Kenzie Novak (howtobeme) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-10-01 18:23:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | 04-11-2017, avery, avery and patrick, patrick |
Cut the Crap
Who: Patrick and Avery
Where: Patrick’s
When: Morning
It was early morning when Avery got up and quickly got ready for school. She didn’t bother with breakfast, since her stomach was in knots about what was going to happen in several hours. She worried about Lochlan, and Patrick. And she worried about Eli, for Finn’s sake. It was scary, not knowing what would, or could, happen. With her shoulder bag in place, Avery walked over to Patrick’s. She would hopefully see Lochlan soon, though she was afraid if she hugged him she would be more than a little reluctant to let him go.
Sighing, Avery brushed her hair back from her face and knocked loudly. She didn’t visit Patrick as often as she should, and she mostly saw him at the bar when she was working, but he was still her cousin and she still loved him so… Avery was able to recognize when it was important to say it.
Patrick was toying with the idea of eating something. It wasn't coming out in favor of actually consuming anything, though, because his stomach wasn't much better. He looked up at the knock on the door and headed to it, opening it to see Avery there. He was a little surprised, but mostly just because they didn't visit with each other as often as he thought they should have. He was sure it was his fault, always consumed with something else, but she was here now. "Hey there," He said, giving her a little smile because that was what you did when family showed up, right? "…Heading off to school?"
"Something like that." Avery shrugged, because she wasn't sure how long she actually planned on staying there. She had way too much on her mind to pay much attention to school work. "Can I come in for a second before I have to go?" She peered around him curiously. "Darcy's not here, is she?"
"Course you can come in. You're always welcome," He said, stepping to the side to let her in the house. "No, Darcy's not here…and I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that, but since you brought it up…" He said, looking back at Avery with eyebrows lifted a little. "What the hell is going on between you two?"
Avery adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder and stepped into the house before giving Patrick a look. Since he, of all people, was asking her that question, Avery was guessing that Darcy had already been around to complain about one thing or another regarding Avery. "I just asked if she was here. But since you asked, nothing's going on. Darcy is Darcy. Why? What did she say?" This wasn’t exactly what she wanted to talk about, he was right about that, but Avery didn’t want Patrick thinking Avery was causing problems.
"Look, I'm just trying to figure out why my cousins are at ends with each other, that's all." Patrick started toward the kitchen and nudged his head to get her to follow him. "And you asking if she's here means that you're aware there's some shit going down between you two, so let's cut the crap?" He offered, looking back at her with another lifted eyebrow. "I just wanna know what's going on between the two of you."
Rolling her eyes, Avery wanted to respond with something sarcastic and biting, but… now probably wasn’t the time. She followed Patrick to the kitchen instead and huffed softly. “Okay, crap cutting to commence,” Avery said. “Darcy doesn’t like me. I’m tired of living with her, because all we do is bitch at each other. She makes me feel like crap, and I just want to be with my brother. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Patrick wasn't about to be able to begin understanding the nuances of Avery and Darcy's relationship. Teenage girls weren't his speciality, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. "But you guys are family. Family fights, but in the end blood is thicker than water. There's nothing you two can do to get on the same page? When did you and Darcy decide that this was going to be the best idea?" He didn't want it to sound like he wasn't willing to listen to Avery's side of the story too.
"I'm not saying we'll stop being family. It's Darcy who's made it pretty clear that she hates her family, including me. I asked her the other day if we could try to get along and be friends and she blew me off." Avery paused and brushed her hair from her cheek. "I just don't know what the point is, living with someone you can't get along with."
Patrick listened again and nodded. "Well, family is family, whether you like each other or not. And if you two want to come over here and talk to each other about all of this…" He said, gesturing to her and an invisible Darcy beside her. "Then my house is your house. I don't want my family at ends with each other. Not now."
Avery wondered if Patrick realized just how difficult Darcy could be. Avery knew she wasn’t perfect, but at least she had given it a try more than Darcy ever had. “It’s impossible to talk to her,” Avery said simply. “And I think Darcy’s words were something like… just because we’re family doesn’t mean we have to be friends. So, that’s that. She doesn’t like me, and she doesn’t trust me, and I’m not going to keep putting myself out there so she can cut me down. It’s not like I don’t love her or anything, we’re just not friends and we’re never going to be friends.”
Patrick sighed, running a hand through his hair. Yeah, this was the last thing he even really knew how to approach. He didn't want to take sides, but the image of Darcy being kicked out of her house was still prevalent in his mind. "Look, I think you two need to come over here and talk it out. Somewhere neutral." He moved to sit down at the small table with two glasses of water with him. "Pretty sure you didn't drop by to have me bombard you with questions about it, but I think you should come over here and just talk to each other."
