Modern Family: New Life-Chapter 73: Talk to Alex

Ding Dong!

Hearing the doorbell, Claire stopped what she was doing and walked toward the door, wondering who it could be. When she opened it, she was surprised to see the person on the other side.

"Andy?" she asked, confused.

"Hey, Aunt..." Andrew said with a strange expression. Just a few minutes ago, she had dropped him off at school, and now it seemed like he had run away again—only this time, from practice.

"Aren't you supposed to be training?" Claire asked, letting him into the house.

"Yeah, I should be... but I need to talk to Alex. I think we went too far with our last prank," Andrew replied, sounding concerned.

"Mm, I see. Yeah, her anger was different from the usual fights with Haley," Claire nodded in agreement, recalling how Alex had remained silent the entire ride home and locked herself in her room as soon as she arrived.

She had learned about the prank from Haley, who had tried to justify herself to soften her punishment—but only made things worse for herself.

As Andrew made his way to Alex's room, he noticed Haley sitting on the couch in the living room. She turned to see who had rung the doorbell and was surprised to see him there.

"Andy? What are you doing here?" she asked, her tone no longer as cheerful as it had been hours ago.

"I'm here to talk to Alex," Andrew replied, making Haley raise an eyebrow and let out a low whistle.

"Good luck with that," Haley said sarcastically.

"I've never seen Alex this mad. She kicked me out of the room, and it's my room..." Haley added with a strange expression.

Normally, she wouldn't let herself be thrown out of her own room, but seeing how angry Alex was, she had decided to stay away for now.

'You should apologize too...' Andrew thought, but he kept quiet and continued on his way.

He climbed the stairs and, upon reaching Alex's door, knocked lightly.

"What?"

"It's me, Andrew. Can I come in? I want to talk," Andrew said.

"No, go away," Alex replied from inside, her tone anything but friendly.

"Come on. I just want to talk," Andrew insisted, but this time, Alex didn't respond.

He kept trying, but his cousin refused to answer. His last option was to open the door himself—but he quickly realized it was locked.

"Well... I guess we'll talk later..." Andrew said, then made the sound of footsteps as if he were walking away, but in reality, he remained still.

After waiting a few seconds, he knocked on the door again, this time louder. He wanted Alex to think it was someone else.

"What is it now?" Alex asked, sounding impatient.

"Alex, open the door. I have clean clothes for you," Andrew responded in a firm, higher-pitched tone, trying to imitate Claire's voice.

Hearing the fake voice, Alex frowned, not fooled in the slightest. Andrew's voice was unmistakable, no matter how high-pitched he tried to make it.

"Seriously?" Alex said, annoyed, instantly recognizing the clumsy attempt to imitate her mother. "I'm not falling for that. Get out of here!"

"That's no way to talk to your mother!" Andrew exclaimed indignantly, trying to keep up his act.

On the other side of the door, Alex felt her eyebrow raise involuntarily, and for a split second—just almost—she nearly let out a small smile at Andrew's ridiculous performance. But she quickly suppressed it, remembering she was still mad at him.

"I told you to leave," Alex said, trying to regain her seriousness.

Andrew, realizing his last trick had failed, sighed and started walking away. Silence filled the hallway for a few moments. But it didn't take long before, with a new strategy in mind, he knocked on the door again, this time more impatiently.

"Open the door, Alex! This is my room too!" he exclaimed, now trying to imitate Haley's voice.

Hearing the new impression, Alex frowned, already knowing exactly what Andrew was up to.

"Seriously? Now Haley?" she muttered, sighing.

"Open up! I forgot my phone, and Dylan texted me! We're probably getting back together!" Andrew continued.

Alex, though she tried to keep a straight face, couldn't stop a small, amused smile from forming at Andrew's nonsense. Finally, she opened the door.

"Did you fall for my amazing performance?" Andrew asked the moment he saw Alex's face.

"Of course not. You suck at impressions," Alex replied with a small smirk, unable to hide how amusing she had found his attempt at mimicking Haley. "A tip for improvement: Haley's voice is more high-pitched," she added.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I'd rather not lose my voice," Andrew said with a grin as he quickly slipped into the room before Alex could change her mind and shut the door on him.

Alex locked the door, went back to her bed, and sat down, crossing her arms as she looked at Andrew with a frown again.

"You're not going to kill me, right?" Andrew asked, raising his hands in surrender as he saw his cousin locking the door.

"As if I could," Alex scoffed. In a physical fight, Andrew would beat her in an instant.

"I just don't want Haley barging in," she added.

Andrew nodded. It was clear that the main focus of Alex's anger wasn't exactly him but her sister. That meant there was still a chance to make amends.

"Well, what do you want? You should be training," Alex said, crossing her arms.

"I want to apologize for the joke about Austin," Andrew said.

Alex raised an eyebrow, saying nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"You were right. I stood by and didn't do anything to stop Haley, even though I knew it would be an uncomfortable situation for you," Andrew admitted, scratching his head, embarrassed.

He knew what it was like to have someone confess their feelings to you in public. It was not a pleasant experience at all.

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Alex sighed. She looked at Andrew for a few seconds before finally nodding. "I accept your apology."

"Really?" Andrew blinked, surprised at how fast that was.

"Yeah," Alex said with a shrug. "You left football practice to come here, so I guess you're serious."

"That's great..." Andrew said, feeling a little caught off guard. He thought Alex would be more stubborn and make him suffer a bit before forgiving him.

"Now go. You have practice. My mom can give you a ride. You know how seriously she takes your football," Alex said, glancing at him.

Andrew frowned slightly. There was something in her tone that didn't go unnoticed. It didn't sound like just a casual remark.

"What do you mean by that?" Andrew asked.

