth,” she laughed, shaking her head with a smile still on her face. She offered her his hand, wiggling her fingers. “Care to dance? For ol’ time’s sake,” she teased. “And really? You can’t say no.” 

“You know I can’t dance right?” Alec reminded her. He had many skills, mostly those of the physical variety, but dancing was not one of them. He had two left feet. But Alec was smart enough to not argue with his friend, especially tonight. “Lead the way,” he said with a smile as he held his hand out to her.

“I’ve missed seeing your face!” And his ass but they been knew that. Pulling back, he smiled at the other. “London’s great. Very different from here, obviously. How’s D.C.?”

“Busy,” Alec admitted with a sigh but there was still a small smile on his face. He enjoyed the job, no matter how much it kept him on his toes. “But I was able to pull some strings, get the next couple of days off so I could be here.”

      KASS LETS OUT A LAUGH AS HE LIFTS HER.   “ show off, ”   she teases, nudging him.   “ you’re staying for graduation tomorrow ?   you didn’t have to do that. ”   obviously she knows it’s not just for her, but it means a lot that he’ll be there.   “ did you bring a date ? ”

“Well Dimitri was my ride and he’s staying with Lou so....,” Alec trailed off with a suggestive shake of his head. Meaning he was stuck. But knowing Gallagher parties he also knew that it was a safer bet to not drive home. “Yeah I brought a girl from the press office to a secret spy school for a party,” he drawled out with a smirk. 

     rafa shrugs his shoulders at the question, glad that pretty much all of his bruising has gone down at this point. “it went alright,” he begins with a sigh. “until we absolutely got our asses handed to us. one of my ribs got fractured but i have a few more weeks until it should completely heal.”

“Heard it went better than alright man. My sister told me that you guys took down some whole ‘evil enemy institution’ or something like that.” Mandy’s words not his. Alec wouldn’t admit it but he was a little jealous; his job didn’t have the excitement of Gallagher though he did enjoy it. 

rowan walked up behind alec, and she would be lying to everyone if she said she hadn’t missed watching his ass whenever she came up from that direction! (gallagher’s ass, we’ve missed you) she wrapped her arm around one of his and smirked up at him. “how much did you miss this place?” she asked teasingly. “or did you just show up for beyonce? i know how big of a fan of hers you are.” // @alecxhill​

“Die-hard. I live for Queen Bey,” Alec drawled out in return, smirking down at her. Honestly he was shocked that the school had gotten the superstar, though he wasn’t as excited for the concert as some of their peers. “Maybe I missed it here a little.”

      “That’s me.” Hana nods, taking his hand before he’s even fully done introducing himself. She recognized him as a Hill the moment she spotted him. “Ditto.” She grins, and she has to admit, the rumors aren’t wrong — if she were attracted to men she would freak out a little too, probably. “You here to wreak havoc on the single straight women around?” She’s just teasing, trying to see if he’ll get flustered. 

“I’m here to what?” he echoed, the surprise evident on his face. Alec should have know that Mandy would make friends with people just like her - little spitfires. “No, no, no just uh...just her to see my sister and friends. No havoc at all.”

“yeah,” he said, nodding his head in understanding while he brought his drink up to his mouth and took a sip. he licked his lips and turned to alec, raising an eyebrow. “i suppose things have changed,” he agreed. “does your sister like it here?” he asked, finding mandy in the crowd and watching her for a long moment before turning back to his best friend. “the last year has been rough for the students, or so i’m told.” 

Alec’s gaze followed Dimitri’s to look out at his sister on the dance floor, having fun with one of her friends. It made him happy to see her happy and thriving at the school, even if he did worry about her safety. “Yeah she does, despite everything. She’s got a way of...seeing the positive in everything.” 

       “ I…. ”   BASH DOESN’T SPEAK FOR AWHILE, mouth hanging open but no words coming out.   “ ah, last year. ”   but he wasn’t nearly as bad about it as he was now. so much for mandy not telling.   “ i told her no, actually. she asked for it, but. ”   or he tried to tell her no !

Alec let him squirm for another moment before his lips broke into a wide smile. “I’m just messing with you man,” he said with a laugh as he grasped Bash’s shoulder. “It’s fine really. Mandy can do what she wants. She’s not a kid.”

– “YEAH, I KNOW THAT,” CLAIRE SNORTS, thinking it’s funny that he’s informed her of her girlfriends future plans. still, it’s going to be like pulling teeth if alec wants any specific details from her. “ yeah, i’ll be in d.c., too. see you there, captain. ” 

Alec could not help but roll his eyes at her response. “It’s called making conversation Widow,” he threw back at her with a smirk. He should have known better to think that his friend would act all warm and fuzzy, even after not seeing each other for months. “I’ll roll out the red carpet then.”

       THE VOICE BEHIND HER MAKES HER JUMP, but kass doesn’t think about it too hard, because the moment she realizes who it is her whole face lights up.   “ ALEC ! ”   he should know better than to expect nothing else than her arms being thrown around him, squeezing tightly.   “ i’m so glad you made it ! ”

He was prepared for the embrace and with a chuckle, Alec wrapped his arms around her in return and planted a friendly kiss on her cheek. He even lifted her off of her heels a little. “Of course I did,” he said as he put her back down. “I wouldn’t miss graduation. Plus Mandy would have killed me if I didn’t show up.”