Puzzle Pieces

Chapter One

The number of times his father had taken him on a trip to do something for fun with just him could be counted on only one of his hands. He used to love spending time with his dad but in recent years, their relationship had gone downhill. Tony tried to strike up a conversation with his father while they drove but the man didn't really reply so it left the young teenager dejectedly resting his chin on his arms as he gazed out the window.

The urban surroundings slowly turned suburban and then Tony's brows slowly furrowed as it morphed into rural landscape after a while.

"Oh my god. Cornfields. How /fun/." Tony spoke up sarcastically, bitter about his father not replying to his chatter. It wasn't like Tony wasn't used to the silence but today he'd gotten his hopes up since Howard offered to take him out somewhere. He'd been thrilled-- ecstatic really. But no, he was met with judgemental and disappointed silence as always. Until that sassy comment.

"If you like them so much, I can dump your ass off here." Howard snorted, not sounding impressed and then Tony rolled his eyes, leaning back against his seat to glare at the man. He kicked his feet up onto the dash of the Corvette. "Get your feet off the dashboard, Anthony. I didn't raise a brat." He grumbled, glancing at his son.

"You didn't raise anyone, moron." He snapped back in a quiet voice, taking his feet down and looking back out the window, missing the guilt that flooded Howard's face. Cornfields and more cornfields with a few houses and silos here and there. Picturesque. Superb. Bull/shit/. This was boring.

"Watch your mouth, son." His father replied after a while, earning another eye roll from the boy but Tony opted to stay quiet so that they wouldn't go at each other's throats. A civil car ride and then they'd get out at wherever the hell they were going.

Tony was beginning to doze off a bit because of the quiet and the seemingly sameness of the landscape. His arms rested on the door with the open window and his head was laid on top of it so that the wind rustled his messy brown hair. His eyes slipped closed, leaving his father as the only alert one in the car.

Tony later awoke when they ride was no longer smooth and the tires crunched as they rolled over loose gravel. He rubbed his eyes and scrunched up his nose as his father slowly pulled into the grassy lot and parked. The grassy lot behind them was filled with trailers, animal cages, food vendors and sketchy carnival rides with a large big top tent looming in the background.

Tony's eyes brightened up some as his father turned off the car and he opened his door quickly, climbing out as he looked around. A circus? Awesome. Tony didn't wait for Howard as he grabbed his jean jacket from the car, shrugging it on as he made his way to the ticket booth. Finally something exciting. Also an opportunity to ditch his father in the crowd and live a little.

Howard caught up with him, buying Tony a wristband that gave him access to the shows and all the rides. Tony waited for the lady running the booth to put his wristband on before slipping onto the fairgrounds without thanking his father. Howard sighed and got his own wristband before finding Tony again.

"Tony. /Tony/." He waited for the boy to turn towards him before handing him thirty dollars. "Don't be stupid."

Tony hummed and pocketed the money without another word, disappearing into the growing crowd.

The young teenager was an alpha and his father had shown pride in that, even if it ended up being short lived. This trip was to celebrate him discovering his nature and he looked around at the world in a very different way than he used to. He could tell the difference between alphas, omegas, and betas when he wasn't so sure before. It made him feel empowered as he tramped through the fairgrounds.

'Don't do anything stupid,' His father's words rang in his head and he snorted out loud, shoving his hands into his pockets while shaking his head.