Taste of His Own Medicine
Summary: (Charlie Bartlett) Slight songfic to Lilly Allen's "Littlest Things." Charlie and Gardner get to talking and help each other through some difficult times. Gardner-Charlie / father-son story.
A/N: I'm back in lab again, escaping from my hectic life by staying up 'til two to write this story. I absolutely fell in love with the film and was thoroughly disappointed to see no fanfiction for it. This is me getting the stone rolling.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Except for the cool "CBCBCBC" breaker below. does a dance "Hey you stole that from my story!" Eh… Uh, gotta go!
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There was a knock at the Gardner's humble abode and Mr. Nathan Gardner, ex-principal and now history teacher of Western Summit High School, heaved a sigh before arising from his study chair to answer it. A head poked through the distorted glass window and Gardner recognized it to be that of Mr. Charlie Bartlett. Gardner rolled his eyes of that of a very stressed man.
God, why today…?
He turned the brass knob and greeted the seventeen-year-old with a curt nod and an equally short, "Charlie."
"Um, hey, Principal Gardner-" Charlie began in his usual awkward fashion before being cut off by the elder.
"I'm the history teacher now, you know. I stopped being the principal when I got fired." Charlie ducked his head and winced at the word Gardner had taken care to emphasize. The man wasn't meaning to be cruel, but civility was the farthest thing from his mind right then. "What-what do you want exactly, Charlie?"
"Eh, is… Susan home?" Charlie asked. Gardner simply rubbed his head.
"I'm sorry, Chuck, I'm a little tied up right now with… Other things." Gardner spoke slowly, for the sake of his pulsing headache and in hopes of Charlie catching his obvious point.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Charlie asked.
Ah, the infamous Bartlett question. One would be hard-pressed to get anything past the seventeen year-old uncertified psychiatrist. Gardner couldn't help but laugh at the familiarity of it all. He'd fallen for it once before and swore never to do so again once realizing it was the most he'd spoken about his personal life to another since his therapy sessions. Surprisingly enough, Charlie's own words held more sincerity than that of the hourly-waged doctors'.
"C'mon in, Charlie." Gardner said, opening the door wider for the younger man's entrance. He didn't know why he was leading the boy currently dating his daughter, the boy who had helped him lose his job, into his study. A lot of things were confusing to Gardner at that moment.
What wasn't confusing was the adolescent boy behind him peering around for his gorgeous daughter Susan. A protective nerve was struck as Gardner quickly pointed out Susan was at her mother's, "Don't waste your time."
Charlie stopped what he thought was subtly scoping when the news reached his ears. His shoulders slumped noticeably lower as he fell heavily into the chair opposite Gardner's desk. It was a lot like being in the principal's office again except it was entirely less tense, and for once, Charlie wasn't in trouble.
"Her mother's? Really?" Charlie asked, hands folded in his lap and eyes studying the desk and wall photos. Gardner was staring casually out the window of his office, spying on the family a few houses down. One of Susan's old boyfriends lived there and Gardner still had the tendency to eye the two story building with suspicion.
"Yes, and before you go psychiatric on me, no, I don't feel anything about it." Gardner seethed, quite tender about the subject since it took place only hours before.
"Well, you must feel something." Charlie said with an air of superiority that made Gardner bristle.
"Oh yeah, why's that, Charles?" he countered with a tinge of defense in his voice.
"You're reaching for your scotch. And with my experience that usually means you're brooding about something. And since you seem a lot happier in class, it can't be your job. So, it's gotta be family related." Charlie put a cherry on top as he folded his hands behind his head and offered an indifferent shrug.
Gardner laughed. The boy was a character.
"You're a perceptive young man, Charlie."
"Thanks." Charlie said simply and the two sunk into a comfortable silence. Gardner with his thoughts on his failed marriage and Charlie with thoughts on how he could ask Gardner for the number to Susan's mother's house without sounding like a creep.
"Don't worry; I'm missing her already too." Charlie said, reading Gardner's anxious expression as something related to Susan. She was their common ground, and some days were definitely better than others as this day obviously pointed out.
Gardner sighed and looked up from his various papers that he wasn't really looking at.
"Do you want to get some sushi?"
"Uh, sure." It was random, but Charlie was game for that type of stuff.
