Chapter Text
- July 17th, 2010 -
Slouching down in the backseat of his dad’s car, Gavin watched out of the window as the fields flew by. Some were crops, layered over the hills or right along the roadside, and the rest was mostly undisturbed grass. He crossed his arms, drifting his eyes from the scene outside of the car to his dad driving. He glared, silently wishing his mom were the one driving him instead. And preferably away from where they were heading. He quickly looked away, noticing his dad looking at him through the rear view mirror.
“I’m not happy about this either, son. But it’s just a week and we can’t do anything about it.” Gavin slouched further into his seat as if it could swallow him up, proving it was some kind of dream.
“I don’t care, I’d rather be at home alone.” His dad, Gabriel, sighed as he shook his head.
“At least try to act happy today? It’s Elijah’s birthday and I don’t have time for your tantrums.” Gavin grumbled, pressing his arms against his chest as he looked back outside. Gabriel took another glance at him but left the conversation at that. If his son wanted to be upset then he’d just deal with it later on in the day for when he has help.
Gavin stared at the house as they pulled into the driveway, taking note of the light brown bricks that were outlined by white fascias. The black door was accented by light gray bricks around it, a few normal bricks on the lower left side for some reason. Two windows were to the right and left of the bricks, a larger window to the right where the front room was, and a second large window above the others where there was a small loft.
Gabriel knocked on the car, startling Gavin, and motioned for him to get out. So, grabbing his backpack and his Nokia smartphone before getting out of the car. He slammed the door closed, which Gabriel responded by glaring at him.
“Didn’t your mother teach you manners?” Gavin, blowing a raspberry, walked up to the house. “Brat.” Gabriel followed his son onto the porch and fished out his keys from his back pocket. He unlocked the door then pushed Gavin inside before walking in himself.
“Hey don’t-”
“Sarah, I’m home!” Gabriel cut off Gavin’s protest, to which Gavin grumbled out the rest of it.
“Dad!” Gavin looked at the stairs, set between the front room and the kitchen, to see a kid about his age rushing down them. A lady, which Gavin assumed to be “Sarah” giggled from behind the kid.
“Be careful Elijah.” Gavin crossed his arms, looking back at the kid as he stopped in front of him. “Oh, is that Gavin?”
“Yeah, you remember how Mia’s out of town for the week. She wanted him to meet his brother and get to know him.” Gabriel pat Gavin’s shoulder as he passed, walking up to Sarah.
“You’re my brother?” The kid, Elijah, grinned at Gavin with surprising amounts of excitement in his eyes.
“Uh.. yeah, I guess.” Before Gavin could react, Elijah caught him in a hug. Gavin tried to get out of it, barely able to get his arms uncrossed while completely unable to push him away. “Hey, don’t you know about personal space?” He grumbled out, his voice straining from his pitiful efforts.
Elijah pulled off of him, awkwardly laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m just really excited!”
“I can tell..” Gavin adjusted his bag on his shoulders.
“Oh! Can I take him upstairs? Please?” Elijah whipped around to Gabriel and Sarah as he clapped.
“Oh I don’t know.. Shouldn’t he at least settle in first?” Sarah looked at Gabriel, silently asking for help. Gabriel wrapped an arm around her waist and side hugged her.
“Honey, they’ll be sharing a room.” Gabriel planted a kiss on her cheek, nearly making Gavin gag out loud but he managed to bite his tongue. “Of course you can take him up there, Eli. Just make sure to keep an ear out for when we call you.” Elijah quickly nodded then grabbed Gavin’s wrist.
“W- Let me go, I can walk on my own!” Gavin tried to tug his hand back as Elijah dragged him to the stairs. About halfway up Gavin just rolled his eyes and gave up trying, a ghost of a smile on his lips.
Entering what was seemingly Elijah’s room, he turned to look at Gavin and let go of his wrist. “You can set your bag over there,” he pointed to the side of the room with a bed, with only the sheet on with a pillow haphazardly thrown onto it, against the wall, “I’ll try to find some extra blankets for you in my closet.”