Alex scoffed and looked away. "Nothing."

"Come on, tell me," Andrew insisted. He knew her well enough to know it wasn't 'nothing.'

"Nothing. Leave, or I'll take back the forgiveness I gave you," Alex said stubbornly.

Andrew sat beside her, ignoring her threat. "Come on, Alex. You can trust me. What's wrong?"

Alex looked at Andrew's face. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed and finally let it out. "It's just that... sometimes I feel like no one in this family pays attention to me."

Andrew looked at her, surprised by the confession.

"Why do you feel that way?"

"My parents always pay more attention to Haley and Luke... Plus, everyone goes to your games, they never get tired of talking about you... Meanwhile, I get the highest grades in school, and hardly anyone even mentions it," Alex said in a resigned tone.

Andrew opened his mouth to respond but didn't have an immediate answer. He had never thought about it from her perspective.

"I feel like the invisible middle sibling. Haley is the popular and rebellious eldest, and Luke is the adorable little fool," Alex said, lowering her gaze.

Andrew remained silent for a moment. Then, he exhaled and finally spoke. "That's not true."

Alex shot him a skeptical look.

"Listen, it's not that your parents don't care about you. It's just that they see you as the most mature of the three. They don't have to constantly check on you because you're the one who causes them the least trouble. Haley is always getting into trouble or doing something reckless, and Luke... well, he's Luke, he can barely cross the street without getting distracted by a bird," Andrew said seriously.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, and he continued.

"As for academics... it's not that your parents don't care about what you do. They just see you as independent and incredibly smart. They don't actively show their excitement because they already take it for granted that you'll do everything perfectly. But I guarantee you, if you ask either of them, they're the proudest of your grades."

Andrew paused, thinking, then went on. "They know you already have everything planned out, so maybe they neglect you a little, in a way. It's not ideal, I know, but that's the reason. It doesn't mean they don't care. It's just that, in a way, they think you don't need the same kind of support that Luke and Haley do."

Alex looked at him, her expression a curious mix of confusion and amusement. "So... it's my intelligence and maturity's fault?" she asked with a slight smile.

"Well, if you put it that way, yeah. Seems like being too smart and mature puts you in the 'parental forgetfulness zone,'" Andrew joked, but then his tone turned serious again.

"But seriously, if you talk to them, I'm sure they'll change right away. They're really good parents," he added.

Alex stayed quiet, processing his words. It wasn't what she had expected, but it made sense. A weight seemed to lift off her shoulders, though she couldn't say she felt completely understood just yet.

"As for football... I know it seems like everyone is focused on my games, but football is something that brings the family together. It's more than just a sport, it's something we can all enjoy together. Everyone gets excited, they go to the games, they celebrate every win or loss, and it makes you feel like part of something," Andrew said.

"That's true, I guess everyone just wants to be part of it. Though you should leave out the 'losses' part," Alex said.

Andrew chuckled slightly at the comment, considering he hadn't lost a single game in his entire school sports history so far in which he played the match.

"Yes. Football is just the means, but what really matters is what it creates around it—unity, support, and shared excitement," Andrew nodded.

Alex nodded as well. She couldn't blame her cousin for being the center of attention, considering he was the team's starting quarterback. It would be selfish and envious of her. Besides, even if she didn't want to admit it, she had ended up enjoying Friday night games.

"So, if you ever have a problem and feel like your parents forget about you because of Luke's antics or Haley's rebelliousness, you have me for whatever you need," Andrew said with a smile, looking at Alex.

"Really?" Alex asked, meeting his gaze.

"Yes," Andrew nodded firmly. "I'll always be here for you. No matter what. I'd even skip a game."

Alex, surprised but also grateful, let a smile form on her face.

"That's really cheesy," she said with a smile.

"I know. But it's true. You can always count on me," Andrew replied, laughing.

Alex looked at him for a few more seconds and then, almost without thinking, stepped forward and hugged him.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Andrew was a little surprised by the hug, but he happily accepted it. "You're welcome," he responded with a small smile.

Then, Alex pulled away and took a step back. "Seriously, I'm fine now. Go to your practice. I'm sure they're making a mess without you there. I don't want to be the reason you miss your first practice."

Andrew nodded and stood up, not in too much of a hurry, as if the urgency of the moment wasn't that serious. His gaze landed on the nightstand, where he spotted a pamphlet. It was for a museum.

"Do you want to go to this museum?" Andrew asked, picking up the pamphlet.

"Yeah... but I don't have anyone to go with. You know," Alex said, looking at him—a look Andrew understood immediately.

Claire and Phil wouldn't understand anything about the museum, and if they brought Luke, they'd probably get kicked out since there was a high chance he'd end up breaking something.

"Do you want to go together? I'm not that smart, but I could ask Pippa," Andrew suggested.

At the mention of Pippa, Alex's eyes lit up. "Pippa? Yes, ask her! I mean... yeah, sure. That'd be fine," she said, quickly shifting her tone from enthusiastic to neutral.

Andrew raised an eyebrow at Alex's strange behavior.

"Alright, I'll tell her. I'm sure she'll be excited too. She loves this kind of stuff," Andrew said.

"Great!" Alex said, raising her voice slightly, causing Andrew to give her a strange look.

'Is she really that excited about going to the museum?' Andrew wondered.

What Andrew didn't know was that Alex had a quiet admiration for Pippa.

To Alex, Pippa wasn't just Andrew's girlfriend, she was incredibly smart, almost like the older sister she had always wanted. She got along really well with her, even if she never openly expressed it.

With that settled, Andrew said goodbye to Alex. Claire drove him to school so he wouldn't miss more minutes of practice, something Andrew appreciated, though he couldn't help but remember Alex's earlier comment.

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