Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stanley Pines's life was a never ending nightmare. As if it wasn't bad enough that he had been kicked out of his home. Bad enough that his entire family hated him. Bad enough that he had no place to go and he had to sleep in his car. Bad enough that he barely had any money or clean clothes left.

Just when Stanley thought his situation couldn't possibly get any worse, it started raining heavily, the air-conditioner broke down, and his car skidded off the road, slamming into a tree. Furthermore, he couldn't even move from underneath the air cushion.

Great. Just great. He was gonna die out here and no one would care. Just flipping fantastic.

This morning he was on his way to Las Vegas, hoping to use the last bit of the money he had left to play the slots and become a big winner. He was passing through a small town in Delaware when the storm hit and his precious car skidded on the slippery road, slamming into a tree and he nearly got knocked out by the air cushion.

Stan was recovering from the shock and reeling from the pain as he contemplated what to do when suddenly the driver door was opened from the outside and someone grabbed the air cushion off of him.

"Are you injured badly?" a woman asked sternly as she studied his appearance critically.

"No, just bruised," Stanley replied, as he undid his seat-belt and tried to get out of the car only to fall down when his leg gave out. "Or something might be broken." Apparently, it had stopped raining and now he could see that the tree he had slammed into was actually on someone's yard and that a branch had fallen down on the hood of his car.

"Dan, I think we should call an ambulance," the woman shouted to someone Stanley couldn't see.

"I don't have insurance," he informed her as she helped him back into the driver seat.

"Well then I will call your parents and they-"

"No they won't," Stanley interjected bitterly, wondering if Pops would even care that he had nearly died in a car accident.

The woman's eyes fell on the backseat of Stanley's car where his duffle bag and two cans of gas were; an emotion that Stanley couldn't quite place flashed across her face, disappearing so fast he thought he must have imagined it.

"Well then we'll pay for it and you can stay in our house for as long as you need to," she said with a tiny edge of sympathy in her voice. Then she extended her hand towards him. "My name is Mary White, what's yours?"

"Stanley Pines, Ma'am," Stanley replied, shaking her hand. "And I guess I don't really have much of a choice about staying." He mournfully looked at the front of his beautiful car which now looked like a smashed tin can.

"I call a mechanic and see what we can do," Mary assured him.

She was offering to let him stay in her house and fix his car for free not to mention paying for his medical bills. Stan was beginning to think this woman was too good to be true.

A man, whom Stanley guessed was Dan, came limping up to Mary with a cane in his hands. "They should be here in a few minutes. Should I tell the girls to pick up their brother and meet us at the hospital?" he inquired waiting for his wife to nod before he turned to Stanley with a kind smile. "You doing okay there, son? That was a nasty crash."

"Yeah, I'm fine, sir," Stanley said, trying not to flinch when the man called him son.

"We should call your parents so they know you're okay. What's their number?" Dan inquired.

"Don't bother. They won't want to hear about me," Stanley half-lied. His mother might want to know that he was okay but if she heard that he had been in a car accident and broken his leg, she would want to see him and knowing his father, he wouldn't let her.

"Are you sure? Because-"

"Dan, go call Sam," Mary cut him off abruptly, shooting her husband a meaningful look. Her husband nodded before limping back to the house. "He doesn't pick up signals as well as I do," she explained bluntly.

"Oh and what signals are you picking up exactly?" Stanley asked with a laugh, wondering if this woman thought she knew his whole life story.

"Enough," Mary said vaguely, not bothering to elaborate.

Stanley was not sure where to go with that so he let the subject drop but that didn't mean he wasn't curious as to why this woman seemed so determined to help him. Her husband seemed like the type of guy who would give someone the shirt off his back, she, on the other hand, looked stern and gruff albeit with a softer side but still not the type that would willingly open her home to a complete stranger.

"So why exactly are you helping me?" he questioned curiously.

"Because I want to," she replied, that strange emotion flashing across her face again.

The ambulance arrived and the paramedics came and brought Stanley to the hospital with his new caretakers driving their car behind him.

"I am actually surprised that it was only your leg was broken," the doctor remarked. "You were lucky."

"I certainly feel like I was," Stanley muttered sarcastically. "So I just gotta wear this stupid cast for a few weeks."

"At least a month, Mr. Pines," the doctor informed him, causing his patient to groan. "Don't worry, I'm sure Dan has an extra cane you can borrow if you don't want to use crutches. Although knowing Mary, she won't let you move unless she's sure you won't hurt yourself."

"I take it that you know them well," Stanley guessed, wondering if the doctor would give him any details on why this couple were being so generous to him."

"Dysfunction Junction is a pretty small town. We have only two doctors," he replied.

"Wait, wait, this town is called Dysfunction Junction," Stanley repeated, guffawing. "Well that isn't ominous or anything."

"Yes, our town founder had a sense of humor, I suppose," the doctor said, a small smirk on his face before sobering when a nurse came in with Stanley's test results. "Ah, here's some good news, it seems that other than a broken leg, you are perfectly healthy and therefore you are free to go."

With that, the older man helped Stanley off the hospital bed, handed him his crutches and walked with him to the waiting room.

Dan and Mary had been joined by two teenage girls and a boy who seemed to be ten or eleven. Stanley guessed they must be Dan and Mary's children.

"Stanley Pines, this is our oldest daughter, Samantha, our second daughter, Eleanor and our son, David," Dan introduced to him before turning to his children. "This is Stanley Pines, kids, he will be living with us."

Stanley couldn't help but notice that he didn't say that he would only be staying for a while.

"And Mom is okay with letting a stranger- no offense, Stanley- live in our house?" the sixteen-year-old asked, glancing at her mother suspiciously.

"We should go. I have to make dinner for everyone," Mary said, not even acknowledging her daughter's question as she hurriedly walked out.

Okay, so judging from what the daughter had said, Stanley had been right when he assumed that inviting strangers to live with them wasn't normally what Mary would do. That just made him more curious as to why she had.

"Come, Stanley, you are in for a treat, my wife is a fantastic cook," Dan complimented, as he swung an arm around the boy's shoulder and leading him out of the hospital with his children trailing behind him.

"Can we stop for ice cream?" David asked eagerly as he sat next to Stanley in the middle seat of the minivan while the two sisters sat behind them.

"Ice cream is not dinner," Mary said sternly.

"Come on, Mary, I'm sure after a car crash, Stanley would like to have some ice cream. Wouldn't you, Stan?" Dan asked hopefully, turning around looking just as eager as the boy sitting next to Stanley.

"Ice cream does sound nice," Stanley admitted, winking at David who was beaming at him. That kid looked as cute as he and… Ford had.

Dammit, he nearly had gone a whole day not thinking about Ford. And now that he was, he couldn't even look at David, instead opting to glance up where he spotted Mary studying him through the rear view mirror.

"Alright, I suppose I can bend the rules just this once," Mary decided with a sigh, causing both Dan and David to cheer.

Eleanor poked Stanley in the shoulder and whispered: "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

Stan laughed. "A little bit of both, I suppose."

As they rode to the ice cream store, Stanley studied the family, trying to get a read off them.

Mary seemed like she was in charge, picking the radio station for them to listen to, ordering David not to stick his head out the window.

Dan seemed more easygoing, willing to play along with his children's games, joking around with them. He also kept drawing both Samantha and Stanley into conversations, often asking their opinions for no other reason besides the fact that they hadn't spoken in a while.

David was eager to talk, telling stories of his day at camp and what he was hoping to do tomorrow. He was excitable and cheerful, reminding Stanley even more about himself: a free spirit.

Eleanor was around Stanley's age but she acted like more like a kid when she was playing with her brother. Like her father, she focused quite a lot of her time, getting her sister to be engaged in the conversation.

The oldest was Samantha who seemed to be only three years older than her sister-which made Stanley ponder why there was such a large gap between Eleanor and David- and she seemed like a stoic and somber girl who seemed more interested in her books than anything else.

The family as a whole seemed loving and supportive of each other which made Stanley feel rather jealous.

He couldn't help but wonder what Ford would think of this family if he was here. While their dad was certainly more supportive of Ford than his twin, he certainly wasn't as friendly as Dan nor did he have a hidden softness that Mary had.

Once they arrived at the ice cream store, the kids took one table while the adults took the one adjacent to them.

"So Stanley, where are you from?" David asked, as he slurped his ice cream.

"Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey," Stan answered, taking a hungry bite of the ice cream. He had been so focused on his leg that he had forgotten that he hadn't eaten since yesterday.

"Well that sounds like a fun place to live," Ellie snarked.

"Says the person who lives in Dysfunction Junction," Stanley countered with a grin.

"Fair point."

"Amelia's coming," Samantha announced matter of factly as she closed her book.

Eleanor stiffened, glancing at her mother and then the fifteen-year-old girl who was walking towards the ice cream shop.

"Well, I guess we're gonna be seeing fireworks," she said with a sigh.

"No, Mom wouldn't yell in front of David and our guest," Samantha contradicted, gesturing at Stanley as if no one knew who she was talking about.

"This is Mom, we're talking about. She holds onto grudges like most people would hold onto their jewelry," Eleanor pointed out, then she frowned. "Not to mention Amelia never got punished for what she did."

"Now who's holding the grudge?" Samantha asked, an eyebrow raised. "You know full well that she was grounded and I think being yelled at by our mother was a punishment enough."

"Just because I'm not you and I can't get over things as fast as you do, does not mean that I hold grudges," Eleanor snapped.

"Don't start that again," Samantha growled, her eyes narrowed.

"Please don't fight," David implored them, his watering and his lower lip quivering. Stanley noticed he was digging his fingernails into his arms and quickly understood that the preteen was trying to make himself cry in order to stop his sisters from fighting. That kid was definitely a miniature-him.

"So who is that girl and why do we hate her?" Stanley inquired, glancing at the girl in question who did not seem to notice the family as she rummaged through her bag for money.

The three siblings were quiet, none of them looking at him.

"It's complicated," Eleanor finally said, still looking at her chocolate ice cream which was slowly melting in its cup as she swirled her spoon in it. "We don't hate her. We just aren't happy with her."

"Mom hates her," David pointed out.

"No, she doesn't. She just hasn't forgiven her and probably won't ever do so," Eleanor told them, wincing at her own words.

"So nobody wants to fill me in the details," Stanley guessed.

"That depends, would you like to tell us why a seventeen-year-old is living in his car?" Samantha inquired dryly.

"Sammy!" Ellie exclaimed, glaring at her sister.

"Nah it's okay, I get it, I got too personal," Stanley said with a strained smile, trying to act as though that hadn't been a gut punch.

They ate the rest of their ice cream in silence and soon all six of them piled into the car. While there had been no fireworks, Stanley could guess by the stormy silence that Mary and Dan had seen that Amelia girl and whatever had happened was enough to make the car ride home filled with tension.

Dan, however, did his best to ignore the tension by talking to Stanley about everything he could think of, including whether or not he liked to fish.

"Well there's a lake nearby, maybe when your leg is feeling better, we can go catch some fish," Dan suggested, sounding pleased.

"Sure, sir," Stan said politely as Mary and Eleanor helped him out of the car and into the house.

"Would you like to watch TV or get some rest?" Mary asked, gesturing to the couch.

"Uh, I can just sit on the couch for now, I'm not tired," Stan assured her.

"Good, I'll bring you a plate when I'm done with dinner," Mary told him as she put his cast on top of the table and hastily shoved a pillow behind him.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Stanley said awkwardly, feeling quite uneasy with being so pampered.

"Just call us Dan and Mary. We are too young to be Sir and Ma'am," Dan told him, as he sat down in the armchair and turned on the TV. "Mind if I watch the news?"

"It's your TV," Stanley pointed out.

"I think there is a monster movie marathon on Channel Eight," David suggested.

"I wanted to watch the Mary Tyler Moore show," Eleanor complained.

"I'm going to go read," Samantha decided.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour so everyone will sit down and watch the news," Mary commanded from the kitchen.

"Yes Mom," her three children chorused as they took their seats on the floor in front of the TV.

Dan smiled. "Never had to raise my voice in twenty years because of that woman," he muttered, sounding affectionate.

As Stanley tried to get more comfortable on the couch, he glanced at the pictures on the mantel place and he noticed that in what he assumed as a family picture, there was an extra person there. Standing in-between David and Eleanor was a fourteen-year-old girl who was wearing large hoop earrings and bell-bottoms just like the ones his ex-girlfriend had worn.

He opened his mouth to ask the four people watching the TV where this girl-most certainly the third sister- was when his eyes meet Eleanor's. When she saw Stanley holding that picture, she silently shook her head, stopping him from asking any questions.

He placed the picture back and returned to the television, starting to understand why he had been invited to stay in their home. They were looking to fill the void their family member had left behind.

A part of him wondered if his mother, Sherman and Ford were doing the same thing or if they even missed him at all.

Chapter Text

Life was not fair. Stanley Pines was aware of that---painfully aware that life was never fair. Of course, there would be setbacks to a nice big family welcoming him into their home for the foreseeable future. When they learned that Stan had dropped out of high school, Dan had wanted to enroll him at their local high school so he could graduate and go to college.

The worst part was he was certain that if he said no, Dan would understand, he would be disappointed but the older man would accept Stanley’s decision. During the first two weeks living with the Whites, he had noticed that Dan’s disappointment was a much more powerful motivator than Mary’s anger.

“He doesn’t even do it on purpose,” Ellie had said when Stanley had pointed that out. “Which just makes us feel guiltier.”

However, just because he didn’t want to disappoint Dan, that didn’t mean Stanley was just going to go along with what he wanted.

“Sir, I gotta say that I don’t think that would be a good idea. I completely suck at school. My teachers all agreed that I was a lost cause,” Stanley told him, trying to laugh off being viewed as hopeless moron. The only reason he hadn’t flunked out of school was because he would copy off of Ford.

“Son, I have been a teacher for the past twenty-five years and I have not given up on a student yet,” Dan said firmly, his lips pressed thinly together with a look of determination in his eyes. “I have an idea, let’s make a deal. For the next month I will be your teacher and your tutor and if you get a 60 or higher on a test that I will design for you, I will give you five hundred dollars and you will consider going back to school.”

Stanley’s mouth fell open. Five hundred bucks for getting a D? This guy was either really stupid or really smart.

“Okay, you got a deal.”

“Dad, maybe the five hundred should be if he gets ninety or higher, two hundred and fifty dollars if he gets eighty, one hundred and twenty-five dollars if he gets seventy and so on,” Samantha suggested as she fetched a glass of water.

“Sounds good to me. Stanley, do we still have a deal?” Dan questioned the teenager.

“Liked it better the first time but I guess I still be getting money either way,” Stanley grumbled, shooting the older girl a dirty look.

“Perhaps for his first question he could calculate how much he’ll get if he gets sixty points,” Samantha prodded, sounding just a little smug.

“I can divide by half. It would be about sixty bucks,” Stanley told her matter of factly, remembering how he and Stanford had broken some sort of figurine in their dad’s shop that cost about a hundred and twenty dollars and they each had to earn sixty dollars in order to pay it off.

“Close. Sixty-two dollars and fifty cents,” Samantha corrected.

“What are you? A human calculator?” Stanley demanded, half-annoyed and half-amazed that she seemed to know that off the top of her head.

“All right, that’s enough out of both of you,” Dan said firmly as he pulled a big book out of his briefcase and put it on the kitchen table. “Now Stanley, let’s get started with something simple: algebra.”

In times like this, Stanley wished his leg wasn’t still healing so he could run away instead of being stuck in the kitchen forced to listen to an algebra lesson from an all too eager math teacher.

In the end Stanley’s love of money won over his hatred of school and he spent the next three days listening to Dan’s lectures and even started taking notes. That sixty-two bucks and fifty cents would be worth it.

“Stanley, can you help me?” David asked, standing by the couch where Stanley was filling out the “homework” Dan had assigned him.

“Well I’m kinda busy but if you really need my help, I guess I can tear myself away,” Stanley deadpanned, practically throwing the papers on the coffee table. “What can I do ya for, little man?”

“Billy is opening a lemonade stand and won’t let me help so I told him that I would make my own and make more money than he would,” David explained, looking rather embarrassed. “The only problem is we don’t have any lemonade so I wondering if you could help me make some.”

“I would but there’s a problem with making the lemonade ourselves, Billy is gonna have a head start unless we can find an edge,” Stanley informed him rubbing his chin in thought. “Your mom manages a restaurant, right? Any chance that they sell lemonade that they would be willing to give us for free.”

David’s eyes lit up. “And then I could sell the lemonade for less money than Billy is asking for which would get me more customers and profit,” he finished.

Stanley grinned at him. This kid definitely had potential.

“Now you’re thinking like a business man,” Stanley told him, resisting the urge to tousle the boy’s hair.

Surprisingly Mary was not opposed to the idea and she retrieved two jugs of lemonade from her restaurant, promising to go get more if they ran out.

Soon both Stanley and David sat in the front yard, selling lemonade to whoever passed by.

“Step right up folks for the best lemonade you ever tasted,” Stanley shouted as though he was a sideshow barker, he even swung one of his crutches out like it was a cane. “It’s guaranteed to taste like sunshine.”

“It doesn’t taste like sunshine to me,” a kid a few years younger than David complained.

“How would you know? Have you ever tasted sunshine?” Stanley retorted. The kid gave him an annoyed look as he walked away, sipping his lemonade.

“A very good point,” a teenaged girl remarked as she put down her quarter and David poured her a small glass of lemonade. “So you must be the Stanley Pines everyone is talking about?”

 “People are talking about me?” Stanley asked in surprise.

“It’s a small town,” the girl replied, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “Too small if you ask me. Your arrival is the first interesting thing that has happened in months.”

“Well it’s been interesting for me too. Breaking my leg and all,” Stanley deadpanned.

“Is it true that you’ve been traveling around the country?” the girl asked, not even glancing at Stanley’s leg.

“Well I---”

 “WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY PROPERTY!” Mary roared, as she stormed out of the house with Dan on her heels trying to get her to come back inside.

“I was just getting some lemonade,” the girl replied, her carefree attitude suddenly gone and she was staring apprehensively at the livid woman.

“Leave now and don’t let me catch you talking to my children again!” Mary shouted, glaring daggers at the girl who quickly backed away, practically running back to her own house.

“Mary, you are being far too harsh with her. She is just a child. There is no reason to treat her like she’s a criminal,” Dan said sternly.

His wife just glared at him and stormed back inside, slamming the door behind her. Dan gave both Stanley, David, and their remaining customers an apologetic smile before retreating to their house.

“I take it that was Amelia,” Stanley guessed as he filled another cup with lemonade.

“Yeah, she’s Tess’s best friend,” David replied, no longer able to look anyone in the eyes and he was now somber and unenthusiastic.

“Uh, you know I think we made enough money so let’s just close shop early,” Stanley suggested, handing the cups of lemonade to the remaining customers before turning to pick up the jar that was two thirds full of quarters and hand it to David. “All yours, little man, you earned it.”

“Thanks Stan, you’re the best,” David said, smiling slightly as he hugged the older boy. “Tess and I always wanted an older brother and now we have one.”

 It didn’t escape Stanley’s notice that he was talking about his sister in present tense.

The rest of the month was rather uneventful until the day Stanley finally got his cast off. Now that he could walk freely, he went straight to the mechanic who was taking care of his baby.

“Be straight with me, doc, will she live?” Stanley asked dramatically.

“The front of the car and the hood was all banged up and the falling branch made it worse. The engine does not seem to be working properly so we will try to fix that as well. All in all, it will take nearly two thousand dollars to fix your car,” the mechanic explained, looking nonplussed by his antics.

“Two grand. Are you kidding me? That’s highway robbery. There is no way I’m gonna pay that kind of money when I can repair it myself,” Stanley said, suddenly serious.

Sherman had bought the car but he had gifted it to Stan when he got married and moved to New York City. Stanley had bought a personalized license plate and anytime he and Stanford weren’t working on the Stan-O-War, he was making his baby the envy of their entire street.

Despite the mechanic’s protests, the car was brought back the White’s garage via tow truck and Stanley used the money he had left to buy a new hood, front bumper and headlights.

“Didn’t my parents say that they would pay for your car to be fixed?” Ellie inquired, as she stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

“Me and my brother once turned a wrecked sailboat into a thing of beauty,” Stanley told her, beaming proudly before coming to the sudden realization that all their hard work was for nothing because Stanford had decided his stupid college was more important than their dream of sailing around the world.

With that thought in mind, he rather angrily tore off the dented hood and tossed it onto the ground.

“Whoa, are you okay there, Stan?” Eleanor asked, startled by his sudden anger. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nah, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? I’m an excellent listener,” she assured him, closing the door behind her so if Stanley did want to talk, he wouldn’t be heard by the rest of the household.

Feeling the need to get his frustration towards Stanford off his chest, Stanley acquiesced and recalled the whole story.

“Then Pops said I wasn’t welcome back home until I made a fortune,” he finished, keeping his eyes on the engine of the car so he didn’t have to see the look of pity he was sure was being sent his way.

“Damn, that is… messed up,” Eleanor said, sounding quite awkward. “I feel like I should hug you. Can I hug you?”

 Stan looked up at her, feeling amused despite himself.

“I’m not exactly a hug guy,” he replied, trying not to smirk.

“Noted. Uh, would it help if I told you that I know what you were going through with your brother? I mean it wasn’t the same thing exactly. Sammy and I were always close and I’m only two years younger than her so I always kind of was dependent on her. But she was basically a child prodigy and so she finished high school two years after she began it. However she had promised that she would be there for me when I started. And I know it’s silly but I felt that she should have not skipped any grades and instead waited until I caught up with her. And that's not even remotely the same thing and I’m not making you feel any better,” Ellie rambled.

“No but I appreciate you trying through,” Stan said gratefully.

“Great. Well I’m gonna go before I stick my foot any further in my mouth,” Ellie stated opening the door, only to find her mother on the other side. “Oh my God, were you summoned by the door closing or something?” she asked in an incredulous and annoyed tone, making it clear that this was not the first time her mother had done this.

“I’m a mother. It’s in my nature not to want my daughters alone with someone of the opposite sex with the door closed,” Mary told her bluntly.

 “We were in the---what do you think we----seriously!” Eleanor spluttered, flustered and unable to form a complete sentence. She stalked past her mother, still muttering under her breath.

“Do you need anything, Stanley?” Mary asked, a slight edge to her tone despite her friendly words.

“No, I’m good. And we’re only talking, Ma’am, nothing was gonna happen,” Stanley assured her, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. The look Mary was giving him was eerily similar to the one Carla’s folks had gave him when they found him in her daughter’s bedroom. The difference being something had happened—twice-- in that room before Mr. and Mrs. McCorkle had arrived home.

“I’m sure you’re right but you can never be too careful,” Mary remarked, her eyes narrowed before she turned around to leave. She took a half-step forward before stopping as if she had remembered something. “Stanley, I want you to know that you will always be welcome in this house.”

Without giving him time to respond, she shut the door behind her and left him in the garage.

When he heard the kitchen timer go off, Stanley kept a tight hold of his test papers, writing a random numbers down to the last few questions just on the off-chance that one of them was correct and he could get a few extra points.

“Pencil down, Stanley,” Dan ordered, folding his newspaper and putting it on the kitchen table before reaching over and snatching the test from the teenager. Then he walked over to the kitchen counter to start grading it, making sure Stanley couldn't see what he was doing.

“I gotta tell you. I was studying my ass off last night so I’m sure that I got at least sixty-five,” Stanley rambled as he apprehensively watched Dan marking his paper with a bland expression on his face, not giving Stan any clues on how badly he had done. “Pointdexter was always better at studying than me. I never really understood why he studied, he could pass any exam in his sleep. I always thought he was being ridiculous over how anxious he would get before and after each test that we took. I mean he always got an A, so why did he need to be stressed out?”

Stanley was unsure if it took a couple of minutes or at least an hour for Dan to finally finish grading. He kept a fake confident smile on his face, hoping to hide the nerves he felt inside.

“Hmm, well I’m sorry to say that you were wrong, you did not get sixty-five,” Dan told him as flipped the papers back to the start and writing something on the first page.

Stan’s face fell. “Oh, then I guess I got an F. Yeah, I knew that would happen. It’s no big deal,” the teenager said with fake nonchalance, wanting to kick himself. Even when he tried, he still ended up being a big failure.

“You got seventy-seven,” Dan informed him, beaming at him as he placed the test on the table for Stanley to look over.

Stanley’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he stared at the big red C+ and the circled seventy-seven written on top of the papers.

“Now I believe our deal was a hundred dollars for seventy or lower and if anyone asks that’s how much I have given you,” Dan continued, taking an envelope out of a drawer and handing it to the teenager with a wink.

Confused by that statement, Stanley looked into the envelope and quickly counted not a hundred bucks but five hundred dollars in the envelope.

“Thank you, Dan,” Stanley said in awe, jumping up and impulsively hugging the older man.

“Well you earned it. Imagine what grades you could get if you went back to school and applied yourself,” Dan remarked, looking at him meaningfully.

“Would you be giving me five hundred every time I got a C+?” Stanley joked.

“I’m not that nice,” Dan laughed, patting him on the back. “You promised you’d consider it and I promise not to be upset if your decision is no. But you have potential, son and it would be a shame to waste it.”

Stanley was glad when Dan hobbled out of the room as he didn’t want the older man to see him trying to wipe away his tears of joy.

It wasn’t until a few days later did Stanley decide that he might as well go back to high school. After all it would be nice to prove that his old school teachers and principal were wrong about him.

The high school in Dysfunction Junction said that because he didn’t graduate last year---he had been kicked out before he could---he would have to retake his junior year. And if that wasn’t bad enough, according to Dan, they needed his school files (and medical records) which they only could get if they had his parents’ permission.

“Even though they kicked you out, your parents are still your legal guardians,” Mary spat the word parents like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “So we will need to speak to them.”

“Fine. I’ll give you their number but I would suggest asking my mom, she’s probably the only one who won’t slam the phone down when she hears my name,” Stanley explained, causing Mary to look enraged.

“Maybe we should drive down there. I would love to meet your father,” she snarled.

“Mary,” Dan warned, giving her a stern look. “You are projecting.”

“I am not,” Mary snapped, picking up the phone and looking at Stanley expectantly.

“Just try to control your temper and remember that she isn’t your mother,” Dan cautioned, causing his wife to throw him a dirty look.

It had been nearly five months since his twin had betrayed him, ruined his future and was kicked out and Stanford was unsure what to do with himself. The quiet atmosphere in their bedroom was unnerving, Sherman was currently not speaking to anyone, Mom was still moping and he found himself unable to stop walking past the swing set and the Stan-O-War.

Try as he might to focus on his anger towards Stanley, it didn’t stop Ford from feeling guilty and lonely. When the telephone rang, he half-hoped the caller would be Stanley even though he had nothing he wanted to say to his twin.

“Hello, you have reached the Pines residence. This is Stanford Pines speaking. May I ask who is calling?”

“I need to speak to Caryn Pines. It’s about her son, Stanley,” a cold voice said matter of factly.

“Uh, may I ask who is calling and what this is about?” Stanford questioned cautiously, wondering why on earth this strange woman would be calling about Stanley.

“Young man, I said I wanted to speak to Caryn Pines. It is none of your concern why I am calling. Go get your mother or whoever else actually cares about your brother’s wellbeing,” the woman snarled, her voice raising slightly.

“Mary!” Ford heard a man exclaim before there was the sound of shuffling and seconds later a new voice came onto the phone. “Hello son, I’m sorry about my wife. I’m Daniel White and we’re taking care of Stanley and we need to speak your mother about getting her permission to have some files of his.”

“Oh,” Ford said, unsure what to do with that information. Luckily Filbrick was running some errands so he didn’t have to worry about telling his mother who was calling and why.

His mother’s eyes lit up when he told her and she grabbed the phone from him, asking the man on the other line to speak to Stanley. Although he knew he should probably have left, Ford stayed in the room with his hands in his pockets, acting like he wasn’t listening to his mother’s conversation even though she surely had to know he was.

“Oh my sweet baby, I missed you so much. How are you? Are you all right?” Caryan asked, her smile wide. Unfortunately for Ford, he could not hear what Stanley was telling her but he noted that there was a moment when fear flicked across his mother’s face. “Okay. Can you put Mary on the phone? I want to talk to her.”

Stanford decided to return to his bedroom, thinking he could ask his mother what Stanley said after she finished her conversation. Or perhaps he wouldn’t. After all, he promised himself that he would stop worrying about Stanley and start thinking about his own future for a change. A future that would not be ruined by his selfish brother.

Chapter Text

“You’re going where?! It will be over my dead body that you’ll go see that no-good screwup!” Filbrick Pines shouted as Stanford reentered the house, library books tucked under his arm.

As he closed the front door softly, Stanford wondered if he should just go up to his room or stay in the hallway, eavesdrop and find out what was going on. Hearing his older brother’s voice made him choose the latter, knowing that this discussion could be only about one person.

“Dad, I am a married man, a father, and more importantly I don’t live here anymore. Therefore, I do not need your permission to do anything that I want to do,” Sherman informed him angrily. “I’m going to see my youngest brother and if Ma and Ford want to come with me, they are welcome to.”

“Why would you even want to see him? He’s someone else’s problem now. Just let that family he somehow conned into taking care of him deal with him and let’s just move on with our lives,” Filbrick snapped, sounding fed up with this conversation. “We all better off without him.”

“He’s your son and he nearly died!” Caryn shouted, raising her voice for the first time in years. “You can turn your back on your own flesh and blood as much as you want to, but I’m seeing my baby.”

Filbrick must have been stunned into silence by his wife’s uncharacteristic angry outburst because he said nothing else and seconds latter Stanford was discovered in the main hall by his mother and brother.

“Hey Ford,” Shermie greeted him, giving him a hug. “Ma and I were just heading out.”

“We’re going to see Stanley, would you like to come?” Caryn asked, her words gentle but hopeful.

“Um, I can’t. I have a lot of work to get done,” Stanford lied lamely, not looking at either of them in the eyes, knowing full well that neither his mother nor his brother would fail to see through his pathetic excuse. 

“Come on, Ford, it was an accident. Are you just gonna be mad at him forever?” Shermie demanded, shaking his head in exasperation.

“Sweetheart, you know your brother wouldn’t do something like that deliberately. If you would just come with us, I know you two can work things out,” Caryn implored him.

Stanford couldn’t help but feel angry by the implication that Stanley ruining his future was just an accident especially when it wasn’t. The fact that his mother and brother seemed to be taking Stan’s side despite the evidence pointing to the fact that he had sabotaged Ford’s project just made it worse. 

“Look, I just don’t want to see him, okay?” he said firmly, briskly walking up the stairs before Shermie could say anything else and before he could see the disappointment in his mother’s eyes.

When he reached his bedroom, the books he was carrying fell out of his hands, landing on the floor with a crack. All of his brother’s possessions were gone: the posters, the comics and even the sheets from Stanley’s bed had been taken from the room, leaving it looking half-empty.

This just made Ford feel even lonelier as he picked his books up and placed them on his desk, glancing over at the bunkbed he once shared with his twin forlornly.

“He cost you your future and our family as a chance of millions of dollars,” Filbrick remarked, causing Ford to nearly jump out of his skin. The older man was standing in the doorway, his face as expressionless as usual. “My only regret was not kicking him out before he had a chance to cost us all that money.”

Not for the first time, Ford wondered where his father got the whole millions of dollars from. After all, any money that the college would have given Ford would be used strictly for experiments. And however angry at Stanley he might be, if Ford were to chose the person with the most selfish motive, he would have to chose the hypocrite who thought his son was his ticket out of this dump.

It didn’t help that his father actually was regretting not kicking Stanley out sooner and the fact that he had already had a bag packed that fateful night made it even worse. And didn’t Ma mention---wait what was she talking about?

“Hey Dad, what did Ma mean when she said that Stanley almost died?” Ford asked, unable to keep the worry out of his voice.

“Apparently the knucklehead slammed his car into a tree, broke his leg,” Filbrick replied, turning around to leave. He took a few steps forward before stopping and saying one last thing. “Your brother is a selfish screw-up who lies about everything. However, I don’t think he intended on sabotaging you. He still messed up though.”

With that last gruff remark, Filbrick closed the door behind him, leaving a stunned Ford behind.

Unbelievable. Not even the man who kicked his youngest son to the curb and couldn’t care less that he was in a car crash thought that Stanley had not broken Ford’s science project intentionally. That was just the icing on the cake.

While Stanley knew that Mary was the manager and head-chef of what was the only restaurant in town, he had no idea that she was the owner as well until one day when he found her going over the electricity bill that was apparently getting higher. 

“Sorry if I’ve been watching too much TV, I just wanted to watch as much as I could before I had to go to school,” Stanley joked as he got a piece of pie from the fridge and sat down to eat it.

“Hmm? Oh no, it’s not the electricity bill for the house, but my restaurant,” the older woman told him, as she took out her checkbook.

“Oh. I thought the owner handles that.” Not that Stanley was much of a business man and his father had never hired anyone to help out the store who didn’t work for free. However, Sherman had worked in a restaurant as a manager and would spend endless hours complaining about how the owner was making him be the bad guy.

“I own it. Dan bought it for me as an anniversary present,” Mary explained nonchalantly as if men buying their wives businesses instead of jewelry or flowers was completely ordinary.

“Wow, he can afford a restaurant on a teacher’s salary,” Stanley said before taking a mouthful of pie. Granted it was a small restaurant in a small town but still, it seemed like a rather large gift.

“No, he used his inheritance,” Mary replied, finally looking up and grimacing when she realized Stanley had no napkin. She got up and handed him one before closing her checkbook and putting the paperwork in a drawer.

“Still that’s a pretty expensive present,” Stanley remarked, remembering how Dan had given him five hundred dollars for really nothing. If they didn’t live so modestly, he would think that these people were loaded. Of course them being rich would explain how they had paid for his medical bills and were willing to pay for two years of school for him. “For their last anniversary, Dad got Ma flowers he found in the park.”

Mary frowned. “The more you talk about your father, the more I would just love to meet him,” she muttered darkly before smiling at Stanley. “Dan can go overboard sometimes but his heart is in the right place and that was thankfully the only grand romantic gesture of its kind.”

“I believe your exact words were---instead of saying thank you---how much did this cost?” Dan deadpanned teasingly as he entered the kitchen, giving Mary a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s your money, Dan but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a little worried about your spending habits especially when you buy things impulsively,” Mary pointed out before softening. “Thank you for my restaurant.”

“So Stanley, I was thinking of taking David out fishing in a few days, would you like to come?” Dan asked, changing the subject now that he had made sure that his wife appreciated his gift to her.

“Sure, that sounds great,” Stanley replied, half-wondering if they would be fishing off a yacht before deciding that was ridiculous.

The boat Dan began to lovingly describe put the idea of fishing off a yacht to rest especially when he mentioned it being able to fit in his truck.

“Dad, Mom, there are strangers in our driveway!” David called from the living room seconds before the doorbell rang.

Mary got up and hurried to the living room. Stan and Dan could hear her scolding David for pointing at the strangers before opening the door and asking how she could help whoever it was.

“Stanley, could you come out here please,” Mary called, her tone was stiff as though she was doing her best to maintain her temper.

“I’m guessing your family arrived,” Dan said with a sigh before muttering under his breath. “At least she didn’t slam the door on their faces.”

Stanley swallowed. He knew that his father was not there---judging by Mary’s earlier words, she would slam the door on his father’s face---but maybe just maybe Ford had forgiven him and had come to see him.

Dan chose to wait until Stanley was ready before walking with him into the living room where the Pines and the rest of the Whites were waiting.

To the teenager’s disappointment, only Shermie and Ma were there but he supposed if Ford was dead set on hating him, then of course he didn’t want to face his twin. God forbid they might actually talk it out.

Caryn Pines was out of her seat within seconds, hugging her free spirit and Shermie wasn’t far behind.

“Thank goodness you are all right. I was so worried,” Caryn Pines gushed.

“Why don’t we bring the boxes of Stanley’s things to his room,” Mary suggested to her family, wanting to give the Pines some space.

Stanley vaguely wondered when the guest room had started being called his room.  But considering, Mary and Dan had pretty much adopted him from the minute he crashed into their tree and then weeks later, decided to enroll him into school, he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised.

“Why didn’t you call me, you knucklehead?” Shermie demanded, hugging his younger brother once their mother had decided to let me breathe. “You know I would have helped you out.”

“You were on vacation with your wife and I didn’t want to be a burden,” Stanley admitted.

“Stanley, you are not a burden. I’m so sorry, I should have stood up for you. I’m so sorry that I didn’t,” Caryn whispered, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

“Aw geez, Ma, don’t cry, I’m fine, honest,” Stanley assured her. Besides, his father had been so set on kicking him out, he doubted that even if both Caryn and Ford had stood up for him it would have changed anything.  

“Stanley, Pam and I would be happy to let you stay with us,” Shermie told him. “I’m sure Jay would love to share a room with his uncle.”

As much as Stanley loved his little nephew, sharing a room with a one-year-old would not be a pleasant experience. Besides he really didn’t want his brother and his brother's wife to be put out dealing with his expenses when he had nothing to give them in return.

It suddenly occurred to him that he was living rent-free with the Whites even paying for his education. While his apology to Mary was a jest and he honestly had no idea how he could pay them back, it certainly wouldn’t kill him to do something nice for them to show that he was thankful for what they were doing for him.

“Thanks Shermie but for whatever reason, the Whites have insisted that I stay and considering I wrecked their tree, I feel like I owe them,” Stanley joked.

“They really do seem like nice people,” Caryn agreed, a sad note in her voice.

Unwilling to let his mother think she was being replaced, Stanley quickly promised to call her as often as he could.

“Would you two like to stay for lunch?” Mary asked after the last box was moved into Stanley’s room.  “We would love a chance to get to know you.”

And just like that the ice was broken: While Caryn joined Mary and Dan in the kitchen, Shermie stayed in the living room, telling Eleanor, Samantha and David embarrassing stories about Stanley.

“Shermie, I’m begging ya, stop,” Stanley pleaded.

“Oh come on, I think it’s sweet that you adopted a possum,” Eleanor told him, shooting him a sly grin. “A little weird that your pants were its nest but very sweet.”

“Also unsanitary not to mention if it bit you, you would have had to have a rabies shot on whatever body part it bit,” Samantha remarked dryly.

Stanley winced and crossed his legs.

“Thank you, Sammy, for making a funny story uncomfortable,” Eleanor drawled sarcastically.

“Just pointing out the facts.”

“And there was the time when Stanley thought it would be a good idea to try to sail the still unfinished Stan-O-War,” Shermie began.

“Hey I was checking to see if the boat could still float,” Stanley protested. After all, there was no point in him and Ford fixing it, if it couldn’t sail. Of course, he might have gotten a little excited and wanted to show off his boat to their classmates but that was besides the point. “I didn’t realize that the wind was so rough that day.”

“What’s the Stan-O-War?” David inquired.

“The Stan-O-War is a shipwrecked sailboat that Stanley and Stanford fixed up all by themselves when they were kids,” Shermie explained, giving Stanley a worried look as though he was afraid that the mere mention of his twin’s name would upset him.

“That’s so cool!” David exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. “Can I see it? Can we go sailing on it?"

“Uh, it’s in New Jersey. At least I think it’s still there,” Stanley began, looking towards Shermie for conformation.  For all he knew Ford had set it on fire or sold it or just took it to the dump.  When his older brother nodded in confirmation, he turned back to David who looked a little disappointed. “But hey if it’s okay with your folks, we can drive down to Glass Shard Beach sometime and I’ll teach you how to sail.”

“You really are an awesome brother!” David declared causing Eleanor to let out an aww while Stanley just gave him a fond smile.

“He really is,” Sherman agreed, giving Stanley a one-armed hug. “So you better take good care of him.”

“Okay, you can go back to telling embarrassing childhood stories now,” Stanley said, feeling flustered by the praise.

“I believe you were telling us about a half-finished boat that for some reason Stanley had to test to make sure it could float,” Samantha recalled with a smirk.

“Well oddly, the test run was conducted when his classmates just so happened to be at the beach that day,” Sherman began, giving Stanley a knowing look.

It wasn’t until after dinner, saying goodbye to Ma and Shermie and after it had gotten pretty late, did it occur to Stanley that maybe he could do better than simply taking David to New Jersey.

According to Dan, the lake in Dysfunction Junction was pretty big and although it was no ocean, they could still sail on it. Besides it wasn’t like the Stan-O-War was going to be used for anything else and it would just be rotting on the beach so why didn’t he just go to New Jersey and bring the boat back to the Whites.

Dan had showed him and Shermie his boat which was in a shed behind the house and the shed looked big enough for a sailboat as well. All he needed to do was find a way to transport the Stan-O-War to Dysfunction Junction.

His car was sadly out of the question and he didn’t want to make Shermie who had just gotten home to do another five-hour drive. So the alternative was to borrow the Whites’ truck. Mary and Dan had gone to bed early and Stanley didn’t want to wake them up. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too mad at him as he was only borrowing it---and he actually meant borrowing this time.

Trying to be quiet, Stanley snuck into the kitchen and started to go through the drawers of the kitchen for the keys to the truck.

“What may I ask are you doing?"

Stanley nearly yelped in fear. Samantha was standing a few feet behind with a rather annoyed look on her face.

“Geez, someone should put a bell on you. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. Nearly gave me a heart attack,” Stanley complained as innocently as possible.

“Oh I apologize, I didn’t mean to scare you as you rooted through our things,” Samantha quipped sarcastically. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Stanley a nonplussed look. “Would you mind telling me what you were doing before I make my own hypothesis on your intentions?”

A hypothesis on his intentions? Geez this girl was almost as much of a nerd as Ford.

“I just wanted to use your dad’s truck to run an errand,” Stanley explained.

“Oh? So you were stealing the truck to go on a joyride,” Samantha stated with a raised eyebrow.

“No. I wasn’t gonna steal it perse. I’ll bring it back,” Stanley protested, wondering why he felt so intimidated by a girl who was only slightly taller than him. “I was just borrowing it without your parents’ permission.”

Whatever Samantha was going to say next was interrupted when Eleanor walked into the house using the backdoor.

“Hey, the next time I say I’m gonna sit outside for a while can you come check on me to be sure that I haven’t fallen asleep and if so, wake me up so the neighbor’s dog doesn’t have to. Not that I didn’t enjoy being licked ferociously by that angelic furball but…” Eleanor trailed off after wiping her face with a dishtowel and noticing the expressions of both her sister and Stanley. “Oooh boy, what’s going on here?”

“Stanley was just giving me a new definition for stealing,” Samantha quipped.

“I was not stealing. I just need the keys to the truck,” Stanley explained.

“Oh. They are over here with the keys to the minivan, the shed keys and extra house keys,” Eleanor told him, walking over to a bowl on a counter near the back door. She picked up the keys in question and twirled them around her finger.

“See, Eleanor doesn’t think I’m stealing,” Stanley pointed out, only to get an urge to run behind her when her sister glared at him.

