The Victorious [BxBxB] ✓

Fathers And Sons

The question loomed above them, heavy, unanswered. Victor rested his chin on Oliver's head, who was still stuck to him like a band-aid.

"Talk about my dad?" Victor repeated, then shrugged. "What's to say?"

"Whatever you want." James reached over and touched Victor's cheek.

Victor looked him in the eye, cold and unblinking. James had known him long enough to know that the façade was a lie. A defense mechanism.

"Anything you're feeling," Oliver said, stepping away from Victor so he could see his face.

Victor sucked in his bottom lip, sinking his teeth into it as he thought. "I don't know. I resent him a lot," he said. "I'm angry at him; I'm - I'm furious." He placed his palms on the sides of his neck and sighed. "And I miss him. So much. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for leaving me."

James felt the words like heated blades across his heart. "You don't know why – why he –," he struggled to push out his thoughts.

"No." Victor shook his head and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. "At least nobody told me anything."

"I'm sorry," Ollie said, his voice was now small. He was watching Victor with big, uncertain eyes.

James felt the same way. None of them could do anything more than listen. There was no advice to give either.

Victor leaned back and sank into the chair as if all the energy left him. His expression softened, and pain washed over it.

"I didn't feel anything when I found him dead." His tone was even, so leveled and calm that one could assume he was talking about the weather. "I think I didn't feel anything for a long time. I didn't even cry at the funeral." He tilted his head to a side, lifted his hand to his mouth, and bit his thumb. "It was weeks after when it hit me. I was on my way here because – I don't know – I think I had somehow forgotten that he was gone. I was halfway down the hallway when I realized that I don't – that he's not gonna be here."

Ollie sat down on the other chair and took both of Victor's hands. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't far from it either.

"I'm sorry, Vic. I think you were in shock," Oliver said.

James walked around the chair behind Victor and kissed the top of his head. He didn't know what to say to make him feel better.

"Please don't. I don't want people to feel sorry for me because of something someone else did. I'm fine. I am fine."

"Nobody's fine all the time," James said, rubbing his shoulders.

"It's ok if you're not." Ollie nodded. "We love you, and we want to support you."

"Thanks – thank you," Victor said, uncertain. "I love you too."

James felt the awkwardness around him, and it was so endearing that he leaned over and kissed his head again. Sometimes it was easy to forget that underneath the stoic face, through the layers of apathy and coldness, Victor was soft.

"My mom will insist on involving the authorities regarding Mason," Victor changed the subject and got up. "Why is everything so messy?" He sighed. "All I want to do is graduate, and I don't know, get a cat. I hate this so much. Maybe we should go before this turns into an even greater mess."

"Ok," James said, holding him by the arms. "We're going." He didn't want to allow Victor to spin into panic. "We're going now."

Victor allowed himself to look at the room a bit more, to take it all in one last time before walking out. They went down the stairs, back into the living room. Isabella and Emma were there, sitting next to each other, and talking. The women turned towards them and stood.

"You're leaving?" Isabella asked as if she wasn't expecting it.

Victor nodded.

"I've already messaged my lawyers," she said. "I told them - "

Victor tensed so suddenly that he almost jumped. "No," he said.

James reached over and grabbed him by the shoulder. Isabella's eyes darted to his hand, then to James' face. There was something similar to recognition in her eyes, and if she was anything like Victor, that alone told her everything. She didn't comment on the touch. After all, James figured it wasn't her damn business anyway.

"I'm not dealing with that today. Not now, no. I can't." Victor rubbed his eyes. "Please, call the school and sort out Mason's crap. That's all I want."

"Of course, darling."

They said their goodbyes. Emma gave them a cake to take home, but James couldn't force himself to feel at ease, not even when they were next to Sebastian's Tesla. Victor was like a Jenga tower about to tip over.

"My dad's name was Oscar," Victor said. "And sometimes I think that if he were alive, I'd be taller than him. I don't know how many people think about that sort of thing."

James wanted to answer him but was interrupted by the sound of a car engine. Victor turned his head towards the gate and frowned, his fingers tensing on the door, turning white. His expression soured, and James figured out what was happening even before Victor voiced it.

"That's Mason's car." He sounded exhausted.

"Wasn't he on a trip?" Oliver asked.

"Plans change," Victor muttered. "Let's go. I don't want to see him."

Author's note<3:

Mason's here to ruin the fun. I hope things won't escalate! What do you guys think?