Chapter 16: Hot Water

Finn's POV

They say that blood is thicker than water. And I've always stood by that. I've always thought that no love was ever a match from the love that your family provides you. Or so I thought.

Every single day ever since the first night I heard my mom and dad arguing that week, very early hours in the morning, I would always hear something break somewhere in the house and then arguments, each getting louder day by day.

"You have no empathy!" 

"And you can't realize he's just milking you for money! He never loved you!"

"You don't know anything, Rick! You weren't me when we were together, you weren't the one when he'd always tell me that he loved-"

"I don't wanna hear that again!"

*SLAP*

And then the next night would be the same, just different topic to fight about.

"Lower your voice, you're gonna wake up Finn!" 

"I only will if you stop seeing that damned asshole!"

"I'm not your possession, I can go wherever I want!"

"Not near that criminal-"

*SLAP*

"I'm not gonna let you disrespect him!"

And then a glass would usually shatter.

It went like that for four days straight. Until this very particular night it went differently.

"Rick, stop it!" I heard my mom yell and then a door slammed close which made me jump. My heart was beating so fast. I was scared. I didn't know what my mom or dad could do to each other.

I forced my eyes shut but the tears in them managed to reach my tear duct. Everything was quiet which brought some peace to me but it didn't last long.

"If you're so adamant about what you want to do. Then get out of my house. OUT!" 

My dad's deep voice was on full blast right now. He didn't even try to suppress it like they would always do. It's like he's on his breaking point. I then realized what he just said which made me stand up. 

I walked down the stairs just as my dad drop a bag on the door with my mom outside, her face morphed in scowl but I could see the tears streaming down her face which broke my heart to pieces. It was a sight I never wish to recall.

"Come back when you've actually used your brain." My dad said before slamming the door shut. 

I watched as my dad slumped against the wall beside the door, tears streaming down his face and his expression hurt. Once he opened his eyes, he noticed me standing nearby which made him stand up in a hurry.

"Finn... What are you doing still awake? Y-You have school tomorrow." He said, hurriedly wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt as he forced himself to smile... like everything was fine.

I couldn't help but let the tears from my eyes fall down. My dad was the type of man who would want to be the stronger one, he was the kind of man who wanted to take care of everyone instead of being the one taken care of. But there's only so much one person could handle. I've never seen him so vulnerable, hell, I've never seen him cry.

"I heard you two every night." I said.

His smile slowly faded before more tears spewed from his face. "I..." He tried to form a word but he couldn't.

I approached him and gave him the tightest embrace I think I might've given him ever and soon I felt his arms weakly wrap around me.

"Dad. It's okay to cry." I said as I pat his back.

He pulled away to stand up straighter. "Finn, you're supposed to be sleeping."

"No dad, I know what you went through and I'm gonna be there with you. Please." I pleaded. 

He looked like he was debating with himself but he shortly nodded. I led him to the kitchen and sat him down on one of the chairs. I poured him a glass of water to which he finished in one go. 

"Heh, I should be the one taking care of you. I'm your father." He joked.

I let a smile on my face. "Nah. You said it yourself, you're my dad. The strongest man I know, the scariest man I know, and the most caring man I know. But you get weak too, I know that." 

"Look at my boy, all grown up and wise." 

As he settled the glass on the table, he winced and then I only noticed his bleeding hand.

"Oh my God. What happened?" I said while rushing over to the emergency kit in one of the cabinets.

"I think I broke a glass again." He said before wincing again.

I sat down and immediately started on his wound. The moment hit me with deja vu, recalling the last time I was with Oliver. He cleaned my wound when I cut my hand open. 

"Son, I know there's something bothering you. What is it?"

"Dad, stop worrying about me, worry about yourself." I scolded him.

"Okay, okay. But you're gonna have to tell me tomorrow." 

We were into silenced as I wrap up the used cotton and threw it away. And obviously, we haven't addressed what just happened. And I honestly didn't expect my dad to answer any of my questions.

"So... Are you gonna tell me what happened?" I asked.

He ran his good hand over his face exasperatedly and I only realized how tired he looked, there were dark circles under his eyes, his eyelids were hanging and there were crease lines on his forehead.

"Your mom's been giving money to... this asshole she used to date in high school for the past month now. You know, it would've been completely fine for her to do that if it was any other ex but no, not in this case. That ex beat her up several times in high school and yet she continues to insist that that criminal loved her. That man went to jail eleven times! Why can't she see that he's totally taking advantage of her kindness?" He said before pinching the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

I nodded just as he finished. "Dad, you should know mom more than anyone now. Her heart is made of gold. She's overly gracious all the time. Remember that one time in that park, she almost gave away all of her money to a homeless person but you stopped her from that just in time."

A smile made its way onto his face. "Yeah... We wouldn't have been able to go home if she gave all her cash away." His smile faded as he returned to reality. "I was just so tired of her defending that man and wasting our hard earned money just to send it to that man... so I just kicked her out of the house. I contacted your aunt to pick her up just so she's safe."

"Is she actually safe now?"

"Yeah, your aunt told me she's in their place already." 

I took a deep breath. "Wow... I never knew that that happened." I said, slumping back on my chair, completely frozen. I would be completely lying if I said that I was fine by hearing that. I was obviously scared for my mom's safety. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of what's gonna happen next.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. I shouldn't be bothering you with adult problems. It's almost four in the morning. Go to bed." 

"But-"

"But nothing. I'm still your dad, and I'm telling you to go to bed."

I pouted like a child before giving my father a tight embrace again.

He gave me a kiss on the head. "Love you kiddo." He muttered.

"Love you too, dad." I said before walking away and into my room.

