Not A Moment Of Peace

[Alex Warrick]

Alex sighed, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She checked her watch but it was only late morning. As usual, it was going to be a long day. The supposed oldest Mackintosh child had no idea how on earth she was to manage for another year doing what she did, while also getting to know her future husband. Alex knew that it was best for her family if she married this early on in her life, but still she couldn't help but feel a little afraid. Getting married and starting a family was an entirely different life. Of course, she was grateful for the extra hand but she worried about her siblings. She would have to ask her cousins to keep an eye on them while they had school holidays and were at home. Alex missed the twins very much and she had never been to New Zealand. It fascinated her and she wanted to visit one day. After all, she did have an excuse now to travel there. It was difficult however and she wondered if until Jasper graduated her life would be this hard.

Her father did all that he could, they were all still grieving her mother which was why Alex's life literally turned upside down six months ago. She was exhausted, sad and trying to be there for everyone - her younger siblings and her dad, as well as making time for her fiance. Alex went outside to her garden and sat down by the pool, taking her shoes off and placing them next to her while she put her feet into the cool water. Though it was winter, it wasn't too bad today and she had always loved the water so she didn't mind whether she got cold or not. Alex sat there, closing her eyes and taking in the peaceful moment. She'd chosen to take a break from everything and the world, which was what she needed. She simply stayed there, hands placed on either side of her as she was deep in her thoughts. Things were happening and they were happening too fast. And to top it all off, she hadn't even had the courage to tell her siblings about the marriage. They knew him, but they had no idea he was the mysterious guy her father always hinted at. Alex couldn't burden them with their older sister getting married so soon when they were still very young.

 

[Ryder Warrick]

Everything about being in England was backward. When Ryder left New Zealand it had been summer, warm, humid, the kind of weather never to wear long sleeves in. Suddenly he was dropped into winter, but by all accounts that day was quite mild. It had been a few months since he had spoken to his fiance, so it wasn't much a surprise when he received a letter from her father inviting him to their home, it would seem it was due. From the outside, the house looked quiet when he arrived, it was unusual as he had expected a hive of activity, but judging by the time of day Alex's father may have been at work. Could Alex be home alone? Was she expecting him? He would soon find out, as he made his way up to the front door and let himself in.

"Hello?" He called making his way into the hallway. It was quiet in the house, but the door was open so someone was home. Ryder made his way through the house, it became clear no one was inside so he turned his attention to the back garden and the pool. "Alex?" Ryder called as he made his way outside. He could see the blonde on the edge of the pool so he began walking over to her.

 

[Alex Warrick]

So much for a break, she thought, rolling her eyes as she heard a voice from somewhere behind her. Alex sighed as she wondered whether her father was already done with work, which made her question exactly how long she'd been sitting there but when the voice didn't sound too familiar the blonde frowned and turned around at her name being called. She couldn't help but show the surprise she was feeling at seeing Ryder. Had her dad invited him over without saying anything to her about it? "Oh," she managed, still unable to grasp the situation. "Ryder. What...are you doing here?" Not that she minded the company, but she'd never expected someone to be at home this early let alone her fiancé. Now that he was here though, she could finally relax for longer than she had planned.

 

[Ryder Warrick]

Whenever Ryder saw Alex it always struck him how beautiful she was. If he was going to be in an arranged marriage with someone, he was glad it was someone like her. The situation was still strange for him, arranged marriages were not the custom for his family and he wasn't really sure what the reasons or circumstances were surrounding the sudden shift in tradition, but after meeting Alex and sleaking to her, any thoughts or protesting the arrangement had disolved. "Are you here alone?" He asked wondering where everyone was. "Your dad invited me over so I assumed he'd be here," Ryder suddenly realised that this had probably been set up so the two could spend some time alone, unusual for a father to do but no doubt he wanted their arrangement to work. "You think he set this up so we could be alone?" He asked wondering if Alex was on his wavelength.

