Who: Caden & Gavin Where: The Back Porch Pub When: Thursday afternoon, 01/04 Status: Complete
The last thing Gavin needed in his life was more shit but it just kept on coming, barrel-loads of it, it seemed, just piling on day after day. He was on his way to work when his mom called, just to let him know that Caden had done a number on their dad the day before. She told him she thought 'maybe he should know' in that sorry voice of hers that meant she didn't want him to do anything about it but also did at the same time. Joseph was real hurt, he was already hurting after the fog incident and now his face was a mess and he was meaner than ever. More shit, piling on. Gavin didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do about it. He should have seen it coming, Joseph had broken Roxy's nose after all, of course Caden would repay that in full if not double. Gavin mostly just didn't want to deal with it at all. He felt tired of it all, of being scared, of being worried, of having a potential war with witches hanging over his head, of demon possessions, black-eyed kids, scary things in the fog, his kids getting hurt, going missing. On his list of people he feared for, Joseph was near the bottom, if he even made the list. And still he felt like he couldn't just let it slide because his mother was upset and Joseph was getting worse.
He entered the bar, his steps heavy as he stripped off his heavy winter coat in his office, then headed out front to see if Caden was still around. It wasn't too busy around this hour, they didn't serve dinner so it was mostly just the regulars, Joseph's buddies obviously didn't care that he was nowhere to be seen today so they were sitting fast in their usual seats with just a few stray somebodies sitting around. That meant Jocelyn could hold the fort while they talked and Gavin almost wished it was busy. He gestured at Caden to come on back once he got his attention, then pulled his pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
The bar wasn't busy, but it wasn't terribly slow either. It was steady, which was just how Caden liked it. He spent most of the time after Max left talking with some of the regulars, or flirting - innocently - with Jocelyn. But his semi-decent mood soured almost immediately when he caught sight of Gavin in the doorway, motioning for him to follow. He knew exactly what Gavin wanted and Caden very nearly dug his heel in stubbornly to stay behind the bar. He didn't need a lecture from his brother. But he also knew avoiding the issue would just piss Gavin off, and he would be more surly than usual. Cursing under his breath, Caden left Jocelyn in charge of the front as he followed Gavin to the back of the bar, ready to tell his brother to fuck off if he needed to. "He deserved it," Caden told Gavin, before his brother could say a word. "You know he did, and you're not gonna get me to apologize either."
"For fuck's sake, Caden," Gavin sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but you do you ever think before you swing?" Gavin wasn't sure why he gave a shit because truth be told not a day went by that he didn't kind of hope Joseph's heart would give out. It was a terrible thing to think but Joseph hadn't exactly given him reason to want him to live. Now though... He supposed it was their mom who still lived with him and didn't share the space with anyone else who could be Joseph's punching bag when he got angry. "He's pissed now. Mom said he scared her yesterday." Their mom never said shit like that anymore and Gavin wondered if Caden realized how bad that was.
"There's no maybe he did, maybe he didn't. He fucking broke Roxy's nose," Caden pointed out angrily. "So he fucking deserved it. I'm supposed to just let that go because it's gonna piss him off?" No, he didn't like hearing that their mom had called Gavin, and no, he didn't like hearing that their old man had scared her, but what else was new? That had been their lives since they were kids. "What'd you want me to do, Gavin? If mom doesn't want to be around him, she can go stay with you for a while until he calms down." Caden knew Gavin didn't have the room. But Caden didn't either. He knew it was shitty, but their mom had made her choices. What did she expect her kids to do?
"Yeah, what, she can sleep in the laundry room?" Gavin snapped back and the subject of his house was really a sore one right now. He'd never meant to live with both his kids there, it was a bachelor pad with enough space for them to spend a night or two and now he was struggling to find somewhere else to live. Even just thinking about adding one more person in need to the list of inhabitants made him feel ill-equipped to deal with his life, inadequate, weighed measured and found wanting. "It'd do you some good to think of someone else but yourself for once in your fucking life," he grumbled, jabbing a finger at Caden's chest. It was just easier to focus on his faults than thinking about his own.
