Chapter 11
So, I was hopeless and ridiculous and of course in the many nights I had spent not sleeping I'd thought about a thousands of scenarios where I would be holding Lexi Grayson in my arms. I was pretty sure I had exhausted all possible scenarios in my head actually.
Never, in any of my daydreams had Lexi's father walked. I'd totally forgotten about her dad actually. After meeting her mother it was like I'd brushed off her father as some kind of inexistent creature.
I wasn't thinking about her dad. Why would I be? I never had to meet any dads before. I never had a girlfriend. Well, I mean, Kendall, sure, kind of, but I was pretty sure her dad never even figured out we went out at any point in our existence. Which was much better this way. I knew very well what he thought about our family. My brother's dead had broken his perfect little girl. My brother's death had taken his little girl away from him.
And I wouldn't have been able to argue with that. Jay's death had sort of killed Kendall at the same time. I loved my friend but a part of her had died with my brother. A part of me had died with him too. In some way I think the only reason why we ever tried to be together was because we thought that together we could bring back that part of us that had gone with Jay. But we were never going to get those people back, the same way we were never getting him back.
Why was I even thinking about this? Lexi's dad was staring at me with—well I don't know what kind of face, I didn't know the man. Maybe he was already thinking of an alibi to bury me in the backyard.
I was probably going to die tonight. And I was freaking out. And I was losing strength in my arm. And I was dropping Lexi...
Oh shit.
Lexi was staring up at me incredulous and I felt stupid has hell. Seriously? Should I just like, run away? Jump from the window. Pretend to faint? Oh! Start speaking in French and only in French.
Before I could say "Mon doux, qu'est ce que je fais ici? Je suis désolé, je dois sérieusement changer ma médication," Lexi started to laugh, laugh of all things.
"What the hell? Why'd you drop me?" she asked me and she seriously looked... amused? Maybe she was the one that should be changing her medication. This girl was way too confusing. One minute she was about to kill me the next she was amused with me.
And not only was she clearly amused with me, now she was... laughing. Her father had just walked into a room and there was some unknown boy holding her in his arms and the said unknown quite confused boy had just dropped her on her lovely butt and she was laughing?
Oh, oh, and her father wasn't taking out a shot gun, or grabbing me by the collar or screaming at me to get the hell away from his daughter. He was just leaning against her doorframe with a freaking grin on his face.
What. The...
I was dreaming all of this. This was the only logical explanation. This couldn't happen. For one thing, I couldn't even speak with Lexi so actually being in her room was waaaaay too farfetched.
"Where did you find this one, kid?" Lexi's father asked, grinning. Grinning. I would never figure out these Graysons. Seriously...
"Cheap deal on Craig's List," Lexi told her father and laughed. Laughed! What was happening here? Why was I suddenly amusing? I just couldn't comprehend what was happening. I had to be in some sort of alternate reality. Or I was dreaming. Yeah definitely dreaming.
"Well, however you paid you got robbed kid," he father told her as Lexi got back on her feet. And then he suddenly looked at me and glared and oh, here it was the normal reaction. "Son, I'm going to tell you this just once. I worked for a butcher in my early years and I ain't afraid of using these skills on some hormonal teenager."
He wouldn't have to tell me twice. Yep. Blake gone. Bye bye. "Yes sir. I'm sorry sir. I'll leave now," I automatically answered. I wanted to get out, like now, but Lexi's dad was still standing by the door.
And he started to laugh again. He wasn't just chuckling here. He was laughing out loud. This was a holding your belly and needing to hold on to something not to fall over kind of laugh.
Yep. Dreaming. Definitely dreaming.
"Seriously kid, where did you get this one?" her father asked her and he was honest to god holding onto the door frame and wheezing a little because he was laughing too much.
"The real question is how do I get rid of him daddy," Lexi answered and walked over to her dad.
Looking at the two of them together, like this, like they were ganging up to tease me, it felt... oh so very odd. I had no similar experiences to use as reference points as to how I should act.
"Easy. You sleep with him. When they get what they want they don't come bothering you anymore," he automatically answered and then started to laugh even more. As if that was possible.
