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Devon's POV
"What can I help you with son?"
"Um, I'm here to pick up my father, Tony Washington. He just posted bail."
The police officer looked me over before grabbing a pair of keys. "Hang out right here, I'm going to go get him." She walked from behind her desk to a door that she knocked on twice before a buzzer is sounded, letting her through. I sat down on a chair by the door, resting my head on the wall. My eyes began to close and I considered resting them for awhile until the metal door opened again.
My father slugged through the door, rubbing his wrists. "Are you sober?" I asked standing up. "He better be. Come over here, I need you to take some paperwork." I followed the police officer back to her desk, whilst my father sat in the chair I had just gotten up from.
"Here, his release papers." She handed them to me, her face sympathetic.
Or maybe it was pity.
"You look pretty beat, are you alright getting home?"
A part of me wanted to leave him here, additionally leaving my problems here with him. "Yeah, I'll be okay. You have a good night." I grabbed the papers and walked out the door, nodding for my father to follow me. The air outside caused me to shiver, but not because it was cold. No, it was warm, probably around seventy-five degrees outside. But it was quiet, desolate.
Lonely.
"I'm sorry son." I could count on my fingers how many times he'd apologized to me, none of them being sincere. "Don't apologize to me, apologize to Rachel and her family when you get home." I didn't want empty apologizes. I was tired, I was embarrassed. All I wanted was to go home and sleep, try to pretend like tonight never happened.
"Actually, I was planning on staying in a hotel tonight, until everything cools down."
The nearest hotel was about thirty minutes from the police station, a drive I didn't want to commit to. "It's three in the morning, and I'm falling asleep as it is. You can stay at mom's house, but don't make me regret it." He didn't say anything, instead he turned his head to the window watching the black sky as we drove down the barren street.
The house was dark, and quiet when we arrived. Not wanting to wake anyone up, I had him kick off his shoes and leave them by the front door. I flipped on the kitchen light to find my mother sitting on a stool in front of the island, a cup of tea in her hand.
"Mom? What are you doing awake?" My father stood beside me, white as a ghost. "There's blankets in the closet, I want him out before Olivia wakes up do you understand?" She grabbed her cup and began walking to the stairs.
"Sandra wait! Can we talk?"
"What is there to talk about Tony? The fact that you had our son pick you up from jail? Or the fact that you got so drunk at a restaurant might I add, that you had to be removed from the premises huh? Which one of those topics did you want to discuss?"
She was livid and I didn't blame her, I would have been just as angry if I wasn't so fucking tired.
"Devon, can I talk to your mother please? Alone."
I threw my hands up, waving my white flag.
"Try not to be too loud."
I ran up the stairs and into my room, throwing my clothes off as soon as the door closes behind me. Summer lifted her head up from my bed, watching me walk over to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She had decided to spend the night at my house and would leave early in the morning so she'd be ready in time for work.
"No worries, I have to get up soon anyway. How's your dad?" She patted on the empty space next to her, wanting me to fill it. "He's downstairs." I kissed her forehead, throwing the covers over both of us. "Are you okay?" She knew I wasn't, she didn't even have to ask. "I'm tired." I yawned.
"Okay, goodnight."
She turned her back to me, burying her face in the pillow. "Summer?" Her head lifted, but she didn't fully turn around.
"I'm trying my best."
She faced me, grabbing my head and pulled it into her chest.
"I know."
And she held me like that, stroking the back of my head until sunlight poured into my window, forcing a new day onto us.
Hopefully a good one.
There's been a shortage of those lately.
Nine Hours Earlier
"Hope you're in the mood for Italian." I joked as we pulled up to the restaurant. Isabella's was where we were dining, one of the most expensive dining spots around.
"They even have valet parking." Summer said as her door opened. A man stuck out his hand helping her out of the car.
I handed my keys to the attendant who would be parking my car, thanking him for the service. "You swear this isn't too underwhelming?" Summer had been freaking out about her dress the entire car ride here. "Are you kidding? You look gorgeous." I took her hand and kissed it before I lead her inside the restaurant.
"Good Evening! Do you have reservations?" The host's smile almost looked programmed as she waited for my response.
"Uh, Summer and Devon, we should be under a reservation for the Whites."
She took a few seconds to scan her list before smiling back up at us. "Ah, yes! Please follow me to the V.I.P area."
V.I.P area?!
She lead us to a quieter section towards the back of the restaurant where only a few tables were filled. "Here you are." She gestured to a table in the center of the room and walked off, but not before flashing her robotic smile.
"Summer, Devon! I was beginning to think you weren't going to show." Tyler spoke, tapping on his father's arm. Little did he know I thought about staying home, but being treated to a meal wasn't the worst thing in the world.