"Does your mother know where you're going to be?" Typical parent question.
Charlie nodded, bearing a decent explanation, "I told her I was going to Susan's. I think she expects I'll be going somewhere else from there."
Gardner nodded as well, seemingly not paying much attention to the excuse. His mind was on other things which Charlie could infer from the blank expression he wore on his tired but handsome features. It was the same look he wore when all the students were taking tests. Gardner was on a different world while all the students texted each other the answers. Charlie wondered if Gardner was suspicious of the surprising amount of 85's he got every quiz day.
The two arrived at the sushi place with a silent ride in the car. Charlie played classical music on the radio, trying to test Gardner's patience for the music, but it actually seemed to calm his teacher down some. Hmm, maybe I should tell Susan. It might help her when he has a panic attack and breaks out the gun…
The two seated themselves at the Sushi bar, surveying the Japanese man making an impressive show of his knife handling ability. There weren't many people in the establishment mainly because the lunch rush had subsided for the day.
"Have you ever had sushi before?" Gardner asked the younger man who was staring at the menu with an expression of distrust and confusion.
"Uh, not since my dad was around." He said slowly, mouthing the words of a strange, unpronounceable dish. "His dad was in the army so they spent a lot of time in Japan. The food tastes sort of stuck with him I guess."
I'd tell you sad stories about my childhood
I don't know why I trusted you but I knew that I could
"You don't like it then?" Gardner asked, suddenly feeling insensitive for not asking to begin with.
The teacher noticed Charlie fiddling with his hoodie's sleeve. Something else was definitely behind Charlie's reply of, "It's… all right."
"You don't like that it reminds you of him."
Charlie looked down and shifted his eyes before nodding uncertainly. A waiter came then, pressing them for their orders. The younger man asked for an ice tea in place of his order, forcing Gardner to order something for him. The young Asian girl bowed slightly before leaving with her notepad.
"It's good. You'll like it." Charlie didn't look convinced. He was fine with his ice tea, thank you kindly.
The littlest things that take me there
I know it sounds lame but it's so true
I know it's not right, but it seems unfair
That the things are reminding me of you
Gardner read into the look and grabbed the younger man's intention firmly. "Charlie, when somebody abandons you, you can't just estrange yourself from everything that reminds you of them. If that was the case, I probably wouldn't have Susan with me. She looks just like her mother…"
Charlie soaked in the words when a new thought popped in his head, "Mr. Gardner, if you don't mind me asking-"
"I probably will, but shoot," Gardner interjected considerately.
"-Why… don't you like Susan and her mother spending time together? I know that since the affair-" Charlie stopped suddenly and looked guiltily into his teacher's eyes before throwing them downcast again.
Gardner leaned back in his chair, smirking at Charlie's embarrassment. "Ah, I figured Susan would tell you, Chuck. You're like one of those irresistible puppies."
"Thank you for the compliment, sir, but I think you're stalling." Charlie pointed out, respectfully.
"You know you can call me Nathan."
"Still stalling, Mr. Gardner. Two iced teas, thanks." Charlie hurriedly said to the waiting attendant, flashing her a smile.
"Well, I think it's safe to say you've blocked all of my escape routes so I'll share it with you. Renee and I split because she had an affair, true. I took major custody of Susan because I had a stable job and Renee pretty much abandoned us. Months later though, and this is the real kicker, Renee wants to start being mommy again and then has the audacity to call me every day with a new message about how I'm a piss-poor excuse for a father for not letting Susie have a relationship with her mother." Gardner sighed. Charlie wasn't sure but he could almost sense the man was pouting.
"You still haven't told me why you don't like Susan hanging out with her mom." Charlie said pointedly.
Gardner shook his head. The boy was positively fearless when it came to the lives of others. He sighed before letting the truth finally slide: "I don't want my daughter being around some one that doesn't value what they have-A person that jumps ship when their family is counting on them. I'm not going to allow Susan to turn into that, especially when she has so much love and talent to be something else."
Gardner stopped rolling his straw wrapper and looked up at the nodding face of Charlie.
"I get you."
There was a silence until the sushi arrived, at which point Charlie showed no intention of eating the raw fish, causing Gardner to become slightly impatient.