What. The. Hell?
It didn't happen often, but here, right now I was speechless. Absolutely speechless. It seemed to happen often in Lexi's presence.
"Stop making that face, son. You'll get grey hair prematurely. Don't worry, I didn't work with a butcher. But I worked in a coffee shop and I can grind your nuts," he added and just laughed and laughed and laughed.
He was messing with me. Both of them were messing with me. Again, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to process that information. Sure, I was friends with Tyler so I kind of figured that the Graysons could be a little crazy. I never figured that Tyler's crazy antics came straight from his genitor.
"Dad. No. That one wasn't funny," Lexi told him. Was she crazy? She should be playing along! Her father caught her with a boy in her room. She should be finding all of his jokes hilarious. I knew I would if I wasn't so frightened. And confused.
"You're losing your sense of humor kid," he answered and then looked around him. Was he looking for hidden cameras? Because I kind of was too. "Where's your brother?"
Lexi shrugged. "Out with some bimbo."
"Damn kid! Well, that means more fish for us. So are you staying son?" Lexi's dad asked. He was looking at me. He said son. I think he was speaking to me.
Was he serious? Was it an actual question or a test?
"Is he dumb?" he asked his daughter.
"Not in the mute sense, but yes in the brain damage one," Lexi replied and laughed.
I should be answering. I should say something. "I'm... a little...confused," was all I could muster really.
That got both of them laughing again.
"Of course you are. Now, let's get this dinner ready otherwise we'll never eat," her dad just easily answered and finally left.
Just like that he was gone. No big scene, no "STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU SPERM FACTORY."
I highly doubted that this was how it usually went when boys were found in daughter's rooms. Or maybe I had this all wrong and that was her step-father or her very old boyfriend she liked to call dad. I should make sure. "That's your dad?" I asked her when I was sure he was far gone.
"Hmm, DUH," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"No wonder you're so weird," I caught myself mumbling. It was normal that I never really understood the girl. Her family was bonkers. In any other household I would be getting stuffed to be hanged on a wall beside an antler that would have looked as confused and kind of frightened as I was.
"Hey! I. Am. Not. Weird!" Lexi interjected.
I begged to differ. "Oh, you are." It wasn't a bad thing. It was a good thing, but it was the truth.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"NOT!"
"Hope you aren't allergic to sea food because Lexi's reanimation skills aren't that good!" her father yelled for my sake from downstairs. I think at this point, even if I'd been allergic to sea food I would have eaten it, just because I didn't want to do anything to anger the gods that had just given me this unbelievable opportunity.
"Dad! Once! That was once. I was ten. How was I supposed to know mouth to mouth wasn't an option when you have an allergic reaction?" Lexi yelled back.
I was laughing. Of course I was laughing. This whole situation was absolutely ludicrous, at one point one of them was going to figure out that I had no reason to be here, that they wanted nothing to have to do with me, so I should be enjoying it while it lasted, before they got their senses back.
Also, I kind of really wanted to have an allergic reaction right now.
"Yeah, laugh all you want. You wouldn't have if you had been the one giving mouth to mouth to your seventy years old perfume soaked aunt, who wasn't aware that there were chestnuts, in a chestnut cake," Lexi explained. Now, why couldn't I have known that sooner? Like when we met when we were kids. I could have faked a peanut allergy and gotten my first kiss by her.
I tried not to grin too much as I followed Lexi out of her room and towards what I assumed would be the kitchen. Her father was still chuckling as he prepared the fish. Lexi went straight to sit at the counter where there was food already waiting for her—predictable. I didn't follow her though. I was still getting ready for them to realize I wasn't actually invited and I had to leave. It was bound to happen soon.
Also, I kind of wanted to savour this in all its glory. I was included in a part of Lexi's life that had nothing to do with homework or school.
Even if that was it after this, even if it was never going to work out with Lexi, I would always have this, I would always have this moment where I saw her. I saw the real her. I'd gotten a glimpse when she'd been singing in her room. I was seeing more of her while she sat with her father, clearly always checking to make sure he was alright. She probably didn't even realize it, but she was looking over him. She worried about him. She was a good daughter.