"Hey, fuck you," Caden snapped, pushing Gavin's hand away from his chest. "I hit dad because of what he did to Roxy. Don't fucking tell me you'd sit there with your thumb up your ass if he'd broken Charlie's nose. And guess who's still sleeping in my guest room? Our brother, who nearly fucking died. So shut the fuck up about me not caring about other people. You want to really talk about thinking about other people, Gavin? That's a slippery slope and I don't think you want to go there." Caden knew he was selfish. He knew he lacked a lot of empathy. But he'd be damned if he'd get lectured by Gavin, of all people, on his behavior.
The thought of anyone so much as looking at Charlie wrong was enough to make Gavin's stomach twist with rage and anger rose in his throat like bile. So Caden was right, but Gavin didn't have to like it. He glared at his brother, jaw clenched so hard it was a wonder his teeth didn't crack. "Next time you wanna beat him up, don't do it in the fucking bar," he finally said stiffly. "We don't need to be scaring off customers just 'cause you can't control your damn temper." He backed off as he spoke, never eager to argue or fight if he could walk away and right now he could walk away. He still had a cigarette he wanted to smoke and he hold back his rage - unlike his idiot brother.
Caden huffed a sound of annoyed amusement. "You're always fuckin' walking away, Gavin. You can't even handle your own shit, but you keep trying to control everyone else. I don't want him in this bar again. If he walks through that door, I'm going to throw his ass out. If he's sitting at the bar when I get here? I'll drag his ass out. You get me?" He didn't care that this was partly Gavin's bar too. Their old man had caused enough trouble, had been an asshole their entire lives. Caden could handle it when the fist and attitude were directed at him, but he drew the line at Joseph fucking with Roxy.
"Maybe I'd handle my own shit better if you didn't keep complicating it," Gavin grumbled but he kept his stride, lighting his cigarette before he even got to the door. He needed the distraction and the nicotine, the burn of the smoke, anything to keep him from marching back there and punching Caden just for the hell of it. There'd been enough broken noses in the family already and with the ruckus he'd heard from his son's room just a couple of days before, he wouldn't be surprised if Jasper joined the rank of Lucases receiving or dishing out said injury.
"I'm complicating your shit?" Caden followed his brother, determined not to let him off the hook so easily. He wasn't going to be lectured like a child, especially by Gavin. "How am I doing that exactly, Gavin? We both know Joseph deserved what he got. He probably deserved a hell of a lot worse than what I did to him. I've got Aaron at home, not you. So if you think getting a call from mom about our dad being a dick is somehow complicating your life, then I'd say you've got it easier than you think you do. Stand there and tell me he didn't have it coming." Caden was so tired of Gavin protecting their dad, especially with all the bullshit Gavin had to put up with from the old man. They were both grown ass men now. They should be able to live their lives without that piece of shit constantly butting in to make them feel like garbage.
Gavin groaned when Caden kept coming, like an angry dog biting at his heels. At least with a dog he could have put a muzzle on him and locked him up somewhere until he calmed down and the idea of doing that to Caden actually amused him for about half a second before Caden's words annoyed him again. "Riling up dad, damn near starting a war with powerful people, it was your fucking idea to go to Reagan Kelly, don't you forget that." He took a long drag of his cigarette, hating how cold it was when he jerked the door open. Why did they live in this godawful place again? Why didn't he just pack up and drag his kids and Charlie somewhere nicer and leave all this bullshit behind? Right. Aaron, Caden, mom, Kat, the bar, all the bullshit. "You keep fighting out front and we'll have no fucking customers left."
Caden's dark brows drew together both in surprise and confusion that Gavin would bring up Reagan Kelly, of all people. "I'm sorry, are you blaming me for what we did to Aaron by going to that bitch? Maybe it was my idea, but you were on board with it. Helped pay for it too. Did you forget that part?" Fuck, now he wanted a cigarette. And a drink. It had been easy to push all that down, especially once Mila had disappeared. Now she was back and Caden was constantly worried that he'd come home one night and find Aaron bleeding out on the floor again. So yeah, it pissed him off that Gavin would bring up Reagan Kelly, out of everything. "And what the fuck are you talking about, starting a war with powerful people? Who the fuck are you talking about?" They had their shady contacts, dangerous people outside of Point Pleasant, but Caden had very little to do with them one on one. He honestly had no idea what Gavin was referring to, and it was as annoying as everything else.
