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Ten minutes later, Daniel enters the house after having left Ilya at the mall and finds Kyle on the sofa watching some show on TV.
“Where’s everybody?” Daniel asks, sitting sideways next to Kyle.
Well, your father seems to be in the shower and your dad grabbed his car keys and left right after you did.
“What do you mean he left?” Daniel furrows his brow.
“He got into his car and left. You missed quite the argument,” Kyle offers.
“Yeah? What was it about this time?”
“Something about your father treating your brother differently... and your dad not being a portrait of self-control... I didn’t mean to overhear it, but I just... I couldn’t—”
“You couldn’t help it, I know. I can’t either.” That is one of the few disadvantages of being a wolf. You can’t choose what you want to hear.
“Your dad sounded really upset. And your father said he didn’t know where he was going but that he would find out.”
“Yeah, he’s probably at Scott’s. He’s his best friend. That’s usually where he ends up. If he’s not there, he could be at Kane’s. That’s Derek’s husband, he’s kind of... like his second best friend.”
“So, you mean… they do this a lot?—Argue, I mean.”
Daniel runs a hand through his hair and licks his lips as he considers the question.
“I wouldn’t say a lot. Sometimes, yeah. They don’t always see things the same way, you know? They’re both very stubborn people… and especially when it comes to raising my brother, that’s where they usually clash the most—It’s complicated.”
“You father said that your dad overwhelms people with questions.”
“Shit.” Daniel smirks and shakes his head. “Then, I’m not so surprised that he left.”
“Not that I want to take a side…” Daniel continues. “But in my father’s defense, I’ll say that he’s right. My dad has a tendency to get excited and can be a little… you know,” Daniel waves his left arm. “A little too much sometimes.”
“So… aren’t you…” Kyle hesitates and doesn’t finish what he was going to ask.
“Aren’t I what?” Daniel raises his eyebrows expectantly. “What did you want to ask me?”
“Nothing… It’s just…” Kyle looks away, avoiding Daniel’s curious gaze.
“Yeah?” Danie insists.
“I was in this house for a while…” Kyle finally says, looking back at Daniel. “And they removed me from there because the parents… they separated. I guess they got a divorce. So, you know, aren’t you afraid that they could get a divorce too?”
Daniel snorts and smirks. “My parents? A divorce? No way in hell that could ever happen.”
“You didn’t hear your dad. He was pretty angry,” Kyle says.
“I’m sure he was. But they’ve had worse. Besides, it doesn’t mean anything. They always make up. You’ve only been here for a few weeks, otherwise you’d know that they can’t live without each other. They’re mates, do you know what that is? I imagine you have no idea.”
“Not really.” Kyle frowns.
“It’s a ‘wolves’ thing. It’s like a marriage between two wolves. When they mate they decide to spend their lives together, only for wolves, it means it’s forever. So, even if one of them dies, the other will never find anybody else.”
“But your dad… he’s not a wolf,” Kyle says confused, raising his eyebrows.
“It doesn’t matter, he’s pack and they wanted to do it. He knew what he was getting into. So, yeah, you might see them argue or disagree sometimes, but that’s just how they are, it has nothing to do with how they feel about each other. When my dad was in a coma, my father wouldn’t leave his side the entire time. I don’t know what he’d have done if my dad had died. I was too little to remember any of it, but I can only imagine how he felt when my dad woke up with amnesia and didn’t remember being married to him or even having me… it had to be insane.”
“Your dad had amnesia?”
“Yeah, still does. He lost a bunch of years, including falling in love with my father. He’s never recovered any of that. I don’t know everything that went down back then but my dad only remembered him from high school and they didn’t have a good relationship at that time, so it was hard for him to accept that he had a kid with somebody he used to dislike. It was really difficult for both of them.”
Kyle’s face says everything. Surprise, sadness. Mostly he looks confused.
“And they still got back together?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t easy but they did—I know what you’re thinking… whenever somebody hears their story they have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. You need to know about the bond between them to really understand it… and obviously, very few people know the whole story.”
“Anyway,” Daniel continues, waving his right arm. “What I’m trying to say is that they’ve been through a lot of shit and they’re still ridiculously in love with each other. Every time my father travels, my dad sleeps in my father’s side of the bed and phones him every night for no reason, just to hear his voice…” Daniel shrugs. “And my father takes a bunch of clothes with my dad’s scent because he gets anxious being away from him. And he would totally do anything for my dad… like, he went through two pregnancies for him… and if you knew my father better you’d understand what a huge deal that was for him.”
“I think I can imagine it.” Kyle smirks.
“Well, yeah.” Daniel nods. “You probably can.”
“I know this might sound weird to you… but as much as my father loves my brother and me, which is a lot and of course, I know that… that’s nothing compared to how much he loves my dad… and he just can’t stay upset with him because he needs him—and his wolf needs him to be happy or he is pretty much in hell, you know? So, seriously, in a couple of days they won’t remember whatever happened tonight.”
Kyle licks his lips as he seems to be considering Daniel’s words.
“Did you brother really go on a date?”
For Kyle, whose unstable life hasn’t allowed him the chance to make any lasting friend, the idea of dating anybody feels absolutely alien to him.
Daniel smiles. “Yeah, his first date if you can believe that. He was going to the movies with some girl from school. I have to pick him up at 10 pm.”
“Can’t your father pick him up?”
“He could at weekends but when they got me the jeep they made me promise that I’d take my brother wherever he needed… and I really wanted a car, so now the brat has me at his service forever,” Daniel adds dramatically.
“Okay, not forever…” Daniel waves his arms in that way that reminds Kyle so much of Stiles. “Just for a couple of years until he’s got his license… but sometimes it feels like forever.”
“You know, I’d like some ice-cream,” Daniel says, getting up. “Would you like some?”
“Yeah, ice-cream sounds good.” He can’t remember the last time he had some. It had to be that one time he was with a family who gave him some for his birthday. That family was the only one that didn’t totally suck. Still, he left the next day anyway.