"So, you got a name kid?" her father asked me, bringing me back to the now.
"Blake Eaton," I answered automatically.
"Oh I know you," he told me and then popped a shrimp in his mouth effectively stopping him from saying more.
"You do?" I asked worried. He'd heard about me. That couldn't be good. When people heard things about me it was rarely to praise my good character.
"Of course! You're the football's team running back. You've been doing a great job so far. I mean usually running backs are broader and shorter, but I gotta give it to you son, you sure can push through a defence," he told me enthusiastically.
I almost let out a big relieved breathe but I kept it in check and instead just went with a, "Well thanks." I wasn't exactly the best football player around. Our team wasn't extraordinary either. I wasn't about to be drafted into the NCAA, so it was nice to have that kind of praise. My parents never congratulated me on my football wins. They barely ever came to my games. They had very little interest in sports. Actually, they had no interest in sports.
"Want some?" Lexi asked me, pointing her glass filled with a carbonated black drink. I wasn't much of a fan of soft drinks. Too much sugar and not enough hydration, but Lexi was offering something and I would be damned before I would ever refuse it.
"Oh and also, the school principal called at my business once because one of my employee's daughter had been caught in the school pool unauthorized with a boy named Blake Eaton," Lexi's dad added nonchalantly right as I was taking my first sip of—Pepsi apparently—so lucky me, it went flying out of my mouth and nose immediately.
Ouch.
"I'm not picking that up for you," Lexi happily informed me, as I coughed and tried to breathe again. She grabbed a roll of paper towels and threw it right in my face. I probably deserved that.
Her father was just laughing. At me? Probably. I was kind of waiting for him to take the shot gun out of its hiding place so this was definitely better. "So, now you mind telling me why you were in my daughter's room at..." he paused, and I started to wipe Pepsi, "seven-forty-six?"
"I was just..."
"He's stalking me!" Lexi cut me before I could try to redeem myself, or come up with some half assed explanation.
Way to go Pumpkin. I hoped she's come visit my grave from time to time.
"So maybe I shouldn't invite him for dinner, right?" her dad said.
Oh yeah, definitely not. I could tell him the truth, that I was madly in love with his daughter, that he probably needed to get a restraining order on my ass, that or he should give me his daughter's hand in marriage. I was absolutely ridiculous. I definitely wasn't going to survive this evening. I still tried to cover my butt though. "I'm not stalking her, she's helping me with school work." I was kind of stalking her. And I didn't really need help with school work. But meh, if I was going to hell I might has well make it worth my while.
"Extracurricular activity?" her dad asked, like he was joking with me rather than trying to murder me.
I didn't want to assume anything. Maybe this was all an act to get me to let my guards down to then hit me with a frying pan right in the face. But maybe, just maybe, her father was actually just having fun here. Maybe he knew his daughter and he knew I had absolutely no chances of getting anywhere with her.
"He wishes," Lexi mumbled, stuffing her face with shrimps.
I kept my smile to myself. I think. Because I didn't even wish for that. Okay sure, I had very strange fantasies of me serenading my love to her under her window, but even in my dreams she usually rejected me. Spending an evening like this with her, with no agenda, with no true purpose, just eating dinner for the sake of eating and spending time with her was more than I could have ever asked for.
Even if I was wiping Pepsi off of the floor.
I gathered all the wet paper towels and asked, "Huh, where's the garbage?" looking around. I didn't see any garbage bin, so maybe it was under the sink? I wasn't going to start opening cupboards though.
"Right here son," Lexi's father answered and, hey, I was right, the bin was under the sink. "Why is there puke in there?" He suddenly asked.
What?
"I won the cracker contest," Lexi replied.
"So that would be Ty's?"
I was completely lost. What were they talking about?
"Yope! He tried to eat it by the way!" Lexi answered as I threw the paper towels over the... yeah the puke.
Seriously Tyler?
Dude wasn't right in the head. He was a Grayson though, so that was probably a given.