 

[Alex Warrick]

Alex nodded her head, sighing. "Yeah, my dad's working and my siblings have a...school thing," she shrugged. Jasper was the only one who was at Hogwarts, while her youngest siblings had muggle school. There wasn't a chance their father was letting them stay at home or homeschooled. It would become double the work for both Alex and her dad, seeing as she would have to keep an eye on them. The blonde let out a laugh. "Nope, and yes," she responded to him guessing that he had in fact set them up. "My dad is trying exceptionally hard for this to work," she explained, gesturing between her and Ryder. In the end she knew she didn't mind, after all she'd do anything for her family - even if it meant being in an arranged marriage. "Do you want to sit?" Alex looked up at him and sent him a smile. Although she was still uncomfortable about the whole thing, she had to try. It couldn't be any harm. And as annoying as it was, Alex found Ryder attractive.

 

[Ryder Warrick]

Ryder hadn't spent much time alone with Alex, perhaps that was something her father had hoped to fix by inviting him over when no one else would be there. The situation was unusual, Alex was sacrificing a lot for her family, Ryder had little choice in the situation but he was in more of a position to protest is he had wished to. "Its an unusual thing, it isn't something my family normally do, I'm sorry you've been forced into this," Ryder didn't really know what to say to Alex. Talking about their arrangement was difficult, there was a lot of pressure on them to get along but Ryder didn't want their relationship to be forced. "Sure," Ryder smiled at Alex taking a seat. "How were you planning to spend the day? Until you were rudely interrupted,"

 

[Alex Warrick]

Alex shifted uncomfortably. It was never easy for the pair to talk about their arranged marriage, especially as the actual concept was brought up from a painful memory all those months ago. Her heart ached at the thought of her mother but she tried not to think about it, she wasn't in the mood to be sad. Although the pain was probably always going to be there. "I guess," she shrugged. "Yeah, it's not popular in my family either." Her family didn't like being too traditional, to be honest Alex wasn't enamoured by the idea either, but this was the exception. She would do anything for her family. The blonde didn't know why she felt relief when Ryder sat down next to her, maybe she needed the company. "The usual," she smiled. "Boring stuff. Chores, homework, cooking for when my siblings return from...wherever they went, and now I'm chilling." She glanced at Ryder. "I kind of needed the company, actually."

---

Terribly sorry for the delay!

 

[Ryder Warrick]

Ryder notcied the uncomfortable look Alex had on her face at the mention of their engagement. They were young, so no doubt the prospect of being married off to someone they barely knew wasn't something either of them particularly wanted to dwell on too much. "Look, we don't have to talk about it, it sucks, lets talk about...anything else," He smiled and hoped that it was a comforting one and that his words helped, even if it was just a little bit. "Sounds dull, but at least you have free time now to relax," Ryder held her gaze for a few moments before putting his hand on her arm. "Alex is everything alright? In my experience when someone says they need company, something isn't quite right,"

 

[Alex Warrick]

Alex wasn't comfortable at all about the engagement, that had been clear enough, and she was relieved when Ryder suggested they move onto something else. "Thank you," she said quietly, not knowing if he heard her or not. Alex had to smile in return, he was the one trying here so she had to as well. She sighed. "I guess. I mean, as much as I love to help my family out, it gets tiring sometimes." She looked down at her feet which were in the cool water when Ryder asked her if everything was alright. She began to feel a little guilty at how kind he was to her, while all she could do was talk about her own problems. The blonde had never really considered asking how he was holding up. Oh, you know, except for the fact that my life sucks, yeah everything is great. "No," she gave in. "I-I don't know. Ever since...you know. Ever since that, I haven't been okay." She wanted to bawl her eyes out but she resisted. Should she tell him how she really felt? "I just miss the happy days our family used to spend together. Now...everyone seems to have drifted apart. It..gets lonely." Alex couldn't even look at Ryder right now. It wasn't fair. She kept her eyes locked on her hands on her lap to prevent her tears from falling. "How are you doing?" She asked finally.