“Well she didn’t find you looting through the same drawer Mom keeps her checkbook in,” Samantha told him, albeit not in way that sounded as though she was accusing him of something much more serious than simple taking a car on a joyride. Stanley sheepishly closed the drawer in question. “Secondly, I would still like to know what you intend to do with our truck.”

“Obviously, he’s planning on going to New Jersey to get the Stan-O-War,” Eleanor responded, causing both Stan and Samantha to look at her in surprise. “What? The minute you told David that you would take him sailing someday, I figured you’d either ask your brother to bring your boat up here or you’d go get it yourself. I mean I didn’t think you’d drive all the way to New Jersey tonight. But hey, I’m up for a midnight road trip if you are.”

“I thought it would be a nice surprise for your brother,” Stanley admitted bashfully, hoping that Samantha would let him to take the truck after knowing about his altruistic motives especially if her sister was tagging along.

“All right, fine. But I’m not letting someone who doesn’t know that boats can float drive,” Samantha said firmly. “I’ll get an extra tarp from the shed in case it rains.”

She left before Stanley could retort.

“So how grateful are you that that AJ woke me up?” Eleanor asked smiling knowingly.

“Extremely grateful.”

“Sammy’s bedroom wall is on the other side of the kitchen’s wall and she’s a night owl so if you ever want to do something without her knowing, make sure you know what you are looking for, open the fridge door to make it look like you are getting something to eat and then sneak out through your bedroom window,” Eleanor explained. 

Stanley’s eyebrow rose, he had not assumed that Eleanor was the type to sneak out.

“I take it that this is not your first rodeo,” Stanley remarked.

“BABBA had just released a new album and I wanted to be the first person in line to get it and I also kind of wanted to try the whole camping out in front of a store thing,” Ellie admitted as she jotted something down on a nearby notepad. “I know that’s a lame reason to break curfew.”

“Hey, bottom line is you snuck out and stayed out all night. Tame teenage rebellion is still teenage rebellion,” Stanley told her before noticing that she was writing a note to her parents telling them that she Sammy and Stan were going on a midnight road trip to New Jersey and they’d be back as soon as they could. “Even if you are telling on us by writing a note.”

“I will have you know that I’m covering our bases. Mom will be less mad if she wakes up and finds us gone and we have left a note. And if we get back before she wakes up, we can throw the note out and lie our butts off,” Eleanor informed him smugly before realizing: “Of course when she sees the boat, she’s gonna know something’s up and while I manipulated Sammy into being our accomplice for our road trip, I doubt she will go along with lying to Mom and Dad. So yeah, the note will make Mom less mad and that’s really all we can hope for.”

“If you say so,” Stanley said doubtfully, wondering if he would have been better of waiting for the Whites to wake up so he could ask for permission.

Two hours and forty-five minutes later, Stanley, Samantha and Eleanor had arrived in New Jersey.

Although Sherman had assured him that the Stan-O-War was still intact, Stanley still could not help but let out a sigh of relief when he saw that his sailboat was right where he left.

Unfortunately the relief turned into frustration when it soon became apparent that even with the three of them, they could not carry the sailboat all the way to the truck as it was too heavy.

“How the hell were you planning on getting it to the truck by yourself?” Samantha demanded.

 “Is it my fault that I didn’t think it through?” Stanley asked as they pushed the boat up the sandy hill towards where the truck was.

 “Yes it is, actually,” Eleanor replied as if she was unaware of what a rhetorical question was. “You better pray that it actually fits in the back of the truck. Because if my second midnight adventure ends as disappointing as my first, I’m not gonna be happy.” She grumbled under her breath something about a stupid music store being closed for the holidays.

Thankfully it did fit in the back of the truck and they actually managed to lift it off the ground and into the truck but Stanley barely had any time to celebrate and catch his breath because he heard someone shouting on the beach.

“HEY! What do you think you’re doing! You can’t take that! That’s my boat!”

“I just can’t catch a break, can I?” Stanley muttered, wondering why Ford had chosen tonight of all nights to break curfew. Eleanor’s only response was to shoot him a sympathetic look.

“Who is he?” Samantha asked. It was either too dark or Ford was too far away for her to make out his features.

“Stanley’s twin brother, Stanford,” Ellie hissed just as the footsteps got closer.

"Ah. Well this can't be good," Samantha stated in a matter of fact tone of voice.

“Who are you people and why are you stealing my boat?” Ford demanded.

His boat! He abandoned the Stan-O-War which meant that he has no right to call it his.

“I’m not stealing anything because it’s not your boat, it’s my boat,” Stanley snapped as he whirled around to face the twin he hadn’t seen in months.  

Chapter Text

Ford had found that sleeping without the sound of snoring was rather difficult in the past few months since his brother left home or rather since he was kicked out. Now that Stanley’s stuff was gone, the bedroom they had once shared felt even emptier and it was not helping him fall asleep.

After a few hours of constantly tossing and turning restlessly on the top bunk, Ford decided that maybe a walk outside would tire him out and fresh air would clear his head. He had never snuck out before---that was more Stanley’s style--- but he knew all of his brother’s tricks by heart and he was able to leave undetected by his slumbering mother and father.

It was almost like his feet had a mind of their own and they carried him down to the beach where he and Stanley had spent most of their childhood.

However, when he arrived at the beach, he spotted three figures in the dark pushing something big up a sandy hill before they put it on the back of their truck. One glance at the empty spot where the Stan-O-War used to be confirmed Ford’s suspicions and he raced towards the three figures before he could really think about what he was doing, determined not to lose the remaining part of his childhood.

“HEY! What do you think you’re doing! You can’t take that! That’s my boat!” Ford shouted as he got closer to them and could make out their features in the dim light of the street lamp.  It was three teenagers, two female and one male. “Who are you people and why are you stealing my boat?”

“I’m not stealing anything because it’s not your boat, it’s my boat.”

It had been months since the two bothers had seen each other face to face; since Ford had closed the curtains, leaving Stan alone on the street. 

There was a lot of things Ford could have said---wanted to say but for right now, he focused on only one thing. 

“I worked on the Stan-o-war as much as you did and therefore it’s my boat. It means as much to me as it does you,” Ford protested, angry at that even now Stanley continued to be selfish.

“So what? It’s not like you are planning to use it,” Stanley snapped, as he crossed his arms over his chest, giving his brother a pointed glare. 

“Are you?” Ford countered.

“Actually I am gonna use it,” Stanley replied, a smirk on his face. “You see my new little brother wanted to sail on the Stan-o-war and much like Shermie when he gave me my car, I thought I’d be a good big brother and instead of letting my sailboat to go waste, I’d bring it to him instead.”


“Your little brother?” the oldest of the two girls repeated incredulously. The younger one---her sister perhaps---elbowed her before whispering furiously something in her ear.

Ford ignored them both, focusing on his brother.

“Well I’m glad you found someone else to suffocate,” Ford sneered, furious by the implication that he was not a good big brother. Not to mention, it hurt that Stanley seemed to be eager to replace him.

His twin’s face fell briefly before it scrunched up in anger.

“Suffocating you? How the hell did I suffocate you?” Stan demanded.

“It never occurred to you that I might want to do something other than treasure hunting. That I might want to be my own person without worrying how you’d feel about it or how it would affect you. I had so much potential but because you couldn’t stand the idea of me doing my own thing, you just went and ruined my life by sabotaging my project,” Ford shouted, rather relived to be getting this off his chest.

“It was an accident, Ford!” Stanley screamed. “And let me tell you something. I spent my entire life putting up with being called the dumb and useless twin, being your bodyguard, standing in your shadow. It’s funny how Pa said I held you back because I’m starting to think you held me back. I never wanted to try because you were always better than me at everything. I barely had any social life because I spent too much time, protecting you from bullies and being your emotional crutch whenever you felt bad about yourself. And this is the thanks I get. Being called suffocating and accused of ruining your dreams because I made a mistake.”

“You’re not taking the Stan-o-war,” was all Ford could think of saying to that. He didn’t want to admit that while he had a point so did Stanley. Right now, all he wanted was to stop his brother from taking their his sailboat.

“Yes I am,” Stanley replied, before shoving Ford hard enough to make him almost lose his balance.  “I’d like to see you stop me.”

 “Dammitt, Stanley, why do you never think about anyone else but yourself?” Ford snapped, trying hard not to lose his temper. He did not want to get into a physical fight with his brother. 

“I am thinking---” Stanley began but before he could finish that sentence he was interrupted.

“Are you kidding me with this!” the sixteen-year-old demanded, storming up to Ford, glaring daggers at him, her lips curled up in a sneer. “Before my mom called you, did you know where your brother was? Did you even care that he was living in his car with barely any money to survive? For all you knew he could have ended up falling down a ditch, smashing his head against a rock and died instantly. But then again, what else can I expect from a self-righteous arrogant jacka---”

“Eleanor!” the nineteen-year-old placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder, squeezing it gently before turning towards Ford, speaking in a clipped tone. “You can call the police on us, have us arrested for stealing your property---”

“It’s not his!” Stan exclaimed, only to shut up when the older girl threw him a warning look. 

“You both found it and worked on it so it does belong to both of you,” she explained before turning back to Ford. “Of course in court, they would probably rule in Stan’s favor as you were planning on abandoning it. However, that wasn’t my point. We did not drive all the way here just to go back home empty handed. So either you can call the police on us, drag more people into your little spat with your brother, or you can do the mature thing and walk away. If you wish, you can come to our town and use the boat in our lake. What will it be?”

“Fine. Just take good care of her,” Ford said with a sigh, turning away so he didn’t see his twin’s expression as he walked away.

Ford’s thoughts raced as he walked back home. Honestly it wasn’t Stanley’s words that had shaken up him but the younger of the two sisters had made a valid point that if her mother hadn’t called the Pines household, they would never haver found out where Stan was.

What if that call had been a doctor or a police officer instead, calling to inform them that Stanley had died? It was easy to convince himself that Stanley would be fine on his own but he could imagine the devastation, the guilt, he would have felt if he ever learned that his twin was dead.

The worst part was how outraged the dirty blonde-haired girl looked when she was yelling at Ford. She barely had known Stanley for, what, two months and there were tears in her eyes when she described what could have happened to him.

Stanley obviously cared enough about her brother if he was making a five-hour drive in the middle of the night just to give him a sailboat. And why wouldn’t he? After being kicked out, this family had obviously accepted him instantly, opening their home, giving him shelter unconditionally. They cared about his well-being, something Ford hadn’t thought about until it was pointed out to him.

Feeling guilty, Ford raced back to the beach, wanting to at least apologize for letting Pa kick Stanley out and for making a big deal out of him taking the Stan-O-War that they both knew Ford would not be using even if he wasn’t quite ready to believe that the whole ruining the science project was an accident.

Unfortunately by the time he got back to the beach, the truck and the three teenagers in it were already gone.

Eleanor was crying. She was trying to hide it but Stanley and Samantha could hear her sniffles over the radio.

Samantha took her hand off the steering wheel reached across Stan and squeezed her sister’s hand before turning the music off. 

“Did you find us suffocating?” Ellie asked in a quiet voice.

“Of course I did and I made sure you knew it,” Samantha replied bluntly, keeping her eyes on the road. “Ellie, you said it, yourself, you can be clingy. But just because I didn’t want to stick to your plan, doesn’t mean I was planning on leaving you forever.”

Stanley sank back into his seat, feeling like he was intruding on a private conversation. Luckily(?), despite him being in the middle of the two sisters, they both carried on the conversation like he wasn’t even there.


“I know. I just keep thinking maybe it was my fault. If I hadn’t been so pushy, she wouldn’t have left,” Eleanor said softly.

“She always wanted to leave town,” Samantha pointed out. “She and Amelia thought two underaged girls could make it as actresses by themselves. If anything, your plan was more realistic.”

This actually caused Eleanor to laugh in spite of herself.  “That’s why I needed you. Tess and I spent too much time fantasying with our heads in the clouds. Your blunt logic and absolute need to be a buzzkill would have kept us from doing something stupid,” she remarked, a sad smile on her face.  “I mean remember when Rosa and I sunk out to camp outside the music store. You were in the car the whole night, watching over us, making sure we didn’t get hurt.”


“I still can’t believe you actually thought you tricked me,” Samantha muttered.

“We beat you there. There is no way it would have taken you that long to get there unless I had you fooled for at least ten minutes,” Eleanor protested. She then turned to face Stanley, looking serious again. “I’m sorry I yelled at your brother.”

“It’s okay. I was yelling at him too,” Stanley told her. A part of him wanted to ask if there had been a point in her speech where she was actually talking about Tess but the last thing he wanted to do was make her cry again. “So uh, Sammy---”


“Do not call me Sammy. I can barely tolerate my family calling me Sammy and that’s mostly because asking them to stop only makes them call me Sammy more frequently,” Samantha said sternly.

“Don’t listen to Sammy, Stan, she loves being called Sammy. Sammy just pretends not to like being called Sammy,” Ellie teased, wiping her wet eyes that were now dancing mischievously.

Samantha rolled her eyes but strangely she looked satisfied. Stanley got the feeling that David was not the only one who was good at distracting his sisters from being either sad or angry.

“Right. So were you bluffing about the whole court thing or are you planning on being a lawyer?” he asked.

Samantha was silent for a few moments and Stanley wondered if simply asking if what she wanted to be was too personal.

“I was expecting you to follow that with some sort of crack about how hot woman lawyers were,” Samantha remarked, sounding genuinely surprised.

“I make dumb jokes but I’m not sexist,” Stanley said in a mock-outraged voice. 

“To answer your question, Stanley, Sammy just likes to learn everything. She doesn’t want to be a psychiatrist but she still took a psych class in her first year of college. She doesn’t want to be a mechanic or a cook and yet she had Mom teach her how to cook and she asked our mechanic how to teach her how to fix a car,” Eleanor replied before frowning darkly. “Oh by the way, he’s sexist.” 

“To be fair I was only thirteen and his willingness to teach me was not helped by the fact that my ten-year-old sister yelled at him and threw her book at him,” Samantha pointed out.

“He was being condescending, I lost my temper and I didn’t think it would hit him,” Eleanor defended herself.

“If you want you can help me fix my car. I could use a second hand,” Stanley offered. Judging from the fact that the mechanic clearly thought he knew how to fix Stanley’s precious car better than Stanley did, the guy was might not be sexist but he was clearly a condescending jerk who could make the nicest of girls lose their tempers and it made Stan glad that he had chosen to fix the car himself.

“Are you just trying to get me do the work for you?” Samantha asked suspiciously.

“Sammy!” Ellie admonished her. “I heard him refer to that car as his baby. Something tells me that the fact that he’s willing to let you touch it is a big deal.”

“Her,” Stanley corrected. “Not it. Her.” 

“See!”

“Fine. I’ll help you fix it,” Samantha said with a hint of gratitude in her otherwise stoic tone.

“She’s warming up to me. I can feel it,” Stan stage-whispered.

“It takes time but eventually you’ll make her heart grow three times as big,” Ellie joked. Samantha let out a sigh but Stanley could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile on her face.

They arrived back at the White house when the sky was still dark enough that it seemed like they had made it home without the remaining occupants waking up.

The minute they stepped in, they came face to face with Mary White who was wearing her nightgown with a robe over it. Although she said nothing, she looked as though she wanted to skin them alive.

“Didn’t you get our note?” Eleanor asked weakly, either hoping to diffuse the tension or make her mother a little less angry.  

Either way, Mary’s furious expression did not change.

“Living room now!” she hissed.

Chapter Text

Despite visibly seething, Mary said nothing as the three teenagers went into the living room where Dan, fully dressed, was waiting for them. She said nothing as Dan asked them to explain where they were and why they left, waiting for them to tell the full story—including the confrontation with Ford---before she spoke.

“Let me make something perfectly clear, you will not do this ever again. All three of you live under my roof which means I will not have anyone sneaking out of the house, driving out of state let alone to New Jersey in the middle of the night ever again. What would have happened if you crashed in a secluded area with no payphones around?” Mary ranted, clearly not expecting or wanting anyone to answer her question. She turned her sharp eyes on her oldest daughter, directing her next words to her before continuing to address all three of them. “I don’t care how old you are, Samantha, that does not mean that you are in any less trouble than Eleanor and Stanley. For the next three weeks, the three of you will be working in my restaurant. Now go get some sleep before your shift starts.”

She did not give them a chance to process her speech. Instead she abruptly stalked out of the living room like an tigress before they even had a chance to either protest or respond.

Dan, who had been sitting in an armchair while his wife chewed the three teenagers out, got up.

“Believe it or not she is actually going easy on you. Before she found out why you took the car, she was planning on simply grounding all three of you for a year,” he remarked “Stanley, do you mind if I take your boat to the shed?”

“Uh, don’t worry about it. I can do it,” Stanley told him, trying to stifle a yawn.

“It’s no trouble at all. Besides I think you three better go get some rest. Mary wasn’t kidding when she said you’d have a shift today and I doubt it will be a light one,” Dan explained. 

“So just to be clear, the note did not help at all,” Eleanor guessed.

“No, sweetie, it didn’t,” Dan replied, his tone was soft with a stern undertone. “Your mother and I were worried something might happen to you and if something had happened, a note would not have made things better.”

Now feeling guilty, the three teenagers went to their bedrooms to catch a few hours of sleep.

Stanley couldn’t fall asleep, still thinking about the argument with Ford. The word suffocating just repeated over and over as he tried to think back, wondering if Ford had started not wanting to make their dream a reality long before West Coast Tech had entered the equation.

How long had Ford wanted to get away from him? How long had he seen his twin as suffocating? When had it gone from it will be the two of them forever to Ford wanting nothing to do with him?

“Stanley?” Ellie whispered as she opened the door, either being quiet in case he was asleep or because she didn’t want to alert her mother who would no doubt be even angrier if she found her daughter sneaking into Stanley’s room. When he sat up, she went and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I couldn’t sleep and I feel like I was being selfish back in the car when you just had a fight with your brother. I just wanted to let you know that I’m up for listening if you want to vent.”

“It’s fine. Honestly, I’m not up for sleeping or talking,” Stanley told her. “But I don’t think you were being selfish. Clearly something about this situation reminded you of your sister.”  He could have kicked himself when he saw the slight flinch. He had not meant to bring up such a touchy subject and inwardly cursed his big mouth.

“I’m not up for sleeping either. You up for listening?” Ellie inquired, sounding hopeful as though she wanted to get this off her chest.

“Sure.”

“Well my sisters and I might have a bit of an age gap but we were always close.  However as Tess and Sammy grew older, they began to change and want to do things without me. Tess especially wanted to get of this town, feeling it was too small for a growing star like her,” Ellie laughed, a sad smile on her face. “She wanted to be a singer. I would write songs for her and Sammy would be our manager plus agent. But Tess didn’t want to wait until we had finished our education. She wanted to go Hollywood straight away. So one day in January, Tess came home all excited because there was this big audition in another town. She and Amelia were going to take a bus to try out. My mom said no as the audition was the same day school started again. They got into a really big fight and Tess went up to her room and that was the last time we saw her. I went in her room to sneak her some desert and I found the lights off, pillows arranged in the shape of a body and her drawers empty. We searched for her all night and we found her. She had slipped on some ice and fell into ditch, hitting her head on the way down.”

“Geez, I’m so sorry,” Stanley said, unsure what to do or what to say to that.

“The worst part is Amelia, her best friend, was with her. They had decided to run away together,” Eleanor muttered, now staring out the window with a grimace. “If my best friend had fallen and hit her head, I would have gone and gotten help. I would not have just ran home and then hours later told her frantic family that I hadn’t seen her. How callous can you be to act like nothing was wrong when for all you know she could be dead!” 

With that last word, Eleanor buried her face in Stanley’s chest, barely aware of her own actions. Despite feeling awkward, Stanley wrapped his arms around her, hugging her.

“Sorry,” Ellie apologized bashfully as they separated.

“Don’t be. I asked. Are you okay?” Stanley inquired worriedly.

“I will be. I just needed to get that off my chest. I’ve been trying so hard to be more like Samantha and hold everything together that I just couldn’t stop myself,” Eleanor explained.

“Hey, if you ever need to vent, I’m here to listen,” Stanley assured her.

“Right back at you,” Eleanor told him, wiping her wet eyes. “Well I better go back to my room before Mother finds us and once again assumes the worst.”


“To be fair, I’m not the one sneaking in a boy’s room,” Stanley joked, causing Eleanor to give him a playful glare.

“You’re not that cute,” she countered, giggling as Stanley mimed being hurt before getting up and walking out of Stanley’s room, thankfully not bumping into Mary.

Stanley sighed as he slumped back against his pillow. What a night. He hadn’t felt this emotionally drained since the first night after he was kicked out.

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of sailing on the Stan-O-War, all alone. Suddenly a storm hit and Stanley was thrown overboard and as he tried to keep his head above the water, he heard voices in his ear.

Suffocating.

Screw-up.

Clown.

You ruined my future.

You ruined everything.

Just as he fell underneath the waves, he was woken up by someone jumping on top of him.

Stanley shot upwards, nearly knocking the boy off his bed, not that he cared. David was grinning at him and hugged him.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. Can we sail today!” David begged.

“David White, what are you doing!” Mary demanded as she appeared in the doorway. “Apologize to Stanley for waking him up right now.”

“Sorry Stan, I just got so excited when I saw your boat. And Dad said we could go fishing tomorrow morning but I want to sail on it today,” David chattered animatedly, bouncing up and down on the bed.

“David,” Mary warned sternly, annoyed that he was still bothering Stanley who still seemed half-awake.


“Sorry, kid, but I’ve got a shift at your mom’s restaurant,” Stanley explained as he stretched and yawned, glancing at his clock, wondering how long he had managed to sleep for.  The clock said eleven so at least a few hours. 

“Actually I reconsidered that. There are only a few weeks left of summer so you’ll start working in a few days,” Mary informed him before quickly adding. “However, today, Stanley, we have to go get your eyes examined so we make sure we get you glasses.” After receiving Stanley’s medical files, the town doctor had informed Mary and Dan of his poor eyesight. Mary had not been happy to learn that the Pines parents had known but not gotten him glasses because his eyesight was slightly better than Ford's so why bother paying for both.


Both David and Stanley groaned but neither argued. David gave the older boy another hug before running downstairs.

“Here, you missed breakfast so I brought you some toast,” Mary told him as she placed some buttered toast wrapped in a napkin on the side table next to Stanley’s bed. “Lunch will be in two hours so I thought this would sustain until then.”

“Thanks and look, I wanted to apologize for dragging your daughters for my midnight joy ride,” Stanley said, trying to play it off as a joke.

Mary gave him a hard look. “Unless you forced them in the car at gunpoint, they share the equal blame,” she remarked. “I am not happy about this, Stanley but your heart was in the right place. I’m just sorry I ruined your surprise for David. He overheard me talking to Dan about your midnight trip and well he immediately went looking before running upstairs to wake you.”

“Hey I’m glad he liked it,” Stanley laughed, feeling pleased he had made someone happy.

“I have never seen him happier,” Mary replied, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. “We’re lucky to have you here.”

Stanley blinked at her in confusion but Mary didn’t elaborate. Instead she turned and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

His mind drifted back to what Eleanor told him just hours before and he found himself wondering if she and her family saw him as a chance to fill the empty spot Tess had left behind.

In a weird way it was nice because it meant someone wanted him.

“The eyeglasses look nice,” Dan complimented Stanley when he and Mary returned home. “You look very distinguished.”

“Thank you, sir. I thought they looked a little dorky but I guess I’m just not used to wearing them,” Stan replied, not glancing at the mirror next to him as he adjusted them. He was half-afraid he’d see Ford staring back instead of his reflection.  

“Hey Mom, Rosa invited me to hang out at the ice cream shop, am I allowed to go?” Eleanor asked as she walked downstairs.

“What did your father say?” Mary inquired.

“What every sitcom father says: ask your mother,” Eleanor replied with a chuckle.

Mary shook her head in exasperation. “Dan, we work as a team. If you want to allow our daughter to go out with her friends, you may.”


“Mary, you are the love of my life. We might be a team but we both know that if I were to make a decision without your input, you would sulk,” Dan told her, an amused expression his face.

“I don’t sulk,” Mary protested.

“Oh Mom, you sulk,” Eleanor contradicted.

“Do you want to hang out with Rosa or not?” Mary asked with her eyes narrowed at her daughter. Eleanor mimed zipping her lips. “If your father says you can go, then you can go.”

“Well considering your mother doesn’t have a problem with it, you can go,” Dan said. He smirked when he saw his wife’s sour face. “There it is: the sulk.”

“Oh that’s it. I’m done with the both of you,” Mary declared, rolling her eyes as she walked away with Dan trailing after her, teasing her lightly.

“Hey Stan, Rosa just got back to town and I’m sure she’d love to meet you. So would you like to come with me?” Eleanor offered, still grinning. “You can show off how distinguished you look in those very fetching glasses.”


“Aw, thank you. But while I’m flattered that you want to use me as arm candy, I am afraid I have plans with your sister,” Stanley reminded her. 

Before he and Mary had gone to get glasses, Samantha and Stanley had agreed to work on finishing the repairs to EL Diablo.

“Uh Stanley, when you and Mom arrived home, did you guys not notice a pair of legs sticking out from under your car?” Eleanor asked, looking as though she was trying hard not to laugh.

Stanley’s eyes widened in horror as he hightailed it to the garage.  Sure enough, a grease stained Samantha was just getting out from under it.

“When is the last time you changed your oil?” Samantha asked, as she wiped her hands on a rag.

“I don’t know. I thought the mechanic would have done it,” Stanley replied, torn between being angry or grateful.

“Not unless you were gonna pay him,” Samantha pointed out. “Look I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything else wrong with your car. I called Mr. Barker and he said that while he was checking it out, he noticed that your oil hadn’t been changed in months so I thought I’d do it for you.”


“Well next time wait for me to come back,” Stanley snapped, feeling a bit possessive and annoyed that his baby had been touched without his permission.

“I think the word you were looking for was thank you,” Samantha informed him.

“Hey, have you ever changed a car’s oil before or even seen it done?” Stanley asked, annoyed that she thought she deserved a thank you when she could have done something incorrectly and wrecked his car.

“No but I read about it thoroughly,” Samantha answered.

“Well there is a difference between reading and doing,” Stanley snapped as he laid down pushed himself under the car, using the discarded flashlight to inspect her work.

“I thought I was doing you a favor,” Samantha grumbled. “Like you did for David.”


Stanley couldn’t help but grin as he pushed himself back out. “So in other words: you wanted to do something nice for me,” he remarked.

“Look all I know is when I came back from college, everyone was a mess. Months passed, it got a little bit better but things were still tense. Then one day, you showed up and it’s almost like everything has gone back to the way it was,” Samantha explained, giving Stanley a fierce glare. “You are still not allowed to call me Sammy.”

“Understood, Sam,” Stanley replied, still grinning as he went back under his car. Almost ten minutes later, he got out from under the car and stood up. “You did an okay job for someone who only read how to change the oil.”


“This might shock you but many people learn how to do things from reading books,” Samantha told him coolly.

“And how do you think the people who wrote those books learned how to do it?” Stanley asked with a smirk.

“Wow, that was actually a good point,” Samantha said, sounding far too surprised for Stan’s liking.

"I happen to be smarter than most people give me credit for," Stanley defended himself, thinking specifically about how he had even surprised himself by doing so well on Dan's practice test. He didn't even give himself credit. 

And let me tell you something. I spent my entire life putting up with being called the dumb and useless twin, being your bodyguard, standing in your shadow. It’s funny how Pa said I held you back because I’m starting to think you held me back. I never wanted to try because you were always better than me at everything. I barely had any social life because I spent too much time, protecting you from bullies and being your emotional crutch whenever you felt bad about yourself.

Maybe Ford had the right idea. Maybe it was better that they were apart. Away from people who knew them and compared them. This way they could be their own people.

Chapter Text

School would never be Stanley’s favorite place but he had to admit that walking into a classroom without the teachers glaring at him was rather nice change of pace. If any of the teachers were aware about his troublemaking history, none of them seemed to hold it against him, treating him no differently than any other students.

Speaking of his new classmates, Stanley wasn’t sure what rumors had been going around but judging from the whispers that seemed to stop when he passed and the fact that some were almost jumpy whenever he passed them, he guessed the rumors involved something dangerous.  

Considering Eleanor was the only one he knew in the school besides Dan, he decided to ask her during lunch.

“So what am I? A juvenile delinquent? In a biker gang? Escaped convict? Ruggedly handsome rogue come to corrupt the innocent teenagers of this small town?” Stanley asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Eleanor almost choked on her drink when he said that last one.  “All of us or just the ones you like?” she inquired rhetorically, with a mischievous smile. “Honestly I don’t listen to gossip. But Rosa might know. I wonder where she is. I know she has lunch with us.”


“Maybe she’s not hungry,” Stanley guessed. He had meet Rosa García just a few weeks before school started. She, her parents and her siblings were the only Latinos in town, something she wore with pride. When Stanley made the mistake of mixing up Colombia and Mexico, she spent the next thirty minutes explaining the difference between the two countries. It was actually quite informative.

“There she---uh-oh,” Eleanor said, frowning worriedly as she took in her best friend’s appearance as the Latina made her way over to them, looking as though she might cry.

Seeing her expression, Stanley immediately got out of his chair so she could sit down next to Eleanor.

“Gracias but I’m not staying. I’ve been suspended,” Rosa explained, wiping her face with her hand.

“It’s the first day of school not even I…” Stanley trailed off when both girls gave him an annoyed look. “Sorry I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“Rosa, que pasó?” Eleanor asked, taking her friend’s hand in hers and giving it a light squeeze.

“Hey Ellie, let the psycho Spic go back to Mexico where it belongs,” someone shouted from across the courtyard, unknowingly giving both Eleanor and Stanley a pretty good guess of what happened.

“Would you like to come over here and say that?” Stanley growled, spinning around so he could glare at the racist was holding an ice pack on his eye. Clearly Rosa had already punched him but he hadn’t learned his lesson in not being an asshole something Stanley was itching to rectify.

“This doesn’t concern you, Mr. Charity Case,” the teenager sneered, his lip curling in disgust.

“Wow, you are really creative with your insults, aren’t you?” Stanley said sarcastically.

“Ignore Justin, Stanley, he is just a malparido,” Eleanor swore, getting up and grabbing Stanley’s arm, pulling both him and Rosa away from the lunch area.

“You do realize I’m going to be in even more trouble if Papá and Mamá find out I taught you that word,” Rosa said, although her tone was less accusatory and more amused.

“Oh please that moron failed Spanish twice and keeps pronouncing Hola as holela,” Ellie said derisively, sniffing haughtily.

“I don’t know why you didn’t let me hit him. If there is one thing I’m good at, it’s hitting bullies,” Stanley muttered, cracking his knuckles as he remembered the bullies who often picked on Ford, acting as though him having six fingers gave them an excuse to be so nasty.

It suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea if Ford was still being picked on. He needed to make some calls just in case the bullies thought that because Stanley was gone, that meant they could bully Ford without worrying about getting beat up themselves.

“That won’t help, Stan, our school is very strict about violence whoever attacks first is the one suspended,” Rosa informed him with a heavy sigh.

“Let me guess, his friends collaborated his story that you punched him but they conveniently left out the part where he called you names and slurs,” Eleanor guessed. She didn’t even wait for her best friend to confirm her suspicions. “Go home, Rosa. I’ll talk to my dad, he’ll talk to the principal and you’ll be back at school tomorrow.” 

Rosa agreed, hugging Ellie before saying goodbye to Stan. As they watched her leave school grounds, Eleanor turned to Stanley.

“I think I know how you can fight him but it involves stealing, vandalism and tricking him into throwing the first punch,” she told him matter of factly.

“Girl, now you are speaking my language,” Stanley replied with a grin.

“We are also gonna have to skip our next class and maybe the one after that,” Eleanor remarked, after some thought.

“Huh, maybe you’re the devastatingly beautiful rouge who is corrupting me,” Stan joked.

“You wish,” Eleanor countered, giving Stan a playful shove. “Now how good are you at lockpicking?”

Apparently the plan involved going into the boys’ locker room. Unfortunately, it had a strong odor of sweat and general stink.

“Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew,” Eleanor muttered over and over under her breath as she held a napkin over her mouth. “School just started today. How the hell does it stink so bad?”

“Teenage boys plus puberty, plus them tossing their stinky socks all over the place,” Stanley replied, as he fiddled with the lock on the locker that was labeled Justin. Finally he managed to disable the padlock. Opening the locker reveled another source of the stink: a moldy ham sandwich. “Yep, that has definitely been here all summer.”

“Seriously, I saw him in here this morning. Why wouldn’t he throw it out? Guys just suck,” Eleanor complained, causing Stanley to give her an offended look. She quickly clarified with a sheepish expression. “Obviously not you or Dad or David. That goes without saying.”

Using an extra napkin, Stanley grabbed the offending food and threw it into trash before reaching into the locker and sorting through the rest of the junk, looking for what Eleanor assured him was Justin’s prized possession.

“Gum, of course a pair of stinky socks, a spray can of paint which I will be keeping, a list of the hottest girls----wow, this guy is just hitting all the clichés.”

“Wait, can I see that?” Eleanor requested, curiously. Stanley handed her the paper with a raised eyebrow. The girl just shrugged as she eagerly searched for her names. She then laughed, a wide grin spreading across her face as she began to laugh. “Oh my God, the stars are breasts! Hey I have seven breasts!” 

“You sound way too excited about that,” Stan remarked, as he continued his search through the locker.

“I should want to kill him for this but honestly, this is just so dumb, it’s impossible not to laugh about it. That being said, it belongs in the same place Justin belongs in,” Eleanor said, before ripping the paper into shreds and tossing them into the trash with a satisfied smirk.

“Well put. Here we go. It was under the dirty socks,” Stanley said with a grimace as he pulled out the baseball card. His eyes widened as he examined it. “Oh come on, it’s a rare one. Do we have to deface it? Can’t I just keep it and sell it?”

“It’s a small town, Stanley, if we sell it, we’ll get caught,” Eleanor pointed out. “Besides what’s the big deal? It’s just a card.”

“Of the greatest baseball player of all time. Come on, let me keep this,” Stanley implored her, giving her the puppy dog eyes. “When your mom drove me to get my glasses, we passed by a pawn shop when we were headed back to town. I’ll make up some excuse about why I have to drive there and we can even split the money.”

“First of all, I’m going with you because I don’t know how much that is worth and something tells me you will say it’s worth less than it really is,” Eleanor remarked, chuckling when Stan mimed being offended. “Secondly, you are gonna have to find a good place to hide it just in case they search you.”

“Well I can think of one place they will definitely not search,” Stan told her, averting his eyes, not wanting to glance in that area.  

“Where?” Eleanor asked, confused.

“Your chest,” Stan mumbled, still not looking at her.

“I think the worst part is I have more of a problem stuffing a card that was under stinky socks between my breasts then I do stealing a rare baseball card and selling it,” Eleanor said after a seconds of awkward silence passed.

She took the card from Stanley and even though he was deliberately keeping his eyes on the fire alarm above the row of lockers, she still turned around to shove the baseball card inside her bra.

“At least it’s not the spray paint can we have to hide,” Stan joked as he shoved the can into his backpack before closing the locker and locking it before the two teens made their getaway.

Much to Stanley’s dismay, they had only missed one period of class which they agreed that their cover story would be that they had walked Rosa back home. The rest of the school day passed by uneventfully and they were waiting on the school steps for Justin to find out what they had done. Not even thirty minutes passed after the school bell had rung when the fair-haired teenager came running out of the school, practically foaming at the mouth.  

“Hey you!” he shouted after them.

“Do you just not know my name?” Stanley asked, leaning against the flag pole casually. “I’m Stanley Pines. Nice ta metcha.” He stuck out his hand as if he was expecting Justin to shake it.

“Give me back my card!” Justin shouted.

“Card? I think there are stores that have a whole deck of them. Were you looking to play solitaire?” Stan mocked, enjoying the lovely shade of purple the other boy’s face was turning.

“Look I know you think you are all that because you are part of a motorcycle gang or whatever but I’m a football player and I could crush you,” Justin growled, trying very hard to look menacing. Unfortunately Stan was not just a year-older, he was also nearly a foot taller, something that the other boy noticed when Stan stopped slouching.  

“I have been boxing since I was a kid. Just try me,” Stan whispered as he stepped forward. He saw the right hook coming from a mile away and sidestepped the fist letting him hit the flagpole. “Well that gotta hurt.”

“I’ll kill you!” Justin roared, leaping at Stan, fully prepared to tackle him.

Stan decided to go low and hit his stomach, knocking him to the ground.

“ENOUGH!” Dan shouted, gripping his cane as he hurried down the school steps, with another teacher close behind.

“Mr. White, Stanley broke into my locker, stole my baseball card and then hit me,” Justin lied…well half-lied.

“Ellie, is that what happened?” Dan asked Eleanor who had been watching the whole thing.

“Nope, Justin tried to hit Stan and when he hit the flagpole instead, he tried to tackle him,” Eleanor explained, biting her lip to conceal her smile.

Dan’s eyes narrowed slightly before turning his companion.

“Ron, would you mind taking Justin to the principal’s office where he can explain how he managed to get into two fights on his first day of school,” Dan suggested calmly. He waited until his co-worker had marched a protesting Justice back inside before rounding on the other two teenagers. “Hand the card over,” he demanded, his tone broached no argument as he extended his hand out.

Eleanor meekly pulled it out and placed the card on her father’s palm. Dan blinked in surprise at where she had gotten it from but said nothing else as he slipped the baseball card in his pocket and walked back towards the school.

“Are we in trouble?” Stan asked, surprised they didn’t get yelled at. After all, the baseball card in their possession did prove that they had broken into school property and stolen something.

“Well if he tells Mom, we’ll probably have extra shifts at the restaurant but if not, I’m guessing he’ll slip the card back into Justin’s locker and he'll pretend he knows nothing,” Eleanor explained. “Hey as long as Justin is suspended, I don’t care. Come on, I’ll bet you anything that Rosa is blowing off steam at the arcade. Shall we blow off our homework and enjoying some mindless entertainment?”

“Okay but if anyone asks, it was your idea,” Stanley laughed as they walked down the street.

“Hey, do you guys need a ride?” someone called from a nearby car.

“No we’re good,” Stanley said, slightly startled by the offer from some random teenager.

“I think you just became the new top dog,” Eleanor said with a grin.

“Seriously? Do you think anyone would be willing to do my homework?” Stan asked hopefully.

“Stanley, braver kids than you have tried and they have never been able to slip by one teacher. And unfortunately for you, you happen to live with that teacher,” Eleanor replied, giving him a sympathetic look as she linked arms with him. “But hey, you have a fellow procrastinator with you. We’ll wing it.”


“Sounds like a plan. Hopefully this one won’t stink as much,” Stan teased her.

Eleanor shuddered. “I hope Rosa appreciates what we had to go through to defend her honor.”


“Hey, I grow up in a house of four men and I tell ya, the boy’s locker room actually smelled better than Ford and my room,” Stanley remarked fondly. His brow furrowed as he remembered what he had been worrying about earlier. “Uh, does the arcade have a phone? I need to make some calls to make sure Crampelter and his cronies aren’t taking advantage of me not being in New Jersey.”

Even though he was still mad at his brother, Stan prayed that Ford might have had a good first day at school---just like he had.

Little did Stanley knew that Ford’s first day as a senior was in fact one of the worst days of his life.

His teachers had kept asking how he could have not impressed the West Coast Tech folks, wondering if he had an off day or perhaps he only smart compared to his fellow classmates.

And then there was Crampelter who was just delighted that Ford was at school and Stanley was nowhere to be found. He and his little gang shot spitballs at him through a peashooter during class, spray painted his locker with the word freak and took pleasure in "accidentally" tripping or bumping into him.

It was ridiculous. He had taken the same boxing lessons Stanley had so he should be able to defend himself. Unfortunately unlike Stanley, he refused to attack anyone unless it was in self-defense. So until they got physically abusive, he would try and pretend that their taunts was not affecting him.

By the time, Ford got home, he felt like curling up in a ball and crying. He wanted to be able to do things without Stanley and yet he couldn’t even get through a school day without needing his brother.

Ford let out a heavy sigh as he sat at his desk, trying to focus on his homework. He wondered if Stan was having just an awful day like he was.

“And here I thought you were so smart, Stanford, but I guess next your brother and the rest of these clowns, it’s no surprise.”

“Hey freak, I hear your brother left town. I guess he got so sick of living with a freak like you.”

And let me tell you something. I spent my entire life putting up with being called the dumb and useless twin, being your bodyguard, standing in your shadow. It’s funny how Pa said I held you back because I’m starting to think you held me back. I never wanted to try because you were always better than me at everything. I barely had any social life because I spent too much time, protecting you from bullies and being your emotional crutch whenever you felt bad about yourself.”

Ford wasn’t sure why he went down to the kitchen, searched through Ma’s phone book and dialed the White’s number. Maybe he needed to know that Stanley had a bad day so he wouldn’t feel so pathetic. Maybe after an emotionally draining day, he needed to talk to the one person he knew, despite everything would always be there for him.

“Hi, I’m David White, my mom and dad aren’t here so you should call back later,” a young voice said. There was a pause before he spoke again. “Wait, if you are calling for Sammy, she’s in the garage fixing Stan’s car so I can get her.”

“No that’s okay,” Ford assured him, shocked that Stan would let anyone touch his car. “I was looking for Stanley, actually.”

“Oh well he’s at the arcade with his friends,” David explained.  “I don’t know how long he’s gonna be but I hope he’ll be back soon, I want to show him the picture I drew in art class of him. We’re on the Stan-O-War except it’s renamed----”

“David, what are you doing? You know you are not allowed to talk to people on the phone unless you know who they are,” a woman’s voice chided. “Who is this and why are you talking to my son?”

Feeling self-conscious, Ford hung up the phone without another word. As he walked up to his room, he tried to convince himself that he was not jealous that Stan was letting someone touch his car---something he only let Ford do once and that was only because he had a concussion and needed someone to drive them home. He was not jealous that apparently Stanley had made friends who he was hanging out with after school not needing to protect or cheer up his twin brother. And he was certainly not jealous that Stanley’s new “brother” had not only gotten their boat but he was also allowed to rename it.

Ford wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that despite trying to be his own person he needed his brother while Stan who had wanted them to stay together apparently was better off without him or the fact that he selfishly wished Stan had a bad day. At least it would have given them a reason to talk.

Chapter Text

Three months had passed since Stanley had started living with the Whites. There were some days when it felt like he had only been there a week and he was still getting used to them; there were other times when it felt like he had known them for years.

Although their punishment was over by now, Stanley still helped out at the restaurant, claiming that with Rosa and Ellie hanging out there he might as well do so otherwise he might die of boredom.

“You know you could do homework,” Rosa pointed out as she and Samantha went over the inventory as Eleanor and Stanley did the dishes.

“I could but I like to take my time with my homework,” Stanley told her. “So I won’t have to stress over it later.”

“Oooh, I like that excuse. I’m using that one,” Ellie decided.

“You two are a match made in heaven,” Samantha deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

“What? Just because we both get stressed out with school and find it better to wait until we are relaxed to do homework,” Eleanor said innocently.