The moment I was sure that my door was locked, I plopped down on my bed as sobs escaped past my lips.

I was scared. The thought of losing the only family that I've ever had, the happy family I once had, it terrified me. I was afraid that my mom and dad were never gonna make up. I knew that they sometimes had arguments, but I never realized it was that bad. I couldn't help but cry. 

Damn, I felt so fucking weak. I wanted to do something so that my family would be together but I felt so helpless.

Everything was falling apart. I've been betraying my best friend who's been there for me. I've been picking fights with Oliver, one of the only nice people in the school that actually gave a damn about me. And now... I couldn't even keep my mom and dad together.

I just wanted everything to end. I wanted everything to be okay when I woke up. I wanted things to be the way they used to be. I wanted everything to just be a nightmare I could wake up from. But I knew it wasn't that easy. I wasn't sure how things were gonna look up. If they ever will.

So I slept that night with tears in my eyes.

. . .

I looked at my watch as it turned three o'clock, the time when Oliver would be done with practice. 

After our argument last Monday, I insisted on working separately since I didn't have the guts to look at him or else, my guilt would just keep eating on me. So we just worked in our own homes but on this particular day, I felt numb, so I didn't care who I saw or talked to.

Oliver turned the corner and his face morphed into a surprised one when his eyes landed on me. As he got closer, he examined my face.

"I thought you wanted to work separately?" 

I shrugged absentmindedly. "I figured we'd finish the last one faster together."

He gave me one more look before unlocking his car for me to enter.

. . .

I was on the other side of his room while he was on his computer, typing in all the necessary stuff. I was, once again, in charge of cutting the construction paper and I was careful this time so that Oliver wouldn't need to bandage me up again. This was a great distraction from all the shit that was happening in my life, just cutting paper, doing calligraphy and hot-gluing stuff. 

"Finn, I don't have the time for your silent-treatment now. If you didn't want to do it, then you shouldn't have came here. I can't deal with you right now." Oliver said in a very annoyed tone that it caught me off guard.

"Wait what?" I said, just as my vision refocused.

Oliver frowned at me. "Were you seriously not listening to what I just said? I was asking you if the second section is still gonna be printed?" He asked impatiently.

I wish I knew what he was talking about.

"Huh?" I asked again, I had no recollection what he was talking about.

Oliver just huffed and turned back to his computer, completely ignoring me.

I once again was drowned into my thoughts. Regrettably recalling the events that took place last night. Wondering how my mom was doing. She's a very kind woman, she was the kind of woman who would be at your back at all times just in case you fell. The kind of woman who would sacrifice everything just to see you smile and she's extremely affectionate. Unfortunately, people are absolute monsters and they would take advantage of you every chance they get. And unfortunately, my mom's kindness didn't work for her favor this time. It made me sad. Because of her kindness, she let her ex abuse her, mentally, emotionally and physically, just imagining what she went through made me want to cry.

"Finn!"

I looked up at the person calling my name just to see Oliver there, his expression worried.

"Holy- why do you look like that?" He blurted out which seriously hurt my feelings. "I-I didn't mean. I just meant you look like you haven't slept in days. Are you okay? You've been zoning out too." He said, the usual softness of his voice was back, it didn't sound cold and dry like the one I've been hearing for the past week.

He pulled me up to my feet and sat me down on his bed.

"Your skin is also really cold and you look pale. Finn, are you okay?"

The warmth of his voice was so inviting, it's like I can just be open and honest in front of him. And the fact that he still cared for me while I've been a complete ass to him, it made me feel so terrible. My vision started to turn blurry, my voice getting caught in my throat. Before he could see me cry, I buried my face in his chest. His arms immediately went around me, wrapping me in a warm embrace I've seriously been longing for forever.

"There, there. You're gonna be okay, I'm here." 

His scent was welcoming and friendly and I'm happy it was. It reminded me of the better times. I felt his hands behind my back, rubbing it soothingly which kind of calmed me down. After a while, my sobs began to fade and it was just tears on my face. I laid my head on his shoulder as he continued to stroke my hair.

I lifted my head to look at him. And I was so relieved to see that it was finally the Oliver I've always known that I'm seeing, his eyes were warm and empathetic. 

"Are you okay, Finn?" 

"Yeah, I'm just..." I couldn't finish the sentence, I heaved a sigh and dropped my hands to my lap.

"Please tell me what's going on, I wanna help you." 

I wiped at my eyes. "It's... family drama." I said with a sad smile as Oliver left me on the bed. He grabbed the glass of water on his desk and gave it to me to which I accepted gratefully. 

"Oh I'm so sorry. I wish I could do anything." 

I just grabbed his hand and I instantly felt him squeeze mine which was what I just needed as I finished the glass of water. 

"It's fine, Oliver. Not everything's within your control and I already appreciate you comforting me right now, really.

"Tell you what. You can stay here for a while more. Forget the project. We can eat baked goods and drink some tea by the pool." He offered with an encouraging smile.

I let a smile play on my face. "That might have been the most British thing you've ever said." I joked.

"Frederick." He said in a stern and deep voice which he rarely let out.

I gasped playfully. "Who's Frederick?" I joked. 

He ruffled my hair as he stood up, stretching his body which caused his shirt to rise. I looked away before he could catch me staring and I knew that he did based on the laugh he let out.

"Come on, we don't want the food to be cold." He said before leaving me alone.

Before following him, my eyes subconsciously fell on his eye stand where one of the picture frames was facing down. 

And before my curiosity got the best of me, I followed Oliver out the room, feeling so much better with one less problem in my mind and with one more person to be there with me in these trying times.