Gavin didn't ask him outright if he was stupid but the look he gave him said as much. That baffled feeling was almost overwhelmed by the guilt he felt at Caden's words because his brother might be an asshole but he was right, Gavin had gone along with it, he'd paid for it, he'd wanted the problem to go away and he'd worked to make that happen. He gave a worried glance toward the front of the bar even if they were far away enough that nobody should be able to hear them. "We weren't gonna talk about this shit anymore, Caden," he grumbled. hot boxing the rest of his cigarette before tossing the filter out. "Doesn't mean you have to act dumb about it."
"We weren't going to talk about it anymore, but you brought it up," Caden pointed out. He was still confused as fuck and Caden wondered if maybe he had been drunk off his ass one night when they had some conversation that would help this all make sense. There was an uncomfortable tug in the back of his mind, like he was missing something that should be obvious. Maybe Gavin had been drinking before he came into work. "You're not making any fucking sense to me. What's Reagan Kelly got to do with some war? What are you talking about?" He was starting to get extremely aggravated at the lack of answers, wondering now Gavin was just fucking with him to be a dick.
Gavin's anger and guilt were making way for the confusion now, his brows and lips drawn tight as he closed the door behind him and studied Caden's face. "Are you fucking with me right now?" he muttered after simply staring at him for a good few seconds. "Okay yeah, we're not at war since we called it even after-" he waved vaguely at Caden, not really wanting to blatantly mention his hand. "But that shit's still on my mind. I never know if you're gonna go blow it all up again."
Caden sighed, frustrated leaking out of every pore. He looked down at his hand, the one missing two fingers, and that throb in the back of his mind intensified. "Called it even? What the f... Gavin, stop fucking with me. Called it even with who?" He couldn't say much about Gavin being afraid that Caden would blow things up, because he knew he had a temper. He just wished he knew what Gavin was referring to. "This was an accident," he said, lifting his maimed hand. "If you don't tell me what war you're referring to, I'm going to use my remaining three fingers to make a fist and punch you in your goddamn face."
Gavin was already itching for another cigarette now because this conversation was so goddamn dumb and Caden was acting like a fucking lunatic. He grumbled wordlessly and shook his head. "You don't... remember what fucking happened to your hand?" Had those witches done something to his brother? That would honestly explain a lot but Reagan hadn't said a damn thing last time he spoke with her - though he supposed she had no reason to tell him anything anyway. "Caden... You don't remember nearly starting a damn war with Reagan Kelly and her crazy husband?"
"It was an accident," Caden repeated, sounding more agitated now, because all of a sudden he couldn't remember the specifics of it. The truth had always been there like a vague memory. An accident? Or had he gotten into a fight outside of Cherries? Aaron had driven him to the hospital, right? Aaron would know. It had nothing to do with witches though. He would have remembered that. Caden rubbed his hands over his face to try and sort himself out before he spoke again. "I remember we went to Reagan Kelly and paid her for... you know. I think I've spoken to her husband once, when he came into the bar a while ago. It was small talk. That's... I don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about, Gavin." Caden looked confused and pained for a moment. "What happened to my hand?"
Gavin scratched his head and made another soft distressed sound in the back of his throat. He had said too much, though he wasn't sure what was going on or if Caden was better off knowing - he'd said too much and he couldn't back out now or tell Caden a lie without him realizing Gavin was keeping secrets. What the hell did it mean? Had those fucking witches messed with Caden's head? Things had been easier lately, he hadn't stirred shit up again and that was good but... You didn't erase a man's memories, that was just messed up. Gavin didn't know how to spin this, didn't know if he should even try, but telling Caden the truth felt like pulling the pin right back out of the perpetual hand grenade that was their lives. "You attacked the witch," he muttered reluctantly. "Her husband took your fingers for it." He tilted his head, studying Caden's face. "You really don't remember any of that?"
