Gavin Lucas (viciouscircle) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2017-11-24 21:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, #september 2017, aaron, aaron x caden, caden, caden x gavin, caden x roxy, gavin, gavin x roxy, roxy |
Who: Aaron, Caden & Gavin (with Mila and Roxy)
What: Lucas brothers being their typical stupid selves
Where: The Back Porch Pub
When: Sunday noon, 9/17
Status: Complete
Warning: Language / violence
Gavin was honestly glad he didn't have to ride back with anyone. He was already busy beating himself up for being The Worst company of all times, even if he also thought Charlie Harris was dodging a bullet by not getting close to him. Still. He was fully and painfully aware that he was a fucking idiot and Roxy's disapproving look was burned into his mind. So was that faint flush in Charlie's cheeks and the more he thought about it the worse he felt.
He got to the bar mere minutes after Aaron and, ignoring his brothers, stalked inside and headed straight for the sink in the back to take advantage of the fact they apparently had clear running water. He washed his hands with soap, feeling dirty in what was probably a psychosomatic reaction to how gross the water had been at his house this morning and the fact he hadn't been able to wash up properly. When he was good and ready he headed back out to the bar and, unlike most Sundays, started his day at the job with a drink.
It was a rather uneventful morning, as most Sunday mornings were, save for Roxy's texts during church about a woman joining Gavin for Mass. When Roxy had given Caden the woman's name, it took him a few minutes to place how he knew it. Charlie Harris. She had graduated the year Caden started high school. Gavin would have graduated with her if he hadn't knocked up Crazy Bitch. Caden didn't remember much about her, except for the fact that Charlie's sister Joanna had been one of the three girls murdered that October in 2001. He also remembered Charlie had been hot when she was younger. So had Joanna, actually. Shame what happened, really. But not unsurprising, here in Point Pleasant.
What was surprising was hearing from Roxy that Charlie had joined them in church. It was hard to imagine Gavin showing interest in any woman just in passing, let alone inviting one to church. And Caden had to assume that it would all end spectacularly badly, because it was Gavin, and his own frame of reference for how to deal with a woman was Olivia, the Crazy Bitch™.
He was chatting with a couple customers at the bar when Gavin stalked inside and disappeared into the back. Aaron had arrived a few minutes earlier, but Caden hadn't been able to get the story from their younger brother just yet. When Gavin finally re-emerged, Caden pulled a toothpick from the small jar below the register and slipped it between his teeth as he watched Gavin start making a drink. A smile threatened at his lips. "Bit early to be drinkin', ain't it?"
Aaron knew Gavin was in a bad mood. His oldest brother always looked kind of sour-faced, but Aaron could see the extra tension around his eyes as they left church. Roxy had gone off with the girls, so once he’d shot a text off to Mila -- u lookd pretty 2day, see u soon -- Aaron had come straight to the bar to get busy. Gavin would be even more irritated with him if Aaron wasn’t working when he showed up. He’d shot Caden a bemused sort of look before he’d gone in the back and changed out of his church clothes and into a black t-shirt to work in.
Aaron had gotten the dishwasher started by the time Gavin arrived, but didn’t say anything to him in the back. He was restocking the glasses behind the bar when Gavin came out front, and looked up between his brothers at Caden’s comment. It was early to be drinking, and on a Sunday too. Aaron’s hands slowed down some so he could linger and be present for whatever this conversation was going to turn into.
"No such thing," Gavin said dryly and if he thought for a second a warning look worked as well on Caden as it did Aaron, he might have given him one. Those just seemed to rile him up though so Gavin didn't. Instead he knocked back the drink. "It's gonna be a busy one," he muttered and hoped Caden would back off though he doubted his brother would.
Caden moved the toothpick around in his mouth, leaning one hand on the bar top as he watched Gavin. He had no idea why he felt so amused. He had no idea what was going on in Gavin's life beyond his parental fuck ups. Now there was potentially a woman, and according to Roxy, Gavin was a Grade A fuck up in that department too. He grunted an affirmative response to Gavin's observation about the bar. Rain and football on a Sunday always meant a busy work day. Caden was fine with that. It meant more money in the registers.
