PLAY YOUR PART.

independent roleplay blog for 𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒏 of 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆: 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔. some canon divergence and headcanon based. written by ande / 27 / she/her they/them / est. 09/11/21 / pri. sel. & mutually exclusive.

𝑰𝑵𝑭𝑶 / 𝑹𝑼𝑳𝑬𝑺 * 𝑨𝑺𝑲 𝑩𝑶𝑿

fear  not,  alex  chen!  there  are  more  awkward  types  in  rachel  amber’s  inner  circle  than  there  are  other  types;  in  school,  she  found  herself  hanging  with  those  wells  deemed  high  risk  more  than  she  did  the  members  of  the  elite,  albeit  obnoxious  vortex  club.  the  former  proved  themselves  better  company  …  and  she’d  felt  more  comfortable  with  them.  she  could  be  a  little  less  of  a  mystery  and  a  little  more  human.

❝  oh,  shit.  you’re  alex?  hey,  dude!  it’s  good  to  meet  you.  gabe  has  talked  about  you  so  much  these  last  few  weeks.  i  …  sort  of  feel  like  i  know  you  already.  is  that  weird?  ❞  breathe,  rachel.  give  the  poor  girl  some  time  to  process.

and  she  does.  she  swiftly  takes  a  waiting  customer’s  order  then  spends  a  few  minutes,  but  no  more  than  five  tops,  putting  that  order  together.  she  steps  out  from  behind  the  bar  and  strides  past  alex,  placing  aforementioned  customer’s  drink  in  front  of  them  and  then  returning  to  her  spot  behind  the  bar.

❝  how  are  you  liking  haven  springs  so  far,  alex?  ❞

          why was she so NOT surprised to hear that rachel already knew her? from the sounds of it, gabe told anyone who’d listen that she was coming. she couldn’t complain though, it was endearing to hear that her big brother had been too excited not to tell all of haven about her arrival. at least she knew that he was as happy to have her back in his life as she was to have him back in hers.

          alex shakes her head lightly, smile tugging at her lips as she responds, “ likewise, and uh- no, so not weird. i... guess i should’ve expected that gabe would tell everyone i was coming. though, i think some of gabe’s details about me might be a little dated. ” eight years was a long time. alex was just glad it didn’t have to be any longer than that.

          while rachel busies herself with helping a customer, alex decides to pull up a stool, making herself comfortable. today’s been one helluva day; she figures she deserves a chance to rest a bit. she takes a moment to glance around at the place. it was nice, despite the ‘steakhouse-esque’ styled décor. she couldn’t fault jed for having his own sense of style- it all made sense, anyway. this was colorado, after all.

          she’s only torn from her thoughts when she hears rachel speak again. looking up, their eyes meet for a moment, before alex is registering the question and glancing away in thought.

          “ it’s pretty nice so far, ” alex remarks, fidgeting slightly with her hands. “ everyone seems super nice. and they all seem to know me before i can even introduce myself...- ” she gives a faint chuckle, “ -but i look forward to getting to know everyone. it’d be nice to get a chance to explore a little, too... this place is really beautiful. ”

“oh, that sounds like a nice idea.” // @havenempath​

                    “i know! see? i fucking told him.”

             steph steps away from the counter to walk towards her girlfriend, grinning from ear to ear. she’s probably been talking about this too long and she should probably check on the radio playlist to ensure it’s still going but that was an afterthought right now. “ryan thinks it’s too complicated, but he’s wrong. hear me out.” she waves the clipboard in her hands as she speaks. “we don’t have to do it, like, every month. but we already wanted to sell more comics and host dnd sessions, right? we could incorporate the sessions, too.”

             she tilts her head, letting herself picture alex dressed in different theme outfits. the record store already went all out for halloween; it could be fun to have a theme day once in a while. “kinda like what i did for the larp, except it wouldn’t involve the whole town.” she paused, unable to stop a smirk from crossing her lips as she lowered her arms and looked alex up and down shamelessly. “plus i still haven’t seen you in a witch outfit.”

          steph could be talking about utter gibberish, and alex would be all ears. it was cute to see her so excited about something; how animated she could get, the way her eyes sparkled and grinned wide. alex couldn’t get enough. fingers idly flip through the indie records, no longer even paying them any attention as her eyes flit up to watch steph as she makes her way over.

          “ and why exactly does ryan find it complicated? ” she asks, bemusement accompanying her tone. “ it’s the same basic concept, right? ” it wasn’t exactly like what steph had done for ethan, but it was pretty similar, nevertheless. a themed day could be fun. but then again, steph could make just about anything fun and alex would always been down for the ride.

          she still blames herself. she’s a bad luck charm, destroying peoples’ lives here in h/aven springs. riley isn’t in college, charlotte’s struggling to feel anything, eleanor thinks she’s delusional, steph left her without even saying bye, and she had the last living member of ryan’s family locked away for the rest of his life. and ryan was sitting there, telling her that none of this was her fault? how was it not? 

          she can’t even look at him as she shakes her head. what would haven have been like if she’d never shown her face here? haven would’ve been better off, she’s sure. maybe she should’ve left with steph; save herself the heartbreak of having to look these people in the eye- of having to look RYAN in the eye...

          of course she knew. alex could never hide anything from her twin- not that she tried to, anyway. they told each other just about everything, and if they didn’t, the other always found out about it in the end. secrecy was pointless.

          it wasn’t unusual for alex to regret her decisions in life. now was no different.

          she futzes with her hands, eyes staying locked on her fingers, brow furrowing as she mumbles, “ nothing gets past you, does it, ames? ”

          with a sigh, her gaze lifts to meet her twins’. after a beat, she says, “ do you think it was a...mistake coming here? staying here? maybe we should’ve left with steph... ”

          she’s not used to that. how many people had actually been there for her prior to arriving in haven? most foster parents and fellow kids in the system she’d warded off after freaking out on them. none of it was ever intentional, of course... alex hadn’t been able to control it. anyone who she actually did manage to keep in her corner were ripped away soon enough- be it because of her own doing or something else. she wasn’t used to haven’s sense of community.

          especially with ryan. with everything that happened, she wasn’t sure if he’d ever wanna be around her again. jed is his dad, after all... she’d never expect him to choose her over his own father... so picture her surprise to find him at her door, pulling her in for a hug, and offering his apologies. she couldn’t hold anything against him. he hadn’t done anything wrong.

          he was here for her, and she needed him. she craved the comfort, eating up as much of it as she could gain from him.