“You either wait until the morning before school starts or you’ll wait until Dad, me or Rosa have time to help you with it,” Samantha pointed out, nonplussed.

“And yet it works for us,” Eleanor remarked with a grin.

“And before you get on our case about barely passing, I would like to point out that your mother made me a cake because I got my first A last week,” Stanley reminded, grinning as well. “I mean all I did was pretend math was money and bam: instant A!”

“Cake just tastes so much sweeter when you get an A in a class everyone thinks you’ll fail,” Eleanor declared.

“Yeah it does!” Stanley exclaimed as they high-fived.

“Te garantizo que ellos se casarán en cinco años,” Rosa stage-whispered to Samantha who smirked.

“What did she say?” Stanley asked a red-faced Eleanor.

“Nothing. They were just being nerd robots,” Eleanor lied, her voice becoming slightly high-pitched.

“WHAT!”

The teens were interrupted by a shout from Mary’s office and seconds later a frazzled Mary came running out.

“Héctor,” she called out to Rosa’s father. “Tengo que irme temprano. Estás a cargo.” 

“Sí, realmente,” the chef replied.

“Gracias,” Mary said to him before turning to the teenagers. “We have to go home. One of the neighbors saw smoke coming from the boat shed.” 

Before Mary could say anything else, Stanley had already taken off running, terrified that after his childhood dream had crashed and burned, that the physical manifestation of his childhood was now burning to the ground.

He did not stop running until he had arrived at the White house where there was already a fire truck. If there was a fire, the shed looked undamaged but the fact that there were a fireman hurriedly carrying two buckets of water inside the shed so clearly something was on fire.

Another fireman was lecturing a group of kids around David’s age, on closer inspection, Stanley spotted David among them, looking shamefaced and guilty.

“Hey what’s going on here?” Stanley asked as he walked up to them. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the White ladies walking up the driveway.

“David, I thought you and your friends were going to be at the arcade,” Mary remarked, an eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well it seems that Charlie brought home something more than his laundry when he came home from college,” the fireman explained when the kids did not. “Mark found his stash and convinced his friends to try it with him.”

No one needed to ask him what Charlie had brought home; the boys practically stank of marijuana.  

“And what happened?” Mary demanded, her voice deadly soft as her eyes narrowed at her son.

“The boys came here, thinking the shed would be the best place for them to hide what they were doing. But the munchies hit them before they were even halfway done with their…joints so they went inside to raid your fridge, leaving their lit pot unattended,” the fireman finished, giving his son a glare. “I will be using both Charlie and Mark’s allowances to pay for any damage and for the food they consumed.”

“Thank you, Earl. Would you mind dropping the other boys home while I call my husband and inform him that we need to have a serious talk about drugs?” Mary asked, waiting for the man to nod before she grabbed David by the arm and stalked towards the house with her son in tow. Eleanor and Samantha followed, perhaps to make sure their little brother wasn’t scolded too harshly.

An hour later the fireman and the other boys had left, leaving Stanley to walk into the shed so he could see how much damage his boat had gotten.

The boys must have been smoking on the deck of the Stan-O-War as the damage seemed to be mostly there. While it was bad, the boat certainly wasn’t in as bad shape as it was when Ford and he first found it.  It would take a few months and maybe he should just tear up the rest of the deck and replace it with non-flammable wood. 

“Stan, are you mad at me?” a small voice asked from behind Stanley. David was standing behind him, looking down at his shoes, tears in his eyes. “Please don’t be mad at me. It was an accident. I swear I didn’t mean---”

“It was an accident, Ford, I swear!” 

“Whoa, kid, calm down,” Stanley soothed him, walking over to the younger boy and wrapping his arm around him. “Take it from someone who has made a lot of mistakes, it’s okay to make mistakes even if you can’t fix them, you shouldn’t keep blaming yourself. Besides I was looking at the Stan-O-War and I think I can fix it but I will need someone to work on our boat with me.”

At once David’s eyes lit up. “You mean it!” he exclaimed, his voice going from remorseful to excited in an instance.

“Whenever your punishment is over, we’ll get the supplies and starting fixing it until the Stan-O-War is as good as new,” Stan assured him, ruffling his hair.

“Mom says I’m grounded until summer vacation,” David grumbled. “I think she’s more mad at us making a mess in the kitchen when we were hungry.”

“Yeah, first rule of pot, always have food nearby for when you got the munchies,” Stanley remarked.

“I don’t think that’s the lesson we need to be teaching,” Dan stated calmly having entered just in time for Stan’s last line. “David, why don’t you go wash up for dinner while I talk to Stanley.”  He waited for David to run back to the house before turning to Stanley with a raised eyebrow. Stan waited for the interrogation on whether or not he was a druggie. “I think I can help.”

“What?”

“My wife overheard you talking to Eleanor about what happened between you and your brother and I assume the unfixable mistake you were telling David about would be your brother’s project,” Dan remarked. Stanley only nodded, averting his eyes. “Well, I can’t guarantee it but I think I can I can get your brother into West Coast Tech.”

“You can? How?” Stanley asked, his eyes wide as he could scarcely believe his ears. Surely this was too good to be true.

“Well I have made numerous donations to West Coast Tech, contributed to some buildings and equipment so they owe me a favor but if I throw my name around, I will have to be certain your brother has the grades needed to be accepted in that school. They have enough people buying their children’s spots in colleges for me to do the same thing,” Dan said firmly.

“Oh trust me, my brother is the smartest guy there is,” Stan assured him. “Our room is filled with his little science projects.”

“Alright, I’ll make the call if you promise that after you graduate high school, you’ll also give college a shot as well,” Dan prompted, extending his hand for Stan to shake only for Stanley to hug him.

“Deal! Thank you so much!” Stanley exclaimed, becoming misty-eyed as he hugged the older man, overcome with gratitude. “Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”  

“I will do everything in my power to help you, Stanley,” Dan told him softly, wrapping his arms protectively around the teenager.

“Any chance, you wanna toss around a football before dinner?” Stanley asked, half-meaning it as a joke but still feeling quite pleased when the older man agreed.

It was nearly midnight when Stanley decided to take a crack at his homework deciding that not procrastinating was the least he could do for Dan.

But instead of focusing on his homework, his thoughts drifted to how his family would react when they learned that Ford would getting into his dream school after all.

Well he was certain Ma and Shermie would be pleased for Ford and also in hopes that this would repair the hole that Stanley had torn in their family. Would Ford finally understand that his brother’s actions had not been malicious? Would he be willing to make amends with his twin? Would Pa welcome Stanley home now that Ford stood to gain millions again? Did Stanley even want to return home?

Stanley’s musing was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

“I know you are awake, Stan, may I come in?” Mary asked.

“Yeah, come in,” he answered, guessing Dan had informed his wife about what he was going to do. He wondered if she was hoping to convince him that it wasn’t a good idea. He knew that Mary was frugal and despite knowing her husband clearly had enough money to make sizable donations, she still felt he sometimes was too generous.

Mary walked in, closed the door and stood there for a few minutes, looking as though she was choosing her words carefully.

“I know that perhaps it’s not my place to make any sort of judgment on your father but I need you to understand that it shouldn’t have mattered what you did or how bad you acted, we did not deserve to be kicked out,” Mary told him firmly.

“We?” Stanley repeated, wondering if he had misheard her.

Mary swallowed and she averted her eyes. “When we first met, you told me your parents wouldn’t care. And I know what that meant because---I was sixteen and I was rebellious and stupid. I ended up getting myself in trouble with a boy who had just enlisted in the army. My parents didn’t care that the solider had promised to marry me when the war was over. They called me a whore and they threw me and their unborn grandchild onto the streets. I was so distraught that I lost the baby. Luckily the soldier’s mother took me in and when he came home, he married me. I’m not saying that our situations are the same but Stanley, there are people here who will never throw you out no matter what mistakes you make.” 

“I know,” Stanley assured her not quite sure what to say to the bomb she had just dropped on him. “Thank you.”

Mary nodded, giving him a tearful smile before bidding him goodnight.  

Chapter Text

“Psst Ellie, what answer did you get for number ten?” Stanley stage-whispered. They were currently in the kitchen alone---- apparently Mary wasn’t so strict about them being alone together when she could observe from the window as she worked in her garden. Knowing that Mary could see them, they were doing their math homework.

“I’m not even on five let alone ten,” Eleanor told him matter of factly. “What answer did you get for question four?”

“Twenty-seven,” Stanley replied, smirking when she jotted it down. “I think that might be the first time anyone has ever copied off of me.”

“Well you are better at math and science than I am,” Eleanor said, giving him a mock-annoyed look. “I still can’t believe you got an eighty on that physics test when I know you studied as much as I did which was barely at all. I mean seriously, we even separately went to Rosa and asked her to explain the same concept that apparently the teacher had gone over twice and yet I got a D+ while you got a B-; not that I’m jealous at all.”

“I guess Ford must have rubbed off of me a little more than I thought he did,” Stanley remarked, chuckling a little. His brow furrowed when he saw Eleanor giving him an odd look. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just that you don’t usually mention your brother so casually so I was just surprised,” Eleanor explained, sounding like she wanted to say more but wisely realizing any more prodding would make Stanley close off and change the subject.

“Well you know, with me or rather with your dad undoing my whole ruining his dreams thing, I thought maybe, you know, he could not hate me,” Stanley said awkwardly, his eyes boring holes into his homework despite not even paying attention to the problem he was currently on.

“What about your dad?” Eleanor inquired.

“I’m pretty sure he will always hate me no matter what I do,” Stan replied, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't mind.

The dark expression on Eleanor’s face after he said that was eerily similar to the look Mary got whenever Filbrick Pines was mentioned.

She then chewed on her lip for a minute, choosing her words carefully before speaking: “No I mean, you said he said you wouldn’t be welcome back in your home unless you paid back the millions that apparently your brother was gonna get from West Coast Tech somehow and with my dad looking into getting him into that school, it would mean you could go home and I guess I was wondering if you were planning on going back home.”

“Ford’s graduating this year and then he’ll be off to his dream college so the only person in New Jersey who gives a crap about me would be Ma so I honestly got no reason to go back,” Stan replied earnestly. Before switching his tone to a light and breezy one. “So I guess you guys are stuck with me unless I decide to get a job scraping barnacles off of a dock.”

“Your old principal was clearly a clueless hack,” Eleanor scoffed, snorting derisively. “If he knew about any of your skills, he would realize you could be a boxer or a salesman, or something to do with fixing things.”

“Fixing things?” Stanley asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know. Mechanics? Engineers? Something like that? You are pretty good with your hands. ----Oh shut up!” Eleanor hissed as her cheeks turned red as Stanley burst into laughter at her poorly worded sentence. “You know what I meant.” 

“I did and that’s why it’s funny,” Stanley explained, chortling harder at Ellie’s nonplussed expression.

“I think we have homework to complete,” Eleanor decided, her lips twitching upwards, as Stanley’s laughter was practically contagious.

After finishing their math homework, they started their English homework just as Mary started making dinner---effectively trapping them in the kitchen until they finished all their homework.

“Stanley, would you please come into my study, I have something to discuss with you,” Dan called, sticking his head into the kitchen.

“Well I guess I could take a small break,” Stanley declared, hoping whatever Dan wanted to talk about would take until dinner which would be the perfect time to shove the unfinished homework he had in his backpack where it would remain “forgotten” until tomorrow. His eyebrow rose when Ellie grabbed the short story he had been working on and started crossing things off and writing in the margins, something she did often when they had a writing assignment. “Really? You're not even gonna wait until I leave the room.”

“It’s called constructive criticism,” Eleanor told him matter of factly. “It makes us all better writers.”

“You still are way too eager,” Stanley pointed out.

“Well English is my best subject, so I like to show-off a little,” Eleanor admitted. “So sue me.”

Stan chuckled as he followed Dan out of the kitchen and into the study.

“I talked to your old principal and teachers about your brother and they confirmed what a good student he was,” Dan said, actually frowning at the memory of the conversation, tipping Stanley off that among the compliments the faculty had for Ford, they had also made some disparaging remarks about Stan. However Dan did not elaborate on what exactly was said. “I just got off the phone with one of the board members of West Coast Tech and while they agree that your brother has excellent grades and is an upstanding young man, they think he might not be the best fit for West Coast Tech.”

“The best fit? What the hell does that mean?” Stanley demanded, outraged on Ford’s behalf. He was beginning to wonder if the school would have accepted Ford even if his science project hadn’t been broken. “Do they think their prissy school is too good for a genius who comes from New Jersey?”

“That’s not exactly what they said but I think that might have been the sentiment considering when I told them that instead of a scholarship I would pay for Stanford’s tuition myself they agreed to accept him,” Dan said, still frowning, clearly unhappy that such a prestigious school needed to be essentially bribed into accepting a promising young student.

“You would do that for him?” Stan asked, shocked by Dan’s generosity which seemed to have no bounds.

“Stanley, I promised you that I would help you in anyway I could. Besides giving bright young boys a chance to reach their full potential is something I pride myself on doing,” Dan explained meaningfully, his tone of voice making it clear he wasn’t just talking about Ford. Dan looked away as Stanley wiped his misty eyes before he continued speaking: “Well I think this is the kind of news you should be able to tell your brother in person so should we take a drive to New Jersey this weekend?”

“I don’t think they’d believe me if I told them, Sir,” Stan said, barely believing this was happening himself.

“Not to worry, Mary and I will be with you all the way,” Dan assured him, clapping him on the shoulder. The surprise must have shown on Stanley’s face because the older man added in a whisper: “She has promised to try and be civil with your father.”

It was a normal Saturday afternoon. Stanford had just gotten back from the library and he was doing some research for no particular reason other than to keep himself busy and wouldn’t find himself staring mournfully at an empty beach.

He did not expect his mother to knock on the door and tell him that Daniel White was here to see him. His brow furrowed in confusion as he got up to shake the hand of the man he only had spoken to once over the phone.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Stanford, your brother has told me quite a lot about you,” Dan told him as he sat down in a chair adjacent to Ford.

“Oh?” Ford prompted, feeling rather bewildered by this conversation, not sure where the older man was going with it or why he was even here.  

“Yes he told me all about West Coast Tech and how you were a genius that college would have been lucky to have,” Dan continued.

“He said all that,” Ford said, blinking in shock. He was more surprised that Stanley would be complimenting him after everything that happened (even if they hadn’t had that fight on the beach, he hadn’t really expected Stan to want to talk about his personal business). But then Stanley always did seem to go out of his way to brag about Ford. For a time Ford had thought it had been Stanley’s way of trying to share the limelight. However, even if that was what he was doing in the past, he had no reason to do so with people who had no idea who Ford was and seemed more interested in what Stanley could accomplish.

“That’s right. I took it upon myself to see if I could help you out and as it turns out, I can. Since West Coast Tech won’t give you a scholarship, I will be willing to pay your tuition as they have seen your grades and they have agreed that you are as intelligent as Stanley has insisted,” Dan told him, smiling encouragingly.

Ford’s jaw was on the floor as he stared at Dan in utter disbelief, unable to believe his ears, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him. Or maybe this was some bizarre dream from which he would wake up at any moment.

“Thank you so much, Sir, you don’t know how much this means to me,” Ford managed to say after a few minutes of gaping like a codfish.

Dan’s smile slipped and there was an unreadable look in his eyes, almost like it was disappointment.

“Son, I mean no offense when I say this but I don’t know you from Adam and I wouldn’t have just paid for anyone’s tuition no matter how smart they were. The only reason I’m doing this is because your brother asked me to so its Stanley you should be thanking, not me,” Dan explained gently as he got up. “Your brother made a mistake that cost him his home, stability and his family. He knows he can’t change what happened but he was adamant that you deserved to go to your dream school.”


“Why do you want to help him so much?” Ford asked. It wasn’t that he believed that Stanley was unworthy of people who supported him. But it still boggled his mind that Dan would be willing to pay so much money to, as he pointed out, a stranger just to fix Stanley’s mistake and make him happy.

“Because nobody else bothered to,” Dan said. While his voice was still gentle, there was an icy undertone. “It’s one thing to follow your dreams and be your own person. However, it’s quite another to leave someone floundering without anyone to support them.” 

“I think you’re giving my brother to little credit. He’s fine on his own,” Ford protested, swallowing his feeling of guilt as the words of Eleanor White flashed in his mind.

Did you even care that he was living in his car with barely any money to survive? For all you knew he could have ended up falling down a ditch, smashing his head against a rock and died instantly.

For a moment he thought he saw a flash of that same outrage on Dan’s face but it was gone so quickly he decided he must have imagined it.

“You’re right, Stan is a remarkable and resourceful young man but just because he could survive on his own doesn’t mean he should have had to,” Dan declared passionately.

Before Ford could say anything, not that he could think of anything to say, they were distracted by shouting downstairs.

With a quick goodbye, Dan walked out of the room and the down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about, leaving Ford alone to process everything.

Knowing how bad his father would react if he just showed up unannounced on the Pines’ doorstep, Stanley called his mother ahead of time, explaining what was going on. That way, when Dan, Mary and Stan entered his shop, they would hopefully not be greeted with hostility.

While Caryan lead Dan upstairs, Stan and Mary sat on the couch adjacent to Filbrick in his armchair.

“You folks must have a lot of money that you can just waste it like that,” Filbrick grunted after a few minutes of awkward silence had passed.

“We don’t think of it as a waste when it helps furthers bright young men with their education,” Mary said in a sickly sweet tone with a strained smile that did not match the fire blazing in her eyes.

“I might agree with you with Stanford, but this knucklehead, you are just throwing your money away on him,” Filbrick snarled, not even glancing in Stanley's direction. In fact, Stan was surprised that his father had acknowledged him at all.

“Well that’s strange considering that all my husband had to do was give him encouragement and he started improving his grades, he even got a B- on his last physics test,” Mary said proudly, her smile turning into a smirk, perhaps confident that would be enough to convince Filbrick how badly he had underestimated Stanley.

Unfortunately the youngest Pines brother knew exactly what his father would say to that.

“Stanley’s been cheating off his brother for years, riding on Ford’s coattails just to get by,” Filbrick grunted.

“We know. Stanley told us about that and that’s why we had the teachers watch him whenever he took a test,” Mary explained.

Stanley glanced at her in surprise as he knew that the first thing was definitely untrue and the second one was very unlikely as the teachers were watching out for cheating in general and they wouldn’t have just been watching Stan.

“You know I don’t like it when people come in my house, throwing their money around and implying that I’ve been doing a poor job as a father,” Filbrick growled as he stood up, taking a few steps in Mary and Stan’s direction.

Stan wasn’t sure if his father would ever hit a woman (perhaps the only good thing about him, was as scary and emotionally abusive as he was, he had never resorted to physical violence save the one time he literally threw Stan out of the house) but he still moved to get up and put himself in-between his father and Mary anyway. However, Mary put her hand on his arm, staying his moments as she got off the couch herself and stood right in Filbrick’s face, seemingly not intimidated.

Mary's voice dripped with sugary malice. “Implying? Oh no, Mr. Pines, I’m not implying anything. I’m saying that you are perhaps the most despicable human being who doesn’t deserve to be called a father at all. You have treated your son as though he was a worthless good for nothing for years. You have belittled him, shattered his self-easteam. You made him think he couldn’t do anything even if he tried."

As she continued, her voice became louder until she was practically shouting. "Then when he made a mistake, that cost STANFORD his dream college because shockingly it had nothing to do with you, you did one of the most vile things a parent could do, you kicked your son, the one you said would never amount to anything, out on the streets with practically nothing to help him survive. I can only speculate the damage you have done to your other two sons."

“I made tea!” Caryn Pines announced, rushing with a tray of tea and cookies, clearly hoping to stop the fight but unfortunately she came too late.

“At least I managed to keep all my kids alive,” Filbrick sneered.

“FILBRICK!” Caryn shouted, horrified by her husband’s words.

Mary’s entire face went white and she opened her mouth as if to scream but no sound came out. So instead she slapped him as hard as she could and then kicked him in the crotch before he could react.

Filbrick let out a howl of pain as he went down, shouting curses and ordering them to get the hell out of his house.

“I don’t know if Ford really is going to get millions of dollars like you said he would but I know one thing for sure, there is no way in hell he would spend money on a hateful bastard like you!” Stanley exclaimed, glaring at his father as Dan walked down the stairs. “None of us would.”

With that Stanley walked out of his ho---- out of his father’s house with Dan and Mary, ready to return home.

It wasn’t until they got outside did Stanley and Dan notice that the color had not returned to Mary’s face and her left arm hung rather limply to her side.

“Stanley, dear, would you happen to know where the nearest hospital is?” Mary asked, sounding short of breath.

“About twenty minutes away,” Stanley replied, exchanging a worried look with Dan.

“Mary, what is it? What’s wrong?”  Dan asked, helping his wife to the car, handing Stanley the keys.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing to be concerned about,” Mary rasped, her strained smile back on her face, using her right arm to put her left arm on her lap. “My arm's a little numb and my chest feels a bit tight but that’s all. It’s probably nothing. I'm just being overly cautious.”

Neither Dan nor Stanley believed her. However, neither of them were going to waste any time arguing with her.

Chapter Text

Stanley had never driven so fast in his life. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten the minivan to the hospital in one piece as he was fairly certain that he had gone several miles over the speed limit and he had not stopped once at any red lights. But somehow, they had gotten to the hospital without any trouble and while Dan helped Mary out of the car, he rushed to let the nurses and doctors know that Mary needed their help. He didn’t stop moving until he all but collapsed in the waiting room chair.

Dan, on the other hand, did not stop moving after he had filled out the forms and given the number of the family’s doctor in Dysfunction Junction. He paced around the waiting room, his cane clutched tightly in his hand. He looked tense and restless, a far cry from his usual laid-back demeanor.

 “I knew something bad would happen. She insisted on coming even though I knew that man would remind her of her own father. I shouldn’t have left her down there alone with him,” Dan ranted, his voice growing increasingly panicked and angry.

“Look, we both know if I started blaming myself, you would be telling me not to blame myself. So let’s just skip that part and go ahead and blame my pa for everything. I mean I always knew he was a jerk but I didn’t think he’d go so far and taunt Mary about Tess,” Stanley said, wishing he had punched his father for that particular statement.

Dan spun around, his nostrils flaring and his eyes narrowed. It was the first time Stan had ever seen him angry and he had to admit, he was slightly intimidated. “What exactly did your father say?” Dan inquired, his voice deadly soft.

“Well Mary was calling him out for being a bad father and Pa said at least all his kids were alive,” Stan explained, looking at Dan wearily, half-afraid the older man would his anger out on him.

Dan took in a shaky breath, calming himself down before going over and sitting down next to Stanley.

“When Tess died, I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t even function. Mary, on the other hand, just threw herself into her work, taking care of the house, of her restaurant and of us. She barely slept or ate anything. Ellie and Sammy once had to lock her in our bedroom just so she would rest for a minute,” Dan recalled. “I was afraid she would work herself to death. She seemed to be slowing down by the time we found you but I guess she didn’t slow down fast enough.”

“I’m sorry, Dan,” Stan said softly.  “If it weren’t for me---”

“Didn’t you just finish telling me that instead of blaming ourselves, we should blame your father,” Dan interrupted, giving Stan’s shoulder a comforting pat.

“Mr. White?” the doctor called as he walked into the waiting room.

“Yes, that’s me,” Dan confirmed as he and Stan stood up, waiting for the news the doctor had. “What happened to my wife? Is she going to be okay?”

“I’m Dr. Jeffrey Stevens,” the doctor introduced himself shaking both Dan and Stanley’s hands before answering Dan’s questions. “Mrs. White experienced a heart attack, luckily it was a mild one. She is stable now but it would be for the best if she stayed here for at least five days.”

“Is she well enough to have visitors?” Dan asked immediately after the doctor finished talking.

“Well we gave her sedatives to help her sleep. We can let you know as soon as she wakes up but for now, it would be best to let her rest,” Dr. Stevens explained.

“Hey, we’re not planning on throwing a party in her hospital room. We just want to see if she’s okay. Surely we can just pop in and say hi,” Stan protested.

“Are you the son?” Dr. Stevens inquired in annoyed tone, clearly knowing that Stanley was not related to either Dan or Mary.

“He’s family,” Dan answered before Stan could make a retort, his tone broaching no argument. “We just want five minutes and then we will let her sleep.”

“Very well, Nurse Foreman will take you to her room,” Dr. Stevens acquiesced, beckoning one of the nurses over.

As Stanley followed Dan and the nurse to Mary’s room, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. He never liked hospitals, with the sick and the dying and the quack doctors who insisted on telling you what was wrong with you.

While he had been in the waiting room, he hadn’t really thought about where he was but upon hearing the beeping of the heart monitor machines and spotting patients with IV stands by their bedside just gave him the chills.

“Five minutes,” Nurse Foreman reminded them as opened the door for them.

“My husband’s mother was a nurse and she would never deny a patient’s demand to see her family,” Mary was saying, not realizing that she had visitors.

“Nurses and doctors are all the same. They think they have power over you because you’re confirmed to a bed,” her roommate agreed.

“Ahem,” Nurse Foreman coughed to catch both of the patients' attention. “You have visitors, Mrs. White. Miss Campbell, why are your pills still on your bedside table?” she asked the woman in the other bed.

“I’ll take them in a minute,” the woman replied, shooting Mary a knowing look.  

“She’ll take them when she’s good and ready,” Mary agreed, causing her new friend to giggle and the nurse to shake her head before leaving the room.

“My mother would have been the first remind you that she is just doing her job,” Dan pointed out as he gave his wife a chaste kiss.

“Oh leave me alone, I had a heart attack. I have a right to be grumpy,” Mary grumbled before looking over at Stanley. “Too grumpy to be subtle so I’m just going to demand you get over here and hug me.”

A little surprised and not at all secretly pleased, Stan did as he was told and gave the woman a tight hug.

“I’m glad you are okay,” Stan said softly as he stepped away from the bed.  

“I’m fine. Although I’m not happy that I have to be stuck here for the next five days,” Mary remarked.

“I’m going to call a hotel, book a room so the kids and I can stay in New Jersey until you’re ready to go home,” Dan assured her.

“You must be really worried about me if you are willing to let our kids miss a week of school,” Mary joked, smiling as she cupped Dan’s cheek in her hands. “I’m fine, Dan, you know I’m strong enough to survive.”

“I know but I’m not strong enough,” Dan whispered, his voice cracking.

Stanley was about to walk away to give the married couple some space but as if she could sense what he was about to do, Mary grabbed his hand and squeezed it, not even taking her eyes off of her husband to do so.

Chapter Text

It took three hours for the three White children to arrive in New Jersey. By then the doctor had given his okay for Mary to have visitors so as soon as they arrived, they were escorted into Mary’s hospital room.

David immediately ran into his mother’s arms, burying his head in her shoulder, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Eleanor also hugged her mother, tears rolling down her face as she tried to joke about how she always thought she’d be the one who gave her mother a heart attack. Samantha stood back, her expression grave as she watched the scene in front of her. She waited patiently for Eleanor to leave their mother’s side before going over to give their mother a quick hug.

“I’ll get the bags and take them to the hotel,” Samantha declared as she began to move away from the bed.

“You will not,” Mary snapped, grabbing her oldest daughter by the arm. “You will sit down on the bed and talk to your poor trapped mother.”

“Mother, someone needs to get the bags,” Samantha protested.

“The bags can stay in the car until visiting hours are over. And for the record, no one is hungry or thirsty so there is nothing else for you to do but sit down and talk to your mother,” Mary said firmly. “Samantha, when visiting hours are over, I will have no one else to talk to but Jada---- not that I don’t enjoy talking to you, dear,” she finished, flashing her a roommate a smile before turning her stern gaze to Samantha. “So you will sit with me until visiting hours are over."

“You know you’re not going to win this argument, Sammy, so just sit down,” Eleanor pipped up, patting the spot next her on the foot of the hospital bed.

“Fine,” Samantha grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat down.

“So I’m just going to ask because I know no one else will: what the heck happened?” Eleanor asked.

“My father’s a jerk,” Stanley replied from the chair he was sitting in.

“Well we know that much.” 

“What Stanley means to say is his father is a jerk and apparently my heart explored with rage,” Mary answered, causing Dan to gape at her in horror. “What? I think that is a very apt way to describe what happened.”

“Please tell me you hit him,” Eleanor pleaded, before glancing over at Stanley. “I can say that, right?”

“She hit him and then she kicked him where the sun didn’t shine,” Stanley informed her with a grin, answering both of her questions.

“Seriously? Go Mom,” Eleanor complimented, leaning in to give her mother another hug.

“He deserved it,” Mary growled, giving Stanley a soft look. “For many reasons.” 

“I thought hitting was wrong,” David spoke up, his innocent tone was spoiled by the cheeky grin on his face.

“Are you kidding? Punching is the best way…” Stanley trailed off when he saw the stern look on Dan, Mary and Samantha’s faces.

“What Stanley means to say that hitting should only happen in very extreme circumstances like self-defense,” Mary said firmly.

Once visiting hours were over, Dan, the three teenagers and one preteen headed to the hotel. Dan had gotten a three-bedroom suite.

“Girls will be in one room and the boys will be in the other. I’ll take the middle,” Dan declared already taking his bag to the room in question.

“Hey how come you get a room to yourself?” Stanley jokingly complained.

“Because I am the designated adult and besides I assumed you and David would want to share a room,” Dan replied as he unpacked his bag.

“Hey Stanley, tomorrow, can you take me monster hunting?” David asked hopefully. “Maybe we can find the Jersey Devil.”

“David, the Jersey Devil doesn’t exist,” Samantha said coolly before Stanley could answer.

“It does too. Stanley said he and his brother found it and fought it,” David protested. “Right, Stan?” 

“That’s right, kiddo,” Stanley replied. “But I think---”

“Don’t encourage him,” Samantha interjected, suddenly looking quite annoyed. “The last thing we need is for him to go off looking for something doesn’t exist and getting himself hurt or worse.”

“Sammy, calm down, Stanley wouldn’t let David get hurt,” Eleanor spoke up. “If it makes you feel better, you can go with us when we go monster hunting.”

“I don’t know if going monster hunting is a good idea,” Stanley began. “I mean I don’t think your dad would approve of us going traipsing all over Glass Shard Beach looking for monsters.”

“Actually, I think it might be a good idea. We aren’t going to be able to visit Mary all the time so we might as well do something to stop us from spending our time in the hospital waiting room and cafeteria,” Dan remarked as he returned to the living room. “Besides it would be nice to know once and for all if the creatures of legends actually do exist.”

His older daughter gave him a look that just screamed “and you called yourself the designated adult.”

“See Dad’s okay with it. So can you take us, Stanley, please!” David implored him.

Although there a part of Stanley that felt he was somehow betraying Ford by doing their thing with other people, he couldn’t find it in his heart to say no. Besides he needed to see the look on Samantha’s face when she realized he was not making things up.

“Okay pal, we can go,” Stanley agreed, patting David on the head. Once Dan had managed to convince David to go to bed and get some sleep, Stanley flopped down next to Eleanor on the couch. “That kid has me wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he?”

“You stole my parents’ car to make a midnight two-hour drive to New Jersey in order to get him a boat and you’ve only just now figured that out,” Eleanor teased him with a laugh.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good thing,” Samantha muttered as she walked into her room, slamming the door behind her.

“Please ignore her. She’s freaked out about Mom being in the hospital and just covering it by being a jerk to you,” Eleanor explained, glancing at the closed door of the bedroom as if she was worried her sister was listening.

“Either that or she thinks I’m going to be like Amelia and convince your brother to do something reckless,” Stanley pointed out.

“Even if I had no faith in you, which I have a lot of by the by, between you, Sammy and Dad, there is no way David is going to get hurt,” Eleanor said firmly. Stanley had to pretend to yawn so he could cover the grateful smile on his face.

That night, Stanley lay on the bed, wide awake, listening to David’s breathing and staring at the clock as if he hoped that seeing how late it was would make him fall asleep.

Maybe a walk would make him tired enough to fall asleep. True, it was late but Stanley had never had a problem with taking midnight walks in Glass Shard Beach before. With that thought in mind, he got up and threw his old clothes back on before creeping out of the hotel room, being careful not to wake anyone up.

He did however tell the night clerk where he was going just in case Dan woke up and started looking for him.

There was only one place, Stan wanted to go even though he knew the only thing left were those two swings. He wasn’t sure exactly why he wanted to go there, maybe he was hoping to run into Ford and maybe just maybe his twin would be grateful and would actually be willing to mend their broken relationship.

Although Stanley doubted Ford would break curfew during the school year---even if it was a Saturday night---he was still disappointed when he didn’t see his brother. With a heavy sigh, Stanley took a seat on one of the swings, kicking his feet off the ground as he reminisced about happier days.

He was rudely brought out of his thoughts by footsteps coming towards him. Immediately Stan went on the defensive, grabbing his pocketknife, spinning around to see who it was. He relaxed when he saw Samantha.

“Geez, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” he grumbled as the older girl sat in the other swing.

“I don’t trust easily,” Samantha said apropos of nothing. “I don’t like people I don’t know. I think you are too charismatic and you make both Eleanor and David willing to do dangerous things because you spun a tale of your childhood that yes I think you made up. However while they latched on to you, you also latched on to them and I don’t think you are the type to let the people you care about get hurt.”

“Um---” Stanley began, unsure what to say to that. As it turned out now that she had started unloading, Samantha was not planning on stopping.

“I was always the cynical one who never let my emotions get in the way. The one who kept my siblings honest and grounded. I left for college thinking that everyone would be fine without me. Then Tess died and I came home to a mess. Mom wouldn’t slow down, Dad wouldn’t get up. David was in denial and Eleanor kept trying to hold it in until she’d reached a point where she would have a breakdown. So I put my future on hold to care for everyone. Then just when I think things are getting better, you came crashing into our lives,” Samantha continued. Stanley winced, assuming the next words she said would be how he was a bad influence on her siblings or perhaps she would insist that it was his fault that her mother was in the hospital. “Now Mom has someone to look after, Dad has someone to mentor, David has the big brother he has always wanted and Eleanor pretty much found a kindred spirit. Somehow without even meaning to, you helped them more than I could and I’m starting to think that maybe they’ll be okay if I go back to college next year because you’ll be there for them if they fall apart again. Therefore even though I don’t believe that you’ve actually encountered the Jersey Devil and I don’t approve of this monster hunt you’ve gotten everyone excited for, I do trust you.” 

Stanley was so shocked by her declaration that all he could muster was a quiet “huh.”

“Of course I will deny this conversation ever happened and I will insist that you must have been dreaming if you ever repeat what I said to anyone,” Samantha told him, her eyes narrowed.

“Noted,” Stan said with a chuckle before smirking. “I’m glad you trust me, Sammy.”

“Like I said, you and Eleanor are a match made in heaven,” Samantha muttered, shaking her head in exasperation. “We should get back to the hotel before anyone wakes up and realizes we’re gone.”

“Yeah, I guess I’ve got nothing to stay here for anyway,” Stanley muttered, looking around the beach and thinking that without the Stan-O-War, it looked empty and desolate far from the place of adventure it had been in his childhood.

Symbolic, he supposed.

“May I give you a piece of advice?” Samantha asked as they walked back to the hotel.

“Do I have a choice?” Stanley inquired, smirking as he could guess what her answer would be.

“You called me Sammy so no,” the older girl deadpanned, her lips curving upwards for a moment. “Look your twin feels like he has to distance himself from you so he can do his own thing. I have a feeling that he wants to stay mad at you so he can continue pushing you away without feeling guilty about it. Let him figure out he’s being stupid on his own time instead of getting your hopes up about a reconciliation in the middle of the night.”

“I wasn’t---I was just restless and needed some air,” Stanley half-lied.

“Whatever you say. This entire encounter never happened anyway,” Samantha remarked. “You’re dreaming. Remember?”

“Nah, my dreams are much cooler than this. Usually there are robots and flying cars."

The rest of the walk to their hotel rooms was in silence with only a muttered goodnight when they parted to their respective rooms.

Stanley was about to get back into his bed and go to sleep when he realized that his covers had a human-shaped bump underneath them. The sight of David’s empty bed confirmed his suspicions.

“David, are you awake?” he asked softly as he sat down on his bed. The covers moved slightly which he took as a yes. “Did you have a bad dream?” Stanley inquired, feeling guilty for not being there as he was certain the boy had crawled into his bed while he was taking his walk.  

“Yes,” David whimpered, the cover still over his head.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you buddy but why didn’t you go to your sisters or your dad? I’m sure they could have comforted you,” Stanley pointed out, swallowing his bitterness at the knowledge that Dan would probably wrap his arms around his son and let him sleep beside him meanwhile Filbrick usually just told his sons that real men didn’t cry and weren’t scared of anything.

“I didn’t want them to think I’m a little kid who they have to baby,” David explained.

“They just care about your wellbeing. They don’t mean to treat you like a kid,” Stanley assured him, patting David’s head before drawing the covers back so he could get a better look at his face. It was a bit hard to see in the dark but it didn’t look like he had been crying. However, it was clear that something was upsetting him. “So do you want to talk about that bad dream of yours?”

“It’s dumb,” David said, staring at the wall.

“Hey I’ll tell you a story about when I played fetch with the Grim if you tell me what your dream was about,” Stanley suggested, hoping this would not only coax him into telling him about his nightmare but also make him feel a bit less embarrassed that he wanted comfort after a bad dream.

David sat up, his eyes as wide as saucers. “You did what!”

“Do we have a deal?” Stanley asked, giving him a knowing smile.

A few minutes of silence passed as David contemplated whether or not to tell Stanley what happened. Stanley was about to tell him that he didn’t have to say anything if he really didn’t want to when David started speaking.

“I dreamt about Mom leaving,” David said softly, tears starting to form in his eyes. “She promised she would be back soon just like Tess promised but she never came home. Tess said she’d come home. I want her to come home. But she never will.”

Stanley immediately drew the kid in a hug, wishing he had never coerced him into telling him.

“Hey, it’s gonna okay. Your mom is the strongest lady I know. She’s gonna be fine,” Stanley assured him. “She’s gonna get better and when she is, you’ll tell her all about our little adventure tomorrow.”

Something told him that it would be best to leave out the whole going after the Jersey Devil until they were sure Mary’s heart could take it.

“Maybe if I take a picture, she won’t feel like she was left out,” David suggested, slightly cheerier. Although Stanley had a feeling that being left out on a monster hunt (whether or not she believed that the Jersey Devil was real) would not be what Mary would get so upset about.

“So do you still want to hear about me and the Grim?” Stanley asked, deciding now was good a time as any for a subject change. David nodded, getting comfortable on the bed as the older boy recalled that fateful day. “I was fourteen and I decided to see how far I could swim. Ford was busy studying at the library so I was by myself and I must have gone a little too far because I was getting really tired and then there was the big wave that just about knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I was on the shore and there was this big black bear of a dog licking my face, nuzzling me with her cold nose. I threw a stick to get her off of me and she brought it back. I’m trying to get my bearings and this humongous dog is whimpering like a puppy nudging the stick towards me, staring at me with these big white eyes that seemed to glow. So I throw the stick a few more times and that’s when Ford came to the beach. The minute he sees the dog, he starts freaking out asking me if I was hurt, checking to see if I had any sort of injury. I think he thinks the dog was attacking me so I turned to the dog to give her a pat, wanting to show Ford that she's friendly, only to find that she had vanished into thin air.  So I scolded Ford for scaring off such a friendly dog and he just stares at me slack-jawed for a few minutes before revealing to me that particular dog was none other than the Grim and instead of foretelling my death, I reckon she saved me instead.”

“That is so cool. Have you ever seen her since?” David asked excitedly.

“You know it’s funny you should ask because that day just before I crashed into your tree I could have sworn I saw her in my rear view mirror but by the time I looked again, she was gone,” Stanley explained. He had not made the connection afterwards but now that he was talking about the Grim, he couldn't help but wonder if she had something to do with him crashing into the tree, allowing the Whites to take him in. “I think she wanted to make sure I got to you guys.”

“Nah, Tess is the one who sent you,” David contradicted, still snuggling at Stanley’s side. “We always wanted an older brother and she sent the best brother in the whole wide world.”

Huh, he wasn’t sure Ford shared that opinion. After all, he had to know Stanley was still in New Jersey as Stanley had made sure to call his mother and let her know that he would be staying in Glass Shard Beach for a few more days. And yet Ford had not bothered to come by and thank him for being the reason why he was going to his dream school.

Of course knowing Ford, he probably was convinced that it was solely Stanly’s fault that that snob school hadn’t accepted him and the fact that the only reason they had changed their minds was because Dan had given them a check was purely a coincidence.

Unfortunately while Ford could turn his back on Stanley with apparently no remorse at all, Stanley was not so willing to do the same.  He would continue to try to reconcile with his brother.

In fact tomorrow was Sunday, so maybe he could convince Ford to join him on this monster hunt. It might bring back some more pleasant memories of their childhood. Not to mention it would be nice if Ford was on better terms with the Whites than Filbrick was.

With that thought in mind, he looked down at David, only to discover the boy had fallen asleep. Instead of moving him back to his own bed, Stanley decided to just let David sleep next to him.

After all what kind of good big brother would he be if he didn’t protect David from whatever nightmares he might have?  

Chapter Text

Dan had decided that they would go monster hunting in the morning instead of waiting until after their visit with Mary. He insisted it was because he was hoping Mary would be resting but Eleanor was quick to point out that this way David couldn’t terrify her with Stanley’s stories causing her to decide that there would be no monster hunt. Dan noticeably did not argue with that statement.

Despite only getting a few hours of sleep, Stanley found himself being able to match the energy of Eleanor and David who were practically bouncing with excitement when he led them to the lighthouse.

There was still a small part of Stanley which wanted to go and ask Ford if he wanted to come with them, in the end he had decided that he would rather not have to deal with his father only for Ford to tell him that he still wanted nothing to do with him.

“X marks the spot or in this case question mark marks the spot,” Stanley explained as he tried to remember exactly how his brother had used the lighthouse’s light. “So at first, we thought six o’clock was the time we were supposed to be shinning the light but then Ford figured out it actually meant 90 degrees of rotation which led us to discovering…. a pathway to the cave of the Jersey Devil.”

Sure enough the light from the lighthouse shone on a question mark shaped rock, allowing it’s shadow to appear above of a cave’s entrance.

“Anybody else feeling tingly because I am,” Eleanor remarked, grinning widely.

“Well then, intrepid explorers, let’s get moving,” Dan declared, looking just as excited as his younger children before turning to the lighthouse keeper. “Thank you so much for letting us use your lighthouse.”

“Anything for the Caboose family,” Horrible Eyesight Hawkins replied, tipping his sailor cap at them.

“Um, we’re----” Eleanor began.

“Just go with it,” Stanley interrupted, practically pushing the White family out of the lighthouse.

“All right, let’s just check to see if we have everything. Flashlights with back up batteries, a first aid kit…” Dan began as they stopped in front of the caves to sort though the backpacks he had insisted they bring with them.

“A camera to take a picture of Samantha’s face when she’s been proven wrong,” Eleanor interjected, pulling a black camera from out of her bag and hanging it around her neck.