Unwilling to cut Gavin a break, Caden thumbed backward toward Aaron. "Aaron told me Charlie Harris was back in town and lookin' fine. You invited her to church? Was that for your benefit, or Aaron's?" Aaron had said no such thing, but Caden never thought twice about throwing their baby brother under the bus to try and get a legit reaction from Gavin. Provocation was generally the only way he succeeded.
“I did not!” Aaron protested immediately. Not that Gavin would probably care who told Caden, but it was instinctive to defend himself against such libelous allegations. “That was Roxy, not me.” He hadn’t been completely innocent though, of course, and he grinned from his crouched spot on the floor. “She is lookin’ fine though,” he added, because it was true, and it would get under Gavin’s skin. Aaron was a big boy now, he would take a punch or two in the name of teasing his brother about a woman. “Gavin’s gonna go fix her porch,” Aaron informed Caden, with a tone that indicated that wasn’t the only thing that would be going on.
Gavin knew his brothers well enough to know when they were actually talking to him and when they were just being dicks - like now. "Oh for fuck's sake," he huffed and poured himself another drink for the hell of it. "To nobody's benefit," he muttered over the family glug sound of scotch leaving its bottle. "I offered her to sit with us, don't make a big deal out of it."
Caden glanced back at Aaron's outburst, smirking a bit around his toothpick. The dumbass really didn't know when to keep his mouth shut, but at least he'd added a little something "Aaron-like" in there for the discussion. He cocked a brow at the mere thought of Gavin doing anything helpful for a woman that wasn't Ollie, and he looked back at Gavin with a curious expression. "Okay, for one, you invited a woman to church... that's a big deal, brother, since church is basically your private time with God. Did you do a lot of talkin' with the Man Upstairs today, or were you too busy trying not to bury your face in her sweet smellin' hair while O'Shea was ragin' on the pulpit about sin? And what's this about you fixin' her porch? Is that legit, or is it just a euphemism for fucking her brains out."
Gavin drank the second glass and damn it he had only meant to have one but right now he wanted a third already. He slammed the glass down on the bar and turned, glaring at Caden. "Can you ever just shut the fuck up?" he barked at him. Caden had a habit of talking shit about any and every woman and Gavin had no problem ignoring him but this time... This time it made his blood boil, him rambling on about shit he knew nothing about.
Aaron’s smile faded instantly, and a very familiar feeling of ‘oh shit’ washed cold down his back. Sure, it was possible that Caden might just laugh it off and keep being a dickhole until Gavin retreated to the back room ... but it was also possible that wasn’t how it would go down. He stood up where he was, watching the two of them closely. Aaron had broken up fights between them before, and he’d learned to always grab for Gavin. Caden was more liberal with his fists.
Caden cocked a brow and turned to lean back against the bar, crossing his arms against his chest. There was the reaction Caden was looking for, even if it was surprising to him. Gavin usually didn't show much emotion over women, unless Caden was being extremely disparaging to Olivia. That hadn't happened in awhile, since he hadn't had to see the bitch in months. "Did I hit a nerve?" he asked. "What's going on, Gav? Did you fuck it up before it even began?"
He had hit a nerve and that was a hard thing to swallow so Gavin didn't. "We're not talking about this," he said briskly, pointing at Caden in a warning manner. He shoved the bottle back into its place on the shelf and pushed past Caden to get to the back, frustration and rage making his muscles feel tight, his fists clenching. He hated that feeling and it was too damn common. They were all born with rage in their blood and there was no shaking it.
Some separation was probably the best thing for them. The few customers they had were all staring with interest, and Aaron was willing to bet a few of them were kind of hoping it would turn into more of a fight. It had been quite a while since one of them had really lost their temper at the bar, and it was always kind of embarrassing. Aaron glanced from Gavin’s retreating back to Caden, hoping he would let it drop. It wasn’t fun if Gavin was actually pissed.