“Thanks.” Gavin muttered out and set his bag on the bed as Elijah went to a door on the wall to the left of Gavin. He opened the door and walked in, coming out maybe a minute later with a medium-ish blanket.
“It’s the biggest blanket I have, but it should work!” Gavin nodded, already a little annoyed with Elijah’s endless excitement. He took the blanket and moved his bag to the side so he could lay it on the bed. He set the bag next to the bed but kept it closed for now, deciding he’ll grab what he needs when he needs it. Elijah sat on his bed, on the opposite wall of Gavin’s, and crossed his legs on the bed. “Do you have any other siblings?” When Gavin shook his head, Elijah frowned a bit. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Gavin scooted back on his bed until he could lean his weight on the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just wish I could be home.” And away from you, he thought but decided not to add it. Gavin had to stop himself from trying to sink into the wall as Elijah smiled.
“Well, it might not be home for you, but we can try to make it fun!” Elijah uncrossed his legs and leaned over the edge of the bed, his hands grabbing the edge so he wouldn’t fall. “How old are you?”
“7, what about you?” Gavin couldn’t stop himself from relaxing a bit, glad to get off the topic of home.
“Just turned 8, though mom and dad say I’m smarter than an average 8 year old.” Gavin tilted his head as his face twisted with confusion.
“What, like you skipped a grade or something?” Gavin snickered a bit to himself but stopped when Elijah shook his head.
“No, I don’t want to,” Elijah got off of his bed and lifted the mattress just enough to pull out a book, “but I’ve been writing down a lot of advanced math and science I’ve found from the attic.” He walked over to Gavin and held out the book, which Gavin took without question. He opened it, blinking a few times to try and make sense of all the words on the page. It took a few moments but he managed to understand it, thanks to a few sticky notes on the edges that explained some of Elijah’s thoughts.
“Whoa..” Gavin flipped through some of the pages but stopped at a sketch. “Is that a robot?” He looked up at Elijah, whose face was dusted with a faint pink.
“Yeah, I love watching sci-fi movies.” Elijah climbed up next to Gavin, who leaned away a bit to stop them from touching. “Some of the math in here were calculations for if the robots in movies would actually work.”
“That’s cool.” Gavin smiled a bit and looked back at the book.
“It’d be cooler if I could actually do all of the math.. But I’m missing some stuff about it.” Elijah reached over and flipped to the next page, which had a little math and notes but most of the notes on the page were filled with scribbles and question marks.
“Well, you could always look in a library or something.” Elijah leaned against the wall behind them and sighed.
“I tried, but came up with nothing. I think I’ll drop it for now, pick it up in a couple of years.” Gavin nodded then closed the book.
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Gavin looked at Elijah, who was smiling at him. “What?”
“Just.. you’re the first person to understand anything I talk about.” Gavin looked down, feeling embarrassed.
“Yeah, well.. this stuff isn’t that complicated.” He held the book out, crossing his arms back across his chest once it was taken.
“Sure, sure.” Elijah laughed and got off of Gavin’s bed. He put the journal back under his bed just in time for a shout to interrupt them.
“Elijah, Gavin! Get down here!”
“Coming dad!” Elijah shouted back then smiled at Gavin. “Guess it’s present time.” Gavin sighed then scooted to the edge of his bed.
“Go on ahead, I’ll be down in a minute.” Elijah nodded then rushed out of the room, on the verge of running. Gavin grabbed his bag then opened it, digging through it until he found a present his mom found at the bottom. He stood up then followed Elijah’s path downstairs.
“There you are, Gavin,” Sarah smiled once Gavin got to the bottom of the stairs. “I’m glad you decided to join us to celebrate.” Gavin hummed a bit then walked past her to sit at the table next to Elijah. He set down the present near the rest of them.
