How To Fall From Grace [MxM]

Step 31: Fall not so far from the tree

Frey couldn't believe himself. Why had he chosen the piano room of all places to be upset in? Especially when he was upset with her. The person who taught him how to play it in the first place.

He cursed under his breath, resisting the urge to slam his fist against the keys only because the noise it would cause wasn't worth it, but oh how he wanted to. He wanted to destroy something so badly.

How could she? What had he ever done to her? Why would she lie and make him think there was something wrong with him for all those years? For his entire life, even though she knew what it was like.

Maybe she had resented him from the beginning. She and Claus had not even been adults when they had him, so maybe he'd just been an unfortunate accident. A mistake. Not to Claus, perhaps, but maybe Valdís had felt differently and not dared to speak up.

Tears stung his eyes. He didn't like that idea. They may not have been as close as he and Claus, but they still loved each other and spent time together. He was the only one of her children who shared her love for playing music, and while deep conversations had never been their thing, they had never felt awkward about not talking while in the same room.

Had he been wrong? If she knew what it was like to live the way he'd had to, why would she lie and say there was something wrong with him if not to hurt him? Whether he had to hide it or not, she could have told him he wasn't alone.

A weak groan escaped his lips, and he tried to shake the pain by pressing some keys down, conjuring a D chord.

There was a knock on the door, and Frey's heart hitched.

"It's me."

Marius' voice.

"Right..." Despite some slight relief, Frey still couldn't relax. "... you can come in."

Marius didn't say anything as he stepped inside. It looked like he was trying to read the mood before deciding which approach to take.

"Did you tell her to leave?" Frey therefore asked instead, and Marius sighed.

"No, because I know you better than that."

Frey's eyes narrowed.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you don't want your mother to leave, and you don't want to be on bad terms with her."

"Did she tell you what happened?" Frey unknowingly clenched his fists. "You must have talked to her, right?"

"We had a conversation about it, yes." Marius sounded surprisingly bitter. "Thank you for leaving me to deal with that alone, by the way."

"I wasn't aware you wanted something like—"

"I was being sarcastic."

"Well, if she told you, how could you think I still want her here?"

Marius exhaled through his nose, giving Frey a look meant to be comforting but Frey only sensed an imminent, frustrating speech of attempted conflict solving.

"She should never have treated you like that," he began, causing Frey to blink. "She did mean well, but her methods were horrible."

"She told you about that?" Frey shook his head. "I thought you talked about the two of us."

"We talked about that too." Once again, Marius' bitterness shone through. "It was a heavy conversation that I would not have preferred to face alone."

"Me being upset should be even more understandable, then." Frey stared down at the keys. "I hadn't expected her to tell you about that part, given how shameful and bad she finds it."