The Knights as a family had always been interesting to Alex. As a unit, they were a shiny, beautiful bauble. The kind that was set up in the middle of the fireplace mantel and was meant to be admired, but not touched. They were gorgeous, with a staggering amount of accomplishments to their name. They were an ideal and they worked so hard to maintain that ideal; to keep not just their image intact, but their legacy. Seth was a perfect example of his family; when Alex had learned about the family business and their positions of power, there wasn’t one thing he said to her that hadn’t arranged the pieces in the perfect puzzle. When she’d met the Knights, everything fell into place. There was a lot of competition and personal pride, but as a group, that kind of single-minded ambition had been admirable.
Compared to her own family, it was such a vast difference. There wasn’t one Thorne who wasn’t ambitious in their own way. She didn’t have one sibling who wasn’t passionate about the things that they pursued. But they were all individual. They were each independent. Their work enhanced who they were, but it didn’t influence their relationships. It was a study in contrast.
She’d never doubted that Seth loved his family, though. Alex knew it went beyond his devotion; when they were learning about each other’s families, behind the flash cards she saw the moments of pride when Seth spoke about his mother and the warmth that touched his smile when he described Noah. She knew that things were bittersweet between Seth and Abbie, but Seth loved his little sister. Alex had always hoped that they’d work things out.
Eventually, model families disintegrated. The glass lost its shine and the veneer was tarnished. Realities had to be faced. Alex supposed, though, in a model family that could live forever (figuratively speaking, more or less) under the right conditions, an incident that would be tragic in any circumstance could become that much more jarring. Her heart genuinely went out to the Knights.
“Yeah.” There was a wistful agreement in Alex’s voice that solidified with a warm smile. “I hope so, too.” Even if Cassie and Jax worked things out, that wasn’t a guarantee of anything. Alex really only just found out about how messy their relationship was. And about the other things that made staying in Willow Creek an unfavorable prospect. But she just really wanted her sister. Without her there, Alex didn’t know that she wouldn’t spin out of control.
Her laugh was genuine when Seth theorized that Cassie might have superpowers. If he was only just thinking that, Alex had clearly not done her job well enough at extolling her sister’s virtues. Cassie had always been a superhero. Her jovial expression was topped off with a cocky eyebrow raise and she looked at him. “Obviously. The Thornes are extremely gifted. In every way.”
Alex wriggled her eyebrows for extra emphasis, before she relaxed. It was easy to lean into Seth’s laugh and her smile stayed in place even while she told herself that she hadn’t noticed the brief expression that crossed Seth’s face when she said that she’d be at the house. Alex didn’t want anything to sour the moment; she wouldn’t, as long as she just thought about the last few hours and the next few.
She nodded in understanding when he explained his plans for the rest of the day. She respected his reasoning a lot. Seth was doing a really kind thing, taking the brunt of professional responsibility for the day so that his parents could focus on the personal crisis. “Right. I’m sure they’ll appreciate that. I can stick around the hospital, too; I’ll keep you updated. If you need me to take care of anything, let me know. How long do you think it will be before Abbie can go home?”