“My mom wanted me to bring something, so she got what she could.”
“I’ll be sure to send our thanks.” Gabriel spoke as he walked out of the kitchen, holding a white frosted cake with four lit spiral candles on the top. Gavin leaned back in his chair as Gabriel and Sarah sang happy birthday to Elijah, who couldn’t keep the grin off his face if he tried. Gabriel set the cake in front of Elijah as the song ended. Elijah blew out the candles once Gabriel’s hands were away from the fire, eliciting claps from both the parents.
“What’d you wish for honey?” Sarah asked, standing behind Elijah and plucking out the candles carefully.
“It’s a secret!” Elijah laughed to her as Gabriel grabbed a knife from the table. He cut the cake carefully then set the first slice on a plate in front of Elijah.
“Gavin, dear, would you like some cake?” Gavin glanced at Sarah then shook his head.
“No thanks, I’m not a huge fan of cake,” He looked at Elijah’s slice, the batter of the cake colored a pink color clearly pointing it to being a strawberry flavor. “Too sweet.”
“Aw, that’s too bad.. I’ll be sure to think about that next time.” Sarah smiled at Gavin, who could only feel it was too sweet for any normal person. So Gavin just nodded and watched as his dad dished up two more slices for them. Gavin huffed to himself and closed his eyes, knowing this next week was going to be a lot for him to handle.
When they finished with the cake, Elijah moved to the presents in the center of the table. He grabbed Gavin’s present and looked over it.
“You trying to see through the wrapping or something? Just open it.”
“ Gavin, don’t rush your brother.” Gabriel scolded from his spot at the table. Gavin grumbled a little but focused on Elijah as he started unwrapping the gift.
“You found a Robots in Disguise Grimlock?!” Elijah held up the grey transformer, a blaster of some sort next to it in the packaging, with his eyes as wide as saucers. He looked at Gavin, hugging Grimlock close to his chest. “Thanks so much Gavin!”
“Don’t mention it.” Gavin gave him a small smile.
“Aw, how sweet of you.” Gavin’s smile vanished faster than it appeared, switching to a frown as he looked at the table.
Gavin watched Elijah open the rest of his presents, but none got him nearly as excited as the Grimlock had. Which he would not take off his lap the whole time. At times, when some of the bigger presents were being passed to him, he would fidget with the corner of the packaging with a faint smile on his face.
- July 18th, 2010 -
“Gavin, come over here!” Elijah waved his arm in the air, trying to get Gavin into the pool with him. Gavin, sitting in a chair on the back porch, shook his head.
“No way, I don’t have any swimsuits.” Elijah frowned in fake hurt, slamming his arm into the water. He immediately pulled his arm up as it stung from the impact, muttering ‘ow’ over and over. “Where’d you parents go anyway?” Elijah looked up then swam to the edge closer to Gavin.
“They went to the store before you woke up,” Elijah crossed his arms on the top of the rim with a grin. “You sure sleep pretty hard for a kid.” Gavin rolled his eyes and scoffed.
“I do not, Elijah.” Gavin grabbed his book and opened it to the page he left off on. “Why don’t you play with some of your pool toys?” Elijah pouted with a huff.
“Because I want to play with you, you meanie.” Elijah kicked himself off the edge and floated towards the middle of the pool. “I want to make this fun for you.”
“Reading is fun.”
“I meant by interacting with you, not by reading books all the time.” Gavin closed his book in frustration.
“Fine, give me a minute to find something to wear.” He set down his book on the side table and walked into the house as Elijah cheered from the pool. Gavin chuckled when he heard the slap of water that was once again followed by “ow”s. Once he got into their room, he walked over to his bag and looked through it to see if he could find any clothes that he didn’t care about. Eventually he found a tank top and a pair of shorts. that he never actually planned on wearing, and started changing into them.