“Wait. You think you’re going to find some sort of mythological beast in a cave and you’re planning on taking my picture?” Samantha asked incredulously, giving her sister a weird look.

“Sammy, I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t have documented proof that you’re wrong,” Eleanor said with a grin. Oddly, Stan found he could not fault Eleanor for her priorities. “Besides haven’t you seen any movie where creatures like the Jersey Devil are used in freak shows? It never ends well for the people or the creatures. It’s better that there is no evidence of it.” 

“Let’s just get this over with,” Samantha grumbled, shaking her head in exasperation as the group entered the cave.

“Just get ready to run because the Jersey Devil isn’t fond of visitors but considering it’s daytime, I have a hunch it will stay hidden in the cave,” Stanley told them in a whisper as they followed him deeper into the cave.

Despite it being almost a decade since he had been there, Stanley could still remember where exactly he had chased Shanklin to the beast’s nest. He made a mental note to see if he could grab a jewel lying around before they had to hightail it out of there.

Suddenly the cave started to shake as something rumbled. There was a flash of a camera and a hissed “Really?”

“Finger slipped,” Eleanor explained sheepishly.

Stanley turned the corner and found the source of the rumbling was the Jersey Devil but only because it was snoring. He glanced behind him to see the faces of the White’s.

Dan looked stunned, having not quite believed Stanley that the beast existed. He must have assumed it was just supposed to be a bit of fun.

And if Dan was stunned, Samantha was shocked. Before now, Stan had only seen three expressions on her face: stoic, annoyed and grudgingly amused. Now her eyes were wide, her jaw had practically fallen to the ground and it looked as though someone could knock her over with a feather.

Stanley couldn’t blame Eleanor for grinning widely as she turned her camera and took the picture of her sister. He was feeling quite smug himself.

He then looked over at David, only to realize the kid was nowhere to be found.

Dan’s eyes got wider and he pointed behind Stanley, looking like he wanted to shout something but was too afraid of waking up Jersey Devil.

Stanley turned around with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. David was crouched a few feet away from back of the beast with his own camera out and before anyone could make a move to stop him, he took it’s picture.

Technically, the beast started moving seconds before David hit the button and the flash had gone off so it was entirely possible it was waking up anyway. Regardless, the minute the flash had gone off, the beast opened its eyes and roared angrily.

Dan and Stanley reacted first. With surprising speed Dan leapt towards his son, shielding him from the New Jersey Devil while Stanley hurled a rock at it, hoping to draw his ire toward him instead of David.

The beast lunged towards Stanley as David ran to the safety of his sisters. Dan grabbed a treasure chest and slammed it on the beast’s tail, hoping to at least slow it down as the family ran for the exit.

Unlike the last time, the New Jersey Devil did not follow them outside, proving Stanley’s hunch correct that it did not venture outside during the daytime. The family still didn’t stop running until they were far away from the cave.

“David, what were you thinking! You could have been eaten!” Samantha shouted before rounding on Stanley. “And you? What were you thinking taking us somewhere so dangerous!” 

“Hey! Don’t yell at Stanley! He warned us it was dangerous and he had no idea that David would get so close to it. It’s not his fault, you and Dad didn’t think it was real,” Eleanor spoke up before Stanley could. Stan shot her a grateful look.

“Well at least we have some good news: my heart is actually strong enough to take such an adventure,” Dan remarked, as he sat down. His breathing was slightly ragged but considering how fast he had run with a bad leg, that wasn’t a surprise.

“Can we do it again?” David asked as if they hadn’t almost died.

“Only if you promise to leave your camera at home,” Eleanor snapped, giving her little brother a stern look.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted a picture of the New Jersey Devil to show Mom,” David explained, having the good grace to look ashamed.

“I think I should be the one to explain to your mother what happen,” Dan decided, a worried look on his face as he realized he would have to tell her everything. 

“Hey Stanley, is that your twin?” David asked loudly, pointing at someone who now had his back to them and looked as though he was trying to sneak away unnoticed.

For once Ford had actually planned on going to the beach today even if he knew he would spend half the time looking forlornly at the spot where the Stan-O-War used to be. He found the house to be brimming with tension and he wasn’t allowed to eat in the library so he had packed a meal and brought his backpack to the beach, only to find Stanley and the White family already there.

At first, he was going up to talk to them, making sure that the mother was all right and thank the father again for getting him into West Coast Tech. However, then he noticed they looked frazzled and he heard the youngest mention the New Jersey Devil. Feeling hurt that Stanley had gone on one of their adventures with others and didn’t even bother to invite him, he reconsidered and decided to go elsewhere. He had almost made his escape when the brother had spotted him.

With no alternative but to face the music, Ford turned around, trying not to look as embarrassed as he felt.

“Greetings, I didn’t want to intrude,” he said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. “I was sorry to hear about Mrs. White. I hope she’s okay.”

“Not to worry, son, she’ll be fine,” Dan assured him, smiling pleasantly.

“Good. I also wanted to thank you again for getting me in West Coast Tech. You really don’t know what that means to me,” Ford gushed, determinedly not looking in Stanley’s direction.

He knew his brother was probably expecting him to thank him for convincing Dan to pay for his college. However, if it hadn’t been for Stan, Ford would have been going to West Coast Tech in the first place. While it was great that Stan had managed to undo his mistake, it still didn’t erase the mistake in the first place.

“Like I said before, it’s not me you should be thanking,” Dan said, his smile slipping.

It was clear from the looks on both Dan and his daughter’ face that they expected him to thank Stanley and were quite disappointed when he did not, instead letting a heavy silence hang in the air.

Ford cleared his throat, combing his mind for a different topic. “So uh, did you get a picture of the New Jersey Devil?” he asked, spotting a camera around the girl’s neck. Although a part of him felt a bit envious that it wouldn’t be him, he hoped that if the New Jersey Devil had been captured on film, they would publish its picture for the world to see, giving proof to his theory about abnormalities.

“No, I took a picture of my sister’s expression when she saw it,” the younger sister, Eleanor, replied coolly.

“You took a picture of your sister’s expression instead of a living breathing creature of legend,” Ford repeated incredulously.

“Well why wouldn’t I? Sammy is the most selfless human being in the world and a great sibling. She would never put college before the wellbeing of her siblings,” Eleanor said bitingly. Her words were dripping with sarcasm as her eyes narrowed at Ford, making it all too clear what she was really saying.

“Maybe we should go,” Dan suggested, already ushering David away.

“And maybe we should get involved with in other family’s spats,” the older girl said as she tried to drag her sister away.

“You’re just wrong about everything today, aren’t you?” Eleanor snapped.

“I’ll catch up with you guys in a minute,” Stanley shouted after them before turning to his brother. “Are you really not going to think me?”

He just sounded so hurt that Ford couldn’t help but feel guilty and it made him anger that Stanley could make him feel guilty. As far as he was concerned they wouldn’t even be in this situation in the first place had Stanley not destroyed his project.

“No, I’m not going to thank you. If it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t have rejected me in the first place,” he said hotly, shoving an accusatory finger at Stanley’s chest.

Stanley actually laughed at that, a mirthless and bitter laugh. “That’s not what Dan told me. According to Dan, and you can ask him if you don’t believe me, despite the fact that you were so smart, they didn’t think you were the best fit for their school. But when Dan threw money at them, all of a sudden they were willing to let you in,” he told him furiously. “But you know what. They can have your ungrateful butt because I’m through with trying. As far as I am concerned, I don’t have a twin brother.”

With that, Stanley stormed away, leaving Ford to stand alone on the beach barely able to comprehend what his brother had just said.

Chapter Text

“And then just as the beast was about to gobble me up, Dad jumped in front of me and Stanley threw a rock at it so it would after him instead of me. Then we all ran to safety,” David finished, waving his hands animatedly as he regaled the tale of their little adventure. 

Mary stared at her son before glancing around at the rest of the family, trying to gage from their expressions to see if David was telling the truth.

“I see,” she said in a deceptively calm voice. “Would you all mind leaving so I can speak with Stanley alone?” 

“Mom, David and I were the ones who were insisting---" Ellie began.

 “Oh I don’t doubt that,” Mary interjected, glancing at her husband with a “we’ll be discussing how you let this happen later” expression on her face before turning back to her daughter. “Nonetheless, I would still like to speak to Stanley alone.”

Stanley waited until all four had left before he sat down on the empty bed across from Mary. “What happened to your roommate?” Stanley asked her, wanting to prolong what he assumed as to be a lecture.

“She got discharged this morning,” Mary replied. A few minutes of silence passed as she choose her next words.  “Why do you look guilty? As Ellie pointed out, David and she were the ones who insisted on looking for this Jersey Devil.” 

“Yeah but if I hadn’t mentioned it, your husband and kids wouldn’t have been in danger,” Stanly pointed out.

“My kids? Stanley, are you under the impression that you aren’t one of my kids?” Mary asked rhetorically. “Because let me tell you that you are my kid and that means that I’m just as concerned with your safety as I am with my other children. I’m actually a little tempted to go over to your house and demand to know what your parents were thinking letting their child go after the Jersey Devil in the first place.”  

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Stanley told her before adding with a small grin, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. “I would hate if your heart exploded in rage for a second time.”

Mary chuckled for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “I just want to be sure you understand that it’s not just them I worry about.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself,” Stanley assured her.

“Except when you are busy taking care of everyone else. I mean your first instinct was to get the Jersey Devil to chase after you, not caring that you would get hurt,” Mary pointed out.

“I once punched it in the face. Believe me, I know how to handle myself in these situations.”

“I would prefer you didn’t put yourself in these situations in the first palace,” Mary told him gently. “However as I suspect that will be a losing battle, I just want you to be a little more careful.” 

“I’m afraid that’s not in my nature,” Stanley said apologetically.

“Well try. Do it for a sick woman,” Mary implored him, giving him a pleading look.

“All right. I’ll try,” Stanley agreed, unable to say no to her.

“You know I see a lot of myself in you,” Mary remarked, a faraway look in her eyes. “When Dan’s mother took me in, I was still reeling from my miscarriage and my parents kicking me out. One day, I was out with Dan’s little brother and some guys were hassling me and Martin refused to allow his brother’s fiancée be insulted so he tried to defend my honor and he ended up with a broken nose and a black eye. I thought his mother would blame for getting him into trouble so I just started crying and I told Dan’s mother that I would understand if she wanted to kick me out for getting Martin hurt. She took my hand and she looked me straight in the eyes and said to me: ‘Despite what you think, you are a good girl and you have to stop punishing yourself. You have already been punished enough.’ She knew I wasn’t perfect and that I had done some things I’m not proud of but she knew that despite everything, I deserved to be cared for.”

“I’m not giving you my hand,” Stanley said, guessing where this was going before Mary even reached for him.

“Did I mention I had a heart attack?” Mary inquired sweetly, keeping her hand extended. 

“How many times are you going to use that?” Stanley grumbled as put his hand in hers.

“Last time, I promise,” Mary assured him, making sure to maintain eye contact. “Stanley, despite what you think, you are a good boy and you have to stop punishing yourself. You have already been punished enough.”

“That kind of loses its impact when I know you stole it from your mother-in-law,” Stanley deadpanned, trying very hard not to smile.

“No it doesn’t because I mean every word and you know it,” Mary told him, giving his hand a squeeze. “With that said, the next time you decide to chase after creatures of folktale, please make sure you have some sort of protection with you and no your fists do not count.”

“Yes Ma’am.” 

While Dan and Mary talked, Stanley joined Samantha, Eleanor and David to get a bite to eat. Deciding to forgo the hospital cafeteria food, Stanley suggested buying hamburgers and sneaking it in the hospital, choosing Eleanor as his accomplice, they walked up to a nearby fast food place.

“So. Are you gonna tell me what you and my mom talked about?” Eleanor asked curiously.

“You know I gotta admit that your mom seemed very accepting of the fact that the Jersey Devil was real. I thought she’d be a lot more skeptical,” Stanley remarked, indirectly answering her question.

“I thought so too. Then I remembered her telling us a story about this little girl who nearly drowned in a swamp only to be rescued by a creature that was covered in burns and smelled like ash,” Eleanor recalled, a pensive expression on her face. “If I had to guess that little girl might have been her.”

Before Stanley could comment he saw a familiar person coming towards them. Not wanting another confrontation with someone from his past, he chose to hide behind a mailbox much to Eleanor’s bewilderment. She became less perplexed when instead of pretending not to see him hiding behind a mailbox, Carla McCorkle went up to Eleanor and introduced herself.

“Hello there, I’m Carla McCorkle. It’s nice to meet you,” Carla greeted her pleasantly, acting as though it was normal for her to go up to random people in the streets and introduce herself. 

“Nice to meet you. I'm Eleanor White.”

“I hope you are taking care of him,” Carla said, deliberately not glancing in Stanley’s direction.

“Well someone has to,” Eleanor answered, fighting a smirk.

“Great and if you see him, will you tell him, that Carla said she’s glad he’s okay and she misses him?" Carla requested.

“Sure. Hey Stanley, Carla said----” Eleanor began cheekily, not even pausing as she turned to the side to relay the message.

“Okay, thank you,” Stanley interrupted nonplussed, getting up and dusting his pants. “It’s good to see you, Carla.”

“You too and I’m glad you found someone. Well I have errands to run so I better get going,” Carla said apologetically. “But really, Stanley, I’m glad I ran into you even if you did just try to hide from me.”

Stanley just nodded, averting his eyes as Carla walked away.

“So do we not like her?” Eleanor inquired, looking rather unsure.

“It’s a long story. The short version is we dated, there was this mind controlling hippie and she sent back my flowers after I crashed her boyfriend’s car into a ravine,” Stanley explained as he walked away, smirking as he mentally counted down.

Three, two, one: cue Eleanor wanting to know more.  

“Long version, Stanley, I beg of you, I need the long version!” Eleanor shouted after him after she had picked her jaw up off of the ground.

“They are letting your mother out in two days but I thought we should stay an extra day, just so your mother can rest in a hotel bed before we have to make the trip back to Dysfunction Junction,” Dan explained, eying the hamburgers his children were eating hungrily.

“Which means one more day we spend out of school,” Eleanor said with a smile as she tore apart her hamburger and gave one half to her father.

“Actually I have spoken to my colleges and together we have made up a worksheet for each of your classes,” Dan told them as he took a bite of the hamburger. Eleanor, David and Stanley groaned. “You can either do the worksheets or you can just wait until we get home and then you can make up for all of the classwork and homework you missed this past week.” 

“The worksheets sounds good,” Stanley decided.

“I had a feeling you might say that,” Dan said smugly, stealing a few of Samantha’s fries. His tone then sobered. “By the way we aren’t going to tell your mother that we had hamburgers and fries.”

“I think she’d understand considering how bad the hospital food is,” Eleanor pointed out.

“She would but considering that she has to be put on a strict diet for the next month or so, she won’t be happy that we got to eat fast food and she didn’t,” Dan explained. “That’s why I have agreed to do this with her.” He took another bite of the hamburger. “Starting when we get home.”

The day after the beach confrontation, Ford was avoiding every and any place his brother might appear like the plague.

He knew that he was being stupid, he really did but Stanley couldn’t just wave a wand and expect him to forgive something his twin hadn’t even apologized for just because he fixed it.

Furthermore, telling Ford that he only got into West Coast Tech was because Dan had thrown money at them was just petty and uncalled for. Not to mention it wasn’t true. Wasn’t it?

They had been pretty eager to write him off once they saw his project was broken. His good grades alone should have at least made them willing to consider him.

Well that didn’t matter. He was going to prove himself once he started college and they would be glad they accepted him. Eventually it wouldn’t matter why he was accepted as long as he did well.

Ford groaned inwardly as he realized that up the road was the White sister---the one who clearly hated his guts--- talking to--- wait wasn’t that Carla McCorkle.

The two girls were saying something to each other before parting ways in opposite directions. Just Ford’s luck, Eleanor walking towards him. When she saw him, she immediately got a look on her face like she had been caught doing something wrong.

“Uh, why were you talking to my brother’s ex-girlfriend?” Ford could not help but ask as she moved to walk by him.

“Full offense, it’s none of your business,” Eleanor snapped, shooting Ford a glare. “But if you must know, we ran into each other while I was taking a walk and I found that she is very pleasant to talk to.”

“You do realize that she dumped him for a mind controlling hippie,” Ford told her, rather bemused that she had actually said full offense. Not that he would have believed her if she had said no offense but that was still a bit on the nose.

“And yet I like her more than you,” Eleanor shot back with a mocking smile.

“Well I don’t think Stanley would be happy---” Ford began, feeling oddly offended that Eleanor liked the girl who broke Stanley’s heart better than him.

“Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you cared about your brother’s feelings,” Eleanor cut in harshly. “I mean you threw him away the minute he wasn’t of use to you.”

“Excuse me?” Ford asked, now growing angry. What the hell did she mean by that? Stanley was the one who used him, not the other way around.

“It was so easy for you to turn your back on him over a mistake that he made. I mean even if it wasn’t an accident. Even if he broke your project on purpose, the fact that you were so willing to throw him away like he was a piece of garbage instead of your twin makes me think you didn’t care about him at all,” Eleanor shouted.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Ford exclaimed, hating how hard her words were hitting him. “My father is the one who kicked Stanley out, not me.”

“Well you and your father have a lot in common. You both have your heads so far up your asses you can’t even see the damage you are doing to Stanley. Neither of you gave a crap about what had happened to him before he found my family and what would have happened to him if we hadn’t. You both are arrogant and stubborn, willing to scapegoat Stanley because you don’t want to admit that you were horrible to him.”

“You do realize that Stanley isn’t perfect, right? He’s done some things wrong,” Ford pointed out.

“And because of that, he deserves to be tossed out like garbage,” Eleanor sneered sarcastically.

“I didn’t say that,” Ford said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he realized their argument had just gone full circle.

“You didn’t have to,” Eleanor scoffed. “Oh and by the by, my sister seems to think you want to be angry at Stanley so you can push him away. She’s a lot smarter than you so I believe her.”

Okay now that last part was just a childish insult but the first part did resound with him.  

He wanted space from Stanley. He wanted to be able to do one thing, something that was very important to him, without worrying about how his brother felt about it.

Maybe he didn’t want to reconcile with his twin. Maybe deep down he didn’t want to forgive him just so he wouldn’t feel guilty about being so far away and not tearing himself from his future work just to spend time with Stanley.

And maybe just maybe, he deserved some of the anger Eleanor had for him.

Chapter Text

“’---she’s a lot smarter than you.’ What are you? Five?” Samantha asked her sister incredulously just as Stanley came into the living room.  

“Well you are smarter than him,” Ellie shot back.  

“Who are we talking about?” Stanley inquired as he sat on the couch.  

“No one important,” Ellie replied, her voice slighter higher pitched than normal. That plus Samantha’s snort told Stanley that Ellie was not being truthful.  

“Oh, come on, tell me who has made the dreadful mistake of insulting your sister. I promise I’ll mock him too,” Stanley assured her. 

Luckily for Ellie, Dan spoke up, distracting Stanley momentarily. “All right, David and I are going to pick up your mother. Does anyone want anything from the hospital gift shop?” he offered as he put on his coat and made sure David’s coat was zipped up all the way.   

“Actually yeah, can you buy one of those cheap teddy bears for me? I think I can sell it for double the price,” Stanley told him with a grin.  

“I feel like I should be against that but I’m honestly curious to see if anyone would actually buy it for double the price,” Dan said before kissing both of his daughters goodbye. “If it’s not too much trouble, can the three of you say here until we get back? Mary is convinced you will go on an adventure because we’ll be leaving in a few days.” 

“Well we certainly can,” Stanley replied cheekily. “Not so sure if we will.”  

“I think it would have been funnier if Dad was an English teacher,” Eleanor said after being the only one to do a pity laugh.  

“No, it would not have,” Samantha deadpanned dryly.  

“Alright, just stay out of trouble for two hours,” Dan pleaded as he opened the door to head out.  

“Don’t go on any adventures without me!” David exclaimed, waving goodbye as he left with his father.  

“Okay, so who is Samantha smarter than?” Stanley inquired, determined to find out what Eleanor was hiding.  

“Everyone. Could ya just let it go?” Eleanor pleaded with a half exasperated and half amused look. Stanley pouted. “Oh, don’t give me that look. It’s not a big deal.” 

“If it wasn’t a big deal, you would tell him,” Samantha pointed out matter of factly as she browsed through a magazine.  

“Whose side are you on?” Eleanor demanded, shooting her sister a furious look.  

“The side of the person who isn’t doing a really bad job of keeping something secret,” Samantha drawled.  

The phone rang and Stanley decided to pick it up, unwilling to let Eleanor use whoever was on the phone to stall. It was clear she was hiding something from him and Stanley needed to know what it was.  

“Hello?”  

“Is Eleanor White there? I have a Carla McCorkle here with a book for her,” the front desk clerk informed him.  

Stanley’s brow furrowed in confusion, wondering why Carla would have a book for Eleanor. “Okay, I’ll tell her.” He hung up the phone and turned to Eleanor, his eyes narrowed and folded his arms across his chest. “Carla’s downstairs. Apparently, she’s here with a book for you.”  

Eleanor’s eyes widened. “Dammit, I must have left it behind,” she hissed, perhaps louder than she meant to.  “I just bought it when I bumped into Carla.”  

“And...” Stanley prompted, doubting very much that was the end of it.  

“You know what, I think I’m going to go downstairs and pick up the book,” Samantha decided, placing his magazine down, leisurely getting up and walking out of the hotel room, ignoring the betrayed look her sister was shooting her.  

“And I might have asked her if she wanted to get a drink and we could just chat,” Eleanor explained, averting her eyes.  

“So, you could interrogate her about me,” Stanley guessed, gritting his teeth. While he knew that Eleanor was a curious girl, he had thought she had a little more respect for his privacy.  

“I wouldn’t say interrogate. I just had some questions and I was hoping she had the answers,” Eleanor told him, waving her hand dismissively as if he was making a big deal over nothing. When she saw he was still glaring at her, she had the decency to look ashamed. “Okay, I admit that maybe I went over the line just a teensy tiny bit.”  

“Over the line. You went so far past the line. The line is now a dot to you!” Stanley shouted. “You have questions about me, you ask me. You do not go looking for my ex-girlfriend and pry details from her.”  

“You are overreacting,” Eleanor yelled back as she jumped off the couch. “I just wanted to hear her side of the story.”  

“Because my side wasn’t enough!”  

“No, I just wanted to know why she broke up with you. I mean if you were my----if you were a jerk I would understand,” Eleanor amended quickly, her cheeks turning pink and she was now avoiding his eyes for an entirely different reason. A few minutes of awkward silence passed before she spoke again: “Look, I get it. I should have talked to her behind your back, I just wanted to know about the different side of you.”  
 

“The one where I’m a bad boyfriend,” Stanley stated blandly, slightly calmer now. He decided to pretend that he hadn’t heard that slip up nor figured out exactly what she was going to say.  

That was a different conversation for a different day. A day when they were in better places emotionally and not living in the same house.  

“Of course not. But not many people in your life besides maybe your mom and Shermie are would actually talk to me about you and I guess I just wanted to hear a different perceptive than theirs,” Eleanor admitted, biting her lip.  

“You’ve been talking to my mom and Shermie,” Stanley repeated, inhaling sharply.  

“.... Not lately.”  

“Okay you need to learn boundaries,” Stanley said firmly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Is there anything else I should know about?” 

“I might have run into your brother,” Eleanor confessed, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. “I may have been a little defensive because he saw me with Carla and was asking me why I was talking to her and you know acting like he was worried about how you would react.” 

“And what did you say to that?” Stanley asked, his hand traveling upwards to message his temples. Although a part of him couldn’t help but feel a little glad that Ford at least was thinking of him enough to upset on his behalf. Maybe his brother would come around eventually.  

“I told him not to act like he cared about your feelings after he threw you away when you were of no use to him and yelled at him for turning his back on you after you made one mistake. Then he tried to deflect by saying your father was the one who kicked you out not him so I told him how much he and your father had in common---” 
 
 
“YOU SAID WHAT!” Stanley bellowed. Geez, Eleanor was not just crossing lines; she was jumping over them.  

As far as he was concerned Ford was just as much of a victim of their father as he was. The only son, Filbrick Pines hadn’t screwed up was Shermie and no one knew how he had gotten so lucky.  

“Well neither of them cared what happened to you and both seem to be under the impression that homelessness and being cut off from all support is an appropriate punishment for break your brother’s project,” Eleanor protested, her voice rising a few levels.  

“I ruined his future, he has a right to be mad,” Stanley defended his brother. Accident or not, Stanley knew deep down he could have done better. Not gone into the school in the first place and maybe called his brother just to be sure it wasn’t broken.  

“So what? If I ruined Samantha’s chances of getting into college, she would be furious with me but if our parents kicked me out, she would be right next to me because there would be no way she’d let me be all alone in the world without any support whatsoever. She would never have abandoned me,” Eleanor ranted passionately.  

“Ford didn’t abandon me!” Stanley shouted.  

“Oh, he was always going to abandon you, you breaking his project was just a convenient excuse. Besides you didn't ruin his future. He ruined yours. Not getting into his dream school must suck for an arrogant know it all but he sure as heck had a better future than the one you were going to have if my parents hadn’t rescued you,” Eleanor snapped back.  

Well that was a low blow. Did she really think so little of him that he would have no future had he not meet the Whites? Did all of them think he was just a pitiful bum who needed them to hold his hand as they guided him to a brighter future?  

He was not a charity case. He was not a pet project, some idiot delinquent who they could turn into respected member of society.  

If he wanted to, he could make a million dollars while still living in his car.   

 “I don’t need anyone’s help! I’m fine on my own!” Stan yelled, not even bothering to grab his coat as he threw open the door and stormed out, barely even noticing that Samantha had to hurriedly step out of his way or that she put her hand out to stop Eleanor from following him.  

The October air was making it quite chilly out to be without a coat but Stanley had far too much dignity to return to the hotel room after stomping out. Part of him wanted to get in his car and drive away just like he did that fateful night he got kicked out but even if he hadn't left the car back in Dysfunction Junction, the image of a distressed David when the boy learned he had left made him reconsider.  

So, Stanley just walked, letting his feet decide where to go. He just walked the streets of his hometown, letting his anger simmer.  

 
Eleanor had no right to butt into his personal life. Even if she was right about the way Ford was acting, it was not her call to make and telling Ford that he was just like their father was uncalled for especially when their father only cared about Ford’s achievements when he stood to benefit from it.  

Stanley wasn’t even paying attention to where he was going and nearly bumped into the last person he wanted to see.  

“Well, well, if it isn’t the other half of the loser twins. Long time no see,” Crampelter jeered.  

“It has been a long time, although in your case, it’s long time no smell,” Stan shot back.  

“What are you doing back in Jersey? Did you get kicked out of every state and had to come crawling back?” Crampelter sneered, causing his little posse to snigger derisively.  

“None of your business,” Stanley snarled, trying not to wince. The whole reason he came back was in hopes that Ford would finally forgive him when he got him into his dream school. Instead Ford still hated him, he was still unwelcome home (not that he was too broken up about that), Mary had a heart attack because of him and Eleanor apparently agreed that he would never amount to anything.  

Crampelter was just the icing to the crap cake that was this awful trip.  

“Aw, poor little baby. Nobody wants him so he’s crawling back to mommy and daddy in hopes they’ll let him come home,” Crampelter mocked.  

Stanley’s hands curled up into fists. “I’m having a really bad day so shut up before I start pounding your face in,” he growled.  

“You really think you alone can beat all three of us,” Crampelter jeered, smirking as he got up in Stanley’s face.  

“He’s not alone,” a voice spoke up from behind Stan.  

“Did you follow me?” Stanley asked incredulously, not taking his eyes off of Crampelter.  

“Dad said not to let you get in trouble so I’m not going to,” Samantha replied, standing by his side.  

“Who is this? Your girlfriend?” Crampelter inquired, looking Samantha up and down. “Not much of a looker. You’d be prettier if you smiled.”  

Stanley glanced over at Samantha and to his surprise, she did smile: a smile that sent a shiver down his spine. He didn’t even register that Crampelter was now in front of Samantha and was reaching out towards her face.   

In one quick movement Samantha had grabbed Crampelter’s arm and twisted it around so he was now facing away from her. “Do you know what happened to the creep who touched my sister without her permission? I broke his arm,” she hissed as she let go of him.  

“You’ll pay for that you little bitch,” Crampelter shouted as he turned around, only for Samantha to knee his stomach and then elbow jabbed him in the back.  

One of Crampelter’s cronies let out a war cry and tried to rush Samantha, only for Stanley to grab him and throw him into the trash cans nearby.  

“Dodge left!” Samantha warned.  

Stanley did so, avoiding a sucker punch from the third member of Crampelter’s gang and he quickly gave the guy a left hook of his own. 

The fight must have been making quite a lot of noise because the police were called and the next thing Stanley knew all five of them were being hauled off into jail.  

Samantha who was the first to give her statement and had her own little jail cell where she was talking with a female officer.  

Mercifully the cops had put Stanley in a different cell than Crampelter and his gang.  

“Stanley Pines, it’s been a while,” Officer Kinsley greeted him, sounding awfully friendly for a guy who had just put him in a cell. “I’m glad Eric retired, otherwise I’d owe him a month’s pay.”  
 
 
“Seriously you bet that I wouldn’t end up in jail. Were you trying to lose money?” Stanley asked with a self-deprecating laugh, trying not to think what the Whites were going to say when they found out that he had landed himself and Samantha in jail.  

“Nah, you see I thought it would be all those speeding tickets that would land you here. Eric knew one day your fists would get you in trouble,” Officer Kinsley responded. “I got some good news for you, apparently you have not pissed off everyone in Glass Shard Beach, because the person who called about the fight, stated that Crampelter and his friends were the aggressors so there will be no assault charges pressed against you or your friend.” He then frowned and lowered his voice. “Unfortunately, because there will be a police report, I will have to inform your father.”  

“Don’t worry about it. He kicked me out last spring so he won’t care,” Stanley assured him.  

Officer Kinsley’s frown got deeper. “Hang tight, Stanley, I need to check a few things,” he said, taking a rubber ball out of his pants’ pocket and passed it to Stanley through the bars. “Couldn’t find a harmonica but I figured you’d make do with this until everything gets cleared up.”  

Smirking, Stanley took a seat and began to bounce the ball off the wall that separated his cell from the cell holding Crampelter and his gang.  

He noticed Officer Kingsley talking to a few of his fellow officers and the female officer who was talking to Samantha joined the group. Stan glanced over to Samantha who was watching the conversation with a frown, clearly being able to hear every word and not likening what she heard.  

Stanley’s instincts were yelling at him to flee. He knew how to pick locks, all he needed was a distraction and he could sneak out of here.   

But before he could make any plans, Mary charged into the police station with Dan on her heels.  

“Where are they!” Mary shouted, sounding furious. Stan felt like kicking himself. She had just been discharged from the hospital and he had to go get Mary upset. “They better not be getting a slap on the wrist. They attacked my babies and they deserve to be punished!”  

“Mary, calm down!” Dan ordered. But while his torn was stern, it was clear he was looking worriedly at his wife, fearful that her rage would induce another heart attack. Mary just glared at him but when she spoke to one of the officers, her tone was noticeably quieter and she didn’t seem as irate.  

 
 
“Why are my children in cells? They were acting in self-defense and it is those three bullies who deserve to be charged and jailed,” Mary said coolly.  

“While that is true, your daughter did give a minor multiple contusions,” the sergeant explained. “And Stanley Pines gave one of the boys a concussion and considering he has had prior incidents...” 

“You mean the incidents were both Stanley and his brother were bullied endlessly by those three boys,” Dan cut in.  

“Excuse me, Ma’am, did you say children?” Officer Kingsley spoke up.  

“Yes,” Mary answered, barely sparing the man a glance as she glared at the sergeant. “As they acted in self-defense and there are no charges being pressed against them, they can come home with us.”  
 

“They still participated in disturbing the peace and while they do not have any marks on them, the boys they were fighting do. Furthermore, unless you are Stanley Pines’ legal guardians, he won’t be going anywhere until this is cleared up,” the sergeant said sharply.  

“Sir, Stanley Pines has informed me that his father kicked him out and according to Samantha White, he has been living with her family with his parents’ knowledge but not their support,” Officer Kingsley informed him.  

“If anybody should be locked up, it should be Filbrick Pines,” Mary said coldly. “I do believe that child abandonment is a crime.” 

“Alright, if he is living with you with his parents’ permission, I will release him to you after I clarify that with his parents. However I would suggest getting his legal situation sorted out,” the sergeant told them, sounding a bit more reasonable than he had minutes ago. “I would also strongly suggest staying in New Jersey in case the parents of the other boys want to press charges.”  

If looks were lethal, Mary would be in jail for killing a cop.  

Chapter Text

If anyone were to see Mary as she stalked out of the police station, Dan, Samantha and Stanley following close behind both rather quiet in the face of Mary’s anger, they would never have believed that she had just gotten out of the hospital that day.

“Treating you both as though you were criminals even though all you were doing was defending yourself,” she muttered angrily. “The nerve of those people.”

“Mary, please calm dawn.”

“Dan, I swear you better stop treating me like I am going to explode,” Mary snapped.

“You’re the one that said your heart exploded in rage the last time,” Samantha said, rather pointedly. Her father shot her a grateful look.

Mary sighed. “I’m just glad you both are all right,” she said softly, glancing back at Stanley. “You are all right, aren’t you? What on Earth happened? We get to the hotel, you two are missing, Eleanor is crying, she won’t tell us why and then we get a phone call to bail you two out. I think we are owed an explanation.”

“Ellie and I got into a stupid fight, I stormed off, Samantha followed me and when some guys started to hassle me, she tried to help me out and one thing led to another,” Stanley explained, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground.

“Well, I’m glad you two aren’t hurt,” Dan spoke up before frowning. “However, it looks like we will be staying in New Jersey for longer than I thought. I’ll make some calls, hopefully the hotel manager will allow us to extend our stay in our suite and I better start looking for a lawyer who specializes in family law. Major Powers might know someone and he owes me a favor.”

“Actually while you were on the phone with Caryan, I spoke to Officer Kinsley and he gave me the business card for a lawyer here in New Jersey, we can give him a call tomorrow once we get things with the hotel and everything back home settled,” Mary informed her husband, pulling said business card out of her purse.

“Look you guys, don’t have to do this for me. I mean I’ll be eighteen next June so it will all be moot anyway,” Stanley pointed out, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

Besides he didn’t want them to think they were obligated to adopt him or anything like that. He wasn’t some kid dependent on them for shelter and love…. That totally did not describe his exact situation.

“Are you kidding? If I can’t get that horrible terrible man sent to jail, the least I can do is squeeze as much money…” Mary began in a vindictive tone.

Dan stopped walking abruptly, causing the other three to come to a stop as well. He actually glared at his wife which was enough to shock in her into silence. “Mary, no. This is not about you and your father. This about Stanley,” he said in a very stern voice, almost like he was scolding one of his children.

Stanley half-expected Mary to snap back at him, only for her to sag and her expression to become contrite. “Of course, it’s about Stanley. I’m sorry, Stanley, I shouldn’t have said that.” 

“Nah, it’s okay, I can see why you saw the similarities in our fathers,” he said, waving his hand dismissively, trying to play it off. Besides it wasn’t like Mary didn’t have a reason to hate Filbrick’s guts, his treatment of Stanley and her daddy issues aside.

“Stanley, one of the reasons we would like to become your legal guardians is because what happens if you ever land in the hospital and we are barred from seeing you,” Dan pointed out earnestly. “Not to mention if you ever land yourself in trouble and we can’t contact your mother to give us permission for us to help you, well then we’d have to move into the jail cell to keep you company.”

Samantha had been glancing around at the people who were giving the four people weird looks as they maneuvered around them, probably catching little tidbits of a private conversation being held in a public place. But after her father had mentioned the jail cell, she gave him the most incredulous look as if she couldn’t believe he would bring up being in jail after they had so recently been in one or just the mere fact that he said that at all.

Stan, on the other hand, appreciated that Dan was willing to joke about it instead of being upset that Stanley had gotten himself and Samantha arrested.

“I get that but you guys don’t have to go through all this trouble for me.”

“We know we don’t have to---” Dan began.

“You know, Stanley, while I am almost certain that he owes child support for at least a years worth and I would think a sympathetic judge might even make him pay you for all the expenses you incurred after he kicked you out,” Mary interrupted thoughtfully causing her husband to mirror the incredulous look his daughter had just shot him.

The idea of forcing his father to cough up his own money to pay Stanley because a judge ordered him too was oddly endearing. In fact, Stanley could almost hear a crash register ding and his father’s furious grumbling as he pulled out his wallet.

“Wait would he really have to pay me?” Stanley asked, a grin spreading on his face.

“Well it won’t matter who he pays as we can just add it to your trust fund,” Mary assured him.

“Okay, maybe taking my Dad to court isn’t the worst idea,” Stanley decided. After all his father had made it clear he wasn’t welcome back home even though he had managed to get Ford into that school of his so it wasn’t like he owed that crusty old man anything. Just as they were continuing onward to the hotel, the last part of Mary’s sentence penetrated his mind. “I have a trust fund?!”

"You'll only get it after you finish college," Samantha informed him matter of factly. 

When they arrived back at the hotel, David immediately ran to hug Stanley and Eleanor almost hugged him as well only to stop before she had actually reached him.

“You’re not a hugger. I’m respecting your boundaries,” she said, keeping her hands up and taking a step back as if to prove her point.

“Well David’s already hugging him so I guess you might as well hug me too,” Stanley told her, patting David’s head.

Eleanor looked like she was about to burst into tears again as she threw her arms around Stanley’s neck, almost crushing both him and her brother who was squashed in between them and had to wiggle free.

“I’m so sorry about everything,” she breathed as they separated and Stanley could see the puffy redness of her face and the tear marks on her cheeks.

“Look maybe I overreacted a little bit. However, you definitely are not allowed to talk to any of my ex-girlfriends or really anyone to scoop me out and you are not allowed to yell at Ford like that ever,” Stanley told her sternly.

“Understood.”

“And most importantly Ford is obviously smarter than Sammy,” Stanley finished, crossing his arms over his chest, sticking his chin out definitely. Eleanor burst into perils of relived laughter.  “You can laugh all you want but that’s just a fact.” 

“Sammy could run circles around Ford,” Eleanor countered, trying to control her laughter.

“Only because Ford has completed his circles hours ago and is waiting for Sammy to catch up,” Stanley shot back, grinning at her.

Soon they were both laughing much to the bewilderment of Mary, Dan and David and to the annoyance of Samantha.

Apparently gossip traveled fast especially when it came from people wanting to know how the Pines family were reacting to Stanley’s latest escapade.

A noisy neighbor had heard from who knows where that Stanley and some girl he was with had gotten into a fight with Crampelter, a fight that had gotten so out of hand, police got involved.

The neighbor swore up and down that Stanley had pistol-whipped Crampelter while the girl had broken his arms and legs.

“Not that it is any of your business but my son does not own a gun and he and his lady friend were just defending themselves. The police didn’t press charges for that reason, although they might be pressing it for those three bullies,” Caryan snapped before firmly shutting the door on the busybody’s face. 

“And how did you know that?” Filbrick asked in a disapproving tone.

“Believe it or not, kicking our son out does not mean we aren’t still legally his guardians, the police wouldn’t let Dan and Mary take him without our permission,” Caryan replied in a clipped tone, glaring at him. “Besides unlike you, I like knowing that our son is okay.”

“Why? He’s someone else’s problem now. They are clearly fine with letting him ride off their coattails and he is clearly happy with them since they let him get away with murder so why bother worrying about what he’s up to?” Filbrick asked rhetorically, returning to his newspaper.

Stanford didn’t even wait for his mother’s response he just went to his room and closed the door.

First the boat, then the Jersey Devil and now Crampelter, it was like everything Stanley had done with Ford, he was suddenly doing with his new family.

It really shouldn’t have bugged Ford as much as it did. And yet how dare Stanley try to make him feel guilty about leaving him behind so he could make his own path when that selfish jerk just went and replaced him in every aspect of their lives.

Ford was sick of feeling like without Stanley, he had nothing. He was sick of feeling left out just because Stanley had family who were apparently willing to follow Stanley anywhere.

Once Stanford Pines arrived at West Coast Tech, once he showed everything his true potential. Once he did something truly amazing these childish feeling would go away because at the end of the day, Stanley needed him but he did not need Stanley.

He was fine on his own and he didn’t need anybody.

Maybe Eleanor was right. Maybe he wanted to push his twin away but that was nothing he should have to feel bad about. His twin was holding him back even now as he sat in his chair, feeling sorry for himself. 

Enough was enough. His father was right. Stanley had the Whites now, it was time to focus on what really mattered: his work.

Chapter Text

“So now that we’re staying here longer, can we go see the Jersey Devil again?” David asked excitedly. “Or maybe we could explore the beach and see if the Grim will come back.”

“I’m sorry, the what now?” Eleanor pressed a button on the remote control to mute the TV before she turned and looked at her brother and Stanley with a raised eyebrow.

“The Grim. Stanley apparently met the Grim,” Samantha deadpanned, rolling her eyes skyward.

“Still a little bitter that he proved you wrong about the Jersey Devil, huh?” Eleanor teased, throwing her sister a smirk.

“No,” Samantha said coolly, but the slight eye twitch told otherwise.

Stanley gave both Eleanor and David a surreptitious wink causing them to snicker.

“I think we’re done with the Jersey Devil for now. But hey exploring the beach might be fun. I can show you where my brother and I found the Stan-o-War,” Stanley suggested, trying not to grimace.

Knowing his luck, they’d probably bump into Ford again and have another argument. Why Ford kept coming to the beach, Stanley didn’t know. The hopeful side of him wanted to believe that Ford kept showing up because deep down he wanted to reconcile with his twin. But much like his father, Ford had made it clear, that barring erasing his mistake somehow, they wanted nothing to do with him despite his efforts to make up for it.

Well hopefully Ford was avoiding the beach like the plague now and he wouldn’t have to bump into him. Besides he was the one who cut Stanley out of his life so if he wanted to come to the beach and leave when Stanley was there, that was on him. Stanley wasn’t going to hide in the hotel room just on the off chance he bumped into his brother.

“Family meeting,” Dan called even though he and Mary were the only ones not previously in the living room. “Here’s the deal. We will be staying here for another week so we can set things up with the lawyer then we’ll go back home and work on things over the phone. We also decided to cancel our thanksgiving plans with Uncle Martin as things might get a little hectic---”

“Which Aunt Diana will only make worse,” Eleanor interjected.

“Ellie,” Dan warned.

“What? I’m not wrong. Every year it’s the same thing. We go over to Uncle Martin’s house, Aunt Diana insults Mom’s appearance, insinuating she wouldn’t look so haggard  if she had a cook and a maid, then she will insist she put so much time into making a perfect Thanksgiving feast despite the fact that the aforementioned maid and cook did all the work. When Mom insisted on bringing a pie, she ‘accidentally’ dropped it. She also told Samantha and me that we would get dates if we dressed and acted a little more feminine. Then there was the incident when our cousin pierced both her ears and Tess’ ears and Aunt Diana’s only reaction was to tell Mom that she was being uptight. And let’s not forget about---”

“I think your father gets the point,” Mary interjected, although she noticeably did not seem uncomfortable about or disapproving of Eleanor’s rant.