"You know my sister of course, these are my parents, James and Laura White." The couple looked to us smiling, preparing their introductions.
"It's a pleasure to meet you son. I've heard good things about you, even heard you play a little ball. What's you position?" He straightened in his seat, maintaining eye contact.
"Quarterback sir."
His eyes were set a flame as he clappes his hands, whilst whistling a tune. "Thatta boy! Say, I have a few buddies from the league that might be interested in seeing you play, you any good?" His southern accent was thick and prominent, I'd assumed Rachel and Tyler were raised up north, due to their lack of one.
"I'd say I am yea." I tried my best to sound humble, Summer always told me my head was big enough.
Maybe this dinner wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Enough sports talk honey! Summer dear, I love that dress. You look stunning!" Laura chef kisses her hands, causing Summer to blush instantly. "Thank you, you look radiant as well." Laura laughed and played in her freshly blown out hair.
"Sugar, flattery gets you everywhere!" Summer giggled and glanced at me, eyes filled with relief. "Summer, I have to tell you the meeting today went great, my father loved your idea." Tyler smiled at Summer, raising his glass to her.
"Yes it was very impressive, good work. Tyler tells me you aren't interested in business full time, what a shame. Media First could use fresh ideas like yours."
"You went with the contest?" I asked.
"She did more than that son, she pitched a tablet suitable for all your graphic designing needs."
Summer looked up at me, eyes apologizing before her mouth could. "I'm sorry, I meant to tell you when I saw you but it didn't seem like the time."
"Don't worry about it, I'm proud of you." I knew Summer wasn't exactly jumping up and down over her internship so it was nice to see her adjusting well.
"I think you've had enough, our food hasn't even come out."
Everyone's attention was directed to the end of the table where Rachel was trying to cut my father off. "I'm fine, another glass won't hurt." He took a long sip of his wine, savoring every ounce of it.
Initially I wasn't overly concerned with my father's drinking, After all I wasn't unfamiliar with blacking out myself. But he'd been drunk so often recently I started to wonder if he was punishing himself, or medicating himself.
"She's right, you've had enough." I didn't want to be his babysitter, but I knew if he wasn't cut off soon I was going to end up responsible for him. "Am I your father? Or are you mine?" He scoffed and took another sip of his wine.
I'd also learned that alcohol made him even more of a Jackass.
"You wouldn't be able to tell from this scene." James stared my father down, his face dripping with disapproval. "Is this how you conduct yourself in public?" If my dad was trying to win over Rachel's parents he was failing miserably.
"I hope you both don't mind we ordered for the table, the chef is a family friend and he has a lovely new dish he wanted us to try." Laura tried to take the attention off my father who was becoming more irritable by the second.
"How exciting!" Summer cheers. She was a foodie at heart, so I knew she was bursting with excitement.
"Why don't you eat some bread huh?"
Rachel's tone was getting desperate as she tried to reason with her drunken boyfriend. "I'm not hungry." He tossed the basket to the side, knocking it off the table.
"You need to relax." Tyler's amusement was now annoyance. My father stood up swiping his drink off the table, glass and wine decorating the floor. "I'm getting real sick and tired of your smart ass mouth Tyler." His knuckles were white as he pressed them into the table.
"I think you've had too much to drink."
Tyler laughed finding amusement in the situation again, which only makes my father angrier.
"Come say it to my face like a man!" He jeered.
"How familiar, first you try and provoke your own son to fight and now me?" My eyes met Tyler's and I could have sworn I saw regret in them.
A plate was thrown to the ground, followed by a fork and a spoon. It wasn't long before security rushed over, apprehending my father escorting him to the back exit.
"This is the man you want to marry Rachel?"
"He wasn't like this when we met! I'm afraid he has a drinking problem." Her voice trailed off as she hung her head, a tear falling to the table.
I guess I wasn't the only one who had been ignoring the obvious.
"You think?" Tyler's voice was filled with sarcasm.
"Oh you're loving this aren't you!? You never wanted to accept Tony in the first place!" Rachel directed all her frustration to her brother, now that the source was being hauled away. "I'm not a fan of him no, but I don't find joy out of your misery Rachel." His smile was gone, replaced by sincerity.
To top the night off, police sirens were soon heard from outside. We all rushed to see what was happening with the exception of James and Laura who stayed back to talk to management.
"We're going to need you all to go back inside." A male police officer commanded as he shoved my father into the back seat of his car.
"I'm his son. Why is he being arrested?"
"Drunk and disorderly, disrupting the peace, damaging property, do you want me to continue?" The attitude was uncalled for but I guess I'd be pretty upset if I had to fight with a drunk guy too.
