image: http://b.rgbimg.com/cache1opEbs/users/c/ch/chidseyc/600/mtLG8Jy.jpg
The first time she went out with Warren, Alex spent the entire time waiting for everything to go south.
He sat up and waited for her to come home even though she wasn’t out late nor was she a minor. It didn’t really make a difference for him; she was the closest he was ever going to get to having either a younger sibling or even a child.
(There had been a time when he’d been married and thought that there was a child on the way. It had turned out to be just another lie in a long string of them. Needless to say, he had finally given up on having a relationship after that.)
Alex would have had someone tail Warren and Mary, but Mary had made her thoughts on that matter clear.
(She had at least allowed him to install a GPS chip just under her skin somewhere and promised not to short circuit it if at all possible, so he hadn’t even had someone follow them on CCTV cameras. He wasn’t entirely certain that she would appreciate the self-restraint he was showing.
Mary didn’t understand a lot of things, but she did understand what it was like having someone you were responsible for disappearing randomly, which was why she’d acquiesced to the chip and nothing else.)
“How long can a date get?” he grumbled to himself, well aware that he sounded ridiculous.
Mary was a grown woman who’d been through more than he could even imagine and had likely seen more in the world than Alex’s history books talked about.
There was the sound of a door opening and Alex quickly reopened the book in his lap and pretended to be reading as Mary walked in, still smiling over her shoulder at Warren before closing the door.
“You’re home rather late,” Alex commented after a moment, striving, and succeeding in sounding like he wasn’t interested in the slightest in what he was talking about.
Mary glanced at him with a wry smirk on her face, but said nothing as she removed her coat and shoes and stored them in the coat closet.
After she’d left for her room, Alex set his book aside with a sigh.
He didn’t think he could take another night like this where she left on a date that he wasn’t allowed to shadow.
Being a responsible adult that cared about another was harder on the heart than he’d ever thought it would be.
Written for a challenge that I was informed of yesterday (and am still really excited about): http://lightandshadechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/challenge-28th-april-2014.html
Breathing In 
While I feel for Alex, and I am sure he is doing his best – but a microchip! What a brilliant story and thank you so much for jumping in. LM x
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I was ecstatic to find out about this prompt. I’m looking forward to it weekly already.
And yeah, the microchip made me laugh, but he’d totally do it.
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I’m really glad you’ve linked up and hope we can provide some interesting prompts for you – I really enjoyed this piece, microchip and all -TM
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(*grins*) Everyone seems to like the microchip.
I look forward to more prompts as well!
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The more Mary experiences without Alex, the harder it’s going to get. I get the sense that this piece was adapted or reduced from something much longer, but the “missing” details, for the most part, only serve to heighten my curiosity. Well done!
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You’re right! This is a part of a longer story that I’ve been working on for several years. I haven’t written all of it yet and only have parts written out. I’ve been using my blog to write out more parts.
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