Elijah swam in a circle in the pool as he smiled, excited to play with Gavin in the pool rather than just watching him sit on the porch with his nose in a book. Sure, they’d only really known each other for less than a day, but he couldn’t help but be happy about it. He’d tried to ask his parents for a sibling before but they always said no, up until his dad let it crack that he already had a brother. So, like any kid, he bugged his dad until he relented and agreed to bring him over one day. Elijah stopped swimming when the back door opened, turning to see Gavin in a light blue tank top and jean-blue shorts.
“Took you long enough!” Gavin scoffed as he walked down the porch steps.
“You want me in there or not, sci-fi nerd?” Elijah gasped and placed his hand over his chest in mock offense.
“You said it was cool!”
“I didn’t lie. ” Gavin chuckled and climbed the ladder into the pool, shivering a bit when he touched the cold water. “Are you a penguin or something? That’s freezing! ” Elijah laughed and swam over to the ladder.
“Come on, it’s not that bad.”
“I’m gonna die if I go in there.”
“You won’t, I promise.”
“You’re such a liar.” Elijah rolled his eyes then grabbed Gavin’s ankles. “Hey wait, what are yOU-” Gavin screamed as Elijah yanked him into the pool.
“See? You’re not dead.” Elijah laughed when Gavin surfaced again, hugging himself as his body shivered.
“What was that for Elijah!?”
“You weren’t going to get in yourself!” Gavin glared at Elijah as he huffed.
“I was .”
“No you weren’t.”
“Yuh-huh.”
“Nuh-huh.”
“Yuh-huh.”
“Nuh-huh.” Gavin groaned then grabbed onto Elijah.
“Come here!” Elijah screamed as Gavin pulled him closer.
“No, I don’t want to touch your soggy shirt! Gavin let go!” They both laughed as Elijah tried, and eventually succeeded, to worm his way out of Gavin’s hold.
“Nice try, but you’re not getting away that easily!” Gavin swam after Elijah, who proceeded to yell then laugh as they kept swimming around.
Gavin sighed and flopped onto the couch next to Elijah. “I would’ve totally gotten you if dad hadn’t gotten to us first.” Elijah rolled his eyes and hit Gavin’s arm.
“Yeah right, just admit you’re a loser!”
“Am not, you’re just a cheater!”
“How’d I cheat?”
“You left the pool!”
“We didn’t make rules! ” Gavin punched Elijah’s leg.
“I would’ve if I knew you’d do that!”
“Well then I guess I’m just a step ahead of you then little brother. ” Gavin scoffed then moved to kick Elijah’s side.
“You’re older by a few months!”
“I’m still older!” Elijah grabbed Gavin’s leg and pushed it off the couch, earning himself a stuck out tongue. Elijah huffed then stuck out his tongue back.
“Can you two stop fighting for once?” Gavin rolled his eyes then leaned against the couch, crossing his arms.
“Whatever dad.”
“Seriously, have you no manners?” Gavin stayed silent and looked down at the couch. “I need to talk to Mia about checking your attitude, young man.” Elijah sighed and looked down, placing his hands on his lap.
- July 19th, 2010 -
“Gavin, I’ve talked to your mother,” Gavin groaned and leaned his head against the back of the couch, the cover of his book hitting his knees as he did so, “and we’ve come to a decision. During the rest of your stay here, me and Sarah will be in charge of changing your attitude.”
“What? There’s nothing wrong with my attitude.” Gavin looked at Gabriel, his eyebrows knitted together in anger.
“There is plenty wrong with your attitude, Gavin. You have no respect for my authority and certainly no respect for Sarah.”
“Because Sarah’s too nice-”
“No, you see? You’re talking back to an adult!” Gabriel pointed a finger at Gavin, who crossed his arms. “You’ll have learned to respect your parents and any other adults you meet once I’m done with you.”
“We’ll see about that old man.” Gabriel glared at him before stomping off to Sarah. Gavin shoved down the urge to smirk at his dad’s retreating form as he grabbed his book. He got a few lines in before somebody snatched it away from him. “Hey-”
“I’m sorry Gavin, but you can’t talk back to your father like that.” Sarah spoke as she closed the book.