“Regardless of why we’re not going, we won’t be going. Instead we’ll use that time to relax and catch up on any work we need to finish,” Dan decided, giving three of his children meaningful looks. “In the meantime, Stanley, the lawyer is going to want to meet with you too so we might have to buy you a suit.”

“If Ma brought everything I own, my old suit should be in my room,” Stanley remarked, feeling uncomfortable knowing they would buy a suit that was probably ten times more expensive than the hand-me-down Shermie had given him (Ford had to use a loner).  “I can just drive back to Dysfunction Junction and get it.”

“It’s not, I already checked,” Mary told him.

Stanley raised an eyebrow as he was fairly certain, Mary had not gone through his boxes from home considering most of them remained unopened scattered about his room. But he decided to let her have this one--- he owed her a few considering he had nearly gotten her son eaten by the Jersey Devil, her daughter arrested and that whole thing where his dad made her so angry, she had a heart attack.

“Our appointment is in three days so we can buy you a suit tomorrow,” Dan finished. “Now Mary and I are going to drive home so we can pick up some worksheets for you three. While we’re gone, Samantha’s in charge.” 

“Come on, she went to jail. Doesn’t that mean I’m more responsible?” Eleanor protested.

“It does not,” came the blunt reply from Samantha.

“Mom, Dad, can Stan and I go to the beach and dig up treasure?” David asked excitedly.

“If you’re planning on doing it all day, be sure to pack a lunch and no monster hunts this time,” Mary answered. “Make sure you bundle up because it’s getting cold out there. If it starts to snow, come back immediately.”

“Mary, they’ll be fine,” Dan assured her, ushering her out the door, saying goodbye over his shoulder.

“Ellie, you coming?” Stanley questioned.

“Sorry, watching some Bewitched reruns. I’ll come and join you guys when it’s over though,” Eleanor told them.

“Okay. I take it, you’ll be staying here as well,” Stanley guessed, turning to Samantha.

“Just return my brother in the same state he was this morning,” Samantha replied.  

“Like you did the first time you babysat us,” Eleanor muttered.

Samantha did not respond. She just put a bookmark in her book, closed it, grabbed a nearby magazine, rolled up the magazine, calmly got up, took a few steps forwards, raised the magazine above her head like it was a club, and swatted her sister over the head before calmly returning to the table and her book as if nothing had happened.

“Such violence,” Eleanor tutted, rubbing her head. “And to think we are supposed to be under your care.”

“Sometimes your sister scares me a little,” Stanley stage whispered to David.

“Sometimes?” David asked cheekily.

“A little?” Eleanor repeated at the same time, shooting Stanley a incredulous look.

Samantha sighed.

Luckily it wasn’t too cold out even though they did not remove their gloves or jackets as they wondered about the beach with Stanley showing David around, pointing out where he had met the Grim and the cave where the Stan-O-War had been found.

Soon they sat down on the swings and Stan found himself telling David about his childhood dreams.

“Ford and I were gonna sail away from this town and go on to bigger and better things,” Stanley reminisced, remembering how he had slung an around his twin’s shoulder and proclaimed they would be an unstoppable team of adventures, getting all the treasure and babes their hearts desired.

“Tess wanted to leave too,” David remarked, a faraway look in his eyes. “She always found that our town was too small for her. She used to say she one day someone would see her talent for what it was and then she’d be whisked away to Hollywood where she would have everything she ever wanted.”

“Sounds like she dreamt big,” Stanley stated, privately wondering what exactly Tess could want that she didn’t already have.

A father who loved and supported her, would never belittle her or throw her out over one mistake. A mother who would stand up for her. Siblings who loved her so much they would never throw her away, abandoning her to people who didn’t give a damn about her. An entire community that wouldn’t compare her to her siblings or call her the dumb tw---okay maybe he was projecting just a little bit.

“I dream big too. One day, I’m gonna be an astronaut,” David proclaimed, turning his head to beam at Stanley.

“Oh really? An astronaut. Did you know that in NASA they train astronauts by putting them in something called an aerotinim or something like that? It apparently spins you around,” Stanley told him with a sly grin. “Want to see how fast we can spin without throwing up?”

“You bet I do!” David exclaimed gleefully.

Unfortunately, neither were wearing a watch so when David threw up, they couldn't be sure how long he had lasted.

That was also when Stanley decided they probably should be getting back to the hotel so nobody would see the now puked stained swing (he felt oddly satisfied that David threw up on the swing Ford usually sat on).

“So Stanley, what about you?”

“What about me?” Stanley asked, his brow knitted in confusion as they walked down the street.

“What are your plans? Are you still going to be a world-traveling treasure hunter, picking up babes and treasure as you sail around the world?” David inquired curiously, looking up at Stan with keen interest.

“Probably not, kid, it’s no fun to go by myself,” Stan admitted, kicking a stray pebble as he kept his eyes on his shoes. Even if he thought he could do their childhood dream without Ford, he knew that he would spend his entire time feeling lonely and wondering how much better it would go with Ford.

At best it wouldn’t be as fun and at worst all it would do was remind him how it used to him and Ford against the world until suddenly it wasn’t.

“Then what do you want to do when you grow up?”

“Kid, I’m seventeen, I’m pretty much grown up,” Stanley said with a chuckle, ruffling David’s hair as if to prove his point.

“I’m not so young I don’t know when someone’s ducking the question,” David pointed out. His blithe smile becoming a bit of a smirk as he raised his eyebrow at Stanley, practically daring him to argue.

“Okay, kid, you got me there,” Stanley agreed, letting out a heavy sigh before he began speaking again: “Honestly, I have no idea. I always was good at one thing: being a lair and a cheat.”

“Isn’t that two things?” David corrected, having the decency to look abashed when Stanley shoot him an annoyed look. “Besides you’re great at lots of things. You’re a great big brother, you fix things really well, you’re a good salesman, a good fighter and a storyteller.” He counted on his fingers before adding: “That’s six things right there.”

“I don’t think there’s a market for big brothers,” Stanley teased, trying to pretend that his eyes were itchy and that’s why he was wiping them not because they had tears in them that were threatening to leak out.

“Well you still could do those other things and hey if none of them work out, maybe we could go sailing around the world together,” David suggested.

“What happened to astronaut?” Stanley inquired, unable to hide his pleased smile.

“We can do that together to. Maybe we’ll find gold in the moon,” David answered.

“Maybe,” Stanley agreed, reaching for David’s hair again only for the boy to grab his hand instead.

That kid was going places, Stanley just knew it.

They returned to the hotel to find neither Samantha nor Eleanor had moved an inch from their spots despite them being gone for almost five hours.

“Did you find anything?” Ellie asked, not turning her head away from the TV.

“I puked on a swing,” David announced proudly.

"Well at least it went better then when Samantha taught you how to fall down the stairs," Eleanor commented, hiding her head with her hands when her sister closed her book and rolled up the magazine again menacingly. "Stanley, save me, she has a weapon!"

Laughing Stan, grabbed another pillow and shielded Eleanor's head, cushioning the blows from the powerful magazine of death.

Two days passed with little incident. When it got to cold to play outside, the family played board games to pass the time or watched movies together or Dan forced David, Stanley and Eleanor to do some of their worksheet.

On Wednesday, Stanley had gotten dressed in a suit and tie. Before they left for the lawyer’s office, Mary had insisted on fixing Stanley’s tie and making sure his hair was well combed.

“Wow, you clean up good,” Eleanor complimented him.

“What? Because I don’t look my best otherwise,” Stan said in a mock offended tone.

“Way to snatch an insult from the jaws of a compliment,” Ellie deadpanned with a snort.

“Well don’t get used to it. The minute this is over, it’s back to jeans and tee shirt,” Stanley told her.

“While we’re out, why don’t you two try to finish your worksheets, we will be going home on Saturday,” Dan told them.

Ellie and David groaned but they grabbed their worksheets and sat at the table, preparing to do them as fast as they could so they could go back to watching TV.

“I’ll be checking your work,” Samantha reminded them.

“Good luck, Stan. I hope you get a lot of money from your donkeyhole of a father,” David said cheerfully.

Dan and Mary turned and gave their middle daughter a stern glare.

“I literally said donkeyhole. It’s not my fault he’s old enough to know what I really meant,” Eleanor protested.

Their lawyer was a man by the name of Jim Banks who had taken the liberty of getting all he could on Stanley before meeting with them.

“As Stanley will be a legal adult in June, I would suggest going for the temporary guardianship now and if you still want to adopt him just do that later as there is no age limit for adoption,” Jim began. “Give me some time and I can get those papers, get a signature which will release Stanley to your custody.”

“Okay, that sounds easy enough,” Dan said approvingly.

Yeah, it would be easy because his pa would be overjoyed to be free of Stan at last. Heck, he’d probably hope Stan would change his name to White so no one would even suspect that he was related to the screw-up he disowned.

“The other thing is the part about Stan getting kicked out and whether or not he is entitled to money for that. First of all, Child Services will be called if you wish to file criminal charges for Mr. Pines which means your family will also be looked into just to be sure you are suitable guardians,” Jim continued.

“We have nothing to hide so by all means,” Mary assured him, patting Stanley’s arm, looking pleased.

“I don’t know. My pops is the main breadwinner and I know he’ll fight the charges and if he ends up in jail… I don’t want this to become a financial burden that’s gonna put my ma in a bad situation,” Stanley said worriedly.

He loved his mother but he didn’t think her phone psychic thing would be enough to pay the bills of their house and keep the store running.

“All right, then I would say your best bet is to sue for punitive damages occurred from emotional abuse, parental abandonment and any fees you occurred in the past year,” Jim informed them.

“How much money are we talking about?” Stan asked curiously.

“Depends on what the judge feels fair or if you settle the matter outside of court what I and your father’s’ lawyer can agree on.”

Stan turned his head to see Mary and Dan looking at him.

“It’s up to you, Stanley,” Dan told him gently. “If you want to do this, we’ll support you all the way.”

“You know what. Let’s do it,” Stanley decided.

Just because he didn’t want Ma to have to suffer, didn’t mean he was looking forward to some revenge.


Maybe he could use some of the money to pay the Whites back for all they had done for him.

Stanford Pines was having a bad day.

He had been late to class because he had lost track of time at the library, then he had gotten a detention because Crampelter had wanted revenge for now having the reputation of being beaten by a girl and had tried to start a fight with Ford who was in such a bad mood he obliged only to get caught by the principal who asked Ford if he was intent on becoming the new Stanley.

To make matters worse, he had gone to the beach and found frozen dried vomit on his swing. Of course Stanley’s swing was untouched.

So now he trudged up to his house, certain that things could not get worse.

“THEY’RE SUING ME!” Filbrick bellowed, his face red with outrage.

“You’re lucky they are only suing. Mary wanted to press criminal charges, but Stanley said no,” Caryn said in tone that suggested Filbrick should grateful for that.

“Those charges wouldn’t stick and a judge is going to throw that boy’s case out the window and probably throw him in jail for wasting the court’s time. Which would serve that little grubby coattails rider right. That clown isn’t my problem anymore and soon he will legally not be my problem. And if he thinks he get a cent from me, he has another thing coming,” Filbrick snarled.

As angry as Ford was at his brother, he couldn’t help but admire his gall. Their father had thrown him out, saying he couldn’t come back until he had made millions. Instead of giving their father any money, Stanley was trying to make him pay.

Of course, this was just Stanley’s way of playing victim, he supposed. Trying to make it all about poor him.

It wasn’t like Ford lost anything that night thanks to Stanley’s selfishness.

Oh Stanley pretended like he cared and that’s why he had convinced Dan White to pay for Ford’s dream college. But that had only been because he wanted to buy Ford’s forgiveness not because he actually wanted to do it.

He had never cared about anyone beside himself so why would this be any different?

The judge probably would throw out Stanley’s case, seeing him as nothing more than a vindictive child who had ruined his own future and was throwing a fit about it.

No, that was unfair. Stanley had good reason to be upset. Broken science project or not he didn’t deserve to be kicked out for it.

Besides even if this was just about Stanly’s revenge, surely Dan and Mary, who seemed like reasonable people from the brief conversations he had with them, wouldn’t have gone along with it.

If they and their lawyer thought that they had a case, they probably did and Pops would in fact be forced to pay some compensation. Maybe Stanley would even force him to apologize.

Now that would be worth going to see.

Ford sighed. Maybe he was being too hard on Stanley. After all, it wasn’t like their father didn’t deserve it.

Chapter Text

“Rosa wants a full report and I am not very good at keeping things…private,” Eleanor said awkwardly. “So what part of our trip would you prefer me to leave out?”

Stanley blinked in surprise. He had just sat down with a bowl of chips to watch TV after the two hour drive from New Jersey back to Dysfunction Junction.

“Um, what?”

“Well I know that you probably don’t want me telling her some things and I wanted to make sure I knew what not to tell her,” Eleanor explained.

“Oh okay. Uh, I guess don’t tell her about your talk with Carla or our fight,” Stanley replied, wondering if she would actually follow through with that.

Ellie’s expression turned sheepish and she averted her eyes. “I kinda already told her all about that.”

“Then what was the point of asking me?” Stan wondered with an eyebrow raised. Aside from that, there wasn’t really anything that needed to remain private. He didn’t really care if anyone found out that he and Samantha got into a fight with boys and the police where called. He was certain not many people would believe the New Jersey Devil story anyway.

“I had a reason but I have forgotten what it is,” Eleanor replied, her cheeks reddening. “I’ll just go.”

With that she hurried out of the house leaving Stan to watch TV in peace…for all of ten seconds.

“Dan, it’s just laundry,” Mary protested as Dan walked down the stairs a laundry basket in his arms which he seemed to be trying to keep away from his wife as she followed him. “I can do laundry.”

“The doctor specifically said you cannot do any strenuous activity. I can do the cleaning, Samantha can do the cooking and Héctor has everything at the restaurant covered,” Dan informed her. “All you should be focusing on is relaxing, ridding yourself of your stress. In fact, this weekend I have arranged for you to go to a spa.”

Mary gave him a sharp look. “I am not an invalid. I don’t need you to cater to me,” she told him firmly.

“I know that, Mary, but you recently had a heart attack and with all this business about Stanley’s court case, I’m worried that if you are not careful you might be in danger of having a second one and I don’t need a medical degree to determine that having two heart attacks a month apart could be fatal,” Dan countered. Although he spoke in his usual calm voice, there was an undercut of steel. For a few minutes they just stared at each other before Dan sighed and tried another tactic. “Will you please do it for me?” he implored her.

“Fine. If it makes you feel better,” Mary said begrudgingly, having the same annoyed expression on her face one would see on a petulant child being forced to do a chore they found tiresome. She sat down on the sofa next to Stanley with a huff.

“Thank you, love of my life,” Dan gushed, kissing the top of her head, causing Mary to roll her eyes at his attempt to butter her up.

“I would like to point out if our roles were switched----” Mary began.

“You would have tied me to the bed or wrapped me up in bubble wrap,” Dan interrupted her as he walked out of the room and towards the basement.

“And you wouldn’t have liked it,” Mary called after him.

“You know you’re pretty lucky. Ma used to have to nag Pops to do any housework,” Stanley commented, trying to lighten the mood.

“Your father’s delightful personality aside, Dan has actually been doing housework long before we were married. When he was younger, his mother had to take care of his ailing grandfather so Dan would help her around the house. Some of the neighbor boys used to mock him for doing woman’s work. Dan’s response was to sit outside and knit his mother a shawl.”

“Was he trying to get beat up?” Stanley wondered incredulously.  He had no doubt there would be teasing, perhaps not mean-spirited teasing but teasing nonetheless, now if a boy was seen sewing. However, he had a feeling that the bullying would be even worse thirty years ago.

“That’s what I said,” Mary laughed. “Don’t let that man fool you. He might seem like he’s easy going but he can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be.” 

Stanley chuckled before returning his gaze to the TV, fully intending on continuing watching Celebrity Bowling when a question occurred to him. He tried to ignore it, not wanting to bring this up but it wouldn’t go away.

“Can I ask you a question?” Stan asked, fidgeting with his hands, trying to compose what he said in his head first so it didn’t come out bad which knowing his track record, it would anyway.

“You can ask me anything,” Mary assured him, turning her head away from the television so she could give him her full attention.

“Do you think you could ever repair your relationship with your parents?” Stanley asked, feeling stupid for even asking that question and yet he really wanted to know the answer.

Mary let out a heavy sigh. “Eight years ago, my mother tracked me down to invite---no not invite, that implies she was giving me a choice---you see despite the fact that they had disowned me, thrown me out and didn’t even bother to come to my wedding despite Dan inviting them, my mother expected me to come to my father’s funeral. When I said no, I wasn’t going to the funeral of a man who obviously didn’t want anything to do with me, my mother called me an ungrateful brat and then told me to get over the night they kicked me out and caused me to miscarry as it was so long ago and it wasn’t like I suffered for it. I slammed the door in her face. She refused to leave so I called the police on her so she finally left me alone and I haven't heard from her since,” Mary recalled.

“So that would be a no,” Stan summarized.

“If you want to make amends with your father, that’s good for you. After all, you and I aren’t the same and as Dan tries to remind me multiple times, neither are our parents,” Mary told him gently. “However just because they are our blood relatives doesn’t mean we owe them anything let alone our forgiveness. If they are too toxic than it’s better to just stay away from them.”

“I was actually thinking about Ford,” Stan explained. The longer he lived under the White’s roof, the more done he was with his father. After everything was settled at court, Stan would be fine never interacting with his father ever again.

“Well let me ask you something: if your father had turned to Stanford and asked him whether or not you should be kicked out, do you think your brother would have told him yes?”

“No, Ford would never have done that,” Stan said without hesitation, certain that no matter how angry his twin was at him, he would never have wanted him kicked out. He tried to ignore the nagging little voice that was reminding him that Ford had closed the curtains on him, turning his back on his brother.

“Then maybe you two will make amends eventually,” Mary remarked, giving him a small smile. “Just don't beat yourself up if you don’t. After all, you’re the one who keeps reaching out to him. It’s not your fault he wants to be angry.”

Stanley was beginning to wonder if the Whites had a meeting about him without him knowing considering Mary was the third family family who said that Ford wanted to be angry.

It said a lot about Dysfunction Junction High that Stanley didn’t dread walking in. Oh he still hated school with a passion but as far as this school went, he actually didn’t mind going.

The teachers didn’t look like they wanted to groan when they saw him. Aside from a few unpleasant people, he actually got along with his schoolmates. Furthermore, for the first time in his life, his grades were decent rather than passing.

“Okay, the rumors are as follows: Mrs. White killed Mr. Pines and she is currently in jail for murder; she and Mr. Pines got into a fight and she had to be bailed out of jail; you got into a fight and you had to be bailed out of jail,” Rosa informed them.

“I’m sensing a pattern,” Stanley quipped.

“I don’t know what’s worse, that they think my mom went to jail or that I can completely understand why they would come to that conclusion,” Ellie said with a laugh.

They continued chatting as they walked down the hallway.

“Hey Pines!” Justin shouted.

Stanley rolled his eyes. Ever since Justin returned from his suspension, he had being trying to get back at Stanley. At one point he very obviously tried to get Stanley to confess to have stolen his baseball card, thinking the older boy would not catch on and spot the recorder peaking out of his jacket pocket. Stan had crouched down and told the recorder that he, Stanley Pines, had done nothing wrong and that Justin had thrown the first punch. Of course, Justin had tried to hit him for that only to be caught by the teacher again, receiving a week of detentions and a reminder that his next suspension would be mean he would be eligible for expulsion.

“What now?” Stan asked in a tired voice.

“Nothing. I just heard your brother was a six fingered freak,” Justin jeered.

If Justin wanted a fight, he had just said the magic words.

But before Stanley could do anything, a hand grabbed his shoulder, nails digging into his skin. Thankfully this was enough to snap Stan out of the blind rage he usually fell into when the word freak was thrown around.

“One of his goons has a camcorder,” Ellie hissed.

It felt like a betrayal, like he was betraying his twin, not to punch Justin’s smug little face but he had a good thing going here and Ford didn’t even go to this school so he didn’t have to protect him. Besides hitting Justin would only give the guy satisfaction that he had riled Stanley up enough even if it wouldn’t led to the suspension that creep thought Stan would get. (There was no way, Dan would allow Stanley to be suspended for fighting especially if Ellie and Rosa backed up Stan’s story that Justin had been purposely trying to anger him).

Stanley swallowed. “My brother is twice the person you’ll ever be,” he snarled before glaring at the kid with the camera. “If I hurt him, I’ll be going after the person with the evidence next.”

The goon’s eyes widened and he quickly handed it over. Stanley took out the film, tore it up and threw it away before handing the camcorder back to a seething Justin.

With that, Stan, Rosa and Eleanor walked to their next class, leaving Justin and his friends behind.

The school day was pretty mundane after that with the classes going as they usually did. Thanks to Dan and his worksheets, Eleanor and Stanley were did not need to be caught up in any school work except for some in-class projects--- the teachers just had them take a pop quiz or write a paragraph on a topic in those cases.

At lunch time, Stan took his usual seat at their lunch table.

“So Stan, guess what?”

“What?”

“You have an admirer,” Eleanor told him with a grin.

“I have so many already,” Stanley joked. “Who is it this time?”

“Laura Miller, she’s in our math class. Anyway, she asked me what your type was. I told her, your type was blonde, tanned, hoop earrings and blue eyeshadow,” Eleanor informed him.

“And why would you tell her that?” Stanley asked with a laugh. He had no doubt that whoever this girl was, her interest in him was not real as he was certain that if Eleanor was going to sabotage her, she wouldn’t have told him.

“Because she was clearly asking to make her boyfriend jealous so I just spat out random details,” Eleanor answered, shaking her head in exasperation. “You’re making a lot of guys jealous, you are basically the bad boy who sauntered into town, making all the girls crazy over you.”

Stanley couldn’t help but grin. “Is that so? Well it’s nice to know that the Stan charm works so well.”

“Su encanto ciertamente funcionó en ti,” Rosa teased, giving Eleanor a meaningful glance.

“Funny,” Ellie drawled sarcastically.

“You know someday I’m gonna get a Spanish to English guide and then you’ll have to find another language to talk about me in front of me,” Stanley said in annoyance.

“In her defense, she’s doing it fluster me without you knowing about it,” Ellie remarked, giving Rosa a glare. “I would like her to stop as well.”

As they continued to talk, Stanley couldn’t help but think about how it had never been like this at his old school.

Ford and he could talk hours on end but they were always isolated from their classmates, baring Justin and his little gang, the students of Dysfunction Junction seemed to like Stanley, one of them even came up to him and said it must be so cool to have polydactyl brother and another asked if it ran in the family so perhaps even Ford would have fit in here.

It was nice, knowing that he wasn’t an outcast and that he wasn’t alone like he always thought he would be without Ford.

Chapter Text

Stanley was not sure how Eleanor had talked him into teaching her boxing or why she chose him. Her sister was one heck of a fighter, apparently she had once broken a kid’s arm. Actually, now that Stanley thought about it, he really would like the story behind that.

“Hey Elle, did your sister really break someone’s arm?” he asked as he took his fighting stance.

Eleanor mirrored his stance before answering: “No, she just sprained his wrist---didn’t even mean to do that, mind you--- but she likes to scare people by pretending it was on purpose. The way Derek acts, she might as well have broken his arm. Every time he sees me, he goes running in the other direction.”

“Have I met this Derek guy?” Stanley inquired, thinking he might want to have a word with this kid. After all, while the details of the story might have been exaggerated, he had no doubt the reason for why Samantha had done it was true.

“’fraid not. He left for college last year, hasn’t been back since,” Eleanor answered, going for a left jab which Stanley blocked. “Not that I’m complaining. Guys who don’t take no for an answer deserve to have Samantha running them out of town.”

“You really think that’s why he hasn’t been back?” Stanley asked bemused.

“Nah, it was probably small-town fever,” Eleanor admitted with a grimace. “Some people just can’t appreciate what a small town has to offer them. A place where everybody knows everybody. You can count on everybody and if you are short on a few bucks, the store owner will just ask your parents for it when they see them. You can also steal stuff and Mr. Jacobs will just ask Mom and Dad for the money later.”

“Wait, he knows that I’ve been doing that!” Stanley exclaimed in surprise. Mr. Jacobs usually read a magazine when he went into the store to “browse” the merchandise, he didn’t think the old man even noticed he was there let alone that he usually slipped a few things in his pocket before leaving.

“Stanley, it’s a small town where everyone knows everyone. He knows who comes into his store, who buys something and who walks around and then leaves. He also keeps a meticulous list of everything in his inventory including how many candy bars are left. So yeah, he kinda figured you out but decided you were harmless enough that he didn’t make big deal about it,” Eleanor explained.

“Wow and he just let’s me keep stealing,” Stanley said, making a disbelieving face. Even if he would ask for money from the people he knew Stanley was staying with, it still surprised him that the older man would not even acknowledge that he knew exactly what Stan was doing. Now that Stanley thought about it, Mr. Jacobs always seemed rather amused whenever he greeted Stanley, almost as if he found it funny.

“Something tells me that he figured out that you used to be homeless and probably used your sticky fingers a lot,” Eleanor told him, giving him an apologetic look before throwing a punch.

This time Stanley ducked and then had to quickly catch Ellie before she fell over. “Okay, maintaining your balance is very important because you are trying to knock your opponent out not yourself,” Stan informed her with a smirk.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Eleanor said as she took a step back, her cheeks having a faint tint of pink. She looked down at her feet as she repositioned herself, fists out. “Am I good?”

“Better. Now let’s try a different kind of punch: an uppercut,” Stanley said, taking a step back before he demonstrated the move. As they had no protective gear it was easier to do shadow boxing so he didn’t accidentally hurt her.

The lesson continued for another hour before Mary called them down for lunch.

December was off to a promising start, not too cold and it hadn’t snowed too much that they had to wade through snow and mush to get anywhere.

Mary had pulled Stanley aside and asked him if he would feel comfortable getting a Christmas present and if he would want to celebrate Hanukkah. Stanley had politely told her that his family was non-practicing Jews, although he did wonder what she had been planning if he said he did want to celebrate. As for the second thing, he was quite certain that he would not be offended if the family wanted to get him a present.

On December 10^th, the Whites drove back to New Jersey for the court case. Dan had wanted Mary to stay behind but Mary made it clear that not even police barricade could stop her from supporting Stanley.

Stanley fidgeted with his tie as they walked into the courtroom. He took his place next to Jim Banks and glanced around the room. His father had not retained his own lawyer and was apparently representing himself. His mother and Shermie were seated behind him, although both gave Stanley warm smiles when they saw him. Stanley wished he could say he was surprised when he saw that Ford hadn’t come with them but it didn’t surprise him in the least. It still hurt but he wasn’t surprised.

The judge heard from Stanley first, letting him tell not only what happened the night after he was kicked out but also what he did in-between the time he was kicked out and when he had met the Whites.

Jim Banks had coached Stanley on how to tell his side of the story: no embellishments, no easily refuted lies and any illegal activity was to be omitted even if it was a circumstance where he had no choice.

As Stanley felt extremely awkward talking about his time as a homeless bum, especially in front of his family, he had no interest in embellishing and instead was as brief as he could be when talking about his experience.  

Filbrick Pines spoke next and his testimony was nothing more than calling his son, a cheat, a liar and how he should have kicked him out years ago. (When Stanley glanced back, he noticed that Dan and Samantha had very tight hold a seething Mary’s arms. Eleanor looked like she was trying to contain her own anger and David looked confused as if he couldn’t understand why Stanley’s father was being so mean).

“I have presided over many cases of child abuse, neglect and abandonment. I have seen fathers and even mothers who believe that their actions to their children are completely justified because their child acts out,” the judge began in a cold tone as he leveled Filbrick Pines a hard stare. “The fact of the matter is there is no excuse for treating your child like a burden. Furthermore, it is your duty of a parent to care for your son, a duty you not only failed to do but you also showed a depraved indifference to his safety by kicking him out on the streets. I am awarding Stanley Pines ten thousand dollars for punitive damages.”

You could have knocked Stanley over with a feather. Sure, he expected to get some money but ten thousand? Seriously?

“WHAT! I am not giving that brat a cent! He cost us millions!” Filbrick shouted, shaking his fist at the judge as he turned redder than a tomato. “You hear me? I did what was best and the only thing that screw-up deserves is a good beating.”

The judge banged his gravel until Filbrick shut up. “One more word out of you and I will have you arrested for contempt of the court,” he said in voice that broached no argument. “You can pay the ten thousand in monthly payments but you will be paying and that is my final say on that matter. If you do not make any payments or try to stiff your son, you will be punished.” The bailiff took a few steps forward, practically daring Filbrick to continue to causing a problem.

Filbrick still muttered under his breath angrily and his hands were still balled into fists by his side but he did not say another word. He just turned on his heel and stormed out of the courtroom not even looking in Stanley’s direction.

After shaking his attorney’s hand, Stanley went over to hug his mother and his brother.

“I didn’t think it would be so much,” he admitted apologetically. As glad as he was to be getting money from his father, he hated the idea of his mother suffering financially as a consequence.

“Don’t worry about it, baby, we’ll get by,” Caryn assured him. “I’m just glad you’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, never thought I’d be happy that dad would lose a lawsuit,” Shermie joked, ruffling Stan’s hair. “Try not to spend it too quickly,” he teased.

There was a part of Stanley that wanted to ask if where Ford was even though he already knew the answer. He was in school but then again, Eleanor and David also had school and they still went to support Stanley.

After exchanging goodbyes, dealing with the last bit of paperwork, Stanley and the Whites piled into the minivan and drove off.

No one said a word as they drove back to Dysfunction Junction, even David was quiet. Stanley hated the silence and was eager to get his mind, not to mention everyone else’s mind, off of his father.

“So ten grand is a lot of money. I was thinking maybe I could use it to pay rent,” Stanley suggested. It could be his way of giving back to the Whites after all they had done for him. 

“That’s very sweet of you, Stanley,” Mary said.

Stanley’s eyes narrowed, recognizing that was far too easy. He expected them to refuse his offer, unwilling to allow Stanley to start paying rent after living in their house for free for almost six months. There was absolutely no way Mary or Dan would accept money from him unless…

“It’s going in my trust fund, isn’t it?” Stanley guessed in a deadpan tone.

“Some of it, the rest will go into your college fund,” Mary explained, almost a little smug.

“Did you really expect anything different,” Eleanor laughed.

“Honestly, no I didn’t,” Stanley admitted, unable to keep the grin off of his face. Although he would have loved to pay the Whites back for their generosity, he suspected he would be fighting a losing battle. Then the last part of Mary’s sentence penetrated his brain. “I have a college fund!”

Did they really think he was going to college? Of course they had managed to convince him to finish high school but still, Stanley wasn’t planning on going through another four years of school.

Of course knowing them, they’d find a way to convince him. They were scarily good at convincing him to what they wanted.

Ford got the distinct feeling that no matter what happened at the hearing, Filbrick would be in a bad mood so after school he decided to drop by at Shermie’s and see if he could stay for a few hours.

“So how did it go?” Ford asked, unable to ignore his rising curiosity.

“The judge awarded Stanley ten thousand dollars,” Shermie answered.

Ford let out a whistle. “That much.”

“I think the judge was less than impressed with Pa’s lack of care that Stanley spent several months combing beaches for gold in hopes he could find enough money to get Pa to let him come home, sleeping in his car and having to ration his food so he wouldn’t go hungry every day,” Shermie explained with a frown. “Pa even said that the only thing Stanley deserved was a beating.”

“Pa said that!” Ford exclaimed, his eyes wide. He suddenly found himself terrified of the implications of that statement and mentally going over every hand-shaped bruise or black eye his brother had even gotten. He then shook his head. No, if Pa hurt Stanley, his twin would have told him, wouldn’t he?

“He was just mad that the judge sided with Stanley instead of him,” Shermie told him, although he had a dark scowl on his face and Ford could tell he was thinking along the same lines he was. He then shook his head and fixed Ford with a searching look. “So Ford, is there a reason why you didn’t come with us today?”

“I had school,” Ford said, averting his eyes. He knew that Shermie wouldn’t accept that answer but it was the truth. He couldn’t just skip class to see his brother and father on opposite sides of a courtroom.

“Ma offered to talk to the principal about excusing you from classes you would have missed,” Shermie pointed out.

“Look every time we’ve seen each other, we fought and just didn’t want to have to deal with it,” Ford explained. He just didn’t wanted to have to deal with Stanley, not until he had proven his brother wrong. That West Coast Tech did want him and that it was only Stanley’s fault that he hadn’t gotten in before.

“Well maybe if you tried to make up with him, you wouldn’t fight. I mean he’s your twin, Ford, are you really never going to forgive him for one mistake he made in the heat of the moment?” Shermie asked. “After everything you guys have been through together, are you really gone to let this destroy your relationship for good?”

“It’s not like he cares. He’s got a new family now,” Ford pointed out, a note of bitterness in his tone.

“So?”

“Well he replaced us!” Ford exclaimed.

“Did you give him much choice in the matter? You wanted nothing to do with him. What was he supposed to do? Push them all away so you wouldn’t feel replaced?” Shermie inquired, an eyebrow raised.

Ford sighed, hating that Shermie was making good points. And while he was being truthful, not going with Shermie, Pa and Ma wasn’t because he hadn’t wanted to see Stanley. It was because he did not want to hear how Stanley was living when he hadn’t found the Whites.

It had been easy for him to pretend that Stanley would immediately land on his feet. Find a nice place to stay and a job within days of being kicked out. He really didn’t want to hear that no Stanley had been living in his car the entire time.

He already was having trouble with his guilt and he really didn’t want a new reason to feel like a jerk.

Back home, the Whites had slipped back into the routine with Mary helping Samantha with dinner, Dan helping David, Stanley and Eleanor with homework. But they were only doing this for five minutes before Dan asked to see Stanley in his den.

“Am I in trouble?” Stanley asked, half-jokingly.

“No, of course not,” Dan assured him. “I just couldn’t get something out of my mind and I felt I needed to talk about it with you before it drove me crazy and I want you to know that nothing we discuss has to leave this room but I must ask that you are completely honest me.”

If Stanley wasn’t a little unnerved, he might have been impressed by how Dan had said all that without stopping to breathe once. “Okay,” he said uncertainly.

Dan took a deep breath before asking in an almost whisper. “Stanley, did your father ever hit you?”

Stanley blinked, wondering where the hell that came from.

…the only thing that screw-up deserves is a good beating.

Ah. Well that explained why Dan was so quiet on the ride back.

“Dan, my dad is a jackass but I promise that he never hit me. Grabbed me a couple of times, threw me out pretty hard but he didn’t hit me,” Stanley told him. Oh, there were times when he was certain his father was about to grab his belt and tan his hide but the worst he had gotten was a bruise from his father grabbing his arm too roughly and holding it too tightly.

“Not that it excuses the emotional abuse he piled on you but I’m glad he was never hit you,” Dan said softly, patting his shoulder. “I’m sorry to drag you in here for this but I just couldn’t stop wondering.”

“It’s okay. Like you said not hitting me doesn’t make him a better guy. In fact he could take a few lessons from you on how to be a good dad,” Stanley laughed, trying to lighten the tension in the air.

From the look on Dan’s face, Stanley had just paid him the highest compliment and the man hugged him. “Thank you, Stanley, it makes me feel better knowing you think I’m a good dad.”

Stanley wiped the dust out of his eyes as they walked back to the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Mary asked, giving her husband a searching look.

“Everything is fine, Mary,” Dan told her before walking up to her and saying something he must have thought no one else could her: “I might have been doing a little projecting myself.”

From the sympathetic look on Mary’s face and the way Dan gave his son a hug, Stanley realized that with all the mention of Dan’s mother, he had never mentioned his father and perhaps there was a reason why.

Chapter Text

“Oh no. She’s coming,” Eleanor said apropos nothing, looking quite worried all of a sudden. They had been doing the last bit of their homework, allowing them to have a week of uninterrupted fun. Considering their dedication to procrastination, it was a testament to how much they wanted that week of doing nothing.

Before Stanley could question her, Mary and Dan come into the kitchen. Dan looked extremely guilty and Mary looked annoyed.

“It will only be for a few hours not any longer. It’s just we didn’t see them on Thanksgiving and Martin, the one we like, really wants to see us especially this year of all years,” Dan was saying. Mary gave him an evil glare, causing him to raise his hands defensively. “His words not mine. Honey, I know that Diana can be hard to deal with, but Martin promised to talk with her.”

“Dan, it won’t be just her. Maya will be driving Samantha and Eleanor crazy, trying to convince them to let her put makeup on them and Larry will be rubbing in David's face that he got the latest toy that technically you bought for him which he will mention. Becky will be running around, drawing on walls, making messes, screaming for no reason at all,” Mary pointed out.

“Mary, they are good kids. They are just a little too young to know what behavior is good,” Dan said softly.

“Larry is six, Maya is nine,” Mary reminded him heatedly.  “While Becky at least has the excuse of being only three, her parents don’t seem to be in a hurry to correct her behavior.”

“Mary, Martin is my brother and I haven’t seen him for almost a year. Please let him come visit us. I promise you that the minute Diana says anything remotely insulting, or if their kids refuse to behave, I will tell Martin to take them home,” Dan promised.

“You would never do that because he is your brother even if he has the worst judgment in the world,” Mary said with a sigh.

“And you are my wife and I love you and want you to happy,” Dan assured her, putting his hand on her and giving her an entreating look.

“How long?” Mary asked, looking resigned.

“Five hours at the most,” Dan told her.

The way Mary squared her shoulders and took a sharp breath in, he might as well have said fifteen hours. “Will they be joining us for dinner?”

“Well it will be Christmas dinner so yes,” Dan replied sheepishly.

Another sharp breath. “Fine.”

“I love you,” Dan said in a cute voice.

“Tell me that after I slap that smug smile off of Diana’s face,” Mary muttered before walking outside to her garden.

Stanley waited until Dan had returned to the living room before he turned to Eleanor. “A nine-year-old has pierced ears and wears makeup?” he asked incredulously, remembering how back in Glass Shard Beach had Ellie had mentioned her cousin and sister had pierced their own ears.

“She doesn’t wear makeup thankfully, but yes she wanted pierced ears so she and Tess did it to themselves and nearly had to go to the hospital for ear infections,” Eleanor explained. “She thinks that wearing makeup is what teenage girls do so she doesn’t understand why Sammy and I don’t wear makeup.” Stan blinked leaned forward, trying to get a better look at her face. He could have sworn she was wearing lipstick, a light shade of red. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry I thought you did wear some makeup,” Stan admitted, glancing down at his homework sheepishly.

“I don’t know whether I should be offended or flatted,” said Eleanor, chuckling.

“I thought you just made it look natural,” Stan told her.

“Well I am certainly wearing blush now,” Ellie quipped with a grin.

Stan couldn’t help but laugh at that play on words. “So, what did you get for question five?”

“1776,” Eleanor replied.

“Wait what?” Stan asked, looking up bewildered.

“I got bored and stared doing history homework,” Eleanor explained.

Stanley could not remember their history homework having anything to do with the American Revolution or there being questions that only required simple answers for that matter. And from a quick glance at the paper Eleanor was writing on, it did not look as though she was answering questions.

Quick as a snake, Stanley grabbed the piece of paper and began to read it.

“Stanley Pines, you give that back right now!” Eleanor exclaimed, reaching over the table, only for the boy to move his chair back, keeping it out of her reach.

“'He was a wondering knight, cast out by an evil king,'” Stan read out loud.

“Remember that lovely discussion about boundaries we had. It goes both ways,” Eleanor snapped, making a futile grab for her story.

“All right, all right,” Stanley acquiesced, giving it back to her. “Never thought I’d say this and it’s actually making me gag, but shouldn’t we be focusing on our homework? I want to spend our winter break doing nothing, but hot coco, snowball fights, and watching TV.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” Ellie laughed, grabbing the math homework.  “So do you have the answer for question four?

“I do and I will tell you if you answer one question about your story,” Stanley bargained.

“Fine.”

“Is that knight based on me?” Stan questioned.

“You wish,” Eleanor teased. “I did think of adding a best friend for the knight: an elven gentleman thief. A charming man who could con people out of anything.”

“Devilishly handsome, I presume?”

“Of course.”

“I like him already,” Stanley decided. He noticed Eleanor was giving him a meaningful look. “Fifty-five.”

“Thank you.”

It was a few days until Christmas Eve and Mary had asked Stan to pick up a few extra necessities at the store. Remembering Eleanor’s revelation, Stanley eyed Mr. Jacobs as he entered.

The elderly store owner just smiled at him before returning to his magazine.

Stan used Mary’s list to grab the items she wanted, grabbing a Milky Way bar and shoving it in his jean’s pocket before walking over to the counter and putting Mary’s items on it before handing the shopkeeper the money she had given Stan.

“Should I add that Milky Way or will Mary be paying for that?” Mr. Jacobs asked, not even looking in Stanley’s direction as he punched the payment in the cash register.

“Okay, where’s the camera? There is no way you could have known that I took a Milky Way. I have never taken one before,” Stanley exclaimed.

“And that’s how I knew you had taken one. Trying to throw me off,” Mr. Jacobs remarked as he handed Stanley his change, grinning at him.

Damn, he was good.

“You win this round, Gramps,” Stan muttered as Mr. Jacobs bagged the groceries for him.

Mr. Jacobs just chuckled, handing Stan the bags before returning to his magazine.

After bringing the groceries home, Stan went outside, dressed in every layer of winter clothes Mary had insisted he wear.

He, Ellie and David were building a snowman of all things. His life was really becoming this precious.

“Pinecone or carrot nose?” Eleanor inquired thoughtfully, as she put the pinecone below the stone eyes and then after studying it for a few minutes she took it out switching it out for the carrot.

“Carrot nose is traditional,” David spoke up.

“Then we should use a pinecone, mix things up,” Stanley decided, taking the pinecone from Ellie and returning it to its place.  

“But won’t the other snowmen think he’s weird looking?” David asked worriedly. Something told Stanley, it wasn’t the other snowmen David was worried about. He vowed inwardly to keep an eye on the neighborhood kids, just in case on of them dared to mock him.

“So what? Normal is overrated. Being weird is awesome,” Stan assured him, patting him on the back.

“You know if you really want to mix it up, how about instead of a hat, the snowman wears a crown,” Ellie suggested.

“Do you have a crown?” Stan asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“For every occasion,” Eleanor joked. “Two years ago, David went as King Arthur for Halloween and I am sure the costume crown is in the attic.”

“Hmm, maybe we could use a boat tarp for a cape,” Stan suggested, knowing there was an extra one lying around.

While he and David grabbed the tarp and draped it over the snow that made up the snowman’s shoulders, Ellie disappeared back in the house. It took her nearly twenty minutes before she came back out with a golden crown with little plastic jewels surrounded it.