"Shocker, that," Caden said, talking to Gavin's retreating back. Then he pushed away from the counter to follow him. He didn't care much about giving Gavin space. Gavin's entire life was space. Space from everyone and everything. Caden didn't know why it pissed him off so much, but it did. "You don't talk about shit, Gavin. You don't want to talk about the woman, fine. You want to talk about Jasper, then? Or do you want to ignore that too? It's what you're good at, sure, but you can't fuckin' hide away in the back of this bar for the rest of your fuckin' life."
If Caden wouldn't give him space then Gavin wouldn't give Caden space either. He turned around abruptly, stalking back until he was chest to chest with Caden, bumping into him aggressively. "What's your problem, hm? Roxy's not been taking care of you? Got some pent up aggression you need to get out?" If his brother needed a fist in the face to shut up, Gavin would give him one. It wouldn't be the first time, certainly not the last.
Caden didn't move, digging his feet in and tensing when Gavin bumped into him. He smirked softly and reached up to pull the toothpick from his lips, staring unflinchingly at his brother. "You're deflecting. We both know this isn't my problem, it's yours. You're always ignoring shit, and if you can't ignore it, you run away from it. You got a kid sleepin' in his car most nights, and you can't even go to church with a woman without coming here and knocking back two drinks."
The two of them hadn’t gotten very far into the back, they were hovering in the doorway in fact, still fully visible to the rest of the bar. Audible too. Aaron moved in closer, his brow furrowed with concern, hovering behind Caden but ready to dart out of the way at any second. Glancing over Caden’s shoulder at Gavin, he saw that the thing about Jasper had hit a different kind of nerve. “Guys,” Aaron murmured to them, resisting the urge to push Caden from behind to try to get them through the door. “We got customers. Chill out.” He really didn’t want to have to break up a brother-fight today, in front of people. They were both vicious bastards when they got really mad.
Gavin had gone from high intensity to somewhat slack confusion in about two second flats at what Caden had said. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows, shaking his head in bewilderment as he ignored Aaron. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he finally grumbled and it was no longer Charlie who was on his mind. Jasper had a place to sleep, Olivia hadn't said anything about there being trouble with him even though he occasionally came and crashed on Gavin's couch. Caden was a dick, sure, but he didn't normally lie about shit. Sometimes he got things wrong as hell but he didn't outright lie.
It was satisfying in a sick sort of way that he’d actually managed to throw Gavin a little. He didn’t want to betray Jasper’s confidence, but he’d been bouncing from house to house to couch to car for far too long. The kid needed stability. Something Caden and his brothers had never really had, despite having a roof over their heads. “Your kid hates bein’ home, though you know you can’t really blame him for that. His mom is a crazy bitch and apparently you’re so fucking terrible at being a father that he’d rather sleep in his car than stay with you. He slept on my couch last week, and that wasn’t the first time. Maybe if you stop avoiding the good shit in your life you’d know what the hell your kids were up to.”
This had gone from some fun teasing about some woman straight into some serious territory, and Aaron couldn’t help but feel bad for his oldest brother. He knew that Jasper slept in his car sometimes, and he’d crashed on Aaron’s couch too, off and on. Aaron had just always assumed that Gavin knew about it, but his face was saying otherwise. His own expression was a bit pained as he looked at Gavin around Caden’s shoulder. “He’s slept on my couch too,” he admitted. Not that anybody had asked him. “Him and Olivia are gettin’ into it a lot, seems like,” Aaron added in a mutter, like that made it any better.
Gavin wasn't sure how to react. A part of him wanted to punch Caden. Admittedly it was a very large part of him that reared up and urged him on. He scrubbed his hand over his face instead, all but growling the next few words. "You two knuckleheads didn't think to tell me that?" It was par for the course, nobody ever told him a damn thing. Of course when they did he ignored it but that wasn't something he was willing to admit. The only people who seemed to be absolutely frank with him at all times were Caden and Amelia and they did it in such different ways that it was almost surreal to think they were related. He didn't give them room to answer his question, jabbing a finger at Caden's chest. "This is your problem, Caden. You don't want to fix shit, you just want to stir it up. You don't give a shit about Jasper but you sure as shit like to rub it in that I'm a fuckup with him. You sorry ass punk."