"It's not going to bite you, Chuck." Gardner pointed out, motioning to the rolled rice cut with his chopsticks.
Charlie nodded insincerely, looking down with repulsion toward the platter. He reluctantly used his fork to pick up the delicacy, almost as if Gardner's gaze were whipping it into action. He took a bite and, to his utter surprise, the memories of his father and every hateful thing about the man didn't attack his mind like the bubonic plague. He let out a breath of relief which Gardner mistook for pleasure.
"You like it?" The older man asked, gesturing to the dish.
Charlie looked up and gave a warming smile.
"It's good." Charlie said, thinking what Gardner said to him about the things he'd fled from simply because they reminded him of his alienated father.
"So, Charles, why were you coming over to talk to Susan anyway?" Charlie nearly choked at the sudden question as he realized the harsh answer.
"I thought you said we weren't going to have any of those awkward father/boyfriend chats." Charlie said, trying to casually steer the conversation away from the prying ex-principal.
"Well, let's let this one slide." Said Gardner. He was noticing something strange about Charlie's shifting eyes. A quality which piqued his interest since the question was about his daughter's social activities
"Are you sure? Because this is starting to sound like one."
"Charlie, you're stalling." Gardner made blatantly clear.
Charlie swallowed nervously before speaking with a strained and steady voice. "Uh, you know. We were going to play some… Skee-ball… Down at the arcade."
Ha! Now Gardner knew he was lying. "First of all, Susie doesn't step foot into those places. Something about the nerds always checking her out, whatever. And second-" Gardner was glad to be interrupted because that was the only reason he had…
"All right! I was… going to check in on my dad." He mumbled the last part quietly. Gardner leaned in animatedly.
"Sorry?"
"I was going to check in on my dad. It's… It's his birthday. I was probably going to drop by and give him a Hemingway. Without Susan here though, seems ridiculous now. Maybe next year, right?"
Dreams, dreams
Of when we had just started things
Dreams of you and me
It seems, it seems
That I can't shake those memories
I wonder if you have the same dreams too
Gardner simply raised his eyebrows at the perplexing boy.
"You baffle me, Chuck. You're the second most confident and intelligent student I've ever met. (After my daughter of course.)" Charlie laughed a little at the comment. "You stand against authority, the law, and most astonishing, the student body, and you're telling me you can't look your own father in the eyes on his birthday?"
When I was feeling down, you made that face you do
No one in the world that could replace you
"What do you want me to do?" Charlie spoke meekly. He couldn't help feeling this way before the man. Something about Gardner made him one of Charlie's most formidable opponents. He spat truth in his face and told him to deal. Charlie knew nobody was blunter than he.
"I don't know. You tell me." Gardner said, placing his chopsticks down to cross his hands ias if to say "Figure it out yourself."
"I know." Charlie started, feeling a surge of mutiny. "How 'bout 'Hey, Dad. Happy birthday. How's it in the ole' slammer?' I-I just hate going to that place."
"Where?" Gardner inquired.
"The prison, that little room with the bulletproof windows, all of it. I hate that my dad is rotting in there, like-like he's a constant reminder of what I'm going to become. Sometimes I wish-" Charlie broke off at the end, feeling his voice about to break.
"Sometimes what? Sometimes you wish what, Charlie? You wish he were dead? Is that what you were going to say? Because I don't think you understand, Charlie. A lot of kids would kill to have their dad to visit once in awhile. Yes, even if that opportunity was in a jail cell. You can't keep letting that fact get in the way of a relationship between you and your father."
The littlest things that take me there
I know it sounds lame but it's so true
I know it's not right, but it seems unfair
That the things remind me of you
"I don't want to end up like him though. I get so close each year with a new scheme. Mainly an illegal scheme."
Gardner couldn't help a small smirk. "Charlie, c'mon, what are you doing this for? You don't have to worry about being like him."
"Yeah? What's stopping me? My mom barely understands what 'grounding' means." Charlie said, waving a deliberate hand.
"Me." Gardner state plainly. "I won't let you. I may not be the greatest dad in the world, may have gotten fired from my principal position, but I do know a thing or two about discipline. I'm not a teacher for nothing, you know. I can even, say, fill your mom in on some parenting tips."
"Well, thanks, Mr. Gardner… I think… I'd rather you not talk to my mother though."
