Unexpected (MxM)

Chapter Sixteen- Selfish

Chapter Sixteen-

Moth

“This is ridiculous. I haven’t seen that asshole in years. I’m almost seventeen. Can’t I just live at home by myself?” I groan, sitting in an uncomfortable chair across from Angela. She’s a social worker and she’s assigned to my case.

“I understand your frustration and I do sympathize with your situation, but he is your father. He pays child support, and his name is on your birth certificate. Unless he does something that shows he isn’t capable of caring for you, our hands are tied. Your mother is not in a good place right now. I know you want to be with her, but she’s going to get the help she needs. Once she does you’ll be free to return here if that’s what you choose.”

She sits back in her chair and looks at me. I hate when people look at me like that. I half expected her to pinch my cheek and say ‘Poor little boy’. I don’t want pity from anyone. I’m old and mature enough to handle things like this. As far as I’m concerned, my life is pretty f*****g great.

“This is stupid. He’s a drunk. You’ll think he’ll do any better than my mom? At least she loves me.”

“You’re sixteen, Timothy. You know right and wrong by now. Having drugs around a child is not right. The condoms in your room also indicate that you’ve been intimate with your boyfriend. Since you’re sixteen we wouldn’t normally be concerned about it, but your mother mentioned that he’s only fifteen, right? He hasn’t reached the age of consent yet. You’re lucky his parents aren’t cruel or they could have a case against you.”

“I have a sneaking suspicion that they’d rather call CPS and force me to move thousands of miles away. You think you’re so smart, don’t you? First of all, for all you know, I could’ve been f*****g someone else. Who’s to say I’m not cheating? Second, I have no idea what drugs you’re talking about and lastly,” I lie, crossing my arms over my chest to narrow my eyes at her. I’ve wanted to pull this rich kid card since I realized my brother is getting railed every night by someone with a law degree. “I want my lawyer.”

“This isn’t an interrogation. They found weed in your house that easily could’ve been accessed by you or any other kids that have been in your house. What’s done is already done. Nothing you say now will change the outcome.”

“I think it’s none of your f*****g business what my mom or I do.” I snap at her. “I have stuff to do. Can’t you just call me or come by my brother’s house later?”

“During the proceedings of the investigation, you’re welcome to stay with a relative or friend, but it should only last about a day. I’m sorry. I do feel for you, but it might be time to contact your father and discuss plans for moving.”

I stand up and straighten my clothes with a little sigh. “I’ll see myself out then. You have my brother’s address.”

I leave the room and start walking down the hall, stopping in my tracks when I see Fizzle and Andrew waiting there for me. Fizzle notices me and rushes over, throwing his arms around me in a hug. I hug him back, putting my arms around his shoulders because he’s shorter than I am.

“I’m sorry. They wouldn’t let us see you until you finished talking with someone. We canceled our plans for tonight so we could stay with you. We’re trying to figure something out but it might take a while to find a way for you to stay with us.” He explains, pulling away to look at me.

Andrew walks over too and sighs. “I pulled some strings and found out who called about it. Word of advice, next time you get a boyfriend, make sure his parents don’t hate your guts.”

“Can we stop by their house? I need to see Frankie.” I mumble. I don’t care if Sawyer and Teagan are the ones who reported my mom. That doesn’t have anything to do with Frankie and it won’t change how much I love him either.

“Sure. You know they’re not going to like it though.”

“I don’t care.”

Andrew leads us out of the building and once we’re in his car, he drives us to the house.

I can’t help but feel my nerves get worse as we get closer to the house. I can usually control my anxiety but it’s hard when I know everyone close to Frankie wants him as far away from me as possible. Am I that bad? Am I making his life worse?

No. I can’t let myself think that way. Frankie isn’t a baby. He’s mature and smart. He can make those decisions for himself, and I know he wants me.

I barely give them time to park before jumping out of the truck and running up to their door. I don’t bother knocking either. I walk right in, stopping when all of the heads turn to me.

It’s like a battle. I have to defeat the final boss before I can win and right now, I don’t see how I can beat Sawyer on my own. I guess what sucks about all of this is that I know that I’m still legally a child. For that reason, I don’t get a say in what happens to me.

It only takes a second for Sawyer to give out his orders. “Will, take the kids upstairs and try to keep Frankie distracted. I don’t think his situation needs to get any worse.”

Will obeys, picking up Carson while Julian carries Alistair up the steps. I notice the little smile he gives me, so I return it. At least one of them knows I’m not the devil incarnate.

“Who’s here?” Teagan asks, walking into the room to stand by Sawyer. He looks at me and nods curtly like he expected me to show up at some point.

“I just want to see Frankie.”

“I think it’s best you don’t.” Sawyer crosses his arms over his chest.

