Disclaimer: I don't own em, I just name the nameless ones (brothers) and play with them.
Author Notes: This one sort of goes back to The Great Pretender. It's not necessary to have read that one first, but it might help a little bit. I have no idea why I have it out for poor Geoff, I just figure if someone is gonna suffer, why not the party guy who would probably take it silently anyhow. This one strays into a little darker territory so please consider this your warning.
Silent
Geoff didn't like to complain really. He didn't see much point to it he supposed. Yeah you got it off your chest, but your problems were still there, and they were still just your problems. So you could bitch and moan to your friends and they might lend you a sympathtic ear or maybe even a little bit of advice. Then again, maybe Geoff's problems were just a little more real life than most high school students.
He wasn't sure who he would even turn to when his mom left. His parents were bohiemians, and once Geoff and his brothers were born, their father had settled down into a career and a more adult life. Their mother however, could not hold down a steady job. She was not very good at the wife and mother gig either. So after his father lost his job, and their fights became explosive she left to stay with her sister for a while. She never came back. So, Geoff's father started working longer hours at his new job, leaving Geoff at home to watch his brothers.
Geoff silently accepted this extra responsiblity. His brother Cory was only three years younger than himself, and did not need all that much looking after. Cory would even try to help out where he could. The problem came in with the youngest three. Eli and Toby, ages six and eight could not quite rationalize the fact that mom just wasn't coming back. Geoff didn't have the heart to tell them there was no hope of her return. She could never let go of the boho life, and had never wanted to be saddled down. He couldn't tell them that however, so he would force a smile when they asked if she was coming home and respond with a slightly choked; "Maybe."
Skylar, his handicapped brother was becoming more prone to his violent fits as time went on. Geoff had hoped that maybe the fits would stop once their parents fighting ceased, but if anything he had become more violent. He went after Eli with a knife, and Geoff managed to wrestle it away before any damage could be done. When he had demanded to know why he had done that, Skylar simply shrugged. Geoff was ill equiped to deal with Skylar's rage and tantrums. Geoff was a teenager, still just a kid himself, he should not have this kind of responsiblity yet.
Geoff silently suffered through the nightmares that plagued Eli. He never complained about the bruises that covered his shins from Skylars kicking tantrums. He could not let the strain he was feeling show at school or at home. He had to be the adult now. His father couldn't quite regroup from the loss of his wife and spent more and more time away from his sons. So Geoff grew up, and he grew up fast. His days as the "party guy" were over. He cooked their meals, he helped tidy up the house, he did whatever had to be done. It just wasn't quite enough.
He could do nothing but stand idly by, as the state took his brother away. Skylar was deemed unfit to be there after he hurt another child in his class. The social worker had told Geoff he'd done the best he could with what he had, but she just could not leave Skylar with him. He was a danger to the younger kids. To Geoff's knowledge, his father had spoken very breifly with them, and agreed. Letting them take his son, and their brother away. Geoff could do nothing but pick up Eli as he cried, and let Toby wrap himself around his legs, burying his face in his thigh. Cory, like Geoff himself stood by stoically, watching as Skylar kicked and screamed before driving out of sight.
Geoff worked harder. He would not let them take anyone else from him. He went from sixteen to thirty six. He was told he was no fun anymore, he wasn't the same guy his friends use to know. He couldn't afford to be, he knew his friends missed the party guy. There was nothing worth celebrating here, no reason to party. So when a few of his fellow football players came by and asked why the party guy never showed up anymore, he had one simple answer for them.
The party guy doesn't live here anymore.