He got in his car and drove off while another officer went inside to examine the scene. James and Laura soon joined us outside and Rachel rushed to her mother's arms.
"I'm sorry." I knew it wasn't my fault but I felt like someone should apologize.
"It's not your fault son. I'll post his bail after he sits in there and sobers up that is. You two kids go home and try and relax for the time being." James called for the valet to bring both of our cars over and waited on the curb for them to arrive.
"Hey Devon!" Tyler ran over to me, glasses falling off of his face. "I'm not in the mood right now." He threw up his hands and blew air out of his mouth.
"I mean no harm! I just wanted to see if you were good."
"I bet you are, this is what you wanted right?" I felt the wind from my car behind me and the door soon opened, the valet waiting for me to climb in.
"I'm gonna go wait in the car. I'll see you at work Tyler." Summer squeezed my arm before she got in the car, thanking the man who held the door open for her. "Contrary to your beliefs, I find no joy in the misery of others. Your father included. We all have our vices Devon, but I wont allow your father's to bring my family down." He began walking to his car, stopping as his hand rested on the door.
"I hope he gets the help he needs. Addiction is a nasty thing." He continued into the car and it swiftly pulled off.
The regret that I saw in his eyes earlier, maybe it wasn't just my imagination.
I took my keys from the valet, making sure to tip him for his patience. "McDonalds?" I asked as I drove off. Through all the chaos, I remembered we never got the chance to actually eat anything.
Summer laughed and nodded her head.
"Yeah, I'm starving."
Present Time
Summer's POV
I left Devon's house at around six in the morning. He hadn't gotten much sleep and neither had I, so I was dreading my work day. I tiptoed through the hallway, finding Tony passed out on the couch in the living room. He looked so peaceful compared to the way he'd behaved hours earlier.
My Uber was patiently waiting for me outside and I thanked him for waiting. I had wasted five minutes going back and forth with Devon about taking me home. I knew he didn't mind but it was early, and he'd been driving all night. I told him my ride was already outside so there was no use arguing with me anymore. I kissed him on the cheek, telling him to get some sleep and shuffled out of his room.
Once I was home, I immediately go into the shower, making sure to stand there letting the water run down my hair and face. I would soon regret not wearing a shower cap, because today was one of those days where my hair was not in agreement with me. I tied a tee shirt around it, trying to get some of the water out so it was dry enough to slick back into a bun.
By the time I was finished getting ready I had about forty minutes to hang around, so I made myself breakfast and sat and enjoyed it.
"How was the dinner?" My mother asked yawning. She had woken up late for whatever reason, apologizing for not making me breakfast this morning.
"It was a disaster, but I don't feel like talking about it." It wasn't my family drama but I felt drained just being around it, hearing about it. Devon was probably on the verge of having a mental break down from all the stress.
"Fair enough. Are you busy this weekend?" She was a gossip, but she knew when to leave things alone.
"Uh, yeah I'm going out with Liv and Devon." And boy was I counting down the hours until Saturday arrived. "Oh, that's nice honey." She sat down beside me at the table, pouring creamer in her coffee. "Your father and I are going away this weekend we'll be back on Monday, so you'll have the house to yourself." She smiled as she twirled her spoon in her cup.
"Ahhh, where are you two going?"
"It's a surprise apparently."
She tapped her spoon on the edge of her mug before taking a long sip.
"Exciting, are you leaving today?" I asked, cleaning up my plate. "Yes, in about an hour or so, so we probably won't be home when you get off from work." I grabbed a paper towel, wiping off my hands and tossed it into the trash.
"No worries, Simon and I will hold things down here." I'd probably have Devon spend the weekend with me but she didn't need to know that, I didn't feel like answering any questions and she'd probably already assumed that was the case anyway.
"I have to run, I'll see you on Monday! Tell dad I said bye." I grabbed my bag and kissed her on the cheek before jogging to my car. I wasn't necessarily in a rush, but I didn't want to risk lounging around.
I began to sort of enjoy taking the train. It was peaceful and it allowed me to sit with my thoughts for a while, lost in my own world. The city even seemed less intimidating as I adjusted to New York attitudes and mannerisms. I still couldn't see myself making a life out of this, but it wasn't an awful idea. I could see why people preferred it.
Caleb was waiting for me in the parking lot, on time as always. His punctuality was admirable and I wished it would rub off on me.
"Good morning!" I greeted him as I sat down.
"Hey, how was your night?" He pulled off once he saw my seatbelt was on, using one hand to sip on his coffee.
"A nightmare, yours?" He laughed but didn't pry and answered my question. "It was me and my girlfriend's anniversary so I took her out."
Girlfriend? He'd never mentioned her before.
"Girlfriend! You have a girlfriend? Why did I not know this?"
