The Man

Chapter 23 // The Son

Kyle stepped out of the car, he turned back and held his hand out for Lena, who grabbed it and gracefully stepped outside. Kyle smiled, if his eyes weren't red you wouldn't notice that he just cried the whole car ride. Together they walked inside, past the security desk since the guys knew them. They were greeted but Kyle, for the first time, stayed silent and walked further. He walked to Cat's- his private elevator and pushed the button. Without a problem the doors opened and he stepped inside. 

The whole ride was spent in silence. When the doors opened on the top floor Kyle let go of Lena's hand and walked to the door, he opened it with his key and got inside. Not waiting for Lena. He directly walked to the kitchen, grabbed a beer out of the fridge and walked to the couch in the living room. He sat down, his beer opened and with his head down. 

He put a hand through his hair and tried to take a long swig, but a hand stopped him. He looked up at Lena, who was looking concerned. Kyle sighed and put his bottle on the table. He looked at Lena again and said "Sorry. I-I should talk, shouldn't I?" Lena only hummed in response and sat down beside Kyle.

Kyle sighed and said "Yeah- I'm not used to this. So- much stuff. It's overwhelming."

Lena placed her hand on Kyle's knee and squeezed it. That was all Kyle needed, she understood. So he stood up, grabbed his beer and placed it in the fridge. He walked past Lena to Carter's room and yelled to Lena "Be right back! Thanks!"

Kyle opened Carter's door and saw that the boy was working on his homework, listening to something. Kyle knocked on the doorpost which made Carter look up. The boy smiled, which dimmed in an instant as he asked "Where is mom?"

Kyle looked confused "Didn't she say goodbye?" Carter shook his head, Kyle sighed and said "Well, your mom was a little bit nervous. She wanted to- but she couldn't but- that doesn't mean we won't see her again." Carter nodded, stood up and hugged his brother. Kyle just sighed again and put his arms around the boy. Suddenly Kyle heard a sniffle so he started to rub the boy's back. Knowing he needed this comfort.

They stood there for minutes, Kyle just holding Carter while the boy cried since his mom was gone and wouldn't be back anytime soon. And to make matters worse: His parent, his legal guardian, was Kyle. Who knew absolutely nothing about parenting. But when they finally parted Kyle said "I will make a note for you, so they know what happened at school. No need for homework now." The boy nodded and followed Kyle out of the room to the smell of pasta. 

Kyle walked to the kitchen and kissed Lena, who was cooking, on the cheek. He turned towards Carter and said "Go grab yourself something to drink, you are allowed to drink soda today since we are having a movie night." Carter nodded an walked to the fridge.

Kyle turned back to the food and stuffed his finger in the boiling pan with sauce. Lena gasped, which made Carter chuckle as he commented "Lena, just ban him from the kitchen."

Lena's shocked face turned into a stern one as she said, pointing with a spoon accusingly "Out," Kyle pulled his finger out of his mouth, the sauce was quite nice. So he put his hands up in defence and walked out of the kitchen. A smirk playing on his face the minute he was turned around. Because this meant he couldn't set the table.

He sat down on the couch and relaxed. Minutes later he was called to set the table, he wanted to be petty but in the end he wasn't going to. So he helped Carter set the table.  When they finally sat down it was already quite late. Kyle just sighed, since he isn't the most patient man in the world, and let the others grab food first. Kyle didn't know this kind of stuff was possible with Lena, but in the end it apparently was. 

Kyle liked it. It was just relaxing and nice, no bad things happening, no evil people and all in all just a great evening. 

~~~~~~~~~

Kyle looked around, the movie had just ended, both Lena and Carter were asleep. Kyle chuckled and stood up, first he carried Lena with ease to his bedroom and quickly changed her into something more comfortable, they were smart enough to bring some clothes of her there. He laid her down in bed and gave her a peck on the head, before walking back to the entertainment room.

Kyle picked his little brother up, who was cuddling his stuffed animal. Kyle knew he had only grabbed it from his drawer since he didn't want to be alone. With that Kyle walked to his bed room and laid him down on his king-sized bed. Kyle stood there for a moment, debating if he should change his clothes, in the end he did it since he clearly would be uncomfortable if he didn't.

When Kyle was about to leave, he was already turned around, he felt a hand on his arm. He quickly turned around and looked at his little brother. The only thing he got was a very tired sounding Carter saying "Stay." Without his eyes open.

Kyle nodded and said "I'm going to change real quick, okay?" Carter nodded and with that Kyle rushed to his room, changed, gave Lena another kiss on the head and walked back. It was all done in not so much time, but for some reason Kyle felt as if he was taking too long. When Kyle finally got in Carter's bed the boy was sleeping again. 

Kyle pulled him close, since the boy was clearly in need of it tomorrow morning, and help him tight. With that, minutes later, Kyle fell asleep.