If Gavin actually possessed anything remotely resembling a sense of humor, Caden would have thought his brother was just fucking with him. But Gavin wouldn't lie about shit like this. He struggled to remember attacking anyone, let alone a witch. Well, there was his old man. And Roxy, months ago. But why would he attack Reagan Kelly? His memories were a jumbled mess and Caden met Gavin's inquisitive gaze with his own and slowly shook his head. "I don't. I just have this vague memory of... an accident, or... a fight. Thinking about it now, I don't have any real clear memory of how I lost my fingers. Aaron took me to the hospital, but we haven't talk about it since. So what, Reagan's husband fucking took my fucking fingers? And then they fucked with my mind so I'd forget it? Do you realize how fucked up that is?" Gavin looked so damn calm. Maybe a bit apprehensive, but definitely not as stunned and pissed off as Caden was.
"Yeah of course I fucking realize," Gavin mumbled without any real bite to it despite the cursing. "I had no idea, Caden. We just didn't talk about it again - I thought. But listen... You don't go against people like that." He reached up to grab Caden's shoulder with his good hand, leaning in close like someone might start hearing them suddenly. "They can do that, they can do what... what we paid her to do. As far as they're concerned it's over, we're even, we want to keep it that way, yeah?" He could too easily see his brother go do something really fucking stupid and hell, he'd understand and even help him if it was anyone else. The witches though - they scared the shit out of him.
"It should've been over when they did this to me," Caden said, lifting his hand to show Gavin. "But they fucked with my mind, Gavin." He took a breath, trying to fight back the instinct to grab his coat and keys and go deal with the problem now. But he also knew Gavin was right, and he fucking hated it. He couldn't really remember assaulting Reagan Kelly - why would he have done that? And he couldn't remember Caius D'Onofrio taking his fingers. It felt wrong to let it go, to just let them get away with it. But what could he do? Unless he found another witch to fight the battle for him. But even that seemed like a bad idea... and probably an expensive one. The tension in his shoulders eased a little and Caden sighed before shaking his head. "Seems like a lot of our bullshit problems are because of that woman. It was like.. a fucking domino effect."
Gavin could almost see Caden's journey and he held his breath while his brother processed it, half-expecting to have to run after him and start battling witches by his side. He breathed a sigh of relief when Caden visibly let go and then nodded, reaching up to grab Caden's shoulder again. "She said they get a backlash for all the magic they put out so she'll probably get what's coming to her, her and her shitty husband. Let's just hope the last chips have already." He let go again, fishing his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket again to tap out a couple, one of which he offered silently to his brother.
It wasn't in his nature to just let shit go and accept when he felt like someone had done him wrong. But Caden knew dealing with witches would be a very bad idea, considering he had no way to make sure it was a fair fight. But god, it was hard to step back from it all. He took a cigarette from Gavin, aware that he ought to get back out front to help out, but he wanted a smoke first. It was that or go drink half a bottle of some hard liquor and get shitfaced, but Gavin would probably frown at that. "This is gonna fuck with my mind," he muttered, pulling his own lighter out of the front pocket of his flannel shirt. "More than it already has."
Gavin couldn't even begin to imagine how Caden felt and a part of him - a part that was loud and hard to smother - wanted to go burn Reagan's house down with her and her husband in it. They had fucked with Caden's mind, who knew what else they were capable of doing - who knew what else they'd already done. "I know," he muttered after lighting his own cigarette and cracking the door open a little. "For now we respect the truce and keep our guard up. I don't trust them but I don't want anything more to do with them if we can help it. As much as I want them dead it's not worth the risk to us - to our families." God he hoped Caden was on the same page, the thought of his kids or Charlie getting hurt because of all this shit, of his own mind getting fucked with - if it hadn't already because how the fuck would he even know? - of his brothers getting hurt more... "But you tell me if anything... if anything's off."
