Tender Love and Care

"And That's How I Met Your Father"

I'M SORRY, I KEEP POSTING NEW STUFF WITHOUT FINISHING OTHER THINGS LIKE I PROMISED MYSELF I WOULD- /lh

Anyway, this takes place ten years after CCEP [which you should read before this if you haven't], and Olive is seven years old.

-▪︎•♡•▪︎-

Olive mumbled sleepy-child nonsense as she waddled into the living room with her blanket in one hand whilst the other rubbed at her eye.

Scar and Cub looked over. Cub was half asleep on Scar's shoulder and Scar was busy doing his school work on his laptop as the TV played some cop show.

"What wrong?" Cub yawned as he patted the seat on the sofa next to him. Instead of going for the spot on the sofa, Olive reached up to be picked up and placed in Cub's lap, which Cub did without complaint.

"Bad dream," Olive said in her cute little kid voice.

Scar sighed. "I hate those," he said, then set his laptop aside to kiss his daughter's forehead. "Do you wanna hear a story to go to sleep?"

Olive nodded happily, and Scar smiled.

"Good, because I have one you'll love," the brunette said, and Cub gave him a suspicious look. "It starts a long, long time ago..."

-▪︎•♡•▪︎-
Twenty Years Ago . . .

"Dumb, stupid-" Scar let out a shout when he stubbed his toe on a rock as he paced back and forth.

"Mister Scar?"

Scar turned his head to see fourteen-year-old Grian standing not too far from him. "Oh, hey, Xe- er, sorry, Grian," he corrected himself. Grian had just come out to him as trans and he was struggling to get his name right. He hoped Grian at least knew he was trying his hardest.

Grian blinked. "It's okay," he said, then came forward and sat down on his little tree stump and crossed his legs. "Is something wrong?"

Scar sighed and sat on his own stump. The two had claimed this spot to hang out since they met at college a few years prior. Grian dropped out since the stress was too much for an eleven-year-old and also because the bastard that adopted him wanted him to learn how to be a "proper housewife". "I' just... sick of people," he sighed, and Grian tilted his head.

"What happened?"

"My parents."

Grian made a noise of disgust. "I hate parents," he said.

Scar snorted. "I do, too."

The two sat in silence for a little while.

"Hey, do you drink coffee?" Scar asked suddenly.

Grian blinked. "Sometimes when I don't get a lot of sleep," he said. "Momma used to let me have coffee all the time. She even told the maid to make me coffee every morning."

Scar paused before laughing. "I forgot you've been growing up rich," he said. "Do you have maids in this new home?"

"Yeah, but Matteo hits them," Grian said. "Papa never hit the maids."

"Well, uh, how about we go to this new coffee shop I found in the city?" Scar offered. "I'll pay."

Grian paused, then nodded. "I have time."