"Yeah, I figured you would say that." There was an exchange of smiles before Gardner crushed Charlie's with a simple inquiry. "So, Borders after this?"
Charlie sputtered on his ice tea. It was unfortunate that Gardner always popped these questions on him when Charlie was busy ingesting something. "Wh-what?"
"Your dad. He likes Hemingway, right?" Gardner deflected as if it were only the most logical thing in the world.
"Yeah, but-but Mr. Gardner. I don't really have the intention of seeing him today."
"Tough luck, Chuck. You're going. You can't keep hiding from this guy. Need I remind you: He is your father."
Dreams, dreams
Of when we had just started things
Dreams of me and you
It seems, it seems
That I can't shake those memories
I wonder if you feel the same way too
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After a quick stop by Borders, a trip that involved much whining on Charlie's part and much flaunting on Gardner's, the two were now sitting in front of the state penitentiary's parking lot.
"Are you sure this is really necessary?" Charlie asked with the biggest and best eyes he could conceive.
"I wouldn't be wasting my weekend if it wasn't." Gardner affirmed. "Do you got the book?"
Charlie sighed and unveiled the wrapped rectangle from the Border's bag.
"It's a nice wrap job. Those girl scouts do a pretty good job." Gardner commented absently.
"You know, you can't force me to go in there." Charlie made sure to point out, although he hoped it sounded more confident than he felt.
"You're right, of course." Gardner began, perking Charlie up some. He began re-buckling his seatbelt when Gardner finished," But what would you do with yourself when you get home and you realize that not only have you let your father down but you've also let down yourself."
Charlie let out a deep breath, letting the message seep in and the belt slide back to its position. "That was so lame, Mr. Gardner."
"Whatever. Just get out of the car, Chuck. The worst that could happen is that you get attacked from trying psycho-evaluate the inmates. And even that's pushing it." Gardner smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll be right behind you."
They walked to the front entrance, and Charlie tightened his hold on the present. Gardner opened the door for the two of them and they entered the building. A cop frisked them at the registration desk, forcing Gardner to leave his Swiss army knife and lighter at the entrance. The woman led them to the
visitor's area, and Charlie heard in the distance "Bartlett, you've got a visitor. Report to the holding area."
After a moment of waiting at his assigned counter with Gardner standing behind him, Charlie noticed the barred door opening through the glass window. Charlie's heart pounded in his chest as a tall man with a medium build in an orange jumpsuit was led out by two heavy set guards. He plopped heavily in the seat opposite Charlie. "Son?"
Charlie swallowed before answering, meekly, "Hi, Dad. Um, happy birthday."
Mr. Bartlett nodded and smiled gratefully before glancing up at Gardner questioningly.
"Hello, Mr. Bartlett. I'm Nathan Gardner. I'm the history teacher at your son's school." Gardner explained.
"What are you doing here?" Mr. Bartlett inquired, scratching his mousy brown hair which was very similar to his son's own. The man's voice was gravelly though which was very unlike Charlie's smooth and soft tone. It did hold a familiar wit in it that almost made Gardner laugh. Almost.
"Escorting him." Gardner replied. "He was going to come with my daughter, but she's out of town."
"I see." There was a silence as Mr. Bartlett continued to stare at his son in utter wonderment.
"Um, Mr. Gardner, can you give us a minute." Charlie said, turning to the man.
"Sure. I'll be on those benches there." Gardner left mainly for his own sake than anyone else's. It was beginning to get unbearably hot over there and something told his it had little to do with the twenty-odd, muscular inmates talking to their families.
Gardner watched the father and son from a distance. He found out the two possessed a lot of the same mannerisms and then began to wonder how they could have a conversation without looking at each other much. Ten minutes passed when Gardner noticed a familiar blonde lady enter. He rose to attention and walked over to the Mrs. Bartlett.
"Marilyn, hi." He greeted her cordially. She returned with a genuinely surprised look.
"Mr. Gardner, why, what are you doing here?" the blonde questioned.
"Well-I-" Gardner stuttered, not having prepared for the question.
"Mom?" Charlie walked over, leaving a satisfied father in his wake.
"Charlie?" Ms. Bartlett said, equally confused. "I thought you said you were going to the movies." Gardner gave Charlie a Look which the boy made a point to blatantly ignore.