"What did I do to God to have children like you?" her father asked to the sky, but he was still smiling.
I went back to the arch at the edge of the kitchen to just look at them talking.
"Speaking of your many strange children, did you get any news from Anna?"
"She called at work this morning. Said she's never been happier, college is great, she has lots of friends, plausible boyfriend on the way, good grades, and she's working at a new place on Monday."
"Meaning her life sucks, her college's boring, she's got no friends, she's stalking a guy, failing in every class and she got fired from her job?"
"Probably," her dad replied and snorted.
If I let my obsession run its crazy course I'd be recording this right now. Just because I would want to be able to hear Lexi's voice again, speaking easily, comfortably. I'd still be able to listen to her just chatting when she'd finally realize she had no reason to spend any time with me.
Luckily, I hadn't reached that stage of desperate yet.
It was nice though, this. Being part of their little routine and being there during their daily conversations. I could tell they were close. I wondered if they had always been or if her mother leaving had brought the remaining family members closer.
"Dude, just take a seat," Lexi suddenly told me. I hadn't realized she was looking at me. She pushed the stool beside her in front of the counter for me to sit.
I wasn't going to be asked twice.
"So Blake, tell me about yourself. Should I really worry about you stalking my daughter?" her father asked me while he tended to the dinner.
"Your daughter has a colourful imagination," I replied and sat at the counter. I mean, yeah, she was kind of right. But she also did have a pretty colourful imagination. So I wasn't exactly lying here.
I grabbed a shrimp so I could have a reason not to answer again if he pressed for a more precise answer. I also hoped I could develop a seafood allergic reaction. I chuckled a little at my stupidity.
Her father laughed with me too.
Interesting.
"Alright, stop making fun of me," my sweet little Pumpkin pouted and then her wicked little self slapped my hand making me drop my shrimp.
I glared for good measures because otherwise I might just kiss her. She was too adorable.
"I'm not picking it up," I told her.
"Well, me neither, so I think we're at an impasse here."
She glared right at me and I looked right back at her. I was milliseconds away from just grabbing her sweet little face and kissing her, so I just picked up the shrimp instead.
"You aren't from around here, are you?" her father suddenly asked me.
That was a little out of the blue. But sure, I could answer that. It was easy enough. "No. I was born in New York, lived in Europe for a while. Prague. Paris. My parents have a studio in London so we stayed there most of the time, but we moved here when I was eleven after..." After Jay died... that wouldn't the best dinner conversation though, "well anyway, I have family living in London so I still go there often," I explained. I was pretty sure that most of the time people couldn't detect the lingering accent that I had. I sounded like most people around me now. But there were time went my accent reeled its ugly head. It always made me feel a little self conscious. I didn't want to sound pretentious. I wasn't doing it on purpose or to give myself air. I just picked it up whenever I talked with any of my family members.
"I knew I heard your sort of British accent," he told me. Yep. Busted.
"Yeah well, I lost it over the years, most of it I think. I mean, at first I didn't have it, but then when you live for a while in one place you just get their accent, it's inevitable." I wasn't saying blimey and asking for the loo when I was three years old. I picked it up when we moved to England and my mother's natural accent exploded. And then, whenever we travelled somewhere, I'd pick other accents up too. "Seriously after my trips to Paris I always have the stinking French accent when I speak in English. I need at least a week to lose it." My parents had this thing where they only spoke French when we were in France, and not just to the people around, but amongst ourselves too.
"What do your parents do?" he asked.
"Well, my dad's a musician, a pianist actually, but he's mostly a painter, and my mom's a writer. We're pretty artsy in my family," I trailed off. I could probably give a more detailed description of how my parents had gotten so loaded but it might take a while.
Two of my mother's earliest books had been made into movies. They weren't the biggest blockbusters, but they all made good money, so the studios always bought the rights for her books. Her biggest series, the one she was most known for Tales of the Traveler, a big sci-fi thing, had been in the works for a movie for over a decade now. She had sort of given up on the idea of a movie ever being made. But she had already been paid, so technically it didn't really matter.
