Let me in

Chapter 5 : A hint of anger.

"He didn't really say that, did he?" Bobby asks with an incredulous and nervous smile, after having stopped coughing.

"It was well enough implied for everyone to understand." Answers Chimney, breathing another sigh. "I know it's horrible to say this because they are my girlfriend's parents and she's going to great lengths to make sure our child has grandparents present, but... I hate them." He ends up looking sheepish and guilty.

Hen tilts her head, curious, but a compassionate smile stretches her lips.

"Why that?" She asks for all of them.

Chimney thinks back to Nathan and his icy eyes, his arrogant, superior look, all the animosity between him and Buck, and Lisa's sharp, observant eyes.

"They're like... You know, those big lawyers you see at the movies, with their suits bent over, in their big, beautiful offices... The ones that impress you a little bit but that you..." He interrupts himself, looking for other words he hasn't already used.

But there are no other words.

"Hate a lot?" Hen finishes for him and he nods his head, shoulders slumped.

"They're intimidating and vicious and, my God, so arrogant. Their mother seems less... I don't know. But their father is... I don't even know how to describe him, but I definitely don't like him. But you know what the worst part is?" He asks, looking over his shoulder to make sure his brother-in-law isn't around.

"Tell us." Hen answers at once, before going back to eating.

"Buck." He says it out loud for the first time since dinner, and when they all look at him in bewilderment, he nods his head as if to say yes, you heard it.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asks, frowning, trying to appear less concerned than he actually is.

"It was like... Like I didn't recognize him. Like I was dealing with another person. It was so creepy." He grimaces as he remembered Buck's attitude.

Eddie remains silent. They all remain silent. Because, well, they weren't there. They can only imagine, and even trying, they can't really visualize Buck being anything but... Buck. Surely Chimney is overreacting.

Eddie knows, if there's one thing Buck and Chimney have in common, it's this.

"Have you talked to Maddie about this?" Bobby ends up asking.

Chimney laughs nervously.

"To tell her what? I'm sorry Maddie, but I don't like your parents at all, and your brother's fucking weird? No, no way. She doesn't need this, and they're leaving this weekend so we can all pretend this dinner never happened."

What was he saying? The art of overreacting.

Before anyone could say anything else, Buck reappeared, all smiles, before dropping onto the couch.

"Hen? Come get your ass kicked." He says, already with his hand on the joystick and his eyes glued to the TV screen.

Bobby opens his mouth, ready to reprimand him, but gives up with a sigh when Hen quickly swallows his last spoonfuls of cereal before rushing to join Buck.