《red light》不渡万山

4、第 4 章

　　"This is insane," Dean said, staring at the huge pile of papers lying on top of their dining room table and sighing deeply.
　　Alex frowned. She looked up from reading the latest article written by one of her fellow university students about various inventions that could improve life expectancy.
　　"What's crazy here?" she asked. "The fact that these are inventions that will make our lives easier?"
　　"Well, yeah." Dean sighed. "Look, I know how hard it is to study in college, but we should be thankful for everything that we have. The world doesn't revolve around you and us."
　　Alex shrugged.
　　"No, I guess you're right. But that doesn't mean that I don' t wish that I was doing this all by myself."
　　"Why is it suddenly my problem why we're not living a rich life right now? You're always so upset over your little projects."
　　"That isn't fair," Alex protested. "I'm allowed to be upset. This project I'm working on is important too."
　　Dean rolled his eyes.
　　"Whatever," he muttered. "Anyway, what's going on with you today? Do you think you'll be able to get back to work tomorrow?"
　　"No, of course not," she replied. "Not with the deadline already coming up. What about you? How does everything with Bobby sound?"
　　He shrugged, avoiding her eyes. "Not great. But he's been doing better lately so that's good enough for me. Speaking of which, did you ever think that this whole business would've ended up being more difficult than it turns out to be?"
　　"What do you mean?"
　　"I dunno. Something like 'the government has given the task to us to figure out how to end the apocalypse'. Sounds like a pretty big deal, doesn't it?"
　　She stared at him for a long moment, unsure of how to reply. He was right, it sounded quite impressive, but she knew he was exaggerating. Sure, they'd solved the whole 'how to destroy the world' thing, but that wasn't really their job.
　　She shrugged again.
　　"Yeah, I guess it does."
　　Dean nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. He leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up in odd directions. Alex chuckled slightly, reaching out a bit to pull his hands away from his hair.
　　"You look like a bird with its head stuck in a bush," she commented. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and she smiled at his reaction.
　　"Really? I never thought about that before," Dean said. "It's probably better than what I'm currently looking like anyway."
　　"Probably," she teased. "What else do you think?"
　　"Let's see…" Dean paused and glanced at her sideways. "Well, my hair looks a little unkempt today…" he began. Alex immediately started laughing and tried desperately to cover up the laughter with her hand. When she managed to compose herself enough to continue speaking, she shook her head.
　　"I don't know how you can joke about something so serious," she told him.
　　"Hey, I know you're having fun with it, but it's not like it's easy to talk when half of your face is covered by your hand."
　　When Alex pulled down her hand and looked at him properly, she was surprised to find herself in front of him, staring right into his hazel eyes. They were beautiful, almost golden, but not quite, and although she always thought so whenever they met, now she actually noticed that they were a deep shade of green – not as bright as Sam's (and hers), but still incredibly unique.
　　Dean seemed to notice her staring for a second longer than necessary, before abruptly standing up and clearing his throat, grabbing onto the files lying beside his chair for support.
　　"Anyway," he said, "I'm gonna go check up on Sam. You stay here, I'll send him upstairs later."
　　Before she had the opportunity to respond, Dean disappeared up the stairs, leaving behind nothing but silence. Alex turned around and picked up a pen and a piece of paper from the desk in front of her, writing down the date. Then she opened a file, taking one of the folders with her in case it was necessary to write some notes down in the next hours. There was nothing urgent happening right now, so it might not hurt to take care of the things she needed to do first. After all, it would be a waste of time if she didn't have any.
　　The day passed quickly and before she knew it, it was already evening and her stomach growled loudly. She hadn't even eaten since breakfast the previous morning because she'd been busy researching, but it seemed that she'd need something quick to eat to make sure she won't fall asleep on the couch while studying.
　　Grabbing a few sandwiches from the fridge and stuffing it into a bag along with one of the bottles of water she'd taken from the refrigerator earlier, she closed the door.