Disclaimer: House of Anubis isn't my property, or else Mara would have never edited the pictures to pretend Mick was in a relationship with his teacher (and this is coming from a Mara fan).
Summary: Jerome had vowed to be to Poppy what his own mother never was to him: someone present.
Author's note: This is my first HOA fanfiction. It's always a strange feeling when you start writing for a fandom. Hope you'll like it!
Author's note 2: I have seen the entire first season of the show, almost all the second season, however, I never watched the third one.
Author's note 3: English isn't my first language, it's french. If you see any mistake or issue with the language, feel free to tell me so that I can improve.
Duty
Jerome never missed any of his sister's school performances, any of her personal performances. He was adamant on that point. Even sick with a fever, he'd take some medicine, cover himself a bit more and go.
Yes, Poppy could be annoying.
Yes, she could get on his nerves.
But he never wished, even for one split second, she was never born at all.
He was her older brother and he had one duty by her:
To protect her.
From the world.
From others.
But also from things he went through.
Their mother never attended one single performance of his.
She always claimed she was too busy, or she promised she'd be there, only for Jerome to bitterly realize she wasn't among the public. It was nice people enjoyed what he did. But that wasn't enough. That wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted was to see his mother proud of him, of what he had done, and she had always deprived him of that. And afterwards, when every child was congratulated by a parent, he was standing there, all alone, watching at them with envy, feeling awkward that he was the only one alone, waiting for everyone to be able to go. Some adults, certainly feeling pity for him, tried to tell him nice words. And though it was appreciated, it wasn't enough. Because they weren't his mother. The pain it left still stung despite him being grown up and over it, because it had been delivered when he actually gave a damn about it, when he was a child, full of hope, believing his mommy cared about him.
She didn't.
Or else, he wouldn't have been left in a boarding school, age five, to rot, only going home for the summer holidays. He didn't want Poppy to feel how he had felt for years:
Unwanted
Uncared for
Unloved
He knew he'd never be able to fully replace their mother, or their father, but at least, she'd know that there would always be someone to look at her with pride as she reached another milestone, another stage. She'd feel happy, confident, loved, with someone who had her back. Her eyes would always stumble on him somewhere in the audience. Everything their mother denied him, he'd give her.
Because that was what older brothers did.
The End