“May I do the honors of crowning of king of winter?” Stanley asked in a dramatic voice. Eleanor giggled and handed him the crown. The three of them turned as Stan slowly walked towards the snowman and then slowly put the crown down on the snowman before declaring: “I give you King Hal Forrester the Third, King of Winter, Prince of Snow!”

Eleanor and David bowed deeply before applauding.

Then snow hit the back of Stanley’s head.

“Oh no, assassins are here,” Samantha deadpanned as her father threw a snowball at his son. She then threw her own snowball at her sister.

“Knights of the winter frost, we must defend our King!” Eleanor exclaimed, bending down to scoop up snow, not even bothering to make it into a ball before she threw it at her mother.

What happened next was a three on three snowball fight with Mary, Dan and Samantha acting more like kids. 

It was strange but nice. It was even nicer when they went inside and warmed up at the fireplace.

As the day of Christmas Eve began to draw nearer, things at the White household began to grow a little tense.

At first Stanley thought it was about Aunt Diana’s impending arrive. According to Eleanor, she was a gold-digging shrew that everybody but Uncle Martian could tell was a horrible woman. She was passive aggressive and judgmental. Stanley had a feeling she was going to have a few unpleasant opinions about him.

But as time went on, he realized there was another reason. This would the first Christmas without Tess.

“We used chase David around with mistletoe. He was in his girls have cooties phrase so it was extra fun,” Eleanor said, her expression full of melancholy as she laid down the plates for Christmas dinner. Instead of the kitchen, they were eating in the dining room which Stan realized he had never actually been in there. “She always sat between Dad and David because they didn’t mind when she snuck food off their plates. I can’t believe that soon it’s gonna be a year since…dammit I promised myself I wasn’t going to do this.” Eleanor wiped her eyes.

“Kinda dusty in here,” Stanley remarked, trying to lighten the mood.

Ellie laughed. “Yeah, very dusty.”

The doorbell rang just as they finished setting the table. They walked out the dinning room just in time to see Dan greeting a younger man with a hug and kissing the cheek of a well-dressed woman. She looked very odd next to her husband who was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans.

“Eleanor, don’t you look lovely,” Diana greeted the teenager with a hug. “My goodness, you have such beautiful hair, I wish you would let it grow longer so you wouldn’t look so boyish.”

Her hair went past her chin, granted Stan had met some guys with longer hair but still.

“Aunt Diana, this is Stanley,” Eleanor introduced, looking desperately over at him, begging him to distract her.

Unfortunately, Aunt Diana did not seem to even notice Stanley was there as she continued to tell Eleanor how she would look so lovely if she would just put a little blush on her pale cheeks or how a skirt would so much more suitable for a special event.

“Martin, this is Stanley,” Dan said, an arm around his brother’s shoulders as he brought Martin over. Martian looked a lot like Dan, not twins but alike.

Stanley tried to pretend they didn’t remind him of him and Ford and therefore, he wasn’t hurt at all by the sight.

Unlike his wife, Martin smiled friendly at Stanley, greeting him cheerfully as he shook his hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Stan, Dan and Mary have told us so much about you,” Martin remarked.

“Nothing bad, I hope,” Stanley quipped, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

“Well Dan doesn't like bragging unless it comes to his kids,” Martin laughed.

“I don’t brag about them,” Dan contradicted, although he was grinning good naturedly. “I just like complimenting them.”

“Dan, dear where is Mary? I hope she’s not cooking after that dreadful heart attack. Poor thing should be resting,” Diana remarked in a sugary sweet tone, one that made Stan’s teeth root.

“Samantha is helping her cook,” Dan explained.

“You know if you hired a cook and a maid, Mary could just rest instead of having to do such laborious work. It really isn’t good for her.”

“I’ll bring it up with her. Would you like to see our tree?” Dan suggested, leading the two adults into the living room, away from the kitchen.

“I knew I was gonna hate her, but I didn’t know how much,” said Stan, shaking his head.

“I think we should save David from whatever hell our cousins are putting him through,” Eleanor decided.

Thankfully the cousins had gone upstairs, which meant they could bypass Aunt Diana and just go upstairs.

When they got upstairs, they found that the three kids had not gone to David’s room, but instead they had entered the only other room Stan had never been in: Tess’s room.

Larry was rifling through the drawers, Maya was putting on some necklaces and earrings and the littlest girl was drawing on a poster of the Beatles.  

“GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Eleanor shouted, her eyes bugging out of her head. Stan had never seen or heard Ellie so mad.

“You can’t tell us what to do!” Larry shouted back, his hand slipping in his pocket.

“Kid, empty your pockets now,” Stan ordered, glaring at the boy.

“My mom says you’re a dirty thief,” Larry snarled.

“Well your mom is a liar,” David shot back, having come out of his room when he heard Eleanor shouting.

Stanley really didn’t care what Diana called him. All he knew was Larry had just stolen something from a dead girl’s room. Stan would steal a lot of things but he had never stolen something off a dead person. (Well he might steal a dead guy’s wallet only because he wouldn’t be using that money or that Rolex, but he would not steal from a fourteen-year-old girl).

He took a stop closer to Larry, who shrank down under his intimating glare.

“Empty. Your. Pockets,” Stanley growled.

The six-year-old boy scowled, but he pulled out the ring he had snagged and handed it over.

Stan put it back in the jewelry case before taking it over to Maya who looked more curious than afraid of Stan. However, she didn’t put the necklace or earrings away and instead looked over at Eleanor.

“Tess wanted me to have these,” she declared firmly.

“Maya, put the it back,” Eleanor said through clenched teeth. “You do not touch Tess stuff ever. Is that clear?” Her fists were clenched as she glared at each of her cousins in turn.

Maya huffed, putting the necklace and earrings in the case before flouncing away, dragging her scowling brother with her.

Eleanor went over to Tess’s bed and picked up her youngest cousin, who looked far guiltier than her siblings had.

“I’m sorry, Ellie,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her neck. “Maya said it was okay.”

“I know she did,” Eleanor muttered, kissing the top of her head before walking out of Tess’s room, leaving Stanley and David standing there.

“Mom’s gonna be upset. She liked having Tess’s room exactly the way she wanted,” David remarked, glancing around the room. “Like if she ever came back, she would come back to her room the way she wanted.”

Stan sighed as put the jewelry case back on the dresser and put his arm around the kid’s shoulder, leading him out of Tess’s room. “Let’s just go downstairs, kiddo.”

They walked down the stairs and into the living room where they found Larry crying in his mother’s arms while Diana was furiously berating Eleanor.

“….and you let him near my son,” she was saying.

“Your son was stealing Tess’s things,” Ellie snapped, having deposited Becky into her Uncle’s arms. Maya was nowhere to be seen.

“That is beside the point. That boy is dangerous,” Diana hissed as she held her son tighter.

“Diana, you promised,” Martin admonished her.

“Stanley is not dangerous,” Dan said calmly but firmly. The expression on Eleanor’s face was murderous. She opened and closed her mouth several times, too angry to coherently yell at her aunt.

“I will not be silent when that boy is terrorizing our children,” Diana declared, as her son let out a sob as if to agree with his mother’s words. “I mean you let this strange boy into your home, not knowing what he is capable of? What he is capable of doing to your children? For all you know he could be a thief, addict, a murderer, or a rapist.”  

Damn. Stanley had been accused of being a lot of things, usually true, but a murderer or a rapist? Just damn.

“What did you just say?” an icy voice, no louder than whisper, spoke, freezing whatever defense Dan, Ellie and David were about to give. Everyone looked towards the doorway to see Mary standing there with the missing Maya and Samantha. Mary walked towards Diana, trembling with anger. Her voice deathly soft. “What did you just say about Stanley?”

Larry seemed to realize that his mother was now in danger for he quickly got off of her and scrambled away, his face oddly dry with no tear marks.

“Mary, listen I know you are grieving, but that doesn’t mean you should pick up some random delinquent off the street to replace your daughter,” Diana told her.

Mary did not say another word and instead slapped Diana across her face, almost knocking her over.

Dan quickly stepped between them before anything else could happen. “Mary, please go upstairs, I will handle this,” he implored her.

For once, Mary complied, perhaps understanding that her husband was sending her away more for concern of her health than over the well-deserved beat down she was fully prepared to give Diana.

Samantha followed her mother out of the room, perhaps to make sure she didn’t have another heart attack once she was outside of the room.

Once he was certain that she was upstairs, Dan turned around to face Diana. “My wife has had a very bad year----” Dan began.

“That is still no excuse for----” Diana started to interject.

“BE SILENT!” Dan bellowed, shocking everyone. “My wife has had a very bad year and you dare come into our house and make such foul accusations over the one good thing that happened to her, no to our entire family this year! You are no longer welcome in this house.”

“You can’t be serious,” Martin protested, staring at his older brother in shock. “Dan, we’re family.”

“No, Martin, what I am is an ATM who has been letting your snob of a wife belittle my family. I should have put my foot down years ago. You and your kids are welcome here but your wife is not. Furthermore, don’t bother asking me for money because as long as you are married to this woman, I am not giving you a cent!” Dan declared. “Now get out of my house!”

“Dan, we’re brothers. I can’t believe you would turn your back on me like this!” Martin exclaimed, sounding more hurt than angry.

“Come on, Martin, we don’t need this!” Diana exclaimed, throwing her nose in the air. “I just hope that boy doesn’t murder you in your sleep.”

“Lady, they give me three meals a day, let me live here for free and are throwing money at me. Why the hell would I kill them?” Stanley asked, rolling his eyes.

Diana just sniffed haughtily grabbing her older children’s hands and dragging them out.

Martin stared at his brother who pointedly looked away. Heartbroken Martin left the living room, carrying Becky with him. The three-year-old waved goodbye, not really understanding what was going on.

Dan, Stanley, Eleanor and David just stood there in silence as they listened to angry whispering, zipping up coats, front door slamming and finally a car driving away.

“I think I’m going to go check on your mother,” Dan said finally, as he limped out of the room, a tired expression on his face.

“Aunt Diana is a liar,” David declared firmly, looking up at Stanley with worry on his face. “You’re the greatest brother in the world and none of those awful things she said you are.” 

“She’s an insane witch,” Eleanor sneered, her fists still clenched. “I hope we never see her ever again.”

After that, they fell in silence again, this one dragging on for what felt like hours. Stanley tried to think of some way to fill it.

Before he could, Samantha came into the living room, dressed in a coat, boots and a hat.

“Come on. Get your coats on, we’re leaving,” Samantha announced.

“What? What about dinner?” Eleanor asked in surprise.

“I left a note for Dad, he’ll take care of it if Mom’s not feeling up to it,” Samantha replied simply, ushering them to the hallway where they put on their clothes before going outside with Samantha leading them.

Thankfully they only had to walk a little while before they reached their destination: Mary’s restaurant.

Samantha unlocked the door and hurried into the restaurant to turn on the lights and the heat.

“So are you going to tell us what were doing here?” Eleanor inquired.

“We’re baking a gingerbread house,” Samantha answered.

“Did we need to leave the house to do that?” Stan wondered, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“Mom puts the gingerbread dough in this refrigerator so she can make gingerbread houses for everyone on Christmas Day. Besides we need it here if we want it to be a surprise,” David answered, grinning wildly.

“Well not exactly a surprise this time, but last time we did it, Mom and Dad were surprised,” Eleanor laughed as she began to walk towards the kitchen. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. “It was her idea.”

“I know,” Samantha said gently. “Now come on. We have five hours until dinner and I think we could all use a gingerbread house.”

Stan smiled as he was put on making the royal icing duty. Although he wasn’t that upset by Diana’s accusations--- it wasn’t like it was the first time someone accused him of something even if she was a bit harsher than most of his critics---- he was glad that they could move past her ugly words and focus on something happy.

Almost four hours later, they had made a pretty little house with gumdrops everywhere they could fit.

Very carefully, they returned to the White house, being careful not to drop it.

Dan was waiting for them at the door, opening it up for them the minute they get to the porch. They had barely put it on the table, when Dan asked to speak with Stanley alone.

“I am sure this doesn’t need to be said, but I am saying it anyway. Diana was completely out of line. You are a good man and you doesn’t deserve such foul accusations being thrown at you. I already apologized to Mary for letting that woman in this house and now I shall apologize to you because you did not deserve it,” Dan rambled. “I promise you that she will never be coming back.”

“Look I don’t want to be the cause of trouble between you and your brother---” Stanley began, feeling guilty for ruining another brother relationship.

“You didn’t do anything. Look, my father was a mean drunk, my mother had to focus on taking care of my grandfather so it was always me and Martin. I always took care of him even as we grew older and he didn’t need me anymore. All he wants is money and an occasional visit where his wife can belittle my family. And yet it feels like I’m betraying him by cutting him off like this. I know it’s for the best because I can’t keep letting him walk over me. Does it ever stop, Stanley? That feeling like you could do more to not lose your brother even though you know that you have done all you can,” Dan wondered.

“No,” Stanley admitted. He would never stop hoping that Ford would come around and they could go back to be brothers.  

As they turned to join the family for dinner, Dan said one last thing: “You’re my one good thing too.”  

Chapter Text

The whole Diana fiasco thankfully was not on everyone’s minds come Christmas morning. They were all in their pajamas in the living room---except Samantha---- getting ready to open presents when the phone rang and Dan picked it up.

“Hello? Oh, hello Martin, Merry Christmas,” he said casually, causing everyone to go silent and exchange worried looks. “Yes, yesterday was very intense. I would love for bygones to be bygones. Are your wife and children planning on apologizing for their behavior? I see. Then why are you calling?” Whatever was Martin’s response, it clearly did not go over well because Dan closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, hung up without another word, and walked into the kitchen.

Seconds later the phone rang again and Mary answered it.

“Martin, my husband has never hung up on someone like that in his life so I suspect whatever you just said hurt him deeply,” remarked Mary in a harsh voice. As Martin spoke, she gripped the telephone cord so tightly, her knuckles were becoming white. “No, we will not be lending you any money to buy gifts for your children. I don’t care what they were expecting. Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know what it is like to deal with disappointed children. Do you know what it is like to have your children ask you why their father bought their cousins a pool, but he refused to buy them one?  If you want to buy your family expensive things than I suggest you work out a budget because Dan is not giving you any more money. It is not his fault that you blew your inheritance and don’t earn enough money to keep up with your spending habits. Well perhaps your grandfather had a good reason for leaving the majority of his estate to Dan. Goodbye, Martin.”

Mary hung up much more violently than Dan had, her eyes flashing dangerously. She took two steps towards the kitchen only for her husband to reemerge with the leftover turkey from Christmas dinner. He plopped down on the couch, looking very much like a teenager who was about to gorge themselves with ice cream to get over a break up.

“Well let’s get started with the present exchange, shall we?” Dan suggested as he tried to smile, but it seemed more like a grimace.

“Dan, I’m sorry, if it weren’t for me---” Mary began.

“No, Mary, we are not doing this. If anyone is to blame, it is me.”

“Yes but if it wasn’t for me---”

“Mary, you would not let Stanley blame himself, so I am not letting you blame yourself. The fact of the matter is I let this go on for far too long. You were the one who always told me to stand up for myself and that should include my brother,” Dan pointed out sadly.

Mary hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek. She then gestured for David to grab a present from under a tree before taking her seat next to her husband.

“Ooooh, I hope this one is the puppy I always wanted,” Eleanor joked as her brother brought over a small wrapped box for her.

And just like that the awkward silence was broken and they began laughing and teasing each other as they exchanged gifts.

“Okay, Stanley, I believe we decided to pitch in and get you one gift. We hope you will like it,” Mary said with a warm smile as David placed a box on Stanley’s lap.

Stan tore through the wrapping and opened it and found a framed picture of him punching the New Jersey Devil, the words “our hero” were engraved at the bottom of the frame.

The dust was definitely getting into his eyes. He certainly was not tearing up. Deciding he better make a distraction before anyone commented, Stanley got up: “I like it a lot. I’ll be right back though. I just need to grab some things from my room.”

Stan ran up the stairs putting the picture right beside his bed, turning it so when he woke up for now on, this would be the first thing he saw. He then crawled under his bed and grabbed the box he had hidden underneath before running down the stairs with it where the Smith family was waiting.

“After I got my first check, I was driving past a mall on my way back from the bank. Figured if you were going to buy me something, I should buy you guys something,” Stan explained, grabbing the badly wrapped gifts and handing them to each person.

He had gotten a comic for David, new oven mitts for Mary, a new watch for Dan, a joke book for Eleanor and a book on self-defense for Samantha.

“Aw, Stanley, you shouldn’t have,” Eleanor told him as she began to browse through the joke book. David was already reading the comic and Dan had put on his watch.

“I can defend myself fine,” Samantha pointed out.

“True, but that doesn’t mean you know everything,” Stanley countered.

Samantha shrugged and put the book on her pile of presents.

“Regardless, we are very happy with your gifts,” Mary assured him.

“I just thought might do something nice for you guys,” admitted Stan. “For letting me stay here, you know.”

“We’re not letting you stay here,” Mary told him, her expression stern. “This is home now, Stanley. I mean if you want it to be your home. But like it or not, you are stuck with us now. There is no turning back. You are part of our family.”

Stan chuckled at that, before he could reply, Dan spoke up, an odd expression on his face. “Didn’t my mother say that exact same thing to you?” he asked bemused.

“Well she was a wise woman,” Mary replied with a smile.  

“I am beginning to wonder how many things you have said to me that you just ripped off of your mother-in-law,” Stanley joked.

“Like I said before, I mean every word. Besides the fact that I remembered what she said means it stuck with me and therefore, it will stick with you,” Mary pointed out.

Stanley found he could not argue with that logic.

Chapter Text

Despite what many people thought, Stanley was not stupid nor was he unobservant. He knew Tess had died right before school started up again after winter break. Therefore, he could practically feel the tension throughout the household as that day came creeping closer.

They tried to hide it from him, acting like it was no big deal, trying to pretend that everything was normal but every time they passed Tess’ room, they would stop and stare for several minutes, their devastation palpable on their faces. Not even Samantha—who usually had four facial expressions: blank, annoyed/unamused, death glare, “you are dead” smile----could fully hide that almost longing look she got whenever she came upstairs.

It said a lot about the Whites that Stanley could count the number of times he had felt like an outsider on one hand and still have fingers left over, but now he felt like he was an intruder, encroaching on a very private moment, not meant for his eyes.

When that day finally came, Stan expected them to visit Tess’ grave, leaving him behind, telling him when they’d be back, perhaps they’d ask him if he could get dinner started just in case, they were late coming home.

He had not expected them to want him to come, much less invite him to come along.

In hindsight, he really should have known better.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. We would really like it if you came with us,” Mary explained.

“Besides I want to introduce Tess to you,” David added.

Obviously, I’m not going to say no to that. Stanley remarked inwardly. He glanced at Mary again, searching her expression to see if there was any hint that she just felt obligated to invite him.

Mary’s eyebrow was raised and Stan could practically read her mind: Don’t make me make a speech about how you are part of this family and always will be.

Soon Stan found himself in the minivan, sitting next to Eleanor who was noticeably quiet, only shooting him a weak smile that didn’t reach her eyes. The tension in the car was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Not even David said a word, just gazing out the window as they drove in silence.

The awkward silence was almost suffocating Stan so despite his better judgement he decided to speak up: “Do you think Tess would have like me?”

“Are you kidding? Tess always wanted a big brother as cool as you,” David replied excitedly.

“When she was ten, she used to ask guys in Sammy’s class to marry her big sister because she realized that would a surefire way of getting a big brother,” Eleanor recalled, glancing over her shoulder to shoot a grin at Samantha.

“Seriously?”

“Oh yeah. Thanks to our parents, Tess was always a little obsessed with childhood friend romances,” Eleanor explained with a chuckle.

“She was always asking if we knew from the moment, we met that we would end up together. The fact that I was eleven and Mary was nine did not seem to phase her,” Dan remarked with a fond chuckle.

“Once she found out that Shermie lives in New York, she’d probably be begging you to take her to New York to see the sights, saying that you could visit Shermie at the same time,” guessed Eleanor.

“I bet she would ask you countless questions about what it is like living in the big city because compared to Dysfunction Junction, she would see Glass Shard Beach as a big city,” Dan joked.

For the rest of the car ride, Dan, Eleanor and David swapped stories about Tess with Mary and Samantha chiming in every once and a while.

It became quiet again when they arrived at the cemetery and made their way through the rows of tombstones until they reached a particular headstone.

Theresa “Tess” White 1958-1971.

Her light will never be extinguished.

As promised David took Stanley by his hand and brought him over. “Hey Tess, this is Stanley, he’s our new brother. He crashed his car into our tree and Mom and Dad decided he was living with us. He is a really great brother too. He helped me beat Billy’s lemonade stand, he also drove to New Jersey to pick up his sailboat so I could learn sailing and then when I accidentally nearly burned it down, he said we can fix it together over the summer,” David rambled, acting almost like he was actually talking to his sister instead of having a one-sided conversation with a slab of stone. “Do you want to say anything, Stan?”

“Uh, sure,” Stan said, rubbing his neck with his free hand, feeling slightly uncomfortable talking to the grave of a girl he didn’t know. Unfortunately, he could find it in himself to say no to David. “Um, hi, Tess, I’m Stanley Pines. Like your brother said, your folks kinda adopted me. You got a great family here and I promise I’m taking good care of them. They talk about you all the time and I’m sorry that I never got to talk to you.”

He moved back as Dan and Mary walked forward to put flowers on the grave, flowers that came directly from Mary’s garden. As he did so, he noticed that Eleanor was running away like someone was chasing her.

Stan wasn’t even sure why he decided to follow her, but he did, catching up to her at the car park, where she was now sitting at the side of the minivan, not being able to get in.

“Hey, I know this is a stupid question, but are you okay?” Stanley asked as he sat down next to her, knowing full well that Eleanor just needed to vent and even a stupid question would get her to unload.

“I just keep wondering what the hell did we do? What did we do to make her want to leave us forever?” Ellie demanded angrily, clutching her knees to her chest, her shoulders shaking and she bit her lip trying to desperately not cry.

“She would have come back eventually---” he started to say before Eleanor cut him off.

“No, she wasn’t. Tess always wanted to get out our small town. She thought she deserved more than what we had. She didn’t want to be stuck here with us. She always did and that’s why I came up with that plan for us to stick together,” Eleanor ranted, rubbing her wet eyes. “The worst part is that night we had a terrible fight. Tess told me that Samantha had gotten out and she would too and she wasn’t going to be a loser like me. I told her to drop dead. I told my sister to drop dead and she decided to listen to me for once.”

Stan gave her a one-armed hug, trying to come up with anything that would make her feel better. Before he could, Samantha, appearing from seemingly nowhere, dropped down next to them, placing her hand on Eleanor’s hand.

“I have stopped my siblings from doing stupid things for a very long time and the one time I wasn’t here, Tess dies. Therefore, if you are going to blame anyone, blame me,” Samantha stated, her matter of fact tone had a slight tremor in it.

“Or perhaps we just don’t blame anyone for this tragedy,” Dan suggested.

Now the whole family were sitting on the ground, in front of the car, making a very bizarre picture for an onlooker.

“The last thing Tess ever said to me was I hate you,” Mary remarked. “But I know she didn’t mean it and I’m sure she knew you didn’t mean it either.”

“Doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“I know sweetie,” Mary said sympathetically, hugging Eleanor’s other side.

“I think she is watching over us like a guardian angel so really she isn’t gone, she’s still here with us every day,” David spoke, up optimistically.

I really wish I had that kid’s outlook on life. Stan mused. Then his thoughts turned to a more depressing topic: What if the last thing I even said to Ford was that I had no twin.  

Although he was still mad at Ford for being such an ungrateful jerk who still insisted that he had sabotaged his project, the idea of that disowning his brother being the last thing he ever said to Ford tore him up.

But then again, if he died tomorrow, would Ford even care about him let alone be upset about their last conversation?

It hurt Stan that he could no longer be sure of the answer.

Chapter Text

The year of 1973 started out well enough. There was still a little bit of tension in the Whites’ house, but everyone was doing their best not to dwell too much on the sadness of Tess’s death anniversary nor the fight with Martin and Diana during Christmas.

Stanley noticed that in the former case, Tess was being spoken of more often instead of the mere mention of her being taboo. When he first came to the house, only David would really talk about her, but that was always in present tense as if she were merely away, visiting friends, and would return at any second.

Now, while they didn’t talk about her every minute, they still seemed to be able to say things that had to do with her without looking like they might burst into tears at any moment.

In addition, or perhaps because of, the ban on talking about Tess’ friend Amelia was now lifted as well.

“I suppose perhaps I was a bit hard on her,” Mary was saying as Stanley came into the kitchen to grab a drink.

“Hard on her? You treated her like she was a criminal,” Dan pointed out, giving the newcomer in the kitchen no doubt who this conversation was about.

Other than his father, there was only one other person that he had seen get on Mary’s bad side: Amelia. Granted the only time, he ever saw her yelling at the girl was during the lemonade stand incident, but still, it was clear that part of her had blamed Tess’ friend for her death or at least blamed her for not telling anybody when Tess slipped and fell and then lying when questioned if she knew where Tess was when everyone had been searching for her.

“Regardless, I think I’ll go over and give her some leftover gingerbread cookies as a peace offering,” Mary decided, shooting her husband an annoyed look before briskly leaving the kitchen.

“Don’t forget we have a meeting with our lawyer at three,” Dan shouted after her.

“Why are you guys need to see a lawyer?” Stan asked curiously. His brow was furrowed in concern as he wondered if his dad was suing them or appealing the judge’s ruling or something like that.

“Oh, nothing bad, just Mary and I decided we should update our wills. We want the money we had for Tess to be given to a few charities in her name. The rest of our estate will be divided between Sam, Ellie, David and you,” explained Dan casually, returning his gaze to his newspaper.

“Oh okay,” Stan said as he sipped his soda, walking out the kitchen, glad that it had nothing to do with----wait what! He turned around, pushed the door open and stuck his head inside, gaping at the older man. “I have an inheritance!”

Dan looked up from his newspaper with a serene smile on his face. “Honestly, I’m surprised it took us so long. We had already practically adopted you from the moment we met you,” he remarked before returning his gaze to the article he was reading.

Stan opened his mouth to ask if they were planning on actually adopting him, but he quickly closed it and returned to the living room, knowing that if the answer was yes, he might lose control of his emotions and make his soda all salty.

He instead plopped down on the couch next to Ellie, taking a sip of his salt free cola before speaking: “So, what are we watching?” he inquired.

“Columbo: Requiem of a Star,” Ellie replied, not taking her eyes off of Anne Baxter’s character as she started a fire.

“Old or new?”

“Well it premiered last week, but it is still new,” Ellie replied, before shushing Stanley as the trench coat wearing detective appeared. “Now hush, the very dashing Columbo is about to speak.”

“So your type is detectives with raggedy coats and a squinting eye,” Stan teased, ducking to avoid Ellie’s playful smack.

“I will have you know that he is a very handsome man and I happen to love men in trench coats,” she snapped.

“I met a guy in New Jersey and he was wearing a trench coat. He came up to me, and opened it up,” Stanley recalled, pausing long enough for Eleanor to turn and look at him with a horrified expression before finishing his sentence. “and showed me the knock off Rolexes he was selling.”

Ellie chuckled and returned her attention to the television, only to groan when the phone rang, she got up from the couch and picked up the receiver. She gave a short greeting before her expression darkened and she slammed it back down, hanging up on whoever it was and returning to her seat.

“Who was that?” Stan inquired, a little startled by her sudden anger.

“No one important,” Ellie replied as the landline started ringing again.

This time Stan picked answered. “Hello? Who’s calling?” 

“Listen here, you delinquent, you tell my niece that she is never to be so rude,” Diana screeched. “Never in my life, have I---”

Stan hung up and rejoined Ellie who gave him a “told you so” look. “Like I said no one important.”

The phone started ringing again much to both of the teenagers’ annoyance. “She doesn’t take a hint, does she?” Stan remarked.

“Here, let me try something,” Ellie decided, grabbing the phone and shouting: “FUCK OFF, YOU GOLD DIGGING BITCH!” Stan’s eyes widened in disbelief; he had not thought she had it in her to curse. He had heard her say things like female dog and donkey in a hole, but not actual curses. One time, she had shouted "fudge" at the top of her lungs.  

As if he had been summoned by the sound of curse words, Dan came out of the kitchen, an aghast and stupefied expression on his face. “What was that?”

Eleanor had the decency to look abashed. “I was trying to stop Aunt Diana from calling again,” she explained in a quiet voice.  

“In that case, I didn’t hear anything and I would prefer never to hear what I didn’t hear ever again,” Dan admonished her. He turned to leave, only to stop and give his daughter a warning look when the phone rang again.

Eleanor meekly picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear. Her face turned white as her eyes bulged out of her head. “No, Rosa, I don’t think you deserved that,” she said, burying her face in her free hand as Stanley fell off the couch in hysterical laughter.

“The only better punishment would have been if your mother was the person calling,” Dan commented with a smile tugging at his lips as he returned to the kitchen.

The episode of Columbo was soon forgotten as Ellie assured Rosa that no, she didn’t think her friend was a gold digger.  

Stan couldn’t help but think this entire family was crazy and he loved every minute of it.

Chapter Text

As he promised, Dan did not tell Mary about their daughter cursing, although he did suggest that if she ever felt like cursing at someone over the phone again---and he hoped she would not---at the very least ask who was calling first. To add insult to injury, Diana did not call again which meant Ellie could not rectify her mistake by yelling at the person who actually deserved it.  

The next morning was a Monday so Samantha took David to his school and Dan drove himself, Stanley and Eleanor to the high school while Mary worked in her garden, still taking it easy per the doctor’s orders.

After parting ways with Dan, the two teenagers were putting their books in the lockers when Rosa came up to them with a big smile on her face.

“Leave me alone,” Ellie grumbled, knowing what was coming.

“Lo siento, are you talking to this perra?” Rosa asked innocently, still smirking. Stanley chuckled only to turn it into a cough when Ellie glared at him.

“You are cansona right now,” Ellie snapped as she stuck her tongue out at Rosa.

“That’s not a verb. You mean that I am a cansona or I am being cansona,” the brunette corrected her. Her friend just made a mocking face back. “Look, I am very pleased that you decided to curse for the very first time, Parcera, you are growing up and I am proud that my pájaro bebé is spreading her wings. Buuuut, maybe next time check to see who you are yelling at before you do so.”

“How long are you going to hold this over my head?” Eleanor asked, her eyes narrowed.

“At least a month if not for the rest of the school year,” Rosa replied, patting her head, only to pull it back when Eleanor made a biting motion with her teeth.

Ellie groaned, shutting her locker forcefully, she threw a glare at Stan who was covering his smile with his hand. “I hate Mondays,” she groused before stalking away.

“Was I too hard on her?” Rosa wondered, her lips pressed in thought.

“If my brother did something like that, I would never let him live it down until the end of time,” Stan assured her before they hurried after their friend.

They caught up with her at their first class of the day.

“How about this, you can make fun of me during lunch and after school,” Ellie suggested as they sat down in the middle of the classroom, close enough to the teacher for Rosa, but far away enough for Stanley to take a quick catnap without being spotted.

“Fair enough,” Rosa agreed as she and Eleanor shook hands. “Hey, did your aunt ever call back so you could yell at her?” Eleanor groaned and hid her face in her arms. Stanley mouthed a no. “So this was like the music store all over again.”

Ellie’s head snapped up and she glared at her friend. “You were there too. We both made that mistake,” she reminded her hotly.

“You said you checked when it was open,” Rosa pointed out.

“I checked the time not the date,” the other girl replied, her cheeks going slightly pink in embarrassment.

“The days and time were on the front door,” Rosa reminded her.

“And while you were waiting outside the store all night, how did neither of you notice that?” Stan questioned, an eyebrow quirked.

“HA!” Ellie exclaimed, pleased that she could not be solely blamed for the failed sneaking out adventure.

Rosa stuck her tongue out at her, but she was stopped from saying more when the teacher entered the classroom and began the class.

Mr. Stevens was both the science teacher and the coach of the football team. He seemed to like Monday morning about as much as Ellie did and he would usually just have his first classes talk about current events in the science world or other discussions about science. Today, the topic was about inventions.

“I heard that somewhere in Tennessee, there was this kid who made an actual robot,” Tyler announced. When his fellow classmates make disbelieving noises, he quickly elaborated. “It’s true. It was like a robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

“Did you see it?” another boy questioned curiously.

“No but my cousin did. He was teasing this bespectacled kid and played a few pranks on him---”

“Bullying. He was bullying a kid,” Ellie interrupted in a tone that made it clear that she did not approve of him downplaying his cousin’s actions. Stan didn’t blame her considering her daily experiences with Justin picking on Rosa, not to mention his own experience with jerks like Crampelter.

“----anyway, one day, he’s just minding his own business when bam! Out of nowhere, this kid comes out inside a giant red robot,” Tyler continued, not addressing Ellie’s point.

“And what happened to the robot?” Mr. Stevens inquired, just as invested in this story as the rest of the class.

“Well by the time my cousin, my aunt and the police arrived, all they found was the kid working on his family tractor and nobody believed my cousin or his friends,” Tyler finished. “But I swear it is the God’s honest truth.”

“Hey, I believe you,” Stan assured him, adding mentally: about the robot, not about your cousin innocently being on his victim’s family farm.  “I know my brother is smart enough to build a perpetual motion machine so it---”

“Whoa, whoa, your brother built a what now?” Mr. Stevens interjected, his eyes wide and he moved to the edge of his seat. “Are you telling me that your brother actually made a working perpetual motion machine?”

The teenager rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, inwardly wondering what had compelled him to bring up his twin’s invention. Perhaps it was just his weird need to brag about Ford being the smartest guy in the universe, way smarter than somebody building a working giant tractor robot----admittedly, that was pretty cool too.

“He did, but I kinda broke it,” Stan said in a quiet voice, glancing at the chalkboard, so he didn’t have to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Then why didn’t he fix it or build another one if he is such a brainiac?” Sarah inquired.

“Because he only built it to get into a college,” Eleanor replied, a hard edge to her tone.  

“What does that mean?” Stan demanded, his head snapping towards Eleanor, his eyes narrowed. Maybe he would have been a little less accusatory had she not made it plain how she viewed Ford as an arrogant jerk.

“Nothing. I was just stating a fact,” she told him, squaring her shoulders as she slumped down as if to hide from his piercing glare.

 “All right, I think that’s enough discussion for today. Why don’t we move on to last weekend’s homework assignment,” Mr. Stevens decided, getting up and returning to his desk where he began shuffling through his own papers.

“Si quieres que se enamore de ti, tal vez no insultes a su hermano.” Rosa said, perhaps more loudly than she intended to speak.

“Rosa, your mother has told you not to use your fluency in Spanish to make snarky comments in order to tease people without anyone understanding,” Mr. Stevens reminded her, not looking up.

“THANK YOU!” Ellie exclaimed, throwing up her hands, looking very vindicated.

Chapter Text

As Stanley sat in the dark kitchen of the restaurant, sipping his fourth beer, judging from the three empty bottles that were scattered on the floor, he decided that this was entirely Eleanor’s fault.

“What did you mean by that?” Stanley repeated his earlier questioned as they left the classroom.  

“I really didn’t mean anything by it,” protested Eleanor again, as she began walking briskly away.

“You wouldn’t have said it otherwise. Now tell me what you meant by my brother only built his machine to get into that college of his,” Stanley demanded matching her pace.

Eleanor sighed as they stopped at their lockers. “Look, I’m not judging your brother, but he didn’t make a perpetual motion machine for the good of mankind. He made it because he wanted to be noticed. That’s all I was saying,” she explained earnestly.

“So you think my brother is self-absorbed,” Stan snapped.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to,” he countered.

“Guys, our next class starts in five minutes. Can we do this later?” Rose pleaded as she pulled out her English textbook.

“Will you please not put words in my mouth!” Ellie exclaimed, her voice rising in frustration.

“Apparently not. Well I’m not risking my perfect attendance record on you two,” Rosa muttered under her breath as closed her locker and started making her way to their next class, deciding to leave them to their argument.

“I wasn’t trying to insult him, okay. I just was saying he built it because he wanted to be seen more than the nerd with six fingers just like you wanted to be more then---what people say you are, but you are definitely not,” Ellie finished lamely. “Stan, you both wanted to get out of Glass Shard Beach, right? Well Ford’s way was to make a revolutionary machine that never stops moving. I don’t actually know how that helps mankind. I think I’m gonna go ask Rosa,” Ellie decided, pointing in the direction of her friend, looking almost relived to have an excuse to leave.

With that, the girl hurried away, leaving Stan to ponder what she had just said.

Ford hadn’t even known he had an opportunity to go to West Coast Tech when he started that Perpetual Motion Machine. That jerk always planned on leaving Stan behind, didn’t he?

As the day went on, Stan found himself getting more and more angry. He wasn’t quite sure why as he knew Ford planning on leaving him behind and had suspected that maybe it had been before the school was introduced.

Soon more seeds of doubt wiggled their way into Stan’s brain, and he began to question some things.

Did Ford even check his machine to see what was wrong with it or had he decided to lay all the blame on Stanley the moment he saw the Toffee Peanuts bag because it was easier to blame the dead wight then it was to see if he had made a mistake?

That night, Stan couldn’t sleep, and suddenly got the same urge he had gotten during the whole hippie incident: raid his father’s liquor cabinet and get wasted. He also had that urge when he got kicked out, but lacked the necessary supplies.

Unfortunately, there was two problems with getting alcohol in the White household. Firstly, he had no idea where they kept their liquor and come to think of it, he had never seen so much as a beer can. Secondly, there was a guard dog sleeping next to the kitchen and Stan had no doubt she would catch him.

So the alternative was to climb out the window, make a spectacular jump for the tree, shimmy down and walk to the restaurant. Once he had arrived, he picked the lock, and gone in, making sure to close the door behind him, leaving the lights off until he got the kitchen.

The beer wasn’t the greatest, but by the sixth bottle, it was delightful. He also was eying the wine bottles, wondering if they tasted better in the early years or if that was just something rich people cared about, to show how rich they were buying wine made in the 1600s or whatever.

At some point, Stan started yelling at Ford until he realized that his twin might hear better if he actually picked up the phone, and called him.

Maybe Filbrick would answer instead, and Stan could yell at him. Oh, that would be fantastic.

Stan staggered to the phone of the wall of the kitchen, trying to keep his bleary eyes focused as he dialed, taking a swing of the wine bottle that he had gotten the genius idea to pour beer into.

“And people say I will never amount to anything. I just invented beer-wine! It will be revolutionary!” Stan declared as the phone rang.

Ford was really getting tired of not being able to sleep in his own room. But what else could he do? No matter what he felt restless, something that only intensified by how empty it still looked without Stan’s things. He had tried to fix that by buying new things to fill the empty spots, but it didn’t look right and just made him feel more uneasy.

It was going to be almost a year soon. When was this feeling going to stop? At least after this summer, he would be moving into his dorm room in West Coast Tech. Until then, he would just have to suffer.

Stanford sighed as he closed his book, deciding he had spent enough time, avoiding his room. It was two o’clock in the morning, and he had school tomorrow.

Just as he was about to turn off the light and go up the stairs, the phone started ringing.

Confused at who would be calling so early in the morning, Ford picked up.

“Hello? You have reached the Pine’s residence. Stanford Pines speaking,” he greeted the other person, keeping his voice low, not wanting to wake his father. For the past few months, Filbrick Pines had been a bit temperamental to say the least.

“Build it again.”

The bespectacled teenager blinked owlishly. “What?” was all he could say. It took him a few minutes to realize who was on the phone and what the it was. Before he could get mad, his twin continued speaking.

“Build your project again. I mean you built a Perpetual Motion Machine once so why don’t you build it again? You’re a freaking genius, Ford, so why haven’t you built it again? If you are so certain that I broke it, because the idea that Stanford Pines made a mistake is incomprehensible. I swear you have an ego the size of Kentucky or whatever that biggest state is called. Wait, what was my point again?” Stan rambled, his words seeming to slur together. “Oh yeah, if you are such a brainiac, why don’t you just rebuild your stupid little project? Prove that it’s not my dad’s money getting you into that hoity toity, snob school.”

“I am not having this discussion with you, Stan,” Ford growled, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the phone cord. Although his blood was boiling because how dare Stanley try to turn this on him when he even admitted to breaking the Perpetual Motion Machine.

He was about to slam the phone down when what Stan said next threatened to knock the air out of his lungs.

“I hate you. I really just hate this, Ford. I got all these thoughts in my head. These really bad thoughts of how maybe you never wanted me around. I was just there when I was useful to you or because you had no one else. Maybe you always would have left me behind if something better came long. Last year, I wouldn’t have believed it, but now I don’t know the answer, and... I think gonna hurl or pass out,” Stan ranted.

“Stan, are you drunk?” Ford asked, almost kicking himself for not realizing it immediately. Now that he thought about it, Stan wasn’t usually this, uh, spirited.

He probably doesn’t even realize what he was saying. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean it!

“No, I just had a few beers, and wine, and wine-beer,” his twin replied.

Ford decided to ignore that while he used his deductive reasoning skills to figure out the situation.

His brother was not keeping his voice down like he had the last time he thought underage drinking was a good idea---thankfully, Shermie and Ford had managed to cover Stan’s tracks while keeping him away from their father.

He is probably not in the White’s house. A store would be too risky. Didn’t Ma say Mary White owned a restaurant?  

“Stan, listen to me, this is very important, I need you to lie down on your side, okay? That way if you pass out you won’t choke on your vomit. Hopefully, you won’t actually--” Ford started to say, only to be interrupted by the sound of Stan vomiting. He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Stan, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, yeah, you were telling me not to die like a moron,” came the gruff answer.

“Well I suppose that was the gist of it,” Ford muttered, chuckling despite himself. “Look, I’m going to hang up now, and get someone to take you to the Whites, okay?” As he spoke, he began searching through the kitchen drawers for where his mother had hidden the White’s phone number.

“Wait, Ford, before I pass out, I need to tell you something very important: Filbrick Pines is a donkey in a hole!” Stan proclaimed, cackling widely afterwards.

“I know, Stan, I know,” Ford replied, bemused. “Goodbye Stan.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Don’t tell Dad I was drinking. Tell Mom, she probably did this too, and will have something inspirational that her mother-in-law said!”

“Uh, I will be sure to pass that along,” Ford agreed, his brow furrowing in puzzlement, wondering what Stan was on about. Regardless, he had no intention on telling either of their parents anything, and he was sure the Whites wouldn't say a word either.

He then hung up the phone, before dialing the White’s number, glancing behind him worriedly, fearing his father or his mother would come downstairs, wanting to know what was going on.

The phone rang ten times before someone picked up.

“Do you not know what time it is?” an annoyed voice snapped, although weirdly, it didn’t seem like she had just woken up. Thankfully, it was the older sister. Ford wasn’t sure he could talk to the younger sister. She’d probably just hang up on him.

