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Fifteen year old Cole sits there infront of the principal's office...again. He looks up, as dad walks towards him and immediately his blue eyes find a lovely spot to stare at in the linoleum. Before slowly making their way upwards, once Patrick is standing right infront of him, hands firmly on his hips. He gives a small innocent smile, and a wave but it's clear Patrick doesn't want to hear it right now.
"Dare I ask, what this was about this time?" Asked Patrick, and Cole gave a noncommittal shrug. "Cole, we've talked about this. This is the third time one of us has had to come down here because of this."
"I know." Said the fifteen year old softly as he looked down, at his feet. Patrick sighed and entered the office, and the fifteen year old just sat there. It wasn't like he tried to get in trouble..really he didn't. He just...had a knack for finding trouble. It wasn't his fault though...this time...or the past three times. After awhile, Patrick walks out of the office motioning for him to follow. The teenager follows after him, before pausing when he looks up at the school's "hall of fame" so to speak. Paige is up there, Prom Queen and Valedictorian, Lucina Homecoming Queen and Captain of the Cheerleading team. His two sisters, who were popular and academic and athletic, and he...was not. He sighed, and followed after his dad only to get into the car.
"So according to the principal you're now suspended." Said Patrick clearly trying to remain calm.
"Oops." Is all he can say.
"Is that really all you have to say for yourself? Oops?" Asked Patrick, and Cole simply shrugged in response. "Ok, fine. For the next two weeks you're grounded and for the duration of your suspension you're gonna be working at the store. No tv, no friends, no phone, nothing. Got it?"
"Yeah." Is all the teenager says, and Patrick sighs.
Patrick loves all his children of course he does, but he knows that his son is different than his older sisters. The girls had their own sets of complications, but for the most part the girls were easier, and they didn't get into fights at school or require a lot of disciplining. Granted, they both had their moments of defiance and disobedience, but not as much as their brother. Ever since he was a kid, Cole was always in the principal's office for one thing or another, he was more reckless, more smart mouthed and more of a fighter than his sisters...and that's saying something considering Lucina was a bit of a fighter herself as a kid. Still, Patrick also gets it, because he was that age once. He too was a troublemaker who got into his fair share of scrapes as a teenager...his dad would probably joke about it being some sort of karmic retribution. It's still not an excuse though, and as much as Patrick understands...he doesn't know why his son has been doing this, or what's going on because he won't tell him...which is also a shock when the girls would tell him everything. Still, they get home and immediately Cole goes to his room. Probably best not to bring him to the store all things considered, he calls Alexis and asks if she's busy and if she could come in to babysit him...because literally this is the point he's at. Thankfully she does, and brings her laptop. He leaves after thanking her profusely, and she smiles before getting to work on her laptop.
At around noon, Alexis decides that it's time for lunch...except her nephew has been especially quiet up there. Even for a teenager. Curious, she goes up the steps and knocks on the door to his room...no answer. Slowly, she opens it and finds him asleep on the bed. She lets out a sigh of relief...ok not what she was expecting thank goodness. This room is a mess though, clothes everywhere, opened chip bags, water bottles, soda cans...Does David not look in this room? Because she can't imagine that her brother wouldn't have anything to say about this. She goes over to the sleeping teenager on the bed, and her aqua eyes widen when she sees angry, red scratches on his wrist. Gently, she traces her fingers along them, when his hand is jerked away and he pulls his sleeve up before looking up at her.
"Um, I just came to see if you wanted...um some lunch." She replied, and he says nothing...but his eyes are bloodshot and red, and he looks like he's been crying. "Are you ok?"
He just nods, as Alexis sits on the bed. She gently took his hand holding it in hers, and he looked away from her.
"Come on, why don't we go downstairs and we'll have lunch and watch Sunrise Bay." Said Alexis after clearing her throat.
"But I'm grounded." He replied.
"I won't tell, besides it's not the first time I've disobeyed David." She says with a smile. He smiles back at her softly and follows her downstairs. After getting all the snacks in the house, Alexis pulls up Interflix and pulls up Sunrise Bay. She doesn't know actually, how to broach the topic of what she saw but this is nice for the most part. Cole leans against her with his feet on the couch curled up into a ball almost. Gently, she runs her fingers through his long dark hair. He looks up at her, he loves all of his aunts but Aunt Alexis is his favorite. She just seems to get things more than his Aunt Stevie and Aunt Twyla do. When he was little and his sisters could tell her anything, and she wouldn't tell their dads unless they wanted her to.
" Aunt Alexis?" He asked, and she looked at him curiously. "...Do you think my dads still love me?"