"You never asked." He joked. I guess that was fair, we hadn't really spent much time talking about our romantic lives.
"Fair. How long have you two been together?"
"Two years going on forever." I glanced at him, catching the grin that was spread across his face. "You must really love her. She's a lucky girl." He looked over at me, his smile still firmly in place. "Yeah I do, she's great. You two would get along really well actually." He circled around the parking garage, trying to find a spot close to the door.
"Well I'd love to meet her. We could double date." I silently cringed, thinking I was turning into Jess by the second.
He found a spot to his liking and squeezed into it, making sure there was enough room for both of us to exit the car.
"Yeah, that would be nice."
Once inside the office, I sat down at my computer checking my tasks for the day. Caleb spent most of his time in Tyler's office assisting him with whatever he needed. Not having him around made me notice how slow the day dragged on without someone to entertain me.
"Summer?" I looked to my right seeing Caleb swiftly walking over. "Mr. White wants to see you in his office." I tensed up, wondering what he could have wanted. "Which one?" I had seen James walking around the office earlier and I was praying he wasn't the one who wanted to speak with me.
"The son." Caleb laughed and started up his computer. I sighed a breath of relief and made my way to the elevator, still wondering what he could possibly want.
"Come in!"
I pushed his door open and sat down at the chair in front of his desk. "Is everything okay?" I asked. The smile on his face eased my anxiety but I was still suspicious. "Everything is perfect. I just wanted to see how you were doing."
How I was doing?
"Oh, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He removed his glasses and sat them down on his desk. "Last night was...eventful. How is Devon?" I had almost forgotten about the disaster that was last night.
"He's okay. How's Rachel?" She had seemed pretty upset when she left last night. "She's inconsolable. I'm sure it's not good for the baby, so our mother took her out this morning to distract her." I felt bad for Rachel. I actually liked her, she was a sweet woman who just seemed to fall in love with the wrong man.
And boy could I relate to that.
"She deserves better, your sister is a kind woman. Maybe she should pass some of that on to you?" Tyler laughed and leaned back in his seat. "You don't think I'm kind?" Even he couldn't say that with a straight face.
"You're kind when it benefits you."
He started at me quizzically.
"And how would I benefit from being nice to you?" He was toying with me, that was apparent enough.
"That I haven't figured out yet."
...
Devon's POV
"So much for having him out before Olivia wakes up." I joked as my mother and I watch my father snore his life away. "At least we know he won't miss her game this morning." Laughing was the only way I knew how to cope with the situation at hand.
"This is funny to you?" My mother on the other hand wasn't nearly as amused.
"Yeah kind of." I leaned over the couch and smacked his face with a pillow. "Get up, we're going to Olivia's soccer game." He looked around the room rubbing his eyes. "But I have no clothes." My mother scoffed and walked back to the kitchen. "You can wear some of mine, they're already laying in the bathroom go take a shower. You smell like shit." I left him to get his bearings and meet my mother in the kitchen.
I had dropped Olivia off at the field an hour before and she nearly passed out when she saw dad laying on the couch.
"Is he back home?" She questioned, a little too much excitement in her voice.
"Not at all. He was too tired to drive home so he stayed here." I didn't like lying to her, but I didn't feel like the truth was something she needed to be bothered with when she had a game to win today.
"I know you're lying. I'm thirteen, not five."
"Well just pretend like I'm not."
He finally got off his ass and trucked up the stairs, groaning all the way up to the bathroom. "I'm sorry about all this. I was too tired to take him anywhere else." It had seemed like my mother was just starting to feel better, and I brought him back into her life.
"Sweetheart It's not your fault. It's that man child's." She took one last sip of her coffee before setting the cup in the sink. "I'll be in the car when you both are ready." She grabbed her purse and disappeared behind the front door.
"A little too small, but I'll manage." I turned my attention to my father, who was trying to make himself comfortable in my clothes. "It's all the alcohol." He chuckled lightly and followed behind me out the door.
The bleachers were packed when we arrived, and I wished we had gotten there a little earlier. We squeezed in between a family in the back row and tried to spot Olivia on the field.
"What number is she again?" My father asked in embarrassment.
"And you think she'd be better living with you? Please." My mother waved her hand, number seven returning the gesture.
"I guess she's number seven." He laughed.
He wiped sweat from his forehead, probably wishing we were sitting in the shade. I patted on his back trying to give him encouragement.
"Welcome to fatherhood."
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END♡
Okay I know I haven't updated in like 6 days but writer's block was kicking my ass!
This chapter was so hard to make for no reason at all, I had no clue how I was going to structure it.
But anyway, things will heat back up soon for our favorite couple yayyy 🥳🏃🏽♀️