Twenty-Seven

Alex slowly walks down the aisle, wincing as the movement shifts the stitches in her side. She still hasn't fully recovered, but she wasn't going to miss this. She couldn't.

She takes a deep breath as she peers into the casket, lowering a single white rose onto his chest with a quivering hand. Riley's pale, dead hands are folded on top of each other, clumsily clutching a bouquet of white carnations. She wipes the tears out of her eyes and heads past the casket, towards Susan.

She's unrecognizable. She somehow managed to wear black for the occasion, but aside from that, Alex can tell she hasn't bathed or washed her face in days. Her normally luscious, blonde hair is now horribly tangled and standing up in various places, and her icy gray eyes are puffy and red from crying so much. Alex squeezes her hand as she passes, but Susan doesn't seem to register this. She's in a world of her own, staring hazily across the funeral hall.

Alex heads back to her seat, ignoring the sharp pain in her side as she sits down. Nick takes her hand in his and squeezes it tight. She smiles up at him and watches as Julio places a miniature cricket ball into the casket, his bronze eyes watering.

The funeral is short and sweet, comprised of the pastor welcoming the audience and telling them how much Riley was loved. Then, Trevor, Julio, Amar, and Nick take turns recounting their favorite memories with Riley. Susan merely sits in her seat, staring distantly at the far wall behind the casket throughout the sermon. She doesn't say a word, but quietly gets up and leaves once it's over.

"Give her some time," Nick says as he catches the miserable look on Alex's face as she watches Susan leave. "She'll come around eventually."

"Nick, she murdered two people in cold blood," Alex murmurs softly. "Even if she does move past the pain of Riley's death, how is she supposed to live with herself after that?"

Nick shrugs, placing an arm carefully around Alex's shoulders, making sure not to get too close to her stitches. "Well, we'll just have to be there for her as best we can when the time comes."

Alex nods, wrapping her arm around his waist as they head out of the funeral home. She smiles at Aaron as they leave, and he sends a small smile back. "Hey, would you be able to bound me somewhere?" Alex suddenly asks, looking hopefully up at Nick. If she can barely walk with her wound, there's no way she'd be able to bound anywhere on her own.

He bites his lip, considering this for a moment.

Alex rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides, if you're the one who's bounding, I won't have to put in any effort of my own at all."

Nick sighs. "Alright, I guess that's fair. Where would you like to go?"

"Alex! What a lovely surprise," her mother exclaims, stepping around the large desk to give her a hug. Alex hugs her back, trying not to think about how the last time she was in this office, it was her father sitting behind that desk. "How was the funeral? Sorry I couldn't make it."

"It was okay," Alex says, deliberately avoiding any talk about Susan. She doesn't want to think about her right now. "I have something to show you." She takes out a manila envelope from inside her black jacket. It's slightly crumped from having been there throughout the entire funeral, but the documents inside seem to be just fine.

Her mother takes the papers from Alex, her golden eyes scanning across the pages. "Oh, honey…"

Alex shrugs. "Well, I thought that since my name was originally Alex Hunter, it would be a nice sentiment to Dad if I changed it back." This is the first time she's ever called James her father.

Isabelle smiles down at her daughter, tears in her eyes. "I think it's a lovely idea." She places the papers on her desk and comes over to embrace Alex in a warm hug. Alex exhales slowly as she rests her head on her mother's shoulder for a moment, trying to soak in her warmth. There hasn't been a lot of that in her life lately.

Once she finally pulls away, she asks, "So, how are things going around here?"

"Pretty good so far," her mom says, beaming proudly. "I've managed to get all the grounders under my control, and we sorted everything out amongst Rosalie's bounders. Right now, we're just focusing on switching gears to only finding the bounders who are causing trouble, which shouldn't be too hard." She leans against the desk and folds her hands in her lap, sighing. "I don't know. I guess we're on track and everything. It just feels weird, you know? All my life I've avoided this place, and now I'm running it." She laughs, and Alex chuckles along with her.

"Yeah, but you're making it better. You're doing the right thing." Alex places a hand gingerly on top of her mother's. "He would've been proud of you."

Her mother smiles, her eyes watering once more. "He would've been proud of both of us." She squeezes Alex's hand as they both gaze towards the opposite wall, where rests a large portrait of James, smiling back at them.