“Hello, this is Stanford Pines,” Ford greeted her. He swallowed thickly and decided to get straight to the point “Stan just called me. It sounded like he was drunk.”

There was silence on the other end. He heard rustling, and retreating footsteps. Almost ten minutes later, he heard footsteps coming back down the stairs, furious whispering, and then a new voice was on the phone.

“Thank you for calling and informing us, young man,” Dan spoke in a tone that sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. “We will take it from here. You have a good night now.”

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up, and Ford wondered if telling them might not have been such a good idea.

Well it was out of hands now. All he could do was go upstairs, get in bed, and pretend that nothing Stan had said in his drunken ramblings had struck a little too close to home.

The last thing Stan remembered was his bright idea to try to pour beer into a wine bottle, spilling nearly all of it on himself. The next thing he knew, he was in his bed with a pounding headache, dry mouth, and a nauseous feeling in his gut.

He wasn’t quite sure what else he did, but he prayed that he had managed to make it home without anyone catching him. It was probably too much to hope for, but who knew, maybe he actually gained some sense when he became blackout drunk.

Stanger things had happened.

With a groan, he pulled himself out of bed, went to the bathroom to get ready for school. Luckily everyone seemed to be in the kitchen so he got showered, and dressed with no one bumping into him.

When he returned to his room, he realized that his car keys weren’t on the bedside table, but he also saw that it was nearly seven-thirty, so he would have to look for them later if he still wanted breakfast.

Stanley went downstairs, trying not to wince at how bright it was and keeping a big grin on his face as he walked in the kitchen, a tiny bit of hope that no one had found out about what he did last night.

Unfortunately, that small slimmer of hope died when he entered the kitchen, and the greeting he got was cold as ice.

Ellie and David were the only ones to greet him, and even they sounded a little awkward about it.

Samantha was glaring at him as she set down his plate of food. Mary was nowhere to be found, but if Stan had to venture a guess, she was probably cleaning up the mess he had left behind.

But the real indication of just how much he had screwed up was when Eleanor mentioned getting the bags into the car so they could be driven to school.

“If he can walk to Mary’s restaurant, and get drunk, he can walk to school,” Dan said in an acid tone as he glared daggers at the newspaper, not even acknowledging Stanley.

That hurt more than any insult his father had ever thrown at him.

Chapter Text

“Trust me, this will all blow over in no time,” Eleanor assured him, having decided to walk with Stan to school instead of riding with Dan and David.  “Dad is just a little sensitive about drinking, and Sammy is just mad that you managed to sneak out without her knowing. As for Mom, you’re her favorite out of all of us, so she’s probably forgiven you already.”  

Stan shrugged, not really wanting to talk, partly because his head was pounding, and also because he wasn’t as optimistic as the girl next to him. He knew he was bound to mess things up eventually. He always did.

He was surprised that they hadn’t thrown him out on his ear already, but then again perhaps they just didn’t want to be like his father or maybe they didn’t want him to end up like Tess. 

They arrived at the school ten minutes before class started. Rosa was waiting for them outside with a water bottle in her hand which she held out to the teenager. “Here, my dad’s hangover cure. He thought you might need it.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll be fine,” Stan told her. As usual, the universe decided to prove him wrong when the bell rang, almost causing the boy to fall to the floor in agony. He wordlessly took the bottle and drowned its contents in one gulp. “Thanks,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Don’t mention it,” Rosa responded, throwing the empty bottle into the recycling bin before patting him on the shoulder. “If it helps my older brothers once raided our liquor cabinet.”

“How does that help?”

“Just letting you know you aren’t the only idiot,” Rosa teased, causing Stan to chuckle despite himself.

“And Rosa’s parents were pissed when it happened, but other than three months of grounding, nothing else happened,” Ellie chimed in, giving him an encouraging smile.

“Guys, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I am fine,” reiterated Stanley, as they walked towards the classroom, hoping to just get the day over with.

Once again, the universe decided not to give him a break.

“Hey, loser,” Justin called out, a big stupid grin on his face. “I heard you went on a drinking binge. I guess this is last we’ll be seeing you. Probably gonna end up as a homeless bum. Hey, maybe your brother will give you a job at whatever freak show he ends up in,” he jeered.

“Stan, no!” Ellie screamed, grabbing for his shirt.

Unfortunately she missed as the muscular teenager had already launched himself at Justin, knocking him flat on his back with one punch.

It wasn’t enough to see his tormentor in pain though. Stan’s vision was completely red, and he just wanted to take out his anger on this punk who kept insulting Ford. He continued wailing on Justin, ignoring the shouts of his classmates.

“Come on, Justin, you can take this jerk!” someone yelled, clearly blind and dumb if he thought the other boy could do anything but beg for mercy.

“Go on, Stan the Man! Break his face!” bellowed another student.

“Stop, Stanley, please!” Eleanor implored him.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!”

All of a sudden, Stanley found himself grabbed, with the person holding his arms behind him, keeping a hold of him until he stopped thrashing.

When he finally came out of his rage, Stan realized two things. One: he had broken Justin’s nose. Two: Dan was the one currently subduing him.

The math teacher didn’t say a word as he frog marched Stan to his classroom. He finally let go of the teenager, shutting the door behind him before turning to face him with fire in his eyes.

“What is the matter with you?!” he demanded. “Drinking and picking fights! What were you thinking?”

“I just was bored,” Stan lied, averting his eyes. He didn’t want to get into his reasons for doing what he did. He doubted Dan even wanted to hear them.

“YOU WERE BORED!” Dan repeated, his voice now a roar, making Stan flinch. “THAT IS YOUR EXCUSE!?”

“Why don’t you do us both a favor, and just save the lecture. I don’t give a crap what you think,” Stan snapped, his shoulders hunched, as he continued staring at the floor.

“I am not going to lecture you. I am just trying to understand why you would do something so stupid,” his guardian declared, rubbing his temples as if this conversation was giving him a headache.

So he does think I’m stupid. Figures. Stan huffed, not even bothering to reply.

The older man let out a heavy sigh. “You will be suspended for at least today, and probably longer. I will call Samantha to go back to the house so she can keep an eye on you,” he announced. 

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Stan glowered.

“Your actions last night and this morning prove otherwise,” countered Dan, before softening slightly. “Son---"

“DON’T CALL ME SON! I AM NOT YOUR SON!” the brown-haired juvenile bellowed, jumping out of his seat. “I WAS FINE ON MY OWN BEFORE I MET YOU! I DON’T NEED SOME OLD CRIPPLE ON MY BACK!”

The minute the words left his mouth, Stan wished he could take them back.

Dan’s expression was completely blank. “Go. I’ll bring your bag back, just go home,” he said in a clipped tone. With that he walked out of the classroom, not looking back even once.

Stan swallowed thickly, his eyes stinging with what he was pretending was because of the dust.

He had done it. He had ruined everything, and now it was time to leave. He would get to the house before Samantha got there, pack his bags, get into his car, and drive away. Maybe he would leave a note. No. Too risky. Just go in, pack, get out.

The troubled teen walked out of the school as fast as he could, almost sprinting by the time he reached the White’s home. He called out Samantha’s name, but got no answer. He stamped down the disappointment he felt that she wasn’t there, able to talk him out of it with a few blunt words.

When he reached his bedroom---the guest room, he corrected himself inwardly---he mentally went over what he should bring with him. But his half-made plans quickly vanished, when he opened the door and saw who was sitting on his bed.

“Did you really think it was going to be that easy?” Mary asked gently.

Something broke in Stanley, his vision suddenly blurred with tears, and a strangled sob escaped his lips.

The next thing he knew he was sitting on the bed too, Mary’s arms wrapped around him as she rubbed comforting circles on his back.

“I messed up,” he sobbed.

“I know. I know.”

“No, not that. I mean yes, that. I got into a fight at school, and then I called Dan a cripple,” he explained, sniffling miserably.

Mary sucked in a breath, and hugged Stan tighter. “He knows you didn’t mean it,” she soothed. “It is going to be okay. I promise.”

She waited until he had pulled himself together before speaking again. “Let me tell you about my biggest screw up. This was when I was seventeen, living with Dan’s family while he was deployed in Germany. One day I decided I wanted to buy a gift, only I didn’t have any money. So I thought, in my teenager brain, that why don’t I just sell these old earrings of his mother that I had never seen her wear, and I would just pay her back latter.”

“Family heirloom,” Stan guessed.

“I shouldn’t have taken her things without permission, but yes, family heirloom,” confirmed Mary with a sigh. “Vincent, Dan’s grandfather, was apoplectic. Ruth was just as angry, only she didn’t yell, she just told me that she was disappointed in me. It hurt more than any loss of temper ever could.”

“So, what did you do?”

“Same thing you were about to do. I packed up and left, thinking there was no way they would forgive me. That I was probably saving them the trouble of kicking me out,” she answered. “I didn’t get very far as I didn’t even have a car, and had no idea where I could go. I had no idea what I was going to do so I laid down on a park bench, cried myself to sleep.”

Mary paused for a minute, closing her eyes for a few seconds as if the memory was causing her physical pain. “When I woke up, Ruth was standing next to me, telling me it was time to come home.”

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes before Stan cleared his throat, asking her something that had been nagging at him. “What would you have done if I had left before you got here?”

After all, Samantha and Dan had left before he and Ellie had started walking to school, so all he had to do was make up some lie like he had forgotten something before returning to an empty house.

“You wouldn’t have gotten far. I stole your car,” Mary replied nonchalantly.

“You what?!”

“You’ll get it back when your punishment is over,” she informed him, kissing his forehead.

Stan gaped at her for a few minutes before saying grudgingly. “I guess that’s fair.”

Chapter Text

“Stanley Pines, if you are not in here, I am gonna kick your…Mommy!” Eleanor squeaked as she threw the door to the kitchen open, evidentially not expecting to see her mother in their house.

Mary White’s eyebrow quirked as she gave Eleanor a stern look.  “Were you yelling at Stanley?”

“No,” her daughter lied, averting her gaze. David ducked under her arm, racing over to the kitchen table to hug the older boy sitting there.

“Everybody thinks you took off,” he explained, a note of relief ringing in his voice.

“What? I wouldn’t leave,” Stan protested, ignoring the fact that was exactly what he had been planning to do had Mary not caught him. “Not when we have so much work to do on the Stan-O-War.” 

“Where is your father?” Mary asked Eleanor.

“He went to his study,” Ellie replied.

“Thank you,” Mary said she walked out of the kitchen, giving her daughter a warning look before she did so.

“Wow, you were right. I am her favorite,” Stan declared with a chuckle. Then he remembered what she had said when she came in. "Also why would you kick your poor mother just because I wasn't here?"

“First of all, welcome back,” Eleanor joked warmly, before making a mocking face “Secondly, shuddupp.” She then deposited his bookbag on the table. “Here is all the schoolwork you missed, and tonight’s homework.”

“Maybe I should have run,” Stan muttered as he began to pull papers out of his bag, wanting to get it over with.

“You wouldn’t have done that, right?” David asked quietly, looking at Stan with such mournful eyes, the teenage felt like kicking himself for even considering it.

“Of course not. However, I would love to know how Eleanor was going to kick my butt if I was gone,” Stan remarked, turning to look at the girl who had taken her seat on Stan’s other side.

“Obviously, I would have done it after Mom had chased you down, and dragged you back here,” Eleanor replied matter of factly.

“Fair enough.”

The three of them had just started their individual homework when Samantha came into the house, holding groceries in her arms.

She ignored their greetings as she put everything away. When she was finished, she turned around, and fixed Stanley with a fierce glare. “Do it again, and you will need a wheelchair to get around.”

“Sammy!” Ellie and David exclaimed in unison, horrified.

The oldest sister said nothing more, just exiting the kitchen without a backwards glance.

“I take it, everyone heard what I said to Dan,” Stan guessed, having a feeling that Samantha wasn’t just mad about what he had done the night previous.

“That doesn’t mean she has to threaten you with bodily harm,” Eleanor protested.

“Besides, we know you didn’t mean it,” David assured him, patting Stan’s arm.

“Thanks kiddo,” Stan said gratefully before glancing at the door worriedly. “So how mad is Dan at me?”

“Dad’s not mad at you. He is upset, but he will come around soon enough,” Eleanor assured him as she opened her own bag, digging out some sheets of paper. “Come on, let’s just focus on our homework.” 

“You must be really desperate to get my mind off this that you are actually not procrastinating,” Stan observed. 

“Please don’t make my sacrifice be in vain,” Eleanor implored him dramatically, giving him an over-the-top pleading expression, quivering lip included.

They had gotten a quarter way through when Mary came back in, an irritated Samantha following close behind.

“Samantha, would you like to say something to Stanley?” Mary “requested” in a tone that broached no argument.

“I’m sorry for threatening you,” the older girl said, looking as though she had just bitten into a lemon.

“It’s fine,” Stan replied, deciding not to drag it out. He had been on the other end of forced apologies before, and he had no intention of making her even more resentful towards him.

It had taken months for Samantha to trust him. By the looks of it, he was going to have to start over.

But while Stanley was satisfied, Mary evidentially was not, she fixed her daughter with a fierce glare. “And?”

“I’m sorry for suggesting that we should nail your windows shut,” Samantha told him, averting her eyes.

“What?” questioned Stanley, bewildered by that statement itself let alone the fact that she never said that to him.

“I told you that he was too drunk to remember anything,” Samantha reminded her mother, arms crossed over her chest.

“And how would you know that for certain?” Mary challenged, her eyebrows shooting upwards. Samantha’s face twitched, and she quickly decided to vacate the kitchen. Mary turned her gaze back to three sitting around the table, trying to hold in their laughter. “Stanley, Dan would like to speak to you.” 

That brought all laughter to halt as both David and Eleanor glanced at the boy in the middle, unease etched in their expressions. Stan wasn’t sure if their concern were for what their father would say or if they were worried that he was about to bolt like a startled deer.

The brown-haired teen decided he did not need to give them or Mary for that matter, any indication of his anxiety. Although he knew that logically even if Dan hated him, he would allow Stan to stay for Mary’s sake, that did not stop the sick feeling in his stomach, nor did it stop the memory of Filbrick Pines grabbing him by the shirt and tossing him onto the streets from flickering in his mind.

Stanley walked to Dan’s study, feeling like a convict going to see a judge who would pronounce his sentence.

As he came to a stop outside the door, Stanley mentally prepared what he would say. Then he took a deep breath as he turned the doorknob, and entered the study, belatedly wondering if he should have knocked.

Dan was pacing around the room, wringing his hands nervously when Stanley came in. The apologies, the excuses, the pleas all died on the teen’s tongue upon seeing Dan’s guilty expression.

“I’m sorry,” the older man said immediately.

Stan gaped at him. “You’re sorry. I’m the one who messed up!” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“You did mess up,” Dan agreed. “But I am the adult, and you are the child.”

“I am not a kid,” Stan snapped, bristly at the implication that he was just some little kid who wasn’t in control of his own actions.

“You are to me,” Dan replied softly, averting his eyes. Silence descended over the two for a few seconds. “I should have known something was wrong the way you were acting at school. You wanted to be suspended so you could run. I was blinded by being angry at you, I didn’t even consider that until Eleanor spelled it out for me.”

Stan blinked, rubbing his neck in discomfort. He briefly wondered if that was why Ellie had insisted on walking to school with him. “I don’t blame you for being mad. I mean with…” he trailed off, not wanting to mention Dan’s father.

“My father is the reason why I have an aversion to alcohol,” the man informed him bluntly. “However, he is not the reason I was upset. My father had a drinking buddy named Anthony who was his opposite in every way, and he was an honorary uncle to Martin and me. When I came home after the war, I found out that he had gotten into a bar fight that ended with him bashing a guy’s head in, and the guy’s friend shooting Anthony.”

“Geez,” was all Stan could say to that.

“I am not saying that I think you shouldn’t drink,” Dan began to ramble. “I just want you to be of age and do it responsibly so you don’t make bad decisions that could get you hurt or worse.”

“Uh, to be fair, I don’t need beer to make bad decisions,” Stan joked, attempting to lighten the mood. “I once drove my ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend’s car into a ditch.”

Dan chuckled. “When Sammy and Ellie were younger, I left them at the store. When I realized that I left them behind, I drove through three red lights, and at least ten miles over the speed limit,” he remarked.

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“I left them at Mr. Jacobs’ store. All he had to do was take them across the street to Mary,” Dan recalled, rubbing his face. “As Mary put it, they were in more danger from the maniac who was barreling down the road with no regard for the safety of others.” 

“Okay, not your finest moment,” Stan admitted.

“It gets worse. When Sammy realized what had happened, she distracted Ellie before calmly asking Mr. Jacobs to call Mary. She was four,” Dan finished, wincing at how his toddler daughter had managed to keep it together better than he had.

Stan couldn’t help burst into chortles. Dan just smiled at him, giving him a one-armed hug.

“So we’re good?” the teen asked hesitantly.

“Stan, I am sure we shall have our rough patches,” speculated Dan. “But we will always be good.”

“Really dusty in here,” Stan sniffed, rubbing his eyes.

Chapter Text

Apparently, Stanley’s punishment was not only the loss of his car. (From what he could gather, Mary had stashed it at the local mechanic, while keeping the keys on her. The woman was not leaving things to chance). He also had to work at Mary’s restaurant as he had done after the midnight ride to New Jersey, washing dishes, bussing tables, and stepping in as a waiter every so often.

Even when his suspension was officially over, Stan still worked in the restaurant during the weekend. The look on Justin’s face when he walked back into the school was priceless. The kid seemed to have finally realized that antagonizing Stanley was just going to get his butt kicked.

Working at the diner was not extremely unpleasant. None of the staff seemed to hold a grudge over breaking in, drinking fifty dollars’ worth of alcohol (Samantha counted) and making a huge mess. 

Of course, considering, Mary ruled over her employees with an iron fist, it was not surprising that no one dared to say something that could get back to her. 

“Everyone does stupid things when they are young and dumb,” Hector remarked with a chuckle as he used his ladle to put some piping hot chicken curry in a bowl. “I still remember the first time I had tequila. Made a fool out of myself to my in-laws. My wife’s father still refers to me as El Bobo Borracho when he thinks no one can hear him.”

Stan chuckled politely before heading to the dining area and placed the meal in front of the customer.

He was about to return to the kitchen when Mary waved him over. She was currently talking to one of her new waitresses at the counter where Mr. Roberts was watching, looking very amused by whatever was going on.

“Stanley, a customer asks you if you would recommend the special, what would you say?” Mary inquired.

“What’s the special again?” Stan asked in a stage whisper.

“The cheesecake.”

“Okay,” Stan said, licking his lips as he considered his words. He could tell that simply stating that the cheesecake was good wasn’t what Mary was looking for.  “I would most certainly recommend it as it is smooth and creamy. A sweet treat that will be the perfect end to your meal.”

“And that is how you sell it,” Mary declared.

“Well, what if he is allergic?” Allegra protested.

“Then I would assume, he would not order the cheesecake,” opined Mary, side-eying Mr. Roberts as if she were wondering if he was allergic. “We live in a small town. The least we can do is try to get our customers to try new things which they won’t do if we can’t entice them.”

“I am very enticed,” Mr. Roberts chimed in helpfully. He then turned towards the teenager. “You know, Stanley, my wife works at an advertising agency. They are always looking for people who can come up with catchy slogans like your whole, uh, sunny lemonade thing.”

 Stanley glanced over at Mary who was mopping the counter with a dish towel, her gaze averted. “I thought I was going to college, not getting a job.”

“I am giving you options,” Mary replied.

“Technically you would be an unpaid---” Mr. Roberts began.

“Do you want your free cheesecake or not?” Mary barked.

“Yes please.” 

Leaving Mr. Roberts to his cheesecake, Mary went back to her office with Stanley not far behind.

“What was that exactly?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

“I know that you don’t like school, so I wanted to be sure you had something else in case you decided not to go to college,” Mary informed him as she pulled her char out and sat down.

Stanley wondered if Dan would feel the same way. He knew that the man was pretty big on education. If he were to be honest with himself, he actually sorta wanted to get his diploma just to make Dan and Mary proud.

Not that he would be admitting that out loud any time soon.

“I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I don’t need you to find a job for me,” the brown-haired teenager told her as he sat down in the chair in front of her desk. 

“I wasn’t finding you a job,” Mary protested, waving her hand dismissively. “I merely asked Lawrence if he knew anyone salesman training programs. He said no, but his wife was looking for a summer intern, so I suggested you, filled out your application, and Barbara agreed to keep a spot open for you.”

“Again, appreciate that not at all completely overboard smothering,” Stan deadpanned. “But I don’t want some stuffy desk job where I am coming up with lame jingles for stuff I don’t care about.” 

“Okay, I understand that, but at the same time, don’t you think that a desk job would help pay the bills,” Mary suggested, trying to keep her tone casual.

“What bills?” Stan asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“Car bills. House bills,” came the answer as Mary rearranged a few things on her desk, not looking Stanley in the eye.

“Are you trying to trick me into planning my future?” inquired Stan, an eyebrow raised.

“No,” Mary told him firmly. “I just think maybe it is prudent to start strategizing for later years.”

Stan blinked. “What is happening?” He briefly wondered if this was some kind of weird stroke.

“Dan and I have an agreement that we, I,” Mary amended, making a slightly embarrassed gesture. “will not force our opinions on our children. We will trust them to make their own decisions. However, there is nothing wrong with helping you by making sure you have multiple opportunities.”

“Mother,” Samantha spoke, causing Stanley to jump out of his seat with a shriek. He spun around to see the older girl sitting in a chair in the corner near the door, with a ledger in her lap.

“Have you been here the whole time!” he yelped.

“Yes,” Samantha confirmed bluntly before turning to her mother. “I have multiple opportunities, and yet you don’t try to set up jobs for me by bribing people with free food.”

“Samantha, you are so organized that I wouldn’t be surprised if you have three jobs already lined up before you even finish college,” Mary countered.

“Would you do it for Ellie or for David?” Samantha queried, her eyebrow quirked.

Stan shifted his gaze to Mary whose glare quickly morphed into an expression that was scarily similar to Eleanor’s when she knew she had been caught.

“Stanley, I know you have been misinformed about your talents and skills,” Mary began, picking up a pen and twirling it around her fingers.

“You don’t have to sugarcoat it,” he told her. “I know what people have said about me. They have called me a clown who would never amount to anything.”

The pen in Mary’s hands snapped into two, causing her to look down at it in surprise. “I just wanted to find you a career, you would be good at,” she explained, tossing the pieces into the trash basket.

“I don’t think advertising is something, I’d be good at necessarily,” Stan countered. “I mean sure, I did spend some time thinking of being a traveling salesman at one point. I was going to make these stain removers called Sham Total---"

“You made a product called total sham,” Samantha interjected, her tone disbelieving. “Were you also planning to make band aids called Rip-Offs?”

“…No,” Stan lied.

“Wow,” she deadpanned.

Stanley turned around and stuck his tongue out at her.

“Will you think about it?” Mary pleaded. “It is just an internship. For a few weeks of this summer. It doesn’t have to lead to anything permanent.” 

The teenager sighed. “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“My parents have made you soft,” Eleanor declared when Stan met up with her and Rosa and told them about what happened over drinks and fries.

“I am not soft,” Stan shot back. “I just don’t like the idea of disappointing them.”

Eleanor poked him in the stomach. “Just as I suspected,” she hummed. “You are as soft as a marshmallow.”

“I’ll marshmallow you,” Stan grumbled, swatting her hand as she tried to poke him again.

“I hope this internship won’t get in the way of our summer plans,” Eleanor commented as she took a sip of her soda.

“What plans would that be?” Rosa inquired.

“Doing nothing,” replied Ellie.

“Nothing?” Stan repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Not even our boxing lessons.”

“Well in that case, I will make an exception,” Ellie laughed.

“Of course, you would,” Rosa remarked with a smirk. “Cualquier excusa para verlo sin camisa.”

Before a red-faced Ellie could retort, Stan scrambled for his bag, pulling out the book he had been carrying around for this occasion. He slammed it on the table, and began flipping through the pages.

“Cualquier, Cualquier,” he muttered as he used his finger to go down the list of words. “Can you repeat the whole thing again, one word at a time?”

“Did you seriously buy a Spanish-English dictionary just so you could find out what she is saying?” Ellie questioned.

“Not to mention, you could just pay attention to Spanish class if you want to learn the language,” Rosa added.

“You know I still don’t understand why you don’t take that class and get an easy A,” Eleanor remarked

Rosa nearly choked on her soda. “Have you met my Madre?” she giggled. “She’d be harder on me than anyone else. Besides, I like working hard for my grades.”

“Remind me why we are friends again?” Eleanor snarked.

“Because I do your Spanish homework,” her friend reminded her, bumping her shoulders playfully.

“Oh that’s right, I love you,” Eleanor gushed, hugging her.

“AHAH!” Stanley exclaimed, thumping his hand on the book. “Cualquier means any. Now could you please say the rest of that sentence.”

“Elle pense que tes fesses sont mignonnes,” Rosa announced, a smirk on her face, wincing when she received a kick to her shin.

Eleanor quickly put her hand on the boy’s arm when he began to flip through the book. “That was French, Stanley.”

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair,” Stan groused.

“Het leven is niet eerlijk,” Rosa snarked, smugly.

“What was that?” Stan wondered, looking to Eleanor for answers.

“I don’t know,” Eleanor shrugged. “German maybe?”

“Ainda não aprendi a língua Alemã,” Rosa informed them.

“Are you done showing off yet?” Eleanor deadpanned, her expression growing annoyed.

“Adesso ho finito.”

“I am reconsidering our friendship,” Ellie mock threatened.

“Oh, okay, so I guess you guys can do your homework by yourself,” Rosa suggested, pressing her lips together as she leaned back in her chair.

Stan and Eleanor exchanged a panicked look. “Let’s not be too hasty,” Stan stated at the same time as Ellie said: “Did I mention I love you?”

“I thought as much,” Rosa sniffed haughtily as she popped a fry in her mouth.

Chapter Text

“I can’t wait for summer,” David declared as he collapsed on the couch.

“Me and you both, kiddo,” Stan told him, tossing his hair before turning on the TV. As it was Friday, they did not have to do their homework before dinner.  

“Just a few more weeks and we can work on Stan-O-War,” David said, his eyes lighting up as he bounced up and down. “Then we can go sailing and look for treasure and monsters.”

Everything I used to do with Ford, Stan noted, keeping a smile plastered on his face, knowing that David merely wanted to spend time with him, and he did not want to disappoint him by moping about his brother. “That’s right. We’re going to have the best summer.”

 “What about a road trip?” Dan asked, causing both boys to turn around to look at him.

“What?” Stan questioned, baffled by this sudden change of subject.

“Well, I have been thinking that maybe we could all use a change of pace,” Dan explained, with a pensive expression on his face. “I haven’t brought it up with Mary and the girls yet. But what would you say to spending a month or two hitting up hotels on the road and checking out some tourist spots?”

“I’d say that would be pretty cool,” admitted David sheepishly.

“Oh, so now the Stan-O-War isn’t cool enough for you!” Stan exclaimed, pressing his hand to his chest, with an over-the-top offended expression. “Is that it?” 

The boy giggled, shrugging his shoulders.

“Why you traitorous rogue!” Stanley shouted, shaking his fist comically before grabbing David in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles on his head.

“Okay, okay, I give, I give,” David cried, still laughing. Stan-O-War is cooler!”

“And don’t you forget it, you knucklehead,” proclaimed Stan, slapping him on the back as he freed him from his grip. David playfully punched him in the arm to which Stan responded back in kind.

Dan smile was almost wistful as he watched them. “We don’t have to be on the road trip for the whole summer. We can just pick a place we want to go and spend some time traveling there.”

“I heard Oregon has some great tourist attractions,” remarked Stanley.

Okay, we got one vote for Oregon,” Dan noted as he began walking towards the kitchen.

Stan quickly elbowed David. “I vote for Oregon too, Dad!” David called after him.

“Nice try, Stanley,” Dan shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared into the other room, not even turning around.

“Sorry,” David apologized as he turned back to the TV.

“Eh, worth a shot,” Stan shrugged, patting him on the head.

They were just about to watch a wrestling match when Eleanor came down the stairs.

“Hey, there should be a rerun of Columbo on,” she announced as she hurried to the couch. “Can you turn the channel?”

“Uh, we can, but we will not,” answered Stan in a snooty voice. “Because we are watching a wrestling match.”

“Oh, come on, you’ve seen a hundred wresting matches,” Eleanor protested. “Aren’t they all the same? Heel loses. Face wins. Or whatever.”

“Right. Because Colombo gives variety,” Stan snorted, waving his hands dramatically. “Murderer kills for one reason or another. Columbo arrives, acts stupid, manages to figure out what thirty other cops couldn’t: it is not an ordinary death. It was murrrrrrderrrrr. He then harasses the murderer until he or she confesses. There. I just summed up every Colombo episode ever made and ever will be made.”

“Don’t you insult my future husband,” Ellie muttered, rolling her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. The phone started ringing. As she was closest, Ellie grabbed it. “Hello? Oh, hi, Mrs. Pines,” she greeted, grinning smugly at the boys on the couch, eyeing the remote like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse. “Stanley, your mother is on the phone and would like to speak to you,” she declared in a tone dripping with false sweetness.

Stan shot her an annoyed look before turning to David and handing him the remote. “Guard this with your life,” he stage-whispered.

The younger boy nodded solemnly, folding his arms so he could keep the remote out of reach of his sister’s greedy hands.

Stanley got up from the couch and took the phone from Eleanor, making the “I’m watching you” gesture with his pointer finger and his thumb to which he received the very mature stuck out tongue as a response.

“Hey Ma,” he acknowledged. “What can I do for you?”

“Why would you assume that I want anything?” complained Caryn Pines. “You know sometimes I just want to talk to you. Not that you seem to feel that way since you never call.”

Apparently, I called when I was black out drunk. I doubt you would have wanted to speak to me then, Stan recalled, wincing as he wondered, not for the first time, what exactly he had said to Ford. His memories were still a bit hazy, but he remembered vaguely his twin telling him to lie on his side so he would not choke on his own vomit.

Afterwards, he had half hoped Ford would call back, if for no other reason than to make sure he was alive. He didn’t and Stan supposed his brother had just forgotten about the whole incident, not caring about Stan’s drunken ramblings.

“Stanley, are you still there?” Caryn demanded, her shrill voice cutting through his thoughts.

“Yeah, Ma, I’m still here,” Stan answered, rubbing his head in embarrassment. “Sorry, I haven’t been calling lately.” 

“I know that you are trying to avoid the phone being picked up by your father,” Caryn said in a softer voice. “But I would appreciate if you called me just to check in.”

“I will, Ma, I promise.”

“Thank you, dear. Now, I called because I wanted to know when you were graduating,” she informed him.

“Oh, I’ll be graduating on the nineteenth of May,” responded Stan, wondering if his mother and brother were planning on attending.

“That’s wonderful,” Caryn praised. “Dan has told me about how your grades improved. From Ds to Cs and Bs, I am so proud of you. I can’t wait to rub your report card in that quack’s face.”

Stan chuckled nervously. He could guess his mother was talking about his old principal, and he did in fact want to rub in in the face of the man who called him a clown. However, he could guess that his mother was leading to something.

“With Stanford’s graduation being on the twenty-first, you could show it to him yourself,” suggested Caryn.

“There it is,” Stan muttered under his breath. “That sounds great, Ma, but I’m afraid I can’t go to Ford’s graduation ceremony.”

“Stanley, honey, I promise I will make sure that your father behaves himself,” Caryn avowed soothingly. “And I think it will mean a lot to Ford if you come.”

Yeah right. Like he would want me there, Stanley thought bitterly before clearing his throat. “Ma, I’m sorry, but David’s graduation is the same day, and I already promised the kid that I’d go,” he lied, glancing at the couch where David and Eleanor quickly averted their gazes, trying to pretend they were watching the wrestling match instead of eavesdropping intently.

“Okay, sweetie, I understand,” Caryn said, heaving a sad sigh. “I love you.”

“You too, Ma.”

After that, they awkwardly bid each other goodbye before Stan hung up the phone and returned to the couch.

“The wrestling match looks really good,” Ellie remarked. “Maybe it would be nice to watch this.”

Stan snorted despite himself.

“If Dad asks, you are voting for Oregon,” David whispered to his sister.

Eleanor did not request any context, she just nodded in confirmation.

“He’s not coming,” Ford deduced, able to gauge it from his mother’s expression, the minute she had stepped into his bedroom.

“David’s graduation is on the same day as yours,” Caryn explained, sympathetically. “Maybe if you asked him to come…”

“That won’t make a difference,” interjected Ford, bitterness coloring his tone. “He won’t disappoint his new brother.” 

Perhaps he was being too hard on Stanley--- after all, being in the same room as their father had undoubtedly been a factor in his decision not to come--- but it still rankled him that his twin was choosing to skip his high school graduation.

“I really wish you boys would just talk so you could fix things,” Caryn remarked, shaking her head as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Ford reached down for the Perpetual Motion Machine he had hastily shoved in a desk drawer when he had heard his mother’s footsteps. He didn’t want anyone to know he was working on it again, at least not until he was sure that it worked.

Stanley’s drunken speech still rang in his ears. Almost four months later, and he could not let go of what his twin had said.

It hurt, knowing that his brother thought so little of him, believed that he had used Stanley as a scapegoat to cover his own ego. It hurt how Stanley--- a year later--- still didn’t understand why West Coast Tech was so important to him. Even if Stanley hadn’t meant to break his project, it was clear, it didn’t matter to him.

The one person Ford had always relied on for support saw his dream as nothing more than an inconvenience, an obstacle in the way of their goal of traveling around the world, wasting their potential.

Chapter Text

“What time is it?! IT'S SATURDAY CARTOONS TIME!” came the rallying shout.

Stanley groaned and rolled over, placing a pillow over his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy cartoons, but he really wanted one Saturday where he could sleep in. Alas, that wasn’t really an option in the White’s household.

Well, it was, but Stan had found it hard to say no when David and Ellie were concerned. They both had very potent puppy dog eyes. Causing Stanley to agree with them, almost instantly.

Not that he would let them know that.

Speaking of the devils, the door to his room burst open and inside they came, David jumping on top of the bed while Eleanor ran to his other side, snatching the pillow from his head.

“Get up, Stanley, we have some work to do now,” the girl proclaimed in a sing song tone.

Stan groaned, covering his head with his blanket. “Five more minutes.” 

“Oh, come on, Scooby Doo is on and Mom’s making pancakes,” David prodded, bouncing on Stan’s legs. “Come on, you know you wanna.”

“Would you do it for a pancake?” Eleanor entreated.

The teenager poked his head out of the cover, a baffled expression on his face. “Did you just try to Scooby Doo and Shaggy me?” 

Eleanor shrugged in response.

“You are way too fixated on cartons,” Stanley decided. Then he tossed the bedsheet aside. “I’m getting up, not because it worked, but because I am hungry, and I want my Saturday morning pancakes.”

He pretended not to see Eleanor and David high fiving as they left his bed and scurried out of his room, closing the door behind them.

Stanley rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before getting up and following them, managing to smile when he saw Mary in front of the end table behind the couch which had three plates of pancakes sitting on it.

“You know, I could always bring a plate up to you and then guard the door so no one can bother you,” offered Mary as her son and daughter grabbed their breakfast and sat down on the floor in front of the TV.

“And miss this tooth rooting, domestic fluff scene,” Stan gushed, half-sarcastically, gesturing to Ellie, David and Dan who were watching cartoons in their pajamas as they ate their breakfast. “Perish the thought.”

Mary gave him a knowing look before heading to the kitchen.

Stanley sat down next to Dan and began to dig into the pancakes, a part of him feeling like they were missing something, but he wasn’t sure what.

“What’s your excuse this time?” Eleanor inquired as Samantha sat down with the newspaper in her hands.

“I beg your pardon?” Samantha drawled, not even looking up from the armchair she had sat in.

Her sister smirked. “For coming to the living room to do the crossword puzzle when you could do it in the kitchen or your room.”

“I don’t have to make one,” came the apathetic reply. “I can do it wherever I want.”

Eleanor glared at her. “Just admit you came here because you like hanging out with us.”

“Never.”

From his vantage point, Stanley could see a ghost of smirk on the oldest White daughter’s face.

“Ellie, hush.” Dan shifted in his seat. “I can’t hear the words of the theme song.”

Stan used his knife to swirl a piece of the pancake in the syrup before eating it, giving Dan an odd look at he did so. Once he had swallowed, he spoke, “Isn’t it the same theme song every time?”

“It is catchy,” Dan replied without a hint of shame. “Back when I was growing up…” He paused to give his children a moment to groan. “Cartoons were in black and white and you had to go to a movie theatre to watch them.”

“Wait, wait! There were animation and movies when you were growing up,” David exclaimed.

“Yeah, I thought electricity was still considered witchcraft during those times,” agreed Stanley.

“Ha!” Everyone’s head whipped towards the source of the laughter, all of their eyes wide in shock. Samantha for her part, hid her face in the newspaper, her features schooled into an impassive mask, acting as though nothing had happened.

“Did Sammy just laugh at Stanley’s joke?” Eleanor blinked before shifting her gaze to the window. “Maybe we should check for flying pigs.” 

Dan sighed. “I will have you know that when Mary and I---”

“Oh, don’t you drag me into this, Mr. I-was-born-the-same-year-as-Mickey-Mouse,” Mary called from the kitchen.  

Before Dan could continue his lecture, the phone began to ring, and the man picked it up and answered it. “Hello? Oh, hello. How are you?” he asked the person in a cheerful tone. “No, you didn’t wake us. We are always up for Saturday cartoons. I’m sure you’ll understand in a few years. He’s sitting right next to me.” With that, Dan handed the phone to Stanley. “Your brother.”

The teenager moaned inwardly before taking the phone, knowing what this was about. “Let me guess, it’s your turn to guilt me into coming to Ford’s graduation.”

“Good morning to you as well, Stanley,” Shermie greeted in an overly cheerful voice. “Why yes, I am doing well and yourself?”

“I’m fine, Shermie,” Stan replied, too tired to rise to his brother’s bait. “So what’s up?”

“I know you and Ford are going through a rough patch right now, but he really wants you to come,” Shermie told him gently.

It took all of Stan’s willpower not to roll his eyes. “Ma already tried that.”

There were a few moments of silence of the other end. “Stan,” his brother began hesitantly. “He told me about your, uh, drunken phone call.”

That got Stanley’s attention. “He did?” he clarified.

“He wanted me to call the Whites just to make to sure you were okay,” Shermie informed him.

Perhaps that should have made Stanley feel better, knowing Ford cared about him, instead it just angered him. “Then he should have called me himself.”

“I know. That’s what I told him,” Shermie explained. “I’m not happy about the way he’s acting either, but I think that maybe if you went to his graduation, you guys might start talking and fixing this. I mean don’t you want to make up with Ford?”

Stanley slumped down on the sofa. “Maybe I got David’s graduation date wrong. I might be able to make it after all.”

“I’ll be sure to pass along that message,” Shermie avowed. His smirk was almost audible.  

Chapter Text

“I am putting my foot down. Mary, my foot is down.”

I always love entering in the middle of conversations, Stanley snorted in amusement as walked into the kitchen, wondering what he had stumbled upon.  

“Dan, you are being overdramatic,” Mary protested.

Her husband shot her an incredulous look. “Oh? I’m being overdramatic? You were the one who said that your heart exploded in rage the last time!”

And just from that, Stanley could guess what the argument was about. Mary wanted to accompany him to Ford’s graduation, but Dan was concerned she might get into a fight with Filbrick and suffer another heart attack.

Before he could make a hasty retreat, Mary spotted him. “Stanley, dear, can I get your opinion on something?” 

Oh no, calling me dear is never a good sign, mused the teenager before nodding, his gaze shifting between the two adults, really hoping that they were not going to ask for his opinion.

He didn’t have a problem with the Whites tagging along to Ford’s graduation especially when they could help him run interference with his father, who he had not seen since the judge had ordered him to pay ten thousand dollars. (Every month when a check arrived in the mail, Stanley could almost feel his father’s rage and it was glorious).    

Still if he were to be honest, he would like to avoid any situation where Mary might have another heart attack as he doubted that they would be able to get through the event without saying something to cause an argument. 

“What’s up?” he inquired.

“Would you like me to be there when you go to your brother’s graduation?”

“Mary,” Dan scolded, rubbing his forehead. “Do not guilt him into inviting you along.”

“I was not guilting him,” protested Mary. “I was merely asking for his opinion.”

“Uh, actually I think that maybe you shouldn’t come,” Stanley told her, scratching his neck in embarrassment as he averted his eyes.

“I see.” The matriarch’s voice was deceptively calm before letting out an annoyed huff. “I can control myself just so you both are aware.” 

Stanley raised his hands defensively. “Hey, I know. It is not that. I just don’t want to make Ford’s thing about me, and I know you’ve got some choice words for my principal and my father. Not to mention I would feel really guilty if you had another heart attack because of me.” 

Mary pressed her lips together. “Well, I suppose if you put it like that, then maybe I will stay home. But I expect a full report.”

Dan and Stanley nodded in agreement and then when Mary’s back was turned, exchanged a low five.

The next day, Stanley and Dan drove to Glass Shard Beach for Ford’s graduation, deciding to leave the rest of the family at home.

“My mother wasn’t perfect,” Dan remarked shutting off the music abruptly, causing his passenger to stare at him in bewilderment. “She would make excuses for my father, she would never ask for help, whenever I tried to do something like cook, clean or sew for her she would say it wasn’t my job to do that and when I joined the army, she accused me of being selfish for not running to Canada to escape the draft like my grandfather wanted.”

“Uh, okay.” Stan wasn’t quite sure where this was going or why Dan was telling him this.

“I just don’t want you to think that just because we are giving you a home, that you owe us and have to do what we want you to do,” the older man explained. “We don’t always know what’s best for you.”

Stanley’s eyebrow quirked, studying Dan for a few minutes. “Is this about the summer internship, Mary set up for me?”  With the road trip overlapping the start of the internship, it was decided that he would apply the next summer.

“Yes,” Dan admitted. “I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing it or that you have to take it because we’ll be disappointed.”

Stanley decided not to mention how he had only agreed to go back to school, when he was first living with the Whites, to appease them so they wouldn’t realize just how worthless he was.

“Look you guys did a lot for me and refuse to let me pay you back so the least I can do is make your proud of me.” His voice was barely above a whisper as he averted his eyes.

“You can’t do something you have already achieved,” Dan quipped.

Stan snorted. “Right. Like when I took your daughters on a joyride---”

“They insisted on going and you only went to bring David a boat,” the older man interrupted.

“Not to mention the whole reason Mary had a heart attack---”

“Don’t you dare,” Dan admonished him, a note of finality in his tone. “We agreed to blame your father.”

“But Mary wouldn’t have met him if it wasn’t for me,” Stan insisted.

Dan heaved a sigh. “I may not have a medical license, but I am certain that hearts can’t actually explode in rage. The doctor speculated that it came the amount of stress she had been under. I suspect that if it didn’t happen during the showdown with your father, it would have been the one with Diana.”

