Alex Stern

Alex is still getting used to having a car at her disposal every time she wants to go somewhere. It definitely makes living out at Black Elm easier. Today, she's sitting behind the wheel, idly drumming with her fingertips as she waits for Caleb. It's not much to look at, boxy and kind of a piece of shit, but it's her first car, one that she brought with her own money that she earned (albeit doing something that Darlington's still not entirely happy about), and she's kind of proud of that.

She grabs her phone off the dash and shoots off another text to Caleb.

It's okay. Take your time. I've got nowhere to be but here, bud x

It's a weekend but Darlington has to work at the museum -- some kind of special event -- so Alex texts Caleb and asks him if he wants to meet her for lunch. The weather is pretty pleasant - some sun, warm enough to just be wearing a t-shirt and jeans but not so hot yet that she's sweating. She sits outside the cafe they've arranged to meet at, shades in place, idly flicking through her phone. Sometimes, she wishes she as the kind of girl who'd have a paperback in her bag for this kind of thing, this kind of waiting, but she isn't, so she doesn't. No matter how successfully she might reinvent herself into Darrow Alex, she figures that some things will always be true and Alex has never quite had the knack of reading for pleasure.

So she waits.

Now that Darlington is in town (not in a pocket universe where she can't get to him, essentially lost to her), Alex finds herself more invested in making her apartment feel like home. She's never had this kind of disposable income and, after buying herself t-shirts and sweaters and underwear and jeans, a really good pair of boots and a good jacket, she turns her attention to nesting. Ground Zero had been a shithole, but this was her place, and she was going to do it right.

She hadn't wanted to subject Darlington to shopping, so she'd sent Caleb a text and arranged to meet him so that they could go browse together. Alex is dressed in a sweater that's too big for her (she hadn't been able to resist it in the store; it had been so soft), her leather jacket, the voluminous scarf that Darlington bought her for Christmas, soft navy wool studded with tiny silver stars.