"Of course they do hon." She said softly, as she paused the tv. Her hand on his shoulder. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just...I don't know I mean. Paige and Lucy, they were always easier to deal with and and all I do is cause trouble and sometimes...sometimes it feels like they'd like it better if it was just the four of them." He explained, and Alexis wraps her arms around him tightly.
" I used to feel like that." She admitted.
"You did?" He asked curiously.
"Well, duh. Mom always wanted two sons, not a son and a daughter...and it always felt like she loved David more than me. Sometimes it felt like everyone loved David more than me. " She explained softly, and he looked up at her with concerned blue eyes.
"...Well, you're my favorite aunt." He says and she smiles.
"Aww, that's so sweet. Sometimes you're a sweet little button like your dad." She says lightly booping his nose making him groan and rub his face making her chuckle. "No but um, I'm...not an easy person to love. Ever since I was like twelve I was off doing everything there was to do around the world. Going to palaces, dating all sorts of really bad people, getting into things I shouldn't like drugs, gangs, and...none of those are things you should do by the way. Just FYI. But, besides the fact that I was living my best life...a part of me also did it because...I wanted attention. Adelina left and...there was no one to pay attention to me. No one left to say they cared or that they missed me when I came home. So trust me, been there, done that, got the cheesy lifetime movie made."
"Aunt Alexis I love you but this isn't helping." He replied, to which she shushed him by placing a finger over his mouth. "Ok."
"My point is...I get how lonely and miserable it can feel, when no one pays attention and you think no one loves you. And no, sometimes you are not the easiest teenager in the world...but then again what teenager is? At your age I was doing much much worse and so was David." Said Alexis, and that made him curious. Because his dad has never told him or his sisters about his past. Patrick was an open book about his teenage years...David less so.
"What was he like?" Asked Cole, looking up at her.
"Well, he had a lot of Candy raver necklaces and this ugly asymmetrical haircut. I mean, I don't know what this is." She says, that last part running a hand through his dark hair which is long and shaggy with some pretty hefty fringe. "But it's better than his old hair that's for sure. Anyway, while he wasn't the most popular guy in school...David did go to lots of raves and parties, and he had this fake ID that I used to steal sometimes. But obviously it never worked for me. He drank...a lot. He started doing drugs, and sometimes he'd go home with people in their twenties sometimes thirties."
She says it calmly, but Cole's more than a little horrified. David won't even let him go over to a friend's house, past sundown at fifteen and yet at fifteen he was doing worse. Seriously? Anything could have happened. Not only that, he was going home with people who had no business doing who the fuck knows what with a fifteen year old. Alexis seeing the now distressed look on her nephew's face immediately chimes in with,"
"I mean, obviously nothing bad really happened and David's fine now." She replied.
"Where were grandma and grandpa?" He asked.
"...No clue. See, back then. Grandma and grandpa they...they weren't the most caring people, they didn't know anything about what we did. They didn't start paying attention until we moved here, and then they became super involved. I mean, mom was sometimes involved when we were child actors, and sometimes they were there but most of the time me and David just sort of fended for ourselves." She explained and he winces. Feeling so bad for his dad and Aunt...because he can't imagine what that must have been like. His parents, were there for everything. David didn't like sports but he was there for every game, every championship, every practice when he could make it. His parents were there for every nightmare, for every important event, there was not one moment where he didn't remember seeing both of his dads there ready to celebrate a big part of his and his sisters' lives.
"Anyway, they-"
"What else was dad like?" He asked, and Alexis realized she had opened a rabbit hole.
"I think you should talk to your dad about that." She replied.
"He's not going to tell me...please?" He asked, batting those long eyelashes and using his best kicked puppy face making her sigh.
"Ok um...David's life wasn't easy. Sure, we had money like..a lot of it...and he was mom's favorite, but he was also a lot of people's favorites. Sometimes the people who considered David a favorite were not...the best or the nicest people. There were always people who wanted something from him, and eventually he learned to stop...being nice I guess. There is a reason he's every overprotective and its not just because of all the stuff I did, that made him worry all the time. He's gone through a lot of shit, and has an impressive amount of baggage" She explained. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but David and Patrick love you..and they only want what's best for you."
Cole looked down at his wrist. Well, now he knows why his dad didn't tell them, and granted his Aunt Alexis is probably giving him a condensed version of a lot of the things that happened. He feels bad for his dad, He really does. Because he knows his dad doesn't like talking about his past, and sometimes when he and his sisters have gone too far in their questions he'll get this almost Pained look in his eyes before he changes the subject of Patrick will step in. He sighed, feeling this deep gnawing in his chest.
"I um...got suspended from school." He replied softly. "There's this guy, whose been bothering me. The first couple of times were a warning, but today he talked bad about dads...he called them...the F-word. So I got mad and I decked him."