A flash of guilt crossed his face, and Stan could almost hear him blaming himself for allowing his sister-in-law to antagonize his wife.

“I think we might be going off topic,” Dan decided. “My point was you don’t have to make us proud because we already are. In fact, you have impressed me by how resourceful you are.”

He said it so casually, not realizing the significance of his words or how much they meant to the boy in the passenger seat.

I’m impressed.

“Stupid wind,” Stanley groused as he wiped his eyes.

“The window is closed,” noted Dan with a knowing smirk as he turned the radio back on.

The ceremony passed in a blur. Stan and Dan were sitting near the aisle with Shermie (with Jay sitting on his lap), his wife Pam, and Caryn sitting between them and Filbrick who was clearly fuming, judging by his clenched jaw and the way his nostrils flared every once in a while.

While Ford made his valedictorian speech and the diplomas were being passed out, Stanley tried to keep his attention on the stage, ignoring the curious glances that were shot his way from his former classmates and some of the adults as well.

His ears could pick up some fervent whispering behind him, hearing words like “juvenile.” “parole” and “family of cons.” He decided to turn his head to shoot the people behind him a smile, shutting them up for at least ten minutes.

Finally, when the ceremony was over, the Pines went up to Ford to congratulate him while Dan followed a few steps behind, not wanting to encroach.

Ford’s eyebrow rose when he saw his twin. “I thought you weren’t coming,” he remarked.

Filbrick mumbled something too quiet under his breath. Caryn must have heard him as she smacked him on the arm.

“Oh, right. I got the dates mixed up,” Stan explained, ignoring his father completely. “David’s graduation is actually next week.” 

He could have sworn he saw a flash of bitterness on his brother’s countenance, but before he could say anything else, Mr. Lincoln decided to come up to the group, a big grin on his face as he shook Ford’s hands.

“Mr. and Mrs. Pines, congratulations, you have raised a fine son and you should be proud of the man he is becoming,” the principal proclaimed.

Stanley snorted. As much as he loved his mother, he did not think either of his parents could take credit for Ford. His brainiac brother was smarter than this whole town twice over.

“Something funny, Stanley?” Ford was glaring at him for some reason.

“Ah, Stanley Pines,” Mr. Lincoln greeted as if he was only seeing the boy, he called a clown over a year ago, for the first time.  “It has been a while. What have you been up to? There were some rumors that you joined a circus, but I’m sure you found some other work to suit your, ahem, talents.” 

“That reminds me,” Caryn said before Stanley could open his mouth. She was beaming as she turned to Dan who was standing just a few inches away, his lips curling into a grimace. “Dan, did you happen to bring Stanley’s report card?”

Dan’s disapproving glare never left Mr. Lincoln as he dug out a folded card from his pants pocket. He moved to Stanley’s side as he unfolded it and showed it to Caryn allowing the group to see it.

The high school principal did a double take when he saw that instead of Fs and Ds, there was Cs and Bs. “Well, I’ll be, I guess getting kicked out made you get your head on straight,” Mr. Lincoln remarked.

Shermie had been holding Jay this entire time, which was a good thing, considering his expression was murderous. His wife even put his hand on his arm to steady him. Caryn’s eyes were flashing dangerously. Ford was still glaring at his twin, although at Mr. Lincoln's comment, he did flinch. Filbrick just turned away, indifferent.

“Actually, Sir, I think he was able to improve his grades once he was in a school run by competent teachers and administers,” opined Dan in a calm and cool manner, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his cane.

It took Mr. Lincoln a few minutes to realize he had just been insulted. “Are you insinuating that my staff and I are not competent?” He straightened in an attempt to seem intimidating.

“No, Sir, I am not insinuating anything.” Dan paused, giving the man a few minutes to unruffle his feathers. “I am merely stating a fact.”

With that, he walked away, his head held high, leaving the principal spluttering in his wake.

Later he would admit to Stanley that he had deliberately left because he had wanted to make a dramatic exit, only to realize that coming back would ruin the whole power move so he had gone and sat in his car until it was time to go.

Stanley assured him that it was still one of the most badass moments he had ever seen.

Ford was seething. Leave it to Stanley to make his twin’s moment all about him.  He just couldn’t allow it to be about him. Even had Dan bring his report card so he could show off how much he had improved.

The fact that Stanley was apparently better at school when he wasn’t with Ford certainly was not bothering him at all. Nor was the fact that Stanley had only come because he had gotten David White’s graduation’s date wrong.

“And what was that snort about?!” Ford wondered out loud.

Stanley and Dan were driving back to Disfunction Junction, hoping to beat rush hour traffic, skipping out on the celebration dinner, Caryn was preparing at home.

“He was probably wondering if Mr. Lincoln remembered that Ma and Dad have more than one son,” Shermie scoffed as he changed Jay’s diaper. “I was thinking that too.”

“Or he was laughing because he thinks without him, I would be nothing,” Ford snapped. Shermie raised an eyebrow. “Okay, fine. Not that. But seriously he just shows up, making everyone focus on him instead of the actual graduates.”

“Is it his fault that everyone at that ceremony was a nosy busybody?” Shermie wondered.

“No.”

“Look, Ford, I’m trying to be supportive and not take sides,” Shermie began. “But you are really beginning to grate on my nerves. You wanted him to come and then when he does, you find a reason to be mad at him about it.” 

Ford glanced down at his feet, knowing his older brother had a point.

“There you go, little guy,” Shermie cooed as he finished before picking his son up and bouncing him in his arms. “Is that better? Who is his daddy’s little man? Is it you? Why, yes, it is.”  

“At what age does the baby talk stop?” Ford inquired, huffing in annoyance.

“Well he knows a few words already. Soon he will---”

“I was talking about you,” the young Pines brother clarified, in a deadpan manner.   

“Don’t you listen to your grumpy uncle. He is just being stubborn and silly,” Shermie laughed. “Promise me something, big guy, if you ever have twins, you will teach them the importance of communication.”

Ford sighed before heading up to his room, to lie down on his bed.

It wasn't fair. Stanley was succeeding with out him and he was still stuck in his twin's shadow. He would start counting down the days before college. Maybe there he could do things without being compared to Stan, finally shine without his twin being held over his head.

Chapter Text

With school being officially over and summer beginning, the Whites decided to start their road trip. Dan had rented a motor home which was now parked outside their home as they packed up, preparing to leave.

“I am gonna miss you so much,” Eleanor proclaimed as she hugged Rosa tightly.

 “I’ll miss you too, Chica, make sure you send me a postcard,” requested Rosa.

“Why?”  Ellie made a puzzled face.

“No sé. Because that’s a thing people do,” Rosa answered, shrugging.

“Okay, I’ll be sure to send you a postcard,” Ellie assured her with a chuckle. She then noticed something over the other girl’s shoulder, and a spark of mischief flickered in her eyes. “Dile a tu hermano que gracias por nosotros.”

Rosa furrowed her brow in confusion. Her oldest brother was house sitting for the Whites, but she wasn’t sure why Ellie felt the need to switch to Spanish to say that. When she saw Eleanor smirking, she realized who was behind her and the reason she had spoken in Spanish.

“¿Te estás metiendo con él?” she inquired.

“Es lindo cuando está irritado,” Eleanor answered with a laugh.

“That’s it! Next year, I am paying attention in Spanish class and you won’t be able to talk about me in front of me!” Stanley exclaimed as he carried his suitcase to the RV, putting it down to give the two girls a glare.

“My mother is right there,” Rosa pointed out, indicating their Spanish teacher who was talking to Dan and Mary.

Stanley meekly waved at her. Adriana just gave him a raised eyebrow before returning her conversation with the White’s parents.

“You got a C+, you must have paid some attention,” Ellie remarked.

“Or maybe someone just did his homework for him,” deadpanned Samantha as she entered the RV.

It was Rosa’s turn to look sheepish and she quickly called out to her mother, “She’s kidding, Mamá.”

Her mother gave her a hard look. “Hablaremos en casa.”

“¡Buena suerte!” Eleanor gave her friend a pat on the shoulder before climbing into the RV along with Stanley. She stopped to glare at Samantha who was sitting in the passenger seat. "Did you have to out her like that?"

“Mrs. García already knows that Rosa does yours and Stanley’s homework,” Samantha informed her. “She doesn’t call you three out on it because there is enough oral work and testing to make up for it. Plus, she knows Rosa talks in Spanish around you both so she assumes you will catch on eventually.” 

“That was still not cool,” Eleanor snapped.

She and Stanley took seats in the middle of the vehicle where David was already camped out. 

Minutes later the parents entered. “Okay kids, I have mapped out our schedules for driving and sight seeing,” Dan began as he handed them sheets of paper. “Sammy, Mary and I will take turns driving. We will be making two day stops in the states in-between Delaware and Oregon. I have already picked the tourist attractions that we will see on our way and on our way back.”

“How long is this trip going to be?” Samantha asked as she shifted in her seat.

“Well, it depends on if we want to hit every tourist spot on the list,” Dan explained. “By my calculations, we will be back in three to five weeks give or take. I spoke to the rental place. They said if we don’t want to drive back, we can just leave the RV with them and take a plane back.”

“You are so attractive when you are organized,” Mary commented with a coy smile. Dan grinned at her, kissing her lips chastely much to one preteen’s disgust.

“Ew!” David pulled a face, only to shrink down sheepishly when his mother shot him an annoyed look.

Mary recalled as she made her way to the back of the RV, “I once had to spend three hours cleaning you and Tess because you thought it might be a good idea to jump into the dumpster truck to see if there was any buried treasure.”

“Buried treasure?” Stanley repeated, bemused.

“We figured people throw out a lot of things that could be valuable,” David explained with a shrug. 

“You took one man’s trash is another man’s treasure a bit too literally, Davie,” Ellie teased, causing him to stick out his tongue at her.

“Ahem.” Dan looked at them expectantly, clearly having not been finished with his speech.

“Sorry dear, what were you saying?” his wife inquired.

“Additionally, we will be staying at motels every few days so we can get proper sleep and hygiene,” Dan finished. “So who is ready to get this show on the road?”  He got a few weak murmurs of confirmation. “Come on, guys. Let's have more energy. WHO’S READY!?”

“WE ARE!”


“LET’S GO!”

“YAY!”

Dan clapped. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air before heading to the driver seat.

“He is going to want to do sing alongs, isn’t he?” Stanley realized with a groan.

“I certainly didn’t request that he do so.” Eleanor’s manner suddenly became very nervous.

“I am not singing along.” Stan put his arms over his chest, glancing around, daring anyone to convince him otherwise.

He kept his lips clamped shut as the RV began to move and Dan started belting out Consider Yourself from Oliver! ---which the paranoid part of him suspected may have been chosen on purpose. He could not keep his resolve when the rest of the family joined in.

They decided to make a detour to Baltimore, Maryland before continuing to Pittsburg in the morning, wanting to spend a couple of hours touring the city before going back on the road.

David was put out. “I was hoping we could go to Prince George County and see the Goatman,” he groused as he put his hands in his pocket.

The family were in the National Aquarium, observing the different sea creatures.  

“That is just a folktale, David,” Samantha reminded her brother.

Ellie coughed something in her hand that sounded like “Jersey Devil.”  Her sister only glowered at her but oddly had nothing to counter.

“Sorry, kiddo, but we want to keep our schedule, we can’t make too many detours,” Dan told his son gently, putting his arm around his shoulder. When he saw his son still looking disappointed, he added: “You know, I did hear of two beasts in Fredrick. It is only an hour away so why don’t we stop there for our first night?”

David’s eyes lit up. “That would be great! I can’t wait to go find them”

“You really are becoming a cryptozoologist, aren’t you?” Mary observed with a fond shake of her head. “Hopefully this time, you will all be a bit more careful and maybe not be in an enclosed place when we try to find them.” She was referring to the adventure in the New Jersey Devil cave.

Stanley furrowed his brow in confusion. “A crypt-what-now?”

“He likes supernatural stuff like you and your brother,” Ellie supplied.

“I think he’s just doing it to emulate Stanley,” noted Samantha in a tired voice.

“Why wouldn’t I? Stanley is the coolest person I know,” David proclaimed as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.  

For the rest of their trip at the aquarium, the aforementioned coolest person could not stop beaming.

After having a late lunch, they decided to drive to Fredrick County to start their monster hunt.

“Hey, Eleanor, can I barrow some paper and pen?” Stanley asked, an idea occurring to him as they got back on the the interstate 70 highway. David and Dan were taking a nap while Sammy drove, and Mary sat in the passenger seat.

Ellie who had been staring out the window, turned to give him a quizzical look. “Sure. But I would suggest moving to the table if you want to write something.” She gestured to the diner like seating next to them.  She then grabbed her backpack and pulled out the requested writing materials. “Why do you need them?”

“I figured if we are gonna be looking for cryptids, I better document them for Sixer,” Stan explained, trying to ignore the stab of guilt he felt at the idea of searching for cryptids without his twin. “I mean we might not run into any but if we do, I figured I send him a letter telling him where and how we found it and what it looked like.”

“Well, that would be nice of you,” Ellie commented as she handed the paper and pen over.

Stan got up from the seat, steadying himself so not to fall while the vehicle was still moving before moving to the seats by the table. “Why am I sensing a but?”

“There is no but,” Eleanor denied, running her fingers through her hair. “However, you said it yourself after you came back from his graduation, everything you do just upsets him. Therefore, while it is sweet that you want to do that for him, he might not appreciate it.”

“I know that,” Stanley affirmed, trying not to let it show how much it bothered him. “But you know if we ever do reconcile, he is gonna find out about us finding Dwayyo and Snallywhatever, and he’ll be less mad if he sees I wrote down my encounters with them. I mean I know it won’t have any scientifical words. It is still something.”

Eleanor’s visage had the expression of someone who had just seen a newborn kitten. “You are the sweetest guy in the world.”

“Am not.” Stan waved her off dismissively, hoping that his cheeks weren’t turning red.

Mercifully, Eleanor just turned back to stare out the window---although she was still smirking.

As silence fell over the vehicle, Stan tapped the pen on the table, trying to think of how to begin.

Chapter Text

“Mail call.” Caryn Pine’s voice cut through Ford’s thoughts, distracting him from the work he hoped would impress West Coast Tech once he arrived at the school, proving for once and for all that he belonged there.

“Just set it on the desk, Ma,” Ford said dismissively, waving towards an empty corner that wasn’t covered with books, papers or gadgets.

Instead, his mother smacked him on the head with the large orange envelope. “Stanford Filbrick Pines, I am not your servant. What do you say when someone does something nice for you?” She spoke slowly as if speaking to a small child.

“Thank you, Ma,” the teenager recited, making eye contact and holding out his hand for the envelope.

“You are welcome,” replied Mrs. Pines as she placed the manila envelope on the desk. “Dinner is at six and yes, you will be coming downstairs to eat with us. I won’t be able to make sure you eat three square meals when you are in college so I will be extra vigilant until you leave.”

Ford could just barely hold back a groan as his mother left the room. He could hear her grumbling about his manners as she closed the door.  He really couldn’t wait to get to West Coast Tech where he could focus on his work and nothing else.

No interruptions. No pointless sitting down together to eat “as a family” when the only person who actually talked was his mother. No more being surrounded by people that didn’t understand why he got so excited about, as Stanley put it, “nerd stuff”.

Soon he would be at a place where his talent and his intellect would be appreciated. He would be someone that had a cornucopia of knowledge. The teachers would also be top notch professionals who would challenge him. He would be able to spends hours doing research without anyone trying to take him away from his studies.

It would be heaven. Ford got so excited just thinking about it, he waved his arm and knocked over the envelope his mother had brought to him.

Curious to know who was writing to him, Ford picked it up, used his letter opener to carefully lift the flap (he wasn’t opposed to tearing the envelope open. He just liked using his letter opener).

Setting the tool down, he pulled out one of the papers inside, and began to read the contents. In hindsight, he could have checked the handwriting on the envelope itself. 

Stanford blinked and reread the lines. When he was sure he was not seeing things, rage engulfed him and he balled the first letter up, throwing them across the room and then the envelope with it, not caring that now there were papers scattered across the floor.

How dare he! The teenager seethed, furious at his twin’s gall. Searching for cryptids were their thing. Not only was he doing their thing with his new family, but he was also rubbing it in Ford’s face. What else did I expect from a selfish jerk like him? 

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, brooding over what he saw as his brother’s latest betrayal, but the next thing he knew, his mother was calling him for dinner.

Ford went to the kitchen and sat down, fully prepared to inhale his food so he could leave faster. His father was sitting at the table, a scowl on his face as he usually did.

“Don’t even think about it.” Caryn plunked the plate down in front of her son, giving him a knowing glare. She then served her husband before sitting down herself. “We are having dinner as a family.”

“If Stanford wants to go back to his room, you should let him,” Filbrick grunted. “I want him to be prepared for West Coast Tech. It is a school with high standards. You will be surpassing those standards, Stanford.” 

“Yes, Dad,” Ford agreed, keeping his gaze on his food as he used his fork and knife to take a bite.

“Good.” Filbrick returned to his newspaper. “I already lost money because of your brother; I expect you to get it back.”

Right, Ford scoffed to himself. Because West Coast Tech isn’t about my education, just your greed. “Any money I earn, I will be using to pay Mr. White back.”

His father lowered the newspaper. “What?” His voice was deathly soft.

“Mr. White loaned me the money for college,” Ford answered, keeping his tone matter of fact, hoping his father didn’t realize he was lying. Mr. White had made no mention that he had an expectation of being paid back.

How wealthy was that man that he could spend so much money for a random teenager? He pondered sardonically.

The edges of the newspaper crinkled when Filbrick clenched his fists. “Why does he need his money back? Why doesn’t he just use the money, Stanley conned that judge into taking from me?”

“Because Mr. and Mrs. White have insisted that was Stanley’s money,” Caryn replied. “Mrs. White told me that Stanley tried to pay rent and they just put it in a trust fund for him.”

Ford blinked. Stanley tried to pay rent? Stanley was willing to give away money that was his? That didn’t sound like his twin.

“I think I lost my appetite,” Filbrick declared, getting up from the table and storming into the living room. Seconds later, they could hear the TV being turned on.

“You shouldn’t lie,” Caryn admonished as she sipped her water, clearly not seeing the irony of her, of all people, scolding him for lying.

When Stanford returned to his room, he stepped on one of the discarded letters from Stanley. Taking a deep breath, he closed the door and sat down on the floor, grabbing the first one and uncrumpling it.

Hey Sixer,

Wait, should I date this?

May 30^th 197somthing.

Hey Pointdexter,

Still hate me?

So long story short, the summer road trip, Dan decided we go on is becoming a bit of a monster hunt trip. No idea why. David wants to hunt bigfoot or something. Not sure where he got it from.

Anyhoo, I figured if we are gonna be hunting the supernatural, I better write this down so you could know about it. You know just in case you don’t get to travel the country cause you are inventing a self driving cars or whatnot. That actually be pretty cool. Maybe you should try that.

So our first stop on the supernatural hunt is Frederick County, Maryland. Who discovered these places? Someone named Mary Fredrick?

Upon our arrival to Frederick County, we talked to some of the locals about these creatures before we settled in for the night because Mary was adamant that we would not go searching around for creatures that could kill us in the dark. Apparently, we are allowed to find creatures who can kill us during the daytime.

We parked the RV right in front of the woods, cause that’s not asking for trouble, and wouldn’t you know it, we’re wake up to a battle.

The Snallygaster: bird-reptile, see page 2 for a horrendous drawing. Looks like a lizard with wings and the face of a chicken. Its screeches sound like a train whistle. Sworn enemy of the Dewayo.

The Dewayo: Looks like a wolf, fights and walks like a man. Seriously it looked like it had a mean left hook. See page 2 for drawing. Sworn enemy of the Snallygaster.

Ford put the paper down and scooped up the other letters, finding page two and seeing that there was in fact two detailed drawings of the beast in questions. Suddenly growing very interested and excited, the teenager decided to move everything to his bed, wanting to read more about what Stanley had seen in his chest.

“I guess I have time for a short break,” he decided before glancing at the door worriedly as if he feared that his father must burst in and demand to know why he was slacking off. He grabbed his textbook and hid Stanely’s letters in the pages.

Once he was settled in, he began to eagerly read what his twin had written.

So, we wake up in the middle of the night to really loud noises. We looked outside our window and you will never guess what we saw: a fuzzy shape of a flying thing attacking a wolf shape who looked like it was using its fist. It was dark, we could barely see anything. But it sounded pretty cool.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Ford muttered, unable to keep a chuckle from escaping his lips. However, he had to give Stanley credit for trying.

Judging by how long letters were, Ford could guess there had been more encounters. Although, he felt envious that his brother clearly had an eventful and fun trip while he was stuck in Glass Shard Beach, he was intrigued by what had happened and oddly pleased that his twin had thought to document all of this and send his findings to him.

Chapter Text

Ford eagerly grabbed the next letter from the pile, his eyes scanning the loopy handwriting of his brother, digesting the words with gusto. As much as he hated the fact that Stanley was having adventures without him----not that he would have wanted to as he was far too busy with school-----he could not help but feel excited about what abnormalities his brother could have encountered on this trip.

June 2, 197something

Dear Pointdexter,

We brought no envelopes or stamps so unless I wanna hit every mail box across the country, I guess I better just write to ya, and then send it all when I’m back home at the Whites’ house.

Anyway, our next stop is Pittsburg which is the pits. The pits! Get it?!

“…. because it is called Pittsburg,” Stanley finished, gesturing towards the sign that said Welcome to Pittsburg as them drove past it. “Pittsburg is the pits!” He only got blank stares in response, and he could swear he heard a cricket chirp. “I was using a play on words.”

“Stanley, I have too much respect for you to fake laugh,” Ellie declared before returning to her book.

“I’ll respect you,” Stanley groused, his arms over his chest.

The teenager girl smirked at his failed attempt to insult her. “Why thank you, Stanley. That is so sweet of you to respect me.” 

Stan stuck his tongue out in response.

“I was laughing,” David pipped up.

Stanley’s eyebrow rose while Eleanor glowered at her brother. “You are such a little suck up!”

“Ellie,” Dan admonished from where he was sitting. His wife was sound asleep, her head on his lap.

“What? He is!” Eleanor protested. Her father just gave her a stern look. “Fine. I’m sorry if you were offended…by me telling the truth.”

“Eleanor Irene White!”

“Your middle name is Irene.” Stan grinned at her.

“What’s bad about Irene? It could be worse. It could be Filbrick,” Eleanor teased.

Dan’s brow furrowed. “I thought that was your brother’s middle name.”

“Yeah, my father wasn’t exactly creative. We all have the same middle name,” Stanley explained, rolling his eyes. This was the same man who wasn’t prepared for twins so gave them names starting with Stan.

“Either that or he is an egotist with a far too high opinion of himself,” Mary spoke up, not opening her eyes.

Stanley wasn’t sure if she had been awake the entire time or had arisen just to insult Filbrick. Knowing her, either possibility was probable.

By the time they arrived at Piney Fork Road in South Park Township, it was nightfall. Learning of a mysterious Green Man, the White family decided to explore the surrounding area in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. They used flashlights so they could see.

“According to legend, he fell in a vat of acid,” Eleanor recalled. “Or was struck by lightning and his face fell off.”

“That sounds so cool,” David said excitedly.

“It wouldn’t be so cool if it happened to you,” deadpanned Samantha.

“Just let’s all stick together,” Mary commanded, holding onto David’s hand much to his annoyance as Dan followed close behind.

Stanley was about to add his two cents when the bushes rustled, and something came running out. It was a pig shaped creature with ill fitting skin, covered in warts and moles.

Just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished into a puddle of its own tears.

“What was that?” Ellie asked in a hushed whisper.

A voice behind them answered, “That was a squonk. They are native to Pennsylvania.” If the squonk had been startling, then the newcomer was horrifying. He had no eyes or a nose, leaving his face with a melted appearance like a zombie mask.

Ellie let out a high-pitched shriek before slamming her hands over mouth, her expression shameful. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she repeated.

“It is all right. I know I look rather frightening,” the man said, his voice gentle. As he spoke the squonk returned, ducking behind his legs as if to keep out of sight. “My friend and I were just enjoying our nightly walks.” With his only arm, he reached down to pet the pig like creature. “He doesn’t like to be seen so he usually sticks by me.” 

“So did you fall into acid?” David questioned, recovering beautifully from the shock of the Green Man’s appearance. 

“David!” Mary hissed, swatting her son’s head.

“I am afraid that my story is quite boring,” the man replied. “When I was nine, I climbed up an electrical pole to see a bird’s nest and…well this why children shouldn’t play around electricity.” His tone was quiet, but he stood tall when he said them. “I am willing to answer any questions you have in exchange for a drink.”

 “It would be our pleasure,” Dan told him kindly, a bit of awe shining on his visage.

As it turns out, Ford, the Green Man wasn’t some supernatural ghost who glowed green, but a real man named Raymond Robinson. He injured himself at nine, burning off his eyes and nose, lost an ear and an arm as well.

I gotta tell you, I don’t think I could live like that and keep an affable deposition. He’s a nice guy, told us stories about some of his encounters in exchange for some pop. Apparently, it is not just the squonk that hangs around him, but there is also this deer/dog creature that visits from Blue Mist Road. They take care of him, stop him from getting hit by cars and they guide him home whenever he gets lost.

I included some drawings of Robinson and the squonk on the back of the page. Getting kinda tired. I’ll write more tomorrow.

From, Stan.

Chapter Text

Ford meant to continue reading but he was suddenly struck by inspiration and spent the next three days at the library combing through every book on abnormalities that he could find, trying to see a pattern.

It felt like years had passed before he returned to the papers still tucked between the pages of his textbook, just in case his father snooped through his things. Anything to do with Stanley was becoming more and more a taboo subject to the point where even hearing the name “Stan” sent him into an irate rant.

July 5, 197something

Hey Sixer,

So, the thing is I left a bunch of my letters at roadside diner. By the time I realized I lost them, we were already a day away. But don’t worry, Sammy has a mind like a steep trap and filled in the details I forgot.

Now our next venture took us to Cleveland, Ohio where we stopped by Lake Erie. I’m pretending to write the lame nerd stuff Sammy is saying. Canada.

Anyway, we camped out at East Harbor State Park for two nights hoping we could spot Bessie. We rented a boat and went out in the early morning, hoping for a glimpse. All of sudden something started bumping into our boat not hard enough to tip over but certainly got our attention. David got a little careless and fell overboard, trying to find Bessie. Thankfully, Sammy and I managed to grab him, but he swears up and down that he felt something scaly under him, pushing him upwards.

Afterwards, while Mary, Dan, Sammy, and David went back to camp, Ellie and I strolled down to the beach to see if we could spot her again. She must have been sleeping because we didn’t find her, but we did find silver scales.

Something just occurred to me. Do you think the Loch Ness Monster is a cousin to the Lake Monsters? Maybe, one day we you should travel to Scotland and see if you can find one of Nessie’s scales and we you can compare them to Bessie’s scales. (I put one in the envelope for you).

Ford paused in his reading to grab the manila envelope, searching inside. There was indeed a silver scale. Also, he found…a bag of dark reddish fur?

Eyes wide, Ford returned to the letter, eager to learn what exactly Stanley had found.

We took a break from monster hunting to see the sites of Chicago. We went to the Art Museum for an hour (it wasn’t completely boring), saw the autograph of Al Pachino at the Lexington Hotel, and then we hit some rides at Navey Pier.

The Navey Pier reminded me of the time we went to Corney Island. Remember you ate all that Cotton Candy you threw up all over me when we rode the Twister? That was a really fun day. And how we scammed the scammer into giving us a free prize.  I wish

Moving on, we stopped at a campground near Burlington, Iowa. In the middle of the night, Sammy, who no longer can say she’s not invested, woke us all up, telling us we needed to get outside now.  

All of us stumbled outside in our night clothes and saw in the sky, not one, not two, but five dragons. I’m telling you, there were five of them, Ford, flying in the sky like they weren’t freaking dragons.

They were snake like with bat wings. It was so cool. See page three for illustration. It was crazy, Ford. We fought the Jersey Devil and I’m still trying to convince myself I wasn’t dreaming.

We stopped at the Great Salt Lake in Utah, but the legendary Old Briny wasn’t as obliging as the dragons of Iowa or Bessie. The locals say he’s kinda a grump and territorial anyway.

We searched Nebraska and Idaho for any signs of Bigfoot. Or well, Ellie, David, Sammy, and I did. Dan and Mary both felt the other wouldn’t be able to hike for long periods of time. They got into three arguments that basically boiled down to who was taking care of whom.

One night, I was feeling a little restless, so I took a walk outside. But I got a little turned around. At some point I bumped into something; I don’t know what, but it was big and hairy. It let out this scream (I didn’t scream by the way and if I did it sounded manly) and just took off, hitting a tree along the way.

I found my way back and, in the morning, I showed the Whites the spot where I had bumped into the creature. That’s where we found that fur. I figured you could test it in your lab or something.

Lastly, we went to Oregon and went to see the Tourist Traps on Redwood Highway. You’re never gonna believe---

The sentence was cut off there when Stanley ran out of room. Ford was about to move on to the next page when he heard a knock on his door. He quickly shut his textbook and called for the interloper to come in.

To his relief it was Shermie who entered, not his father. “Hey, just came in to ask if you wanted to join Pam, Jay, and I for dinner?”

Ford’s brow furrowed in confusion. His birthday had already passed, and Jay’s wasn’t for another month. So why was his brother inviting him to dinner. “What’s the occasion?”

Shermie gave him an exasperated look as he came over to sit down on his bed. “The occasion is, you knucklehead, that I want to spend time with my little brother before he takes off for college.”

“Oh.” Ford felt slightly embarrassed. Sometimes he forgot that other person wanted him around. “Sure. What time?”

“Well, if you’re not too busy,” uttered Shermie in a tone dryer than the Sahara Desert. “I was thinking seven.”

“That’s fine.”

Shermie spotted the textbook on the bed, and he picked it up before Ford could stop him. “It’s summer. Why are you studying….?” He trailed off when one of Stanley’s letters fell out of the book. He picked it up and scanned the letter. “Stan wrote to you.”

“He did,” Ford admitted, feeling a bit sheepish.

“I got like two postcards and a snowglobe,” the eldest Pine brother grumbled. “And he’s writing full length letters to you.”

“He wanted to tell me about the cryptids, he saw,” explained Stanford, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

“And are you planning on sending anything back?” Shermie asked, with a raised eyebrow. “Or communicating with him in any fashion?”

“I’ll send him a thank you note,” Ford replied.

Shermie heaved a sigh. “That is so very sad, but I suppose it is a good start.”

“What am I supposed to say?” Ford demanded, growing a little defensive. “Hey, Stan, I’m glad you had so much fun with your new family.” 

“Just because Stanley has found a new family, doesn’t mean he dumped his old one.” Shermie paused for a moment before amending that sentence. “Besides Pa. In fact, I bet anything that if he didn’t think you’d refuse, he’d have invited you along on his road trip.”

Ford let out a disbelieving noise. “Even though he’s mad at me?”

Shermie held up the paper. “This is the most I have seen Stanley write in his entire life. Would he do that if he didn’t care?”

“No,” Ford admitted. He didn’t even bother correcting Shermie, telling him that was not the only thing, Stanley had sent him.

Shermie gave him a pat on the head before getting off the bed, the mattress creaking as he did so. “Just give him a call. All I’m asking.” He turned to walk out of the room, pausing to call over his shoulder. “And don’t be late to dinner. I will drag you there myself if I have to.”

He then left, shutting the door behind him, leaving Ford alone to mull over his words.

Chapter Text

“Do you think Bessie and Nessie are two different monsters or the same one?” Ellie questioned as she casually thumbed through her book on urban legends she had bought during their visit to Frederick County.  She was lounging at the table, her feet stretched across the seat.

“What?” Stanley questioned, sitting adjacent to her, working on his next letter to Ford.

“Maybe she likes to take vacations in Scotland,” Ellie suggested. “So she swims from through Atlantic Ocean until she gets to Lake Erie.”

“How would she get from the ocean to the lake?” inquired Stanley, picturing a dinosaur like creature waddling through Cleveland like a seal.

Ellie shrugged. “Maybe there are secret monster portals under the water.”

“You’re joking, right?” He scrutinized her countenance, trying to find a hint of a smirk. Instead, she just threw him a nonplused look.

“If creatures like Bessie exist why can’t there be secret monster portal so they can visit their friends?”

“I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation,” Samantha drawled as she walked up to them. “Stanley, Dad needs your help changing the back tire.” Ellie suddenly sat up, closing her book, her eyes lighting up. She fidgeted in her seat, practically brimming with excitement.

Stanley didn’t notice her change in demeanor, still facing her sister. He furrowed his brow in confusion. They had stopped at a RV park for the past two nights and the tires had seemed fine before that. “What’s wrong with the old one?”

Samantha just gave him a blank look before going over to her bed and taking out a book to read. Getting the message, Stanley sighed and got up from the table, leaving his unfinished letter behind. He exited the RV and went around back to where Dan was.

“SURPRISE!”

Stanley blinked, startled by the exclamation. Mary, Dan, and David were standing in front of a picnic table, wearing party hats. Mary was holding a strawberry icing cake that had eighteen candles on it.

“Happy birthday, Stanley!” David cheered, which was echoed by his parents.

“What? Did you think we’d forgot?” Mary inquired as she set the cake down, smiling cheerfully.

Stanley rubbed neck in embarrassment. “I, uh, kinda forgot.” More like he had been trying not to think of it. His birthday just reminded him that he and Ford were still not on the outs. It had been horrible the first time, living in his car, not even sure if he had the right day.  

Now this would be his second birthday without Ford. But at least I won’t be alone this time.

“Well then, it is a good thing we were here to remind you,” Dan remarked, reaching out to give the teenager’s shoulder a squeeze. “It is not every day you turn eighteen.” There was a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes as if he suspected the reason why Stanley had forgotten.  

“We have presents!” Ellie announced in a sing-song voice as she and Samantha rounded the corner; their arms filled with brightly colored gifts. The sisters placed the gifts on the table.

Stanley’s lips twitched upwards, a warm feeling bloomed in his chest. After the miserable birthday he had last year, he couldn’t help but apricate this gesture. “You guys, didn’t have to go all out for me like this.”

“You’re lucky we’re not home or Mom would be making a feast for you,” Ellie joked.

“We can do that after the road trip.” Mary went over to him, taking him by the arm and leading him over to the table. “For now, come blow out your candles and make a wish.”

Dan interjected, “Wait, wait, I believe tradition dictates that we sing the happy birthday song first.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” Stanley assured him, almost pleading.

“It’s non-optional,” Samantha snarked. Despite this, she joined her family members as they sang happy birthday, intoning, “And many more.”

“Make a wish! Make a wish!” Ellie and David chanted once they were done.

Without any further ado, Stanley closed his eyes and blew out the candles. The Whites clapped and cheered.

“What did you wish for?” David asked curiously as he leaned across the table.

Stanley wagged a finger at him. “Ah, ah. Birthday wish rule: I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.” David pouted but didn’t argue, accepting that logic.

“Well, let’s dig in,” Mary proclaimed as she took out a plastic knife and started to cut up the cake, placing it on plates her husband set out. As they did so, their children took their seats.

Ellie put a party hat on her head and turned to Samantha with another one. Her sister didn’t even look at her, but instead said two words, “Your eighth birthday party.”

The younger White daughter narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Samantha casually picked up the plate with her slice of cake on it, holding it menacingly. “I would and I will.” The two sisters held each other’s gaze for a few minutes before Ellie put down the hat and Samantha began to eat her cake.

Stanley already had a mouthful of cake and swallowed it quickly so he could inquire, “What happened on your eighth birthday?”

“My very mature older sister smashed cake in my face,” Ellie replied, scoffing. “Causing a food fight to break out. It took me days to get the chocolate out of my hair. And my favorite dress was ruined.”

“I warned you three times what would happen if you continued to bug me about putting on that ridiculous hat,” Samantha objected.

“It was my birthday,” complained Ellie. “I just wanted you to have fun with me.”

“I wouldn’t have been there if I wasn’t enjoying myself,” Samantha uttered.

Ellie opened her mouth to argue, then realized her sister admitted to enjoying spending her birthday with her and beamed at her.

“Stanley, would you like to open your gifts now?” Mary asked, ignoring her daughters’ bickering.

Stanley nodded, wiping his mouth with his napkin. There were ten gifts, two from each of the Whites.

David had framed a picture he had drawn of the Stan-o-war which was renamed White Pines, and he had bought him a fishing hat with his name stitched on it. “Don’t worry, I made one for myself and Dad too.” 

Sammy had a hint of a smile as he opened her gifts: two books. The first one was Pride and Prejudice and the second was the Count of Monte Cristo. “I thought you might enjoy them.”

“Why?”

“Just give them try.” Samantha was not smirking, but there was an almost mischievous glint in her eyes. Like she knew Stanley’s guilty pleasure of regency period dramas.

Ellie’s gifts were not quite as personalized as her siblings. But she still went for his weak spots, giving him his favorite candy and new tapes for his car’s eight-track.

Dan and Mary’s presents were a watch, a tie (that would go with his new suit that they had left at home), a gold chain, and a framed picture of all of them together. “Excuse me, dust getting to me.” Stanley mumbled as he wiped his eyes.

“Happy birthday, Stan,” Mary said softly, giving him a hug which caused the dust to make his eyes water. “We’re glad you’re here with us.” 

Chapter Text

It was amazing how fast Stanley had gotten used to sleeping in an RV. The sounds of David snoring, Ellie mumbling nonsense, and Dan tossing and turning had become background noises to him. Even if Samantha decided to do some dawn driving (as Ellie had termed it), he barely even stirred if the RV went over a speed bump.

So much so that he woke up and was hardly surprised to see trees zooming past his window. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as the RV came to a stop outside a diner. Realizing that he was the first one to wake up, Stanley quickly got out of his bed and grabbed his clothes, shaving kit, comb, and toothbrush. Once he had gathered his essentials he made a beeline to the bathroom.

Dan had made it clear that showers were not to be over fifteen minutes, both to conserve water and because there were six people sharing one bathroom. The total time should be no more than twenty. However, there was an unwritten rule that whoever got to the bathroom first could have an extra five minutes.

Stanley savored the extra five as he made sure he was groomed to perfection. It was worth it to see the annoyed scowl of a bedhead Ellie. “Something wrong?” he inquired, affecting an innocent expression.

“I swear if you used all the hot water,” Ellie muttered under breath as she scuttled past him, grumbling empty threats as she went.

Stanley sat down at the table, waiting for Samtha to bring the breakfast she was buying from the diner they had stopped at. He was soon joined by David, still dressed in his pjs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Hey pal, ready to hit Redwood Highway tourist attractions today?” Stan questioned him with a smile.

“Yep,” David replied, trying to stifle a yawn. “It should be cool.”

“I heard someone of them are pretty good,” Stanley informed him. “Like Upside-Down Town and the Big Thing.”

“What’s the Big Thing?” queried David.

“No clue, but it must be big. It’s right there in the name.”

David laughed, waking up a bit more. “Do you think we’ll see any cool creatures?”

“Who knows, we just might.”  Stan’s smile widened into a grin. He made a mental note to keep some paper and pen in his pocket so he could make notes of whatever supernatural creature they came across.

He wondered if Ford would even read his letters when he sent them. He hoped so. Writing to his twin made him feel like they were talking again, instead of continuing the stony silence.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Samantha returning to the RV with four containers. She plopped them on the table and gave her brother and Stanley a glare. “Not until the whole family is ready to eat.”

Stan met her gaze with a defiant expression, placing his hand on the box, practically daring her to stop him. “I smell bacon. You don’t get in between a man and his bacon.”

Samantha leaned down so they were eye to eye. She spoke in a calm tone, her lips curving upwards. “Go ahead. I dare you.”

“I don’t understand how you can sound so terrifying without even raising your voice,” Stanley muttered, withdrawing his hand. He glared at David who quickly turned his chuckles into coughs.

“It’s a gift.” 

Twenty minutes later, Dan, Mary, and Ellie joined them. After they had their breakfast, they got back onto the road and continued to Redwood Highway. Or at least they tried to.

“I told you I should have kept driving,” Samantha snapped. “Not give it to the guy who has difficulty reading a map. Now we’re lost.”

“No, we’re not,” protested Stanley as he struggled to open the map. “I know exactly where we are.”

“Where?” Ellie challenged as she placed her feet on the headrest of her sister’s seat.  

“We’re on the backroads near a forest in Oregon,” Stanley replied, gesturing to the trees at the side of the road as he continued to try and figure out where he made the wrong turn.

“That’s helpful.”

Stanley shot her a glare. “I’m starting to feel attacked her.”

“Alright, I think we all might be little grumpy so why don’t we take a walk and stretch our legs,” Dan suggested.

“I’m not grumpy,” David denied as he pressed his face up on the glass. “But I really want to see what’s in that forest. Maybe there will be another sasquatch or a New Jersey Devil. It was so cool the way we nearly died!”

“Do you not hear the words you’re saying?” Ellie questioned, throwing her brother a disgruntled look.

“Your father’s right,” Mary decided as she and Dan got up from their seats. “I think we need some fresh air.”

“So we’re just going to leave our vehicle unattended. That’s not asking for it be stolen or anything.”

“Out, Sammy!” Mary commanded, giving her daughter’s shoulder a light shove as she reached her seat. 

Samantha begrudgingly followed her family out of the RV. Grabbing the keys before Stanely could take it. She pretended not to hear him asking who peed in her cornflakes.

They walked into the forest, wanting to just walk around for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Stanley’s Pines luck seemed to have rubbed off on the Whites because they had not even gone a few feet before they heard thundering footsteps.

Before they could move, two minotaur creatures rolled out of the bushed, wrestling a bear with multiple heads. One of the bears' head was singing BABBA's latest hits, which seemed to be enraging his---their opponents. 

"STOP SINGING THAT SON! IT'S NOT MANLY!" 


"I will not apologize for having suburb taste in music!" 

The creatures took no notice of the Whites, rolling off in another direction, barreling down trees as they went. 

“Wow, I think we just hit the epitome of weirdness,” Ellie commented. As she spoke, they saw a small, bearded man riding on a red and black striped platypus. They watched in silence as the creature desperately tried to shake its rider off. “Huh. I was wrong.”

“Can we explore the entire forest?” David asked excitedly, his eyes shining with excitement.

“Maybe some other time, buddy,” Stanley assured, giving him a pat on the head. “Now come let’s get back on the road. We got tourist traps to see.”

With that, they turned to go back to the RV. Dan noticed his wife was lagging behind, her eyes darting around. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I feel like we were being watched,” she divulged. She then shrugged. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Dan wrapped his arm around her. “Well come on, we better stop our kids from fighting over who gets to drive.” He gestured to Samantha and Stanley who were in fact beginning to argue over that very thing.

Mary smiled, entwining their hands together. She watched as Ellie and David joined in the bickering. “You know something this is the best family vacation we have had in a long time.”

Not for the first time, Mary couldn’t help but think while no one could replace Tess, Stanley had seamlessly filled the empty spot in their hearts.