“He’s not Repunzel. You can’t keep him locked away from the world forever. He wants to be with me.” I explain, doing the best I can to convince him. What’s done is already done. It’s not like I can ask him to take back the report he made, but I can at least spend my last couple of days here with Frankie.

“He’s a child who makes stupid decisions. Frankly, I don’t care what he wants. Dogs want chocolate, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for them. Somebody has to make the hard decisions, and if that means I’m the bad guy then fine. You can hate me all you want, but you’re not going to take him from me.”

Andrew laughs softly once he and Fizzle walk inside. “You’re kidding, right? You went through all of this just so you can keep control over a kid who’s pulling away from you. You’ve convinced yourself it’s all Moth’s fault that you’re a bad parent-”

“I’d tread lightly if I were you,” Teagan warns him.

I feel like I can hold my own in arguments with adults, but the way those two glare at each other makes everyone else in the room seem so much smaller. I couldn’t even imagine trying to intrude on their conversation now. However, part of me feels so happy that I have a person sticking up for me. My parents were never around to back me up and Fizzle would’ve rather been anywhere but with me.

I’m trying to grow up and stop feeling so hurt by all of that, but sometimes I still see him the way I did before. I still imagine him covered in cuts and bruises yelling at me to leave him alone. I still think about how I’d sit outside his bedroom door hoping that he’d open it and give me the attention I so badly wanted. He’s not like that anymore. Now he’s the one begging for scraps of my attention, but I still feel like a hopeless little kid when I’m with him.

“I’ll tread how I want, thanks. Besides, we all know you’re nothing but his little lap dog so this conversation doesn’t include you, does it? You know, the guy I met in college wouldn’t ruin a kid’s life because of some stupid vendetta. Do you want to change your morals for some dumb blonde b***h? He’s a neurotic control freak. Maybe if he was better in bed, I’d ignore that part, but I’m willing to bet that he’s not as tight as he was before he got f****d by the duo again.”

Andrew fights dirty. He weaves around the rules and strikes below the belt to get a reaction out of people. I’ve seen him do it before. He talks people to the brink of blowing up, and when they finally do, he treats them like they’re being overdramatic and he’s being calm. It’s not the best personality trait, but I’m sure he’s picked up some tricks from being a defense attorney. He practically got paid to exploit people’s emotions and get them to lose their composure on the stand.

Teagan glares and moves to step forward, but Sawyer squeezes his hand tightly. His face is red, reminding me of Frankie. Their skin is so light, they don’t get the luxury of hiding their embarrassment. Despite his physical reaction, he keeps a straight face.

“It’s fine, Teagan. Don’t let him bait you. Andrew, that isn’t something we should be talking about in front of a kid. Moth, you can go see him, but as soon as this conversation is over, you need to leave.”

Once I hear that, I waste no time heading up the steps to his room. I hear his sweet voice through the door once I’m at the top of the steps and walk closer to his room. “Why can’t I go? He’s here, isn’t he? I just want to see him, Will.”

“Sawyer said no. Look, you’re the i***t who keeps making terrible decisions. I’m trying to stick by you for the bro code, but you don’t want to end up like that. He’s flunking out of school, his parents don’t love him, and five years from now he’s not going to be on a stage playing music for people. He’s going to be homeless or in jail.”

“Shut up! You don’t know anything about him. You never even tried to get to know him. All of you are so heartless and shallow. Let go! You’re hurting me.”

I open his door quickly and glare when I see Will grabbing his wrists to keep him from leaving. He glares at me and groans. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Frankie snatches his hands away and comes closer to me. He stands in front of me for a minute, tears forming in his eyes again.

“Don’t cry,” I whisper, stepping closer to hold him. I wrap one arm around his waist and put the other in his hair to tuck his head in the crook of my neck. “I would never blame you for any of this, you know? You aren’t Sawyer and his actions could never change how much I love you.”

Frankie sniffles and hugs me tighter before pulling back when he processes my words. He looks at me curiously. “Sawyer’s actions?”

My body goes still, realizing that I may have just said something I shouldn’t have. He doesn’t know yet. He doesn’t know that Sawyer was the one who caused this. When the realization hits him, his face morphs from sadly confused to furious.

Frankie pulls away from me, turning around to leave his room and storm down the stairs. s**t.

“Frankie, wait…” I follow quickly after him, almost tripping over myself trying to keep up. Sawyer and Andrew are still bickering with Teagan seething quietly next to Sawyer and Fizzle glued to Andrew’s side.

Frankie doesn’t bother to listen to their conversation before speaking, screaming straight at Sawyer without a hint of hesitation. “What the f**k is wrong with you?”

Sawyer rolls his eyes and sighs in annoyance. I guess to him Frankie’s feelings are a nuisance. “Go back upstairs. The adults are trying to have a conversation.”

