Welcome to Stonebrook

Eleven

~Clay~

Of all the girls in that bar. All the girls in this town and the town over that gather there and I sleep with Libby's fucking teacher. 

"Daddy?" 

"Mhm." 

"Do you like Miss Turner?" 

"What?" 

"Well- you just- you looked mad when you saw her and now you're grumpy." 

"I'm not grumpy." 

"Are too." She stared down at her feet in the back of the car, hands still tightly gripping that fucking book. The way she was looking at me though. The tears in her eyes and her begging and fucking Lorelai's stupid reasoning that I shouldn't be keeping a book from her. Shouldn't. Like she has any fucking idea what is and isn't best for my kid. She's known her what, 3 weeks. If that. "Where are we going?" 

"Uncle Dean's." 

"Why?" 

"Because I need to talk to him about something." 

"About what?" 

"Libby." 

"I'm just asking!" She huffed, sitting her head back against her car seat headrest. She's quiet for almost the whole rest of the ride and then says something that hurts my heart. "I'll give the book back if it makes you sad." 

"No Lib, you want to read it, we can read it. It's just a book." 

"But you think I'm gonna break it." I pulled into Dean's drive, parking the car and turning to face her. "You'll be upset with me and Miss Turner will be and I don't-" 

"Hey- woah- okay-" I scrambled out of the car and rounded it to her side, pulling the door open as her flood gates opened. "Okay Lib. It's okay." I unbuckled her, taking the book and putting it on the next seat over as I pulled her out of the car and letting her cry. 

I forget how easily Libby can get upset sometimes. She is so concerned about making everyone around her happy and proud of her I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. I was supposed to raise this confident, self assured kid and somewhere along the lines I'd fucked her up almost as much as I'd messed me up. I held her tight until her tears subsided  and only pulled back to wipe her cheeks and look her over. 

"It's just a book Libby." 

"But- it's - im-important to-" 

"To Miss Turner. I know. She said." With a damn attitude that made me want to pull her over my fucking knee and spank it out of her. "But it's just a book Olivia. It's just paper and ink. Neither of us will be upset with you if it breaks but you're not going to break it. You're so careful with everything. I don't think you've ever broken a toy. What makes you think you will now?" She sniffs heavily. "Baby, what's going on?" 

"I don't want Miss Turner to leave." Her bottom lip wobbles and I try to comfort her before another wave starts. Seeing her cry physically hurts me. "Mr Stevenson- when- something got broken- he blamed me- and the Kennedy and James and Josh said it was my fault he left. Because I- always broke things." Her voice cracked and I pulled her back into me. 

I'll fucking kill him. 

Break him out of whatever shithole prison he's in right now and murder him for making Libby feel bad. Then I'll find fucking Kennedy's parents and - 

"I didn't do it daddy. I didn't break anything. I don't want Miss Turner to leave. She's nice." Olivia was back to sobbing into my shoulder and I had to steady my breathing before I did something I regretted.