Our Time Will Come - An After Story

156

Hardin

"Dude, are you okay in there? Emery's hair and makeup didn't take as long as it's taking you to get dressed." I huff, standing outside of the teens room. It's true, it's been over an hour since Charlie went to get a shower and put on his tux and there's still no sign of the kid. With Tessa helping Emery get into her dress, I figured that he too might need a bit of a help.

I'm sure that these big events can be nerve racking, not that i know from experience. Hell, I was never allowed to attend my high school prom. I promised my mum that I would go. She was exhilarated at the thought of seeing her only son, all dressed up in a tux, but of course I did something to fuck it up just a few weeks before. To tell the truth, I never wanted to go in the first place. I couldn't stand the majority of the people I went to school with and at the time, having to wear a suit of any kind was my worst nightmare.

"I'm fine!" Charlie lies, his voice evidently cracking. I attempt to open the door, but it's obvious that he locked it for a reason. "Just leave me alone, Mr Scott, please." He stresses. I shrug, accepting his dismissal. Maybe I should give the kid some space. I start to walk away, but something inside of me tells me not to. Instead, I turn on my heel and stay put. "Listen, whatever it is, we can fix it, okay?" I lower my tone, hoping he'll realise that I'm there to help and not to roast him. Only seconds later, he's at the door. He's wearing a slim-fitted, navy blue tux, but looks as though he's been mauled by a dog. He appears distressed and it's clear that he's shed a tear or two.

"It's the tie. I can't do it. I just can't fix the freaking thing!" He waves an arm in the air, before pacing into the room. I find myself following him, knowing that this is about a damn sight more than a fucking tie. I close the door behind me on the way in, taking note of the way he's pacing back and forth and tugging at his hair. It's moments like this in which I see similarities between him and my younger self.

"Mate, what is this?" I raise a brow, becoming more concerned by the second. "It's no use! I've tried countless times and it still looks like garbage!" He's now hyperventilating, still fussing over the bloody tie. "Fuck the tie, take it off, undo your top button and breathe, mate." I instruct him and he follows my advice, throwing the tie across the room. Fuck. It's hard to see such a usually calm kid in such a worked up state, I can't deny that.

"Now sit down, you're making me dizzy." I tell him and he perches himself on the edge of his bed. I instruct him to take some deep breath's and he does just that. I sit myself down, ensuring to be on his level. The kid is clearly worked up about something and I obviously need to get to the bottom of it.

"He never even taught me how to tie a freaking tie!" He spits and I wonder what the hell he's talking about. "First of all, enough with the 'freaking'. Just say fucking, you'll feel much better." I tell him. I never thought I'd be encouraging the kids to swear, but it's clear that he's holding back out of respect for me and right now, he just needs to let it all out. "Second of all, who?" I frown in confusion.

"My so called fucking dad!" He roars and my eyes widen at the sound of him following my advice. "He didn't teach me to shave, hence the huge gash on my cheek. He didn't teach me to tie a tie, he didn't teach me anything!" Literal tears coat his cheeks and I bury my head in my hands, realising exactly what this is about.

After you lose someone, there's a first for everything and this is one of them. His father should be with him, showing him how to shave his non existent beard and fixing his godforsaken tie. He should be here to see him off to his prom night and give him his do's and don'ts, but he isn't.

A sudden wave of guilt hits me, realising that Tessa and I haven't made as big of a fuss over him as we have of Emery. I could blame it on the fact that Emery's a girl and prom is a bigger deal for them, but honestly, there's no excuse.

"He was always there, but never there for me. That man taught me absolutely sweet fuck all, then he died. That's how useful he was!" He continues his rampage about his own father and I have no idea how to react, until his tears turn into laughter. "I'm sorry, that was horrible." He shakes his head in shame and I find myself laughing too. "It wasn't. It's how you feel, and that's okay." I tell him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Listen." I tell him, whilst standing to my feet and collecting the tie from the floor. "I didn't have a steady father figure growing up." I clear my throat.. "As you know, Ken left when I was nothing but a boy. Not only that, but I was in the dark the whole time about who my biological father was. I'm not comparing that with the pain that you're feeling, of course I'm not. But by the time I formed even a hint of a relationship with either of my fathers, I didn't need them, not like that." I mutter, at this point losing eye contact.

"I had already struggled into what I perceived to be manhood. I taught myself to shave, butchering myself in the process." I force a smile whilst pointing out his shaving error. "I guess what I'm saying is.. don't struggle. You don't have to struggle." I swallow the frog in my throat, as well as my pride. I can't lie, I feel vulnerable, exposing that I have a heart to my daughters high school sweetheart of all people.

"I might not always tell you this, but I'm here for you always, okay.. mate?" I finally bring myself to look him in the eye. He remains silent, but the grateful look in his eyes and his reassuring nod speaks for him. I stand by what I said. I might tease the kid a lot and give him a hard time, but that's the father in-law version of me talking. At the end of the day, I'm this boys guardian and I sure as hell don't mind picking him up when he is down.

"Now let's fix this fucking tie before I launch it out the window!" I emote, hoping to lighten the mood. He mimes the words 'Thank you.' as I place the teal coloured item around his collar and try my best to make him look half decent. "It matches Emery's dress." He breaks his silence with a random piece of information.

"I'm just warning you, this is one of the things that I was never taught, too. In fact, Tessa was the one to teach me." I tell him, whilst looping it through the knot. In fact, Tess will probably fix it herself after I'm done. The fucking irony.