Caden pushed Gavin's finger away from his chest, temper flaring in his eyes. "Don't you fuckin' touch me. You think I don't give a shit about Jasper? You think I let him sleep on my couch whenever he asks just for shits and giggles? He's been doin' it for months. If I wanted to rub your fuck ups in your face, I would have told you a long ass time ago. I know more about his life than you do, 'cause I actually care enough to ask him. But yeah, Gavin, go ahead and blame me for all your shortcomings. And now you know, so what're you going to do about it? Nothing," Caden said, lifting his arms out. "Nothing. You're going to fucking ignore it and pretend it isn't your problem, because that's all you know how to do. But sure, I'm the sorry ass punk here."
Aaron really wished they weren’t standing right in the fucking doorway, it would’ve been easier to get between them. He tossed a glance over his shoulder, and sure enough, everyone in the bar was still staring at them. It seemed like this was about to get bad -- Caden looked genuinely pissed now, and physical contact had been made, and arms were out and shit. Aaron ducked under one of Caden’s arms and at least put hand between his brothers. It was a start, at least. “You both need to calm the fuck down,” he said, his own voice getting a bit sharper. “And take it in the back.”
Gavin didn't even know how to begin explaining to his brother that if he had given a shit he would have told him months ago instead of keeping him in the dark. As it was he couldn't even get it into words and even if he could, Caden wouldn't listen. They were at a boiling point and Aaron's arm wasn't really in the way so he swung instead. Teasing him about a woman was one thing, but bringing his kids into it... Caden should have known better. In that moment Gavin just wanted to kill him for it, or let Caden kill him maybe, he wasn't really thinking anymore. His body had been like an unsprung trap and Caden had stepped right on the trigger.
Caden had sort of seen the fist coming before Gavin actually swung it. It took a lot of provoke Gavin into violence, but Caden was generally pretty adept at succeeding when he really wanted to. He usually didn't mind it when Gavin struck first, because then Caden felt more than justified using his fists as ruthlessly as he could in return. Not my fault. Gavin swung first. The fist in his jaw sent sparks of pain throughout his face, but his own anger produced enough adrenaline that Caden pushed through it, well aware of how much it would actually hurt later, once they had both calmed down. He recovered quick enough to turn back and shove Aaron out of the way before gripping Gavin's shirt to push him back and through the doorway to the back. He was clear headed enough to know if they were going to fight, they'd better do it away from the glasses and bottles of liquor. "The fuck is wrong with you, huh?" he shouted as he shoved Gavin away from him, hard. His lip stung from the words and he could already taste blood from where Gavin had split his lip.
Whenever his brothers physically fought, there was always a split-second decision for Aaron to make -- let them duke it out, or intervene. More often than not in the years since they’d become adults, he chose the latter. They could really hurt each other now, much more so than when they were kids. This wasn’t some petty squabble either, so ‘intervene’ was probably the best option. Aaron didn’t move far when Caden shoved him, and he was right behind them through the door. He skirted around Caden, quick and light on his feet for his size, and hooked his arm around Gavin’s good arm from the front to hold him back, fist braced against his lower back. Aaron was the bar’s unofficial bouncer, and he’d gotten pretty damn good at holding people. Not to mention, he was bigger and bulkier than his oldest brother. Gavin had been the one punching, so Gavin was the one who got restrained, at least until he calmed down.
"Fuck you, Caden!" It was all Gavin could do to answer Caden's question. What was wrong with him? Everything, everything including his shitty ass brother who didn't know when to stop. He did his best to bulldoze his way through Aaron back to Caden but Aaron was bigger than him which only served to piss him off more. He couldn't punch Aaron very well with the way he was holding onto him but he almost did anyway. Instead he stepped back, nostrils flaring as he glared past Aaron at Caden. "Fuck you," he said again for good measure, again with the aggressive pointing and this was not over just because Aaron was being a goddamn six foot and then some barrier.
Caden wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spared a quick glance at the blood smeared there. Leave it to Aaron to get in the fucking way. He would have welcomed Gavin trying to get another swing in at him. The first one was almost always given freely. Everything that came after Gavin needed to work for. He licked his lower lip and then shot Gavin an incredulous look followed by a snort of derision . "Fuck me? Really? You gotta be fucking kidding me right now." He motioned at Aaron, gesturing wildly with his hand for him to get back. "Let him go," he demanded, his hard gaze still locked on Gavin. "Or I'm going to hurt you too."
