Strings || Jasper Hale

Prologue

Until the age of four, Creed Monk had consistently lived with his mother. That was not to say he did not love his mother, as all sons have strong feelings in that department, but it was much more complicated than it seemed. He had managed to find contentment in his circumstances as they began to change. Privilege couldn't fix everything.

     Family wasn't something that he took lightly at all, especially as his was larger than most. He had a mother, three father figures, two brothers and a sister. There was a person for everything, and he could hardly feel alone. Yet, somehow, he did.

     Whilst his mother, Renée, was rather good at managing her fifteen year old son, she did always find a way to make him feel awkward. For the last thirteen years or so, he had been in a semi-permanent state of living in Phoenix, Arizona. Now he was moving, even if it was his own choice, it was hard to know how to cope.

     His young mother had finally started dating after the horror affair with his father. Phil Dwyer was the first man she had loved since, and because he had just moved in, and they were getting married next month, Creed decided now was the time to go. They were happy together, and he was more than happy for her; it was nice to see an example of a healthy relationship somewhere in his family.

     Phil was an amateur baseball player, so he moved a lot. He was postponing everything for the moment just so that he could be with Renée. Creed admired him for that, and possibly that alone.

     Sometimes, it felt like his mother was trying to hard to make Phil someone he wasn't. He wasn't Creed's biological dad, because he was a wanderer, and frankly a scumbag. He wasn't Creed's adoptive dad as he lived halfway across the country. He wasn't even Creed's stepdad, yet. Phil was just a man who lived in the same house as him.

     Since he was moving, he only had a few options, because he didn't even know where his father was... the guess was Ireland, but that really was just a guess. His brothers, perhaps, but he didn't want to put that pressure on them. The only other option was his adoptive dad, Renée's ex-husband, and his half-sister's father. When he emailed about the possibility, Charlie jumped at the chance. He was a modern day saint.

     Despite Forks, Washington being a place of constant rain, underneath a deep shadowy cloud, Creed knew it was the right decision. The heat of Phoenix was far too much for him, and he could already see Renée wanting to travel with Phil in the near future. At least this way he didn't have to start school half way through the year. At least he wouldn't burn anymore; redheads scarcely tanned anyway. 

     He liked to use it as one of his excuses for never leaving the house. Renée had expressed her discontent with Creed's antisocial habits on many occasions. As much as she had tried to change him, she couldn't. He was as stubborn as she was.

     It was okay that he wasn't a people person. Maybe that was something he'd gotten from Charlie. Every other summer had been spent in Forks growing up, and some Christmases. Perhaps he'd rubbed off on him a little more than they'd expected.

     Music was much better company than people, anyway. It was the thing which connected him to others. It was the way he could translate his emotions, without having to speak. Music gave him a serenity he craved.

     His instruments were the most powerful things he owned, by a mile. One string could make a noise to move an audience of thousands. If he were more confident, he might have pursued it already. But he wasn't. And he wouldn't. He was content enough to play whenever he wanted to.