Given his mind fuckery, and his fingers, he didn't want any of that to land on his brothers, Amelia or Jasper. Certainly not Roxy. Some small place in his mind didn't even want anything to happen to Mila, because he had the feeling if it did, they'd lose Aaron too. He wondered if he could burn Reagan Kelly's house to the ground. No one would ever know it was him. But... if she survived, who the fuck knew what would happen. Caden took a long drag from his cigarette to try and work out his conflicting emotions. If he tried anything, maybe Kelly would tell Aaron what he and Gavin had done. Although they hadn't told her Mila's name, right? They had only given the witch a piece of Mila's hair, so she wouldn't know who to tell. Goddammit, he just needed his brain to shut up for a while. "I'll tell you," Caden said finally. "But I better not see their faces around here. I don't know what I'll do then."
Had those Overlook brats ever set foot in their pub? Gavin didn't think so, he couldn't imagine either of them in there, at least not of their own free will. "They oughta know better," he grumbled but at the same time he doubted the witches felt threatened by them at all. A large part of his brain insisted they change that, make them pay, make them understand you didn't fuck with the Lucases and not pay a price but... he was scared. Loathe to admit it, but scared. He had to wonder if whatever they had done to Caden had happened before or after Gavin talked to Reagan, before or after they agreed they would stay out of each other's way from now on. "It ain't right," he muttered and he couldn't help but wonder what else they might have done, what else they'd taken from his brother's head, who else's minds they'd messed with. "Beginning to appreciate the historical witch trials a little more," he admitted snarkily.
"He came in once," Caden said with a shrug. "D'Onofrio. Don't really remember much about why... though I guess it could've been to fuck with my head. Or maybe he just wanted a drink." Something he doubted now. Caden took another drag from his cigarette, not minding some of the chill coming in from the back door. He had started to feel overheated from his anger, and the cold was oddly soothing. He grinned at Gavin's comment though, a chuckle caught in his throat as he exhaled the smoke toward the door. "Yeah, they had the right idea. Too bad they didn't get all of 'em at once. It'd be nice to burn them out now, but... the last thing we need right now is more bullshit." Not to mention Reagan Kelly could fuck everything up for he and Gavin if she decided to tell their families what they did. If that hadn't been a factor, Caden probably would have been in his truck driving to Black Cove right then.
"That's probably when that happened," Gavin agreed. "So he should know better than to come back here." He had a feeling the man went wherever he damn well pleased but here was to hoping that the Back Porch Pub was beneath him if he wasn't smart enough to keep away for other reasons. "Between you and me, if I see him in an isolated place and he doesn't see me first..." He gave Caden a small, crooked smile. It was his way of saying he was sorry for the shit his brother had been through, that he really did want revenge for him and right then the thought of blowing Mr. D'Onofrio's brains out in the dark of Blackwater Woods was a pretty sweet one. "But you're right. We really don't need more bullshit, we've got plenty on our plate."
Caden imagined Gavin cold-cocking Caius D'Onofrio and it was a rather satisfying image. Leave the snotty fuck with a black eye and broken nose. It was almost as pleasant as the desire to burn down the damn house the two lived in. Maybe someday. He nodded at Gavin and tossed his cigarette out the door into the cold. "Yeah we do. I still don't want dad here. If he's gonna be, it's gotta be when I'm not working. I can't promise I won't hurt him again. I don't want to make things harder on mom, but... you know how he is, Gavin. I can't stand it anymore."
As ever, the mention of Joseph made Gavin's chest feel tight, an old and gross combination of anxiety and hatred with just enough guilt mixed in for it to feel paralyzing. "We'll see if he has the sense to stay gone," he muttered. "I wouldn't count on it... Just try not to confront him in front of the other customers." His voice was a little pleading and while he didn't particularly want Caden to beat the shit out of their dad, he knew there was no stopping it if it happened. He could just try to prevent it somehow and hope for the best. They both knew Joseph was a stubborn and stupid son of a bitch. He'd come back, because he always came back, no matter how unwelcome he was.
Caden sighed, but he nodded anyway. He knew he tended to act before thinking things through and seeing his dad had only reminded him of Roxy's broken nose. Caden hadn't cared about the customers. Most of them knew about his anger issues anyway, so he doubted any of them had been surprised. "All right," he said. "Not in front of customers. I'll drag him outside and kick his ass there." Caden turned away from Gavin to head back out front. "We should probably talk to Aaron about coming back to work. We need the help and I think he's at a place where he should probably be doin' something other than laying around or visiting Mila all day."