“Do you not care at all? You’re ruining lives, Sawyer! Do you not remember what it was like when we got taken away from you? How terrible of a person do you have to be to put someone through something like this? All you ever want to do is control me. I am not your puppet.” Frankie insists, ignoring Sawyer when he tries to interrupt.

“Franklin, this conversation is over-”

“I’m not finished talking! I don’t care if you don’t like him. It doesn’t matter if he’s here or not because he’s not the problem. You are. You treat me like a baby and you never listen to what I have to say. You destroy every bit of happiness I get, and you ignore how I feel anytime it’s not convenient for you. I wish you never adopted me! It’s embarrassing to be related to you. God, I can’t believe I ever looked up to you. I used to think you were the coolest person I’ve ever met and then I grew up and figured out that you’re nothing but an insecure b***h! Is that why you’re trying so desperately to live through me? I don’t care what you want for me and my life or what you went through in school. That’s not your choice to make. You’re so selfish!” His screaming seems to stun everyone into silence as tears unapologetically pour out of his eyes.

I didn’t mean to tell him. I thought he knew.

Sawyer bites his bottom lip to keep it from trembling and reaches his hand up to gingerly wipe the few small tears that came to his eyes. “I called CPS.”

“Wow, really? I wouldn’t have guessed.” Frankie snaps back. I know his emotions are running high, but I’ve never seen him so fearless in front of Sawyer before.

Teagan turns to him and squeezes his hand. “You don’t have to if you’re not ready.”

Sawyer shakes his head and meets Frankie’s eyes before continuing. “On us, Frankie. When I was sixteen, I was taking care of you guys on my own. They dropped Lottie in my lap, and I was just starting to realize that Julian wasn’t as normal as other kids his age. You and Will were always into arguments. I thought I couldn’t handle it, but our parents refused to come back home. I reported us to CPS so I wouldn’t have to do it anymore. I started failing my classes and I couldn’t get you all to school and daycare on time. We never had any money so I had to work every waking moment I wasn’t with you. There were days I had to bring Lottie to work or school with me because nobody else could take care of her. I gave up everything to take care of you guys. I dropped out of school, turned down every person who was ever interested in me, worked multiple jobs, and spent every cent I made on you guys. You think that’s selfish?” He starts, sighing heavily and sitting down on the couch. With everyone else standing, he seems smaller now, and it shows on his face how exhausted he is with this conversation.

“I gave up and I let them take you away, but I got us back together again. I don’t know if you missed it because you were so little, Franks, but it’s not like my life has been any easier than yours. After everything I’ve done for you, you owe me the respect I’ve earned. After all that, you want to throw away the opportunities that I gave up everything to provide you with? And for what? Some stupid kid who can’t even be bothered to show up to class? You can hate me if you want. I nag you all the time, I put too much pressure on you, my expectations are too high, my punishments are too harsh, and I’m a neurotic control freak, but you’re my kid, and I’d rather die with you hating me than let you end up like me.”

Frankie wipes his face, and now that everything’s out in the open, everyone else is left silent. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Andrew at a loss for words.

After composing himself Frankie looks at Sawyer and takes a deep breath, his words coming out soft as if he’s scared to hear the answer. “Do you regret it? Do you regret getting us back?”

Sawyer looks up at him and stands again to walk closer, wrapping his arms around Frankie who stands still, not bothering to hug him back. “Of course not. Every sliver of doubt I have is crushed when I see how all of you turned out. I’m glad I got to raise you. It makes me smile every time I see Will win a game or Noel on a magazine cover. I know I suck at showing it but I’m proud of you, Frankie. Every time you get an A, do a project or finish a book, it kills any regret I feel.”

He pulls away and turns to me, letting the guilt seep into his expression. “I’m sorry. I don’t hate you. I just don’t think you’re good for him, and I know there’s nothing I can do to keep you apart. Even when you guys broke up, I knew you were seeing each other. He only cried the first night, so I knew something was up. I need you out of his life, and I know the only way to do that is to keep you apart.”

“That’s fine. It won’t last long.” I assure him, reaching out to squeeze Frankie’s hand. I promised I’d leave once the conversation was over, so I kiss Frankie’s cheek sweetly before letting go and walking back towards Fizzle and Andrew. “I’m like bed bugs. You’ll never get rid of me. While I’m gone though, maybe you should try to think more about what Frankie wants for himself instead of what you want for him. It seems to me like you are the way you are because nobody ever cared what you wanted. Now you’re doing the same thing to him. That’s not preventing him from being like you, Sawyer. That’s turning him into you.”

“Moth?” Frankie mumbles, without moving from his spot. He knows there’s nothing he can do about this whole situation. “I love you.”

Andrew and Fizzle start to walk out of the door, prompting me to shuffle after them. I don’t want to leave, but I know I have to. It’s okay though. I know I’ll be with him eventually. “I love you too.”