Re: The Neighbourhood: Billy/Alex
It had never been available avenue for Alex, drinking to get away from shit, so it's not something he naturally considers. He saw what alcohol and drugs did to his parents - uh, his mom and the guy who still thought he was Alex's dad, anyway. Whatever, people that lived in the same shitty trailer with him, chasing their high or their buzz more important than feeding their own kids. "Not forcing anything," he agrees, still a little choked up from the aftertaste of the Jameson. "Not forcing the fun, not gonna force drinking that gasoline you just poured out." A little smile, like "see? I get your point." Or mostly. He's still trying to figure out what that has to do with both of them having intensely hopeless crushes.
Still, it's nice having a another hand on his, strong and firm, though he's a little uncomfortable with Billy examining the ring. He's seen it before, sure, but it still makes Alex feel naked in a way, like anyone who sees it knows exactly who and what he is. "I try," he allows. "Fuck it up often as I don't but I try. I gotta bad habit of not giving up past the point of giving up, y'know? But it's what I'm good at." He's glad he can be there for Billy, try to be for Audrey...sort of hover around Mal. They're his people. Family that he's never had before, and not in the way that there's apparently a whole pantheon of gods out there that are second cousins and aunts and uncles now or whatever.