The Prince

Part 7

The next morning, Noah quietly snuck out of the house while his brother was still out for the count. They'd been nearly passed out when he got home and could sneak in without any problem.  He had a bag with Skye's clothes that he borrowed the previous night, which was a bit strange if he had to admit it.

Skye's dad was very interesting, to say the least, and the way he doted over Skye, he could see that his son was his life. He sighed as he walked on, what he wouldn't give to have his parents around annoying him like that. They'd died in an accident when he'd started high school, which was the start of his endless misery.

He didn't see Skye at the bus stop, so took his clothes to him while he was in his homeroom class. He stood at the door when he spotted him sitting at his desk reading and ignoring the rest of the class who was idly standing about chatting and laughing. Obviously, it was better when you were in Class A, he thought. They never got left alone, which made school feel more like a prison. But at least he wasn't doing too bad, he was top of Class C after all, he tried to console himself, hating that the school publicly embarrassed him for not being a top performer.

Taking a breath, he walked over, coming to a stop next to his desk.

"Em, Skye?" He was uncertain of the type of welcome he'd get. It's not as if they were friends or hung out at school. He probably didn't even know I existed until I broke his phone. "I, I just wanted to give these back to you," he held out the bag.

He looked at Noah confused for a moment, then at the bag in his hand. Pursing his lips, he held out his hand.

"You didn't need to bring it now, you could have dropped it at the house. But thanks anyway."

"Sorry, I didn't think." He blushed a deep red again.

"Well, now you know for next time." He flashed a smile before returning to his book.

Noah walked out of the class confused. What did he mean by next time? It was as if he knew something was coming. Maybe he was a psychic, he thought, he was certainly spot on with the rain. Although, he did say that he could smell it, which was weird in and of itself.

He also noticed the way the rest of the class was looking at him as he left. He must have committed some cardinal sin from the scowls he got. Maybe he wasn't supposed to speak to him directly but through his fan club. The thought made him laugh.

--

"Dad?" Skye called as soon as he closed the front door. There was a strange car outside and he didn't recognise the number plates. "Dad!" He called again.

"Surprise!" Jackson stepped around the corner with Raymond in tow. "Isn't this the best surprise ever, Little One?" He asked ecstatically still holding on to Raymond's hand.

"Dad." Skye nodded in his direction, feeling as if he'd gone numb.

"It is good to see you again, Son." He smiled, not moving toward Skye. From his body language, he could tell that he was the last person his son wanted to see at that moment. He could see how he shut down and became a blank slate that was as hard as an egg to read.

Jackson looked uncertainly between the two. It seemed as if they were in a standoff, each waiting for the other to strike.

"What do you say we go out and really celebrate?" He asked expectantly waiting for the cold war to come to an end.

"I'm not really hungry Pappie. I think I'll go study and then bed." He walked past Raymond, nodding in his direction before giving Jackson his obligatory hug.

Slowly walking to his room, his anger started boiling at his father. How dare he appear as if nothing happened, as if he didn't care about how his absence had affected them both. He could understand that Raymond's work was important and that he wasn't away often, but he'd left his dad like a ship afloat in a big ocean.

He was happy to see Jackson being happy again, with his usual carefree grin, but it wasn't so easy for him to forgive Raymond. Slamming his door shut to show what he thought of his father's return, he threw himself on his bed with a heavy sigh.

"He's not very happy to see me," Raymond observed sitting next to Jackson on the couch.

"I couldn't tell, he turned into a robot and left. I take it from the slamming door it wasn't good?"

"You, my love, have a talent for stating the obvious. How have things been here?"

"Oh, it all went swimmingly," he lay down on his side so that his head was in Raymond's lap. "I'm a bit worried about him. He seems to have switched off and retreated from the rest of the world."

"Oh?"

"I don't know, but it's not the same Skye I know. Something seems to have changed and I don't know if it's me or what's happened to him. Maybe I'm not up to the challenge of being a good parent," he miserably spoke his thoughts. Did he do enough, should he have done more, nothing was as straightforward as it seemed anymore.

"Hey now, I thought we talked about this already. You even have the cup for best dad to prove it." He tried to lighten Jackson's mood. He still had his doubts about being a good parent, even though Raymond couldn't imagine a better father to Skye.

"What are we going to do?" Jackson asked in trepidation. "What if we never get our son back, what do we do then?"

"I'll go and speak to him later." He stroked Jackson's hair. "Now, how's your book going?" He chuckled. Jackson's book had been the source of humour in the family for a while now. He always got distracted and never seemed to do any writing, but he'd walk about the house in his dressing gown, annoying Josh.

"Oh you know, it's chugging along quite well."

"Any chance that I could get a sneak peek?" He tried, even though Jackson always refused. It made him wonder if there really was a book.

"I think you wanted to go speak to the Little One." He sat up.

"As you say, captain," Raymond saluted him and walked off to Skye's room, quietly knocking on the door.

"Skye?" He gingerly opened the door but saw that the light was turned off. Deciding not to disturb him, he closed the door with a heavy sigh. 

What was he going to do? Being away from them for over two months was long and it was hard. Knowing what Skye had gone through made it even worse, but it was a job and he had to go, he justified it to himself, feeling more miserable.