"Oh yeah, I stopped by Susan's along the way and Mr. Gardner here volunteered to take me to wish dad a happy birthday."
"Oh, that's lovely, darling." She switched her adoring attention to the man to her right. "You'll have to tell me how you did it, Nathan. I can barely get Charlie in here let alone have him talk to my husband."
"It was no trouble, Marilyn." Gardner said, knowing full well that it did take a certain amount of elbow grease.
Marilyn did a bit of shoulder adjusting before focusing her attention on her convicted husband. "Excuse me, boys. I have to wish Mr. Bartlett a happy birthday."
"All right, mom."Charlie said nodding, making way for his mother. He trailed his eyes after her before focusing them on his teacher. "Hey."
The two seated themselves at the benches, watching the couple talking with interest. Gardner took special notice of them glancing occasionally at the both of them. He preferred to talk to Charlie about something else that was pestering him though. "So, c'mon, have you grown a repulsive sore or is it going to be an outward sign like the apocalypse?"
Charlie grins grimly in reply. "You were right, okay? Talking to my dad- It wasn't that bad."
"I'm glad you've come to your senses." Gardner nodded, with an air of arrogance.
"So…" Charlie said, attempting to get away from Gardner's overblown head. "What do you think they're talking about? I still find it odd that my mother can have these hour long conversations with my crooked father."
"He's not crooked." Gardner scolded.
"He's in jail." Charlie stated realistically.
"That may be, but they still love each other. These absences make their meetings more special. Right now they're probably talking about restraining orders against the mysterious history teacher hanging out with their innocent little boy."
Charlie shrugged "Meh, so you've acted like a raving wild man on occasion." He said sarcastically. "I won't shed the grisly details in court though, promise."
"Ah, that's what I like about you, Chuck. You're always looking out for the rest of us." Gardner said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"What can I say?"
Marilyn approached them again, and Gardner rose.
"Hello, again." She said, putting a tissue in her purse.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not calling or anything. Charlie had assured me he had told you where he was." Gardner defended.
"Oh, no, all's well that ends well. My husband would actually like to have a word with you." Marilyn said, pointing a finger at the windowed area.
"Mr. Bartlett? Really?" Gardner turned his attention to the expectant jump-suited gentlemen behind the glass.
"Yes, I hope it's no trouble. It'll only be for a short while."
Gardner looked to Charlie for some help on the situation, but the boy just offered one of his signature shrugs, which Gardner would like to point out, was absolutely useless in most cases. "It's no problem, Marilyn. I'll make sure Charlie gets to say goodbye, too."
Marilyn nodded and smiled warmly, touching her son's shoulder comfortingly.
Gardner walked over, seated himself in the hard-backed chair, and folded his hands atop the counter in front of him. "Mr. Bartlett." He addressed the man with a nod.
"Nathan, please, call me Chuck." Gardner found the pleasantry surprising since that was what he'd been calling Charlie the entire time.
"Hello, Chuck, what can I do for you?" He said, shaking the absent thought from his mind and getting straight to business.
"I see you and my boy have been getting along well." The burly man started, casting a gaze toward his said son.
"We've been known to talk peaceably on most occasions." Gardner stuck out his lips and nodded. This received him a surprisingly loud laugh from the other man.
"That's nice. That's nice to see my kid connecting with an older gentleman such as yourself."
"Happy to oblige."
"He-he hasn't been having too many problems at school, has he? I barely hear much about him from Marilyn. She's pretty clueless, and Charlie never talks to me, you see." He seemed pretty forlorn about the situation, and Gardner understood his frustration. Gardner was starting to realize just how lucky he was to observe slivers of his daughter's school life.
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about there, Chuck. Charlie gets along fine with the other students. Quite the celebrity actually."
Mr. Bartlett only let out a low grunt at the fact. "I just worry about him is all. He has the mind of a fox with twice the shrewdness. I don't want him to get into anything tricky. It seems he's quite fond of people liking him, maybe a little too much."
"Well, that's pretty obvious."
"I assume you've heard about his drug-dealing operation?" Chuck said, scratching his ear.
"I do work at the school where it all took place so yes." Chuck laughed another booming chortle and Gardner checked to make sure they didn't wake the neighbors. A few glances but nothing alarming.
