George wished he knew what to say to help Alex feel better. Unfortunately, there had only ever been Angie for him--and a few rather awkward dreams about Lee Jordan in their fifth year, but he'd rather not think about that right now--so he didn't have a lot of experience to offer.
"Things will get better, and I know it's just empty words, but they will. It'll be hard, but you'll get there." And he sounded like every annoying self help book he'd ever read, but he didn't know what else to say. He didn't think he was equipped for this, and could only hope that he wasn't fucking his kid up even more.
"All right. I'll be home soon. I'll pick up some Thai, so tell your mother not to cook." He had some work to do at the shop, but it could wait until another day. His family was more important tonight. "I love you, Alex. I don't say it often, but don't forget that, all right?" He pulled Alex into another hug, but kept it swift this time.
"Go on, get out of here before I conscript you into inventory detail."