"Ok, and did you tell your dads why it happened?" She asked.
"No...because I knew they wouldn't care. They love Lucy and Paige more...I'm a screw up who can't do anything right. Paige is the one who gets good grades, who is their pride and joy, and Lucy is Abba's favorite...she's the whole reason we were adopted. If it weren't for her, we'd probably still be in some orphanage or separated or whatever. So Abba does like her more, he does like her better than even Paige. I'm just...there...I just...exist. I'm not good at school, and I didn't make the baseball team, I didn't even make the drama club, and everyone expects me to be just as good as Lucy or Paige in school, and...I'm not...and...they deserve better." He said softly.
"Oh hon, hey, look at me." Said Alexis softly. "I more than anyone know that feeling, and it is not a fun feeling. But believe me, they love you so much. Ok? And I know, it's so hard to see that...especially when you feel like the whole world is against you. But it gets better ok?"
"Does it?" He asked with a sniff.
"Yes, it does. It doesn't feel like it right now, but it gets so much better...and one day you're gonna look back at this time, and you're gonna be glad you stuck it out. I know I am." She said softly. "And y'know, I'm always here to talk if you want to."
He said nothing, and hugged his aunt tightly, as she gently wrapped her arms around him and ran a hand through his dark hair, gently kissing the top of his head. Later, after cleaning everything up, he went back to his room and Alexis waited for David and Patrick. Cole sighed softly as he laid in his room, he heard Lucy's door opening meaning she was home, and footsteps approaching his room. He looks up, as David sits on the bed.
"Hey, your dad said you got suspended...and your aunt said to go easy on you because you've been having a hard time. Everything ok?" Asked David softly, when Cole immediately just rushes first and hugs David tightly much to David's surprise. He hugs his son tightly and the teenager sighed.
"Just...stuff." He replied.
"Do you wanna talk about said stuff?" Asked David.
Cole opened his mouth, before shaking his head and immediately pulling away from David.
"Your aunt, said why you got suspended..and Patrick called the principal...who confirmed the story, apparently he talked to the kid and his family or the teacher I don't know but someone told him the truth. You're not grounded anymore for one...if you're wondering. But...why didn't you tell your dad what happened?" Asked David softly.
" I don't know I guess...I've just been weird lately." Said Cole softly. "I didn't think it would matter...have you ever felt like you didn't belong?"
"Oh trust me, I have felt that a lot. When we first got here I did actually. Do you feel that way?" He replied, and the teenager looked down. That's when he saw the cuts on the wrist and oh that crushed his heart. He sighed, and enveloped his son in a tight hug. "Um, when we first thought we were going to leave this place, I asked your aunt Stevie and Aunt Alexis if we were gonna live together and neither of them wanted that...so I felt abandoned and I ran away. I ended up on an Amish Farm where I was stuck for three days...and...they didn't want me...when my family did come for me, it was more for one of your grandma's bags than anything. Otherwise it seemed like...no one else missed me...and I felt very unwanted, very alone, and very much like I didn't belong. So I do know what that feels like...and it's not a great feeling...but eventually...it got better."
"She said that too."He replied. "Dad I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm a screw up I'm sorry I mess things up, I'm sorry that...that-"
"Hey, it's ok. As a teenager, you are allowed to mess up every now and then alright? I know I did."Said David softly.
"Yeah she told me about that too...I asked her though, I'm sorry that they did that to you." Said Cole sincerely, David smiled softly and kissed his forehead.
"Years of therapy have helped me, deal with a lot of things in my life. That part included, I'm alright now, well I mean not fully but adjusted trust me. What exactly did she tell you?" Asked David, who'd be having a talk with his sister later.
"Just that you were worse than me as a teenager, and that grandma and grandpa didn't pay any attention to either of you." He says, covering for his aunt, and David chuckles.
"Well, it's true. But...I got better." Said David softly, "I married the love of my life, I have three great kids who make me proud every single day, and I have a great life here."
Cole nodded and looked down, to which David took his hand and covered the scars, before placing his hand on his wrist.
"It gets better, I promise." Said David sincerely, Cole smiled softly he didn't believe it but...for now he would.
"She also mentioned something about an asymmetrical haircut by the way." He's teasing trying to add some levity, and he laughs at the facial journey his dad goes through.
"Um excuse me?! That was the style back then?!" He exclaimed waving his hands, and Cole chuckled making David smile.
"Ok, come on. Let's go downstairs ok? And...if you ever want to just, talk about anything. I'm here for you, and so is your dad." He replied softly. The teenager nods and walks out of the room with his dad downstairs. He looks up, as Patrick smiles softly and hugs him tightly with Cole hugging him back.