The small café that had become so familiar and comforting to him after years of Cousin Day made him relax his tensed muscles, laughing as Daphne teased him. “Aw, c'mon! I'm here now, right? I'm only… half an hour late… I'm sorry! Come on, I knocked over toddlers to get here, the least you can do is keep your cousin ownership of me.” He shook his head, hands reaching up to pat at his sweaty head in an effort to smooth down his hair to resemble something normal, at least, so they could talk without Daphne getting distracted. Although with the fairly large talk they were due to have, Alex supposed nothing could really divert the attention away from Oliver Stanton's party and all the unfortunate happenings that seemed to have taken place; if he was being honest with himself, he couldn't remember anything, and he still honestly couldn't come to terms with the fact that Alex White had punched Harley Mayhew, and Alex White had supposedly attacked Margo Flamel, according to Cole. He didn't like to think about it. He was blissfully ignorant. If he didn't think about it, it hadn't happened. He hadn't turned into some kind of disgusting, angry, violent monsters for the eight hours he couldn't recall, only remembering arriving, and then waking up on his cousin's sofa, disorientated and irritated.
“Ria knows? How? Are you okay?” He reached out to grab Daphne's hand, frowning softly. “I know you didn't want many to know, and I know you don't really like Ria. I'm sorry, Daphne. Hey, we'll find out who did it soon, yeah?” But at the idea she could be so cruel as to tell others who didn't deserve it, he shook his head, his face darkening. Alex truly loved Ria. They were best friends, and he viewed her with rose-tinted glasses, believing she could do no wrong; even with her making out with Harley, he managed to view Harley as the worse guy here and not Ria. “No. No way. Ria won't tell anyone. I'll talk to her and make sure she doesn't. I promise. Please don't be sad about that, because Ria, you know, she really isn't that bad. I think if I talk to her, she won't do anything. I'll tell you when we've spoken, okay?”
Alex shook his head, smiling. “Cole adores you, Daph. I don't think you could ever burden him. I think maybe you should talk to him if you want to. Cole's lovely, I'm sure he won't mind.” He sipped at his drink, the chocolate bittersweet as he listened to his cousin. He loved this day more than any other. The taste of his childish beverage and the sound of Daphne's voice making him feel young again, so at home and happy. His cousin had always been there for him, always in the holidays and in the hard times, reminded him of laughter and hugs and home. Seeing her so upset about someone spilling something that wasn't theirs to spill made his gut twist, his head pound, his vision tilt. His fists were clenched. He wanted to elimate the problem, didn't want to see her hurting.
“No,” He answered with a sigh, face squinting as he tried to clutch onto memories from a bottomless pit of which he'd never retrieve them from. “Cole says I was out of my damn head. Says I was high. I can't remember anything, Daphne.” He shook his head, his bottom lip jutting out. “Literally, nothing. I remember getting there, and then it's like there's a massive gap where I wasn't doing anything for hours. Harley said I punched him. Cole said I… He said I attacked Margo.” He swallowed, tears forming in his eyes as he refrained from catching her eye. “I don't remember it. It doesn't sound like me. But hey. I wouldn't ever – ever – tell your secret. I know that. Especially not to Ria, seeing as you don't like her.” He smiled at her softly, nodding with his hot chocolate moustache. “I promise.”