Avery breathed in deep, wishing she knew what Darcy had poisoned Patrick's mind with, and why he thought it was so necessary for Avery and Darcy to talk at all And with him around. "I guess," she said with a soft sigh. "I just don't get why it's a big deal. I'm not making her leave the house, or making things difficult. I just wanted to live with Lochlan, who actually tolerates me. You know what happens if you try to get Darcy and me to talk with you around? It becomes the Darcy Show. Poor Darcy. Even though she doesn't even try to hide the fact that we all ruin her life just by existing, she gets to whine and everyone will coddle her. It won't matter that I've tried talking to her. It won't matter that I wanted to try and get along so we could be friends. She can blow me off, make me feel like crap but how dare I possibly want to get away from that? It'll just be all about her and I'll be the bad guy." Avery paused to suck in a breath, because she hadn't meant to go off on a tangent, but the frustration had become too overwhelming. Avery shook her head and wiped her eyes quickly. "I'm just... it doesn't matter. I didn't come over here for that. I just wanted to see you before tonight."
…Yup. This had never been easy for Patrick and he sure as hell felt real awkward right now. He didn't know what to say and realized he needed to get better at this if he was going to adequately lead this family. But maybe not right now. Not tonight. And the only thing he could think of was a way to get her mind off of this topic, which was to start talking about the topic she'd come here for. "You came to see me before tonight, huh?" He repeated, giving her a small smile. "That's really nice of you. You're staying in tonight, aren't you?"
Avery was massively relieved, and grateful, that Patrick hadn’t pushed the subject of Darcy. Avery was, frankly, sick and tired of talking about her other cousin. She was starting to think if she scowled and hated her family so blatantly, then maybe she would get the sympathy Darcy seemed to get by doing the same thing. Releasing a breath, Avery nodded and managed to smile faintly. “Don’t think I have much of a choice, do I? Where are you going to be?”
"At the pound, I guess," He said, the joke morbidly amusing to him. "Where they built those cages. I guess I'll be there. Haven't come up with a better idea myself, even though I'm not so sure tossing us all together in one area is going to be the best idea. But at least it's something, and keeps us away from you guys which is the most important part."
The pound. Avery snickered, despite the fact that the subject wasn’t terribly funny. But she kind of liked that he had a sense of humor about it, like Lochlan. Just a much drier kind. “A bunch of werewolves in cages, around one another… yeah, sounds like it could be a really bad idea. Aren’t there like… alphas when it comes to, uh… wolves? What if you all want to kill each other and the cages don’t hold up?” She shook her head and began to nibble nervously at her fingernail. “Maybe having family around with help… like, calm you? I don’t know… before Lochlan told me what happened, I never thought werewolves existed.”
Patrick shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine on all this stuff, though I will tell you that the Alpha thing? I think that might actually be real, if this is all real and not just some weird joke. There were a couple of us when we all met and I've met an arrangement with one of them but I haven't tracked the other one down yet. I think having Lochlan there will help, but it's too dangerous for the rest of you. We don't even know how the…whole thing will go just yet."
She bit her lip thoughtfully, feeling a deeper concern work it’s way through her system, burying deep and causing mild distress, even if she tried to hide it from Patrick. Avery was scared, but she had a feeling maybe Patrick was too, even if he didn’t seem it. “Just… be careful? I know you will, but… just come back in the morning, that’s all.” More than anything, she wanted to ask him to watch out for Lochlan too, but Avery knew that Patrick would. She hurried over to hug her cousin tightly. She wasn’t really one for physical affection unless it was her brother, but it felt right.
And even for Patrick, it felt nice. He wasn’t one for physical affection either but it was actually really comforting to feel it right now. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his head to the top of her head. “You be safe tonight,” He said, squeezing her shoulders again before pulling back. “...and I won’t tell anyone if you wanna skip school today. Crazy day and all.”
Avery couldn’t help but grin a little. Patrick giving her permission to skip school struck her as funny for some reason, and she squeezed him before letting him go. “It’s okay. I’d rather go and try to let boring lectures and stuff distract me. I’ll just sit around and worry if I stay.” Releasing a small sigh, Avery smiled at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, when you’re home.”
Patrick nodded, also understanding the need for a distraction. "See you tomorrow," He said, hoping it sounded enough like the truth that she wouldn't be worried. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring for him but he was hoping it wouldn't be something bad.