 

[Ryder Warrick]

Ryder heard Alex quietly mumble a thank you but he decided not to address it as no doubt it was quiet on purpose. He felt bad for the girl, she was giving up everything for her family, it must be tough for her to always be the one making the sacrifices, it was something he couldn't relate to. "I'm sorry, if there is ever anything I can do, I'll do it," Ryder wanted to put his arm around Alex, to comfort her but he wasn't sure how she would respond to that as he was such a big part of what was wrong. "I'm sorry things aren't great with your family, but it's your family, things will be okay I'm sure," Ryder understood that Alex hadn't been okay since the news of their engagement, while he wasn't as opposed to it as she seemed to be, he understood how having that decision taken away from her could affect her. "I'm sorry about...that, that it's caused you to be unhappy," He sighed and put his arm around her. "Don't worry about me, I just want to make sure you're okay, or at least try and make things a little better for you,"

 

[Alex Warrick]

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June 2044​

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Alex was slowly getting used to being in an arranged marriage. She smiled unknowingly to herself, not realising that it was the thought of Ryder that was making her feel relaxed, more at ease with the goings-on in her life. He always tried to make her feel better, and somehow he always achieved that. The pair were seeing each other more often now, and Alex was beginning to feel truly happy again. Her father had definitely introduced her to the right person after he'd talked to her about getting married this early in her life. She was considering applying for a job in the next year, so she could become truly independent and as long as she had Ryder by her side she knew she could find the time. After all, if the girl was going to live with Ryder and move out soon she had to find a way to earn money.

Alex arrived home, having been out on errands, and when she walked in the house, she went to the kitchen to place her bags on the counter before seeing if her fiancée was in the living room. He wasn't. She opened the door to the garden and her eyes brightened. Nowadays, Alex was feeling something different for him - something deeper. More intimidate. She had no idea if it was love, she'd never been in love before, so who knew. It was possible. Her smile grew slightly when she spotted him, and she went over to him. "Hey, you're home early," she greeted, hoping he'd hear her walk across the garden to where he was. "How has your day been?" Alex asked Ryder once she had hugged him, it was instinct to hug people she knew when she hadn't seen them the entire day. She glanced up at him, a carefree expression on her face.

 

[Ryder Warrick]

A lot of time had passdd since Ryder found put about his arranged marriage. Getting to know Alex had been a joy and he was growing to care for her more with every passing day. The wodmrd fiance didn't feel like a curse to him anymore, he was actively excited to marry Alex. He just wish she felt the same but the truth was Ryder didn't know how she felt and after being told on a number of occasions that she didn't want to talk about their arrangement, Ryder respected her wishes.

It had been a slow day in the office. No new muggle artifacts to examine and no field cases to investigate meant that Ryder left early that day so he beat Alex home. He was in the garden watering plants when he heard Alex's footsteps. He put down the watering can just in time to put his arms around her as she hugged him. It was still unexpected even though she did it every day. "Work was very slow and very uneventful, hence my being home early," He smiled at her as she pulled away from him."How was your day?" Ryder asked as he emptied the water from the water can and levitate it back to where it lived.

 

[Alex Warrick]

Nowadays whenever Alex saw Ryder she couldn't help but to smile, no matter the situation they were in. It was getting easier to get used to the idea of an arranged marriage, if she was honest. Besides, it wasn't that bad although only occasionally she felt uncomfortable if either of them brought it up. So it better not to. At the very least Alex felt that her and Ryder were friends. She cared about him anyway. She nodded at his words. "Right." She didn't know what else to say about him arriving home early. "My day was fine, I went out to get groceries, the usual and um, I ran into a friend of mine," she told him, it had been a rather odd day and Alex wasn't sure how to take what she'd been told. Rumours, though she hardly knew whether she trusted it or not.

 

[Ryder Warrick]

Ryder was happy to hear that Alex had had reasonable day even if she hadn't found it particularly exciting. "An old friend? That sounds exciting, anyone I've heard of?" He wondered. Alex had talked a little about her past and that had included mentioning some of her own friends. Ryder could tell by Alex's expressions how she felt about the run in so he wanted to poke around for a little more information.

 

[Alex Warrick]

When Ryder asked if he'd heard of her friend Alex nodded, a small smile on her features. Though, she wasn't entirely sure it seemed as exciting as it sounded. Sure, it was a friend from school Alex hadn't seen in ages but they'd kept in touch. It was just what she'd said today that unsettled her a little. "Um, yeah. You know Lillith, right? Well, she told me something today. It just sounds way too absurd. I mean, my dad has tried to bring it up a couple of times with me before but.." she sighed. "I don't know. I didn't think it was possible." She glanced at Ryder, hesitating. There was no way she was going to hide it from him and if it was true then Alex really did need him. Someone who was there when she found out the truth. ​

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