Aaron was glad that Gavin moved back some, but he didn’t let go, because he wasn’t falling for that trick. Gavin was strong as hell, but Aaron had size on his side, so he was able to keep him from rushing Caden. He didn’t let go of Gavin when Caden ordered him to, shooting him a useless glare. Fucking idiots, both of them. “Fuck no,” he grunted. “Walk away, Caden. You’re both acting fucking stupid.” And people said he was the dumb one. If Caden ended up escalating it anyway and he got caught in the middle, so be it, but he wasn’t going to just let Gavin go so they could kill each other in the back room.
Gavin barely registered Aaron speaking. Right now he was just an obstacle and his glare was still fixed on Caden. He was about as articulate as a fighter dog on a leash, his body rocking subtly against Aaron as if his little brother was a gate about to open and let him into the ring - into the fight. He couldn't have told him what they were fighting about just then, all there was was anger and he wanted to break things - preferably his brother's face.
Caden glared at Aaron, his knuckles aching to slam into his face as much as Gavin's. If he hit Aaron, it wasn't just Caden and Gavin anymore. It was Caden and Aaron and Gavin and the back room wasn't likely to come away from that without some damage. "Fine," he said, lifting his hands as if in surrender. His gaze shifted to Gavin and he pointed at his brother much in the same manner as Gavin had done to him moments earlier. "Fuck you, man. It's not my fucking job to keep you up to date on your kid. You want to blame me, or Aaron, for not telling you about Jasper, that's fine, but this is ultimately on your shoulders. Your kid doesn't even want to be around you, and that's not my fault, it's yours. If you don't get your head out of your goddamn ass, Jasper's gonna end up exactly like you and we all know what a fucking shame that would be."
“Goddammit Caden, shut the fuck up,” Aaron said, sounding more exasperated than angry. The really stupid thing was, both of them were right. Gavin was a crappy, uninvolved father, and Caden never knew when to shut his mouth. Well, he probably did know, he just never heeded that knowledge, because he didn’t give a fuck if things like this happened. It was a problem. “He gets it, we all get it, just drop it for now, okay? Jesus, fuck.” He held fast to Gavin -- he wasn’t struggling or anything, but Aaron could feel that violent tension ready to snap at any second.
Gavin would have preferred to get punched. The main problem with Caden was how spot on he was and since Gavin couldn't punch his self loathing, he wanted to punch Caden instead. Every word cut into him, made him angrier and sadder and he knew that it was only because of Aaron that he and Caden weren't destroying each others' faces. He shook his hands in an effort to loosen up his death grip a little and unclench his fists as he leaned back away from Aaron, still glaring at Caden. Even if he had wanted to speak, his jaw was tight and his mind was abuzz with white noise. Caden wasn't wrong and that was the worst thing about this. If he was just talking out of his ass Gavin would have ignore him like he so often did when Caden was mouthing off. This time he'd gone right for the jugular.
Caden stared at Gavin, as if daring him to make a move, or to stay something in response. The thing was, he knew Gavin wouldn't. Gavin was terrible at expressing himself in any capacity, no matter what the emotion. That was part of the problem, at least with Jasper. He snickered softly and shook his head. "Your new lady friend's got her work cut out for her, that's for damn sure." Caden's brows shot upward and he pointed at Gavin again as he turned to return to the front of the bar. "Good luck with that, by the way." He angrily pushed his way through the door to the front, ignoring the way the people still in the bar watched him. And of fucking course their dad was sitting at the end, watching Caden with a faint smirk and already nursing a beer he must have taken from behind the bar while Gavin, Aaron and Caden were in the back. It would fucking figure.
Aaron was pretty sure Gavin wouldn’t go charging back through the door once Caden was through it, and if he did? Fuck, he would just let the two of them have it out. They both deserved to have their heads knocked around a little bit. He let go of Gavin finally and moved back a step to give him some room, half expecting some of that rage to get turned on him. Gavin had never outright punched him in anger as an adult, but there was a first time for everything, and Caden had pushed him really hard. Too hard. He held his hands up a bit in a peaceful gesture, his brow furrowed, but he didn’t try to say anything more.