“He’s not my dad, okay?” Sarah looked down at him, her face softening to one of sadness. “Now give me my book!” She sighed and shook her head.
“Gavin, honey, why do you think that?” She crouched down to his height, looking at him with her sickeningly sweet eyes.
“I’m not gonna talk to you.” He brought his feet onto the couch and crossed his arms, looking away from her.
“Please? I just want to help you.” Gavin scratched his arms.
“Just go away okay?! I don’t want to talk to you!” Gavin got off the couch and walked towards the stairs. “Why does she act like that? It’s not fooling me..” Gavin muttered as he walked up the steps, continuing his mumbles all the way to his bed. Only stopping when he fell face first onto the bed.
Gavin pulled the blanket over himself, keeping his face stuffed in his pillow. I can’t wait to get back home..
- July 20th, 2010 -
“What do you mean I can’t have my book back!?” Gavin yelled at Gabriel, who set his book on the top shelf above the TV.
“I mean, until you clear up your attitude, you won’t be reading any more books unless I or Sarah give it to you.” Gabriel turned back to Gavin and crossed his arms. “And there will be no protesting from you, do you understand?”
“No! Because this isn’t fair, why doesn’t Elijah get this stuff?”
“I said no protesting Gavin!” Gavin flinched as his dad yelled, glaring down at the floor.
“Whatever.” He muttered, clenching his hands at his sides.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you over your whining.” Gabriel held a smile on his face as Gavin glanced at him. He held back a gag as he cleared his throat.
“Sorry,” Gavin had to bite his tongue for a moment as he felt his stomach lurch, “dad..” Gabriel nodded and uncrossed his arms.
“That’s a good start.” Gabriel looked at the shelf before walking out of the room.
- July 21st, 2010 -
“What do we do, Gabriel? Should we tell him?”
“Might as well, she wants to see him and she won’t make it until-” Gavin walked down the stairs, looking at Gabriel and Sarah confused.
“What are you two talking about?” Sarah looked at Gavin then covered her mouth and looked down. Gavin stared at her for a moment then looked at Gabriel. “Dad?” Gabriel sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Look, son.. I’ll be bringing you out somewhere alright?” Gavin gripped the railing tighter as he felt anxiety bubbling in his chest. “Grab your shoes, I’ll meet you at the car.” Gabriel left no room for questions, so Gavin nodded slowly before walking to the front door. He slid on his shoes then walked out of the door and to his dad’s car. He opened the backseat door then sat down, buckling himself in. After a few minutes, his dad walked out of the house and to the car. He slid into the driver’s seat and buckled himself in before starting the car.
“Where are we going? Why can’t Sarah and Elijah come too?” His dad didn’t answer, only turning around to back out of the driveway. This, along with Sarah standing on the porch and watching them leave with a red face, sent Gavin’s anxiety through the roof. He knew something was wrong but his dad wouldn’t answer him, so he started thinking about what could have happened overnight to make them act like this. Why it wouldn’t include Elijah, their kid, or Sarah.
He didn’t get his answer until he saw that they were pulling into a hospital parking lot. He wasn’t sure who they were seeing, but all things considered, he could probably guess if he wanted to. But he doesn’t, he won’t let himself in fear of being right. They walked up to the receptionist’s desk, and then his dad spoke the six words he didn’t want to hear,
“We’re here to see Mia Reed,” his head felt like it was about to explode. His mom was in the hospital, so something happened to her overnight. He hadn’t even realized he was following after his dad and a nurse until they stopped in front of a room labeled as “Room 280 - Mia Reed.”
“She’s not going to make it past the hour,” the nurse spoke low as to not alarm Gavin, “so this is her last visit.” Gabriel nodded, placing his hand on Gavin’s back and guiding him into the room. Gavin’s heart broke when he saw him mom, connected to a bunch of machines he didn’t recognize. he ran over to her, grabbing onto the bars on the sides of her bed.