"Ha, heh, of course. Of course. I just- I don't want anything like that to happen again. If I could put some screws on the boy I would; he's my world. I think it's pretty obvious why I can't though." He made a point to gesture around the place.
"I see what you're getting at."
"Do you have kids, Nathan?" Chuck asked, initiating one of the most infamous approaches: the guilt trip.
"An uncontrollable mustang of a daughter, yes." Gardner said, playing the game.
"Then you know what I'm getting at. I just don't want to see him in the same place as me. Believe me. He's already landed himself in one of these on a few occasions. Thank god for little things."
"Like punching me in the mouth, right."
Chuck winced. "Yeeah. Sorry about that, man." He said, looking guilty as if he had been the one to knock him one.
"It's fine. I'm over it" Sort of.
"Good. So… Thank you for keeping an eye on him." Gardner could say he liked this man because he was so very different from the other parents he had the displeasure of spending two hours with in those drawling Parent/Teacher conferences. One: He didn't pretend to think his son was harmless as a kitten, and two: Chuck didn't distance himself from Charlie even though the boy was obviously a bit wobbly, which was a common case with most Parent-Teen relationships.
"You have my word, Chuck."
Chuck nodded graciously, and Gardner arose to walk back over to the remaining Bartletts.
"You ready to say goodbye?" Charlie's mother asked.
"Yeah." The teen replied.
"Thank you, Charlie, for coming to see your father. He really appreciates it." Marilyn said, squeezing her son's hand.
"Yeah." Charlie said again with the same monosyllabic response before going back to say goodbye. The two adults watched the young man warily for a moment.
"Well, I've got to get home soon." Ms. Bartlett told Gardner suddenly. "I just remembered I put something in the oven so it's probably best I went home to check on it. Which reminds me, Nathan, would you like to come to dinner? It's the least I can do since Charlie got you mixed up in this prison business."
"Sure. I'll drop Charlie off around six." Gardner agreed.
"All right," Marilyn waved and walked off. Gardner turned round to survey Charlie some more. It wasn't going to be easy keeping the kid away from trouble. It was like magnetism. Something just drew Charlie to it like an impossible force. Hopefully Gardner wasn't alone in the neutralizing and hopefully Charlie didn't need the trouble to finish being a kid.
"My mother forget about something again?" Charlie said, knocking Gardner out of his reverie. The two started walking towards the exit, stopping to pick up Gardner's confiscated items on the way, and strode out into the setting sunlight.
"Something in the oven." Gardner explained, and Charlie winced noticeably as they walked to the beat up gray car.
"Oo, I hope Humphrey's got the fire contained."
"Is that a sign that dinner might be best taken at McDonalds?" Gardner asked seriously over the rood of the car. Charlie opened the door and seated himself alongside his teacher.
"Why? Did my mom invite you over?" Charlie said, interested, as he buckled himself in.
"Maybe."
"Well, my mom's a good cook, but it'd be best to get some corndogs at the Seven Eleven. You know, just in case we're having charred pork chops." Gardner turned on the car and exited the jail with a small smile. The only thing on his mind was how grateful he was to have left the place on a happy note.
"Although that doesn't sound entirely horrible, I'm running on empty; so the 7-11 is on my way."
Charlie smiled at the joke. "So, what did my dad talk to you about?"
"Oh, Chuck? -By the way, just out of curiosity, did it ever bother you that I was calling you by the same name as your father?"
"Well, I am named after him so it's kind of expected." Charlie shrugged slightly.
"Right… "Gardner said, nodding. He stopped as he remembered the original question. "You know, he was just… being a dad."
"'Being a dad?' What does that mean?" Charlie asked, shaking his head.
"He was just trying to- you know." Gardner waved a hand around, at a loss for words for the second time that day.
"That doesn't help me." Charlie pointed out. Gardner pulled into the 7-11 and cast a "Screw You" look towards Charlie.
"Never-Never mind. It's none of your business anyway. Just go get some corn dogs."
"Yes, sir." Charlie saluted.
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A/N: And that's my story. Just a little something something I had time to do on my Spring Break. Please, before reviewing, write your own CB story. I crave for them but none are out there. C'mon, you know you want to!
Have nice days,
Sarah