At this point Gavin's rage felt somewhat impotent and he wanted to beat himself up more than he did Caden. He didn't want to hit Aaron at all but his body was still wound up and shaking and he glared at nowhere in particular before turning around and grabbing his jacket. They would have to handle the Sunday madness without him. If he stayed any longer he would explode and hurt himself or someone else. Most likely Caden. There was no way he was going back the way he came so he stalked to the service entrance in the back, too angry to speak, too sad to act on the anger and the real problem in his life right now was that he couldn't outrun himself.
Caden suffered through a brief conversation with his father, well aware that the old man knew what his sons had been up to in the back room. Caden's busted lip didn't leave a lot of room for imagination. Then he went back to work. No one else in the bar was stupid enough to say anything to him while he was in a mood, which was a testament to how well their regulars knew them. Eventually Roxy and Mila arrived and Caden looked at them both as he opened another beer and set it in front of his father. "It's about time," he said simply before gesturing to the back. "Need you both on the clock now. We're short staffed." Really, it was only Gavin, but it was football Sunday and it was raining, so they were getting busier now that it was a more acceptable hour in the day to start drinking.
Mila hurried off to do just that, but Roxy stopped short and stared at Caden for a beat. His lip was busted and swollen, and he looked tense and tired. Even more so than usual. Roxy walked behind the bar first, approaching him with her expression shifting into something close to defensive. She barely spared Joseph Lucas a glance; she disliked him intensely, but she did her best to keep it hidden when he was around. He was just that much of an asshole. “What the hell happened?” she asked Caden in a loud whisper, searching his face. Someone had obviously hit him, just that morning, and that made her want to claw their fucking eyes out, whoever they were.
Caden expected Roxy to ask questions, and while it annoyed him, he knew he couldn't get through this day without telling her what had happened. If he didn't, Aaron would. Caden sighed and turned to face her so that his back was facing his father. "Gavin's a lunatic," he said simply. "Told him about Jasper sleepin' on our couch and apparently it's my fault he's such a shit dad. Go figure." That was the Cliff Notes version, but the most important detail, if you asked him. Caden brought a hand up to touch his lip gingerly. His jaw was still sore too. Caden cocked a brow at Roxy. "Aaron got in the fucking way before I could return the favor and Gavin fucked on out of here."
“Ohmygod,” Roxy breathed with real shock. “You’re shitting me.” Gavin had punched Caden before, and vice versa, naturally, but she definitely hadn’t expected it today. How had they gotten into a fight in the thirty or forty minutes it had taken her to get there? Jesus. “Do you need some ice?” she asked, staring fretfully at the split in Caden’s lip. Roxy knew he didn’t like to be babied, but he didn’t take care of himself well either, and doing something for his injury felt more useful to her than talking about it anymore right then, especially in front of their father.
Caden shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. Truth hurts." He motioned to his lips and attempted a smile, but it was difficult and stung a little. "Obviously. That fucker can't even take care of himself, let alone two kids. He needs a woman to fuck and help him get his head out of his ass." Caden shook his head and noticed nearly everyone in the bar had gone back to their conversations, or tv watching. The fun was over, time to move on. "It's gonna be a long day, since I doubt Gavin'll come back. Might be here 'til close." Which sort of pissed him off, since he opened the damn bar, and Gavin usually closed it on Sunday.
Roxy’s eyes narrowed a bit and her lips tightened as some anger replaced her surprise and concern. Caden was fine, it wasn’t his first busted lip and surely wouldn’t be his last, but that didn’t mean it didn’t piss Roxy off that someone had laid hands on her man. She didn’t give a shit if it was his brother or not. Roxy put her hand on Caden’s chest and rose up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “That asshole better stay away today,” she muttered as she pulled away again. Gavin was going to get an earful if he didn’t. And to think she’d been spending the time gone trying to do him a favor, and he’d been punching Caden? Oh hell no. They were busy, so Roxy turned to head toward the back so she could get changed and get to work.