“Mom, what happened!?” He couldn’t stop himself as tears started building in his eyes. Mia slowly looked at him, smiling barely under her breathing mask.
“Gavin..” She muttered out, moving her hand onto his cheek. “Hey sweetie.” He placed a hand on hers.
“Mom..” His chest felt tight, unable to suck in a proper amount of air into his lungs.
“I have a gift for you,” she closed her eyes as she forced herself to smile wider, “over there.” She pushed Gavin’s head to look at a chair in the room, a brown jacket draped over the back. “I know it’s too big, but it’s the only.. the only size they had.” Gavin swallowed then went over to the jacket and grabbed it. He held it up, the jacket looked about as tall as his shoulders to the ground. He held it close to his chest as he walked back over to his mom.
“Thanks mom.. I,” Gavin cleared his throat as tears slid down his face, his voice cracking, “I love it.” Mia chuckled then placed her hand on his trembling ones.
“I’m glad.. keep it safe will you?” Gavin nodded, unable to form words as he tried to stop himself from breathing too loud. “Good.. you know I love you, right?” Gavin sniffled and nodded, gripping the jacket tighter.
“I-I love you too m-mom..” Mia’s hand tightened a bit before she lost any power to hold it up. The monitor that had been going at a steady rhythm suddenly made one long beep. Gavin’s eyes widened. “Mom?” He tried to shake her awake. “Mom!” He felt somebody grab him and began pulling him away from his mom. “MOM! No, no mom please wake up!” He let go of the jacket and struggled in the person’s hold as he sobbed.
Gavin could hear them talking outside the room, even with the door closed. He could hear Elijah asking what happened, Sarah reassuring him, and Gabriel telling Sarah what happened. Could hear them tell Elijah to not bother him for a while, the protests that followed, then his dad shutting it down with a final “got it” from Elijah’s mouth. If Gavin was honest, he kind of wished Elijah was there with him, so he could have somebody else to talk to instead of his dad. He stuffed his face into the leather jacket his mom gave him, wet from all his tears and snot. He closed his eyes as he pulled it closer to him, imagining it was his mom he was hugging instead. Acting like he was in his real bed, his home, instead of in the now, his dad’s house. Where he’ll be forced to stay for the rest of his life. He could barely remember his dad saying something about picking up his stuff from his mom’s, but it seemed so long ago that he couldn’t tell if it was real or not. Gavin curled into a fetus position, nuzzling his face into the jacket one last time, before falling asleep.
- July 22nd, 2010 -
Gavin squeezed his final suitcase into the back of the car before slamming the door closed. All the stuff he owned, and took for memories of his mom, was stuffed into the trunk and backseat of the car. His mattress was going to be taken by his dad by himself so there was room for the thing. He climbed into the passenger seat, which he still felt was wrong, and leaned against the door once he buckled himself in.
“I’m sorry, Gavin. No child should-”
“It’s fine.” Gavin interrupted, his voice very much cracking from his constant crying from the day before. “Just stop bringing it up.” Gabriel sighed then shifted the car’s gear into drive.
“Alright, whatever you say.” The car turned silent after that, remaining that way the whole ride. Gavin got out of the car as soon as they shifted back into park at the house. He opened the backseat door then grabbed what he could carry and walked to the house. He dragged the suitcases up the stairs, grunting a bit from the effort of a backpack on his shoulders, and set them against the wall by his bed. Elijah was sitting on his bed with his journal, looking up as he heard the suitcases hit the wall.
“Gavin, how’d it go?” Gavin shrugged off the bag on his shoulders and threw it down next to the cases.
“How do you think? ” He sat down on his bed, knowing his dad was probably bringing the rest into the house and he could bring them up later.
“I’m sorry..” Gavin rolled his eyes and laid down, pulling his blanket over himself.
“Whatever.”