My dad wasn't making as much money with his art. It was a different crowd, a snobbier crowd. My dad brought money into the house with his investments. His parents had made a lot of money with real estate and my dad benefited from that.
"What's your father's name?" Lexi's dad asked me.
"Christopher Eaton."
"I think I've seen one of his paintings somewhere," he trailed off.
Possible. I never really loved my father's stuff if I was being honest. Too abstract. "The new exhibition at the gallery downtown is exposing a bunch of his paintings so maybe that's where you saw it."
"No, no, more like on a business trip. You said you were from New York?"
"Yes. We do have a gallery there," I replied. It was the first big thing my father invested in, with his trust fund. When some kids finally got to have their trust fund money, they bought a car or a boat. My dad bought an art gallery.
"That's it! Yeah, that's where I saw it," he replied enthusiastically, and then asked, "your father isn't disappointed that you're not following in his footsteps instead of playing football?"
"Actually no. My dad's a pretty reasonable guy. On the other hand, I know my mom would like that."
I was answering that but it wasn't exactly true.
So here was the thing. I had a father and I loved my father. He was a good father and there was no reason for me to complain. But... well I could see it. Every time my father looked at me, I could see it in his eyes. I could see him trying to understand where he'd gotten wrong to have a son that was always sulking. A useless son. Every time my dad looked at me he looked at my hands. My worthless hands. I could almost hear him thinking about the fact that I was wasting my hands not playing the piano anymore, not following in his footsteps.
Before Jayden died I always thought in my young boy's mind that I was my father's favourite. I'd sit with him all night while he rehearsed for his concertos. I'd follow him to as many practices as I was allowed. He taught me everything he knew, everything I was able to process. After Jayden died it just felt to me like my father had been putting extra time with me because I wasn't in fact the favourite. Jayden was and my father had needed to make more of an effort to like me.
It was ridiculous and probably untrue but when did the human mind ever stop thinking something just because it was ridiculous? If anything that was the perfect reason to focus on something.
But I wasn't about to tell Lexi's father that. Especially not when he felt... well he felt like the kind of father I would have wanted mine to be.
"That's the kids' burden. Will they follow the trail their parents left for them..." he trailed off.
I actually found myself... I... I didn't even want to admit this to myself but I wanted him to like me. I wanted him to ask his daughter "Hey, when is that nice boy coming back?"
It was absolutely ridiculous to want that for myself. In this town I already had quite the reputation. He already knew some of it. Half of the stuff said was untrue and the other half was exaggerated, but that didn't matter. Still, I found myself hoping.
Hoping that one day, somehow, I could have a place in this family.
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A/N: Hey guys! So I put a nice song up because it's basically what Blake's thinking during this whole chapter. WTF? haha Perfect song for this chapter. :D
Soooooo. Long time no upload for this, Imma right? 0_0
I know some of you might not have seen my super long message I send at the beginning of the month so I'll provide a bit of an explanation. I've been a bad Kay these last couple of years. I haven't been disciplined enough, I've been lazy and I've also been insanely busy.
This year I'm trying to change things. I want to upload at least once a week. (so far I have, yay me!) And I want to start getting more involved again. I miss you guys.
So, hopefully you'll get another upload soon. I do have to admit, I have a couple of The Spawns chapters and Virgin and the Whore chapters that are partly written and that I've been a little bit more in the mood to write, so they'll probably come first ( you should check out The Virgin and the Whore. Blake's in there. Tyler's in there. Lexi's in there, Vanessa's in there. Alex, Josh and Daph will be in there. It's fuuuuun. 8D)
Also, I'm thinking about doing live chats or something in the likes. Yesterday I watched a clip from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was thinking about my OTPs and I think that'd be a fun subject to chat about with you guys. I'm thinking about a bunch of subject like that that would be fun to chat about. Like how ridiculous French is. And bearded Steve Rogers.
Anywaaaaaay. That'll be all for today. I think Life in Paintings will be the next upload. And then Spawns or Virgin and the Whore. Weeeeee'llllll seeeeeee.
Thanks for being patient as always. I LURVE YA GUYS! :D :D