Cracks

Morality clause- Dylan's POV

Dylan's POV-

I had lost track of the number of times that I had skipped school with Presley. This had to be the third or fourth time. I had gone from not missing a single day of school unless I was severely ill to skipping arguably quite a bit.

This time though, it was for me. This time, it was me who convinced Presley to skip the last half of that Friday with me. Not that it had been that hard of a thing to convince her of... I had just simply asked her, and she jumped right on board. She hadn't even asked any questions when I told her that we'd have to drive twenty minutes into the city.

So, that was how I found myself staring up at the tall building before me. I knew that bringing Presley with me might not have been the best decision because of how my father acted towards her. However, if we're being honest, I needed her to be there with me. She reminded me that I could be something more than the things that people told me to be. She reminded me to be real.

"This is it?" She asked softly staring up the tall building.

"Yup," I answered.

"Hey, no matter what he says, I'm here," she reassured me. "He's the one that left. Don't let him turn it around."

"Thanks Pres," I nodded. "Let's do this."

We took the elevator ride up to his office floor. I held my breath as the elevator dinged and then the doors opened right into the office waiting room. I had always hated coming to my father's office. The way he tried to show me off and list off the accomplishments had always irked me. It had always made me feel like I had to compete; like I had to show everyone how good I was. It was rather hard to show that off when I was constantly reminded about how disappointing I was.

I froze as I stared at the new receptionist. My father had never worked at the biggest law firm in town. Still, it was always pretty successful, but there were only a few lawyers that he was partners with. So, the small amount of employees meant that most of them stuck around for a long while. There had always been the same three paralegals, the same four assistants, and they had only ever had two receptionists.

I had remembered when Sydney got hired. It had been a little over a year since then. She had replaced Ms. Bernie, who had retired. I remember not liking her immediately. She was nice enough, but something about her was off. Plus, Ms. Bernie was the sweetest little older lady, and Sydney was some younger woman. Still, I had expected her to last at least a few years. It was surprising that she hadn't. Perhaps my father had ran her off by his nasty mood swings.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The new receptionist asked with a smile.

"Hi, I'm Dylan Flanders," I said "Steven's son..."

"Oh! Uh hi..." She said awkwardly. "One moment."

She got up and I watched her walk towards the back. However, I saw her go into Nick's office and not my fathers.

"Something is up," I told Presley quietly. I had a bad feeling right in the pit of my stomach.

She didn't reply as she put a hand on my back gently in reassurance.

I watched as Nick walked towards me slowly. He had an awkward look on his face as he looked at anywhere but me. Oh yeah, something was up big time.

"Hey Uncle Nick!" I said as a greeting.

"Dylan! Hey kid, what's up? You've grown," he answered, barely looking me in the eye.

"Yeah..." I said, trying to figure out his problem. "Where's my dad? I came to see him."

"Dylan," he sighed. "Your dad doesn't work here anymore," he said as he shuffled me and Presley into a nearby conference room.

"What do you mean? He's part owner," I asked with furrowed brows.

"Not anymore. We bought him out," he explained to me as I began to get antsy and anxious.

"He would have never sold out of this company," I said instantly. Presley put her hand on my back gently and took a step closer to me, calming me down a bit.

"He didn't have a choice," Nick explained. "We had a morality clause written into the contract when we opened together. He broke the clause and had to sell out."

"Morality clause? What did he do?"

"We signed a nondisclosure agreement, so I can't tell you," he answered me. "You didn't know?" He asked.

"No! When did all of this happen?" I asked, feeling distraught.

"End of August or so," he answered me calmly.

"Do you know where he is? He moved out of our house early September. I need to speak to him."

He sighed, "I don't know for sure where he is. However, I know where he might be if he's not at home."

"Thank you," I said, feeling off balanced and nervous as he wrote the address down that he looked up on his phone.

"Your dad..." He sighed. "He made mistake, Dylan."

"My dad is a piece of shit," I spat out angrily. "I don't really care what it is that he did. I just need him to be a dad to my brother. Fuck all his other bullshit."

I angrily stormed out of my father's old office with Presley trailing behind me. I knew that I had just made myself and my dad look like fools, but I couldn't find it in me to care. I just wanted my brother to be happy, and that meant finding my POS dad.

"Dilly?" Presley said in a small voice as she glanced up at me.

"I can't believe this shit!" I exclaimed angrily. "What the hell did the idiot do?!"

Presley sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"I mean, I knew that he was a douche, but what kind of shit could he do to invoke a morality clause?" I asked in a raised voice.

"Dyl," she said quietly as she rubbed my arm with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I'm just..."

"Angry?" She supplied. "It's okay to be angry, Dylan. Be angry. Your dad is a douche. I'm not complaining about your emotions. I'm just... a bit worried."

"Worried?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Worried about you," she said quickly. "Don't let him have this much control over you, Dyl. That's what he wants... to control you."

I took a deep breath as we walked to the car. She was right. I needed to calm down. Not for anyone's sake but my own. I needed to let go. His opinion no longer mattered to me. I wouldn't let it.

----

When we made it to the new address, I was confused. It was an apartment complex not too far from my father's (old) office. Had he gotten an apartment instead of coming home? I hadn't even really thought about where he was living too much. I just knew that it wasn't at home with his family.

I walked to the number that Nick had written down and knocked on the door. Many emotions went through me as I waited on an answer. Anger, bitterness, loathing, and hope. Hope that I could do what Scotty wanted. Hope that my family could be back together. Hope that it would all be okay.

"Can I help you?" She answered the door with a vacant expression.

"Sydney?" I asked incredulously as I looked at her.

"Dylan?" She asked with a look of fear running through her eyes.

Quickly, my eyes found her growing belly as she backed up slightly. My mouth went dry as I stared at her pregnant belly.

No. There's no way!

A/n-

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