Gavin closed and locked the door since they were done there, then trailed after Caden - although he was heading for the office for now and not the bar itself. "Is he healing up okay?" he asked since that was his main concern for Aaron coming back. The last thing they needed was yet another trip to the hospital because Aaron popped a stitch doing too much manual labor. He was the muscle around the place, especially when Caden wasn't working, and they needed him in good shape. Aaron was a better topic than Joseph at least, Gavin didn't really want to think about a bloody fight between his brother and father, but at the moment it didn't feel like there were any topics that were actually easy.
"Seems to be," Caden said, pausing by the door that led to the front of the door. "I've noticed he's walking around a lot easier. "I haven't seen his pain meds on the night stand either, so he must be done with those." Thank fuck for that. "I just think the quicker he gets back to work, the better it'll be for him. We need the help, and he probably needs the money, especially once those hospital bills start rolling in. I can talk to him about it, if you want me to." And maybe the sooner Aaron starts getting a steady paycheck again, he could move back home.
It would probably be easier for Caden to talk to Aaron, considering they lived together. If Gavin did it it'd be a Thing where he either called or visited specifically to ask him. It made him realize he probably needed to see his little brother more often outside of work but things had admittedly been pretty crazy lately. "Yeah you should poke him about it," he muttered. "Won't be doing him any favors being idle for too long." He was a little surprised by how easy it was to talk to Caden lately and the sinister thought that maybe it had something to do with D'onofrio crossed his mind. Caden had been... more pleasant lately. The only real trouble he'd caused in a while was beating their dad to a pulp and even Gavin had to admit the old man had it coming. The thought of him hurting Charlie was convincing enough for that. He carefully put away that thought, the whole thing was creepy and he wanted to believe that Caden had just been in a pretty good mood lately, despite that little voice whispering that it didn't ring true.
Caden figured it was just more convenient for him to talk to Aaron than Gavin, even though Caden knew Aaron looked up to Gavin a hell of a lot more than he did to Caden. But if Aaron pushed back or gave him trouble, then Caden could just get Gavin involved and let him deal with it. "I'll talk to him," he said again. "But if he's having a hard time, you're gonna have to get involved too. You've got a hell of a lot more patience than I do." He was aware that they would eventually have to see Mila again too, but they could deal with that when the time came. The important thing was getting Aaron up and moving again and things getting back to normal.
Gavin honestly hoped he would never have to see Mila again. It had been creepy as hell to talk to her when she was possessed and every time he saw her he just thought of what he and Caden had done. No, it was better to ignore it and to ignore it he needed to not see her. Aaron however he could always handle. The younger of his brothers was a lot like a puppy and Gavin was good with dogs. "Bring it up with him and see how it goes," he muttered because ideally Aaron would see right away that coming back to work would be good for him as well as the bar. "And if he's not here by Monday, I'll talk to him."
"Yeah." That was all they could do at this point. And while Caden didn't want to see Mila either, he knew it was inevitable. She was Aaron's girlfriend and Roxy's best friend. Avoidance was ideal, but not really plausible. "I'll yell if we need you," he told Gavin before pushing through the door to the front. The bar was manageable at the moment, so he didn't foresee needing Gavin's help, but hell, in this town every now and then people got the urge to drink themselves silly, so they could easily get an unexpected rush in a bit. It felt like they had gotten the important shit out of the way, and Caden was more than happy to be done with the talking for the night.
"You do that," Gavin said, always happy to be done talking. He'd check out there every so often, stretch his legs and get his eyes off the books, but for now he was happy to be alone, open up a bottle and do the paperwork. There hadn't really been a resolution to this bullshit with their dad - nothing he could tell their mother anyway - but he hadn't expected there to be. Things were perpetually shitty in the Lucas family, in all honesty Bridget Lucas should be used to that by now. The conversation had gone well but he was antsy now, unable to keep from thinking about how Caden's mind had been messed with and what that meant in the grand scheme of things.