Author notes: This story is all on Tess' POV, but it's mostly about Kevin. I like the relationship between them since they first interacted in season one and I want to believe she noticed that something was wrong with him. I see a few traits the two have in common, specially the fact that they're both the eldest siblings and they're very protective of their little sisters, so it's nice to play with them a little. I hope you guys enjoy it, please review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my love for messed up characters that deserve the world and don't get enough appreciation.
Tess Pearson knew she was in big trouble, but that wasn't the only reason she couldn't stop crying. She was crying because it had been a hard day.
First of all, Tess was sad because they had lost Deja, just when she was starting to get along better with the family. Then she and her sister overheard that aunt Kate had lost her baby.
Tess was also sad because her parents were sad, which made Annie sad and she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to fall apart in front of them. But then she saw uncle Kevin and she hoped that his presence would make things better, he was funny and he was always good with them. Maybe while Annie was distracted with him, Tess could even sneak out to be by herself in her room. He didn't give her the time, though. The way he talked to them back at the house gave her the impression that he also wasn't happy and she wondered if he felt as overwhelmed as she was with everything that was happening. So when he said he was going out, she decided she wanted to go with him. He looked like he could use someone to talk, but Tess knew she wouldn't have to be strong for him. Maybe he would give her advice, since he was a big brother too. How do you support your little sister and help your parents when you're also hurting? Maybe uncle Kevin would know and he would tell her the secret. Or maybe he could just give her a hug and hold her for a while.
But that was not what happened. Sitting in the backseat of her father's car, stuck between her uncle and Annie's empty car seat, she cried in silence because things didn't got better, they got much worse. Now she was scared of her parents, she was worried about uncle Kevin and she was feeling guilty that she might have just made things worse for him. Maybe if there wasn't a kid in the car he would have talked to the cops and gotten alway. The image of her beloved uncle being handcuffed would ghost her forever.
Her parents didn't want to talk at the police station and she couldn't handle the silence. Both looked mad, very mad. By her side, uncle Kevin was staring outside and looking even worse than he was before, when she had already thought that she had never seen him that bad. Tess didn't know why, but at the same time she was scared of him, she was also drawn to him and so she saw herself trying to hold his hand. He startled at her touch, like he did earlier when he found out she was in his car, and she wanted to apologize, but she didn't dare to speak, not until one of the adults spoke first. Uncle Kevin didn't say anything either, but he looked at her and tried a weak smile. She smiled back.
As they approached the house, Tess became more and more anxious. Part of her wished her parents would just give her a punishment, but that's not how things worked at the Pearson's house. They would have to talk and it was the talk that she wanted to avoid, because besides being scared, she was also ashamed. And apparently, the end of her torture would be postponed.
"You go to your room, young lady, and get used to it, because you'll be there for a long time," mom said, stressing the word "long" before dad even closed the door behind them.
"Can I..." Tess tried, only to be interrupted by her mother's most deadly stare.
"No, you can't. We'll deal with your uncle first and as soon as we kill him, we'll talk to you," mom answered, cause the girl to run upstairs.
She didn't stay for long, though. Even with the door closed, she could hear that they were having a heavy argument, but she couldn't understand the words, so she carefully went back to the stairs and sat where she knew they couldn't see her.
"I said I'm sorry!" It was uncle Kevin's voice. "Randall, you have to believe me, I would never leave with your child without talking to you first, you know that. I'm really sorry, I swear I am."
"No. Sorry is not enough, it's far from enough, Kevin" her father replied. "If you are so drunk you couldn't notice a pre teen on your backseat, you shouldn't be anywhere near that car."
"You shouldn't be anywhere near this house," mom completed. Uncle Kevin didn't answer and they were silent for a while, making Tess hold her breath, so she wouldn't be noticed.
"You don't understand, do you?" Dad started again and Tess heard steps, she felt they were getting closer to her, but she couldn't bring herself to move. "It doesn't matter if you knew she was there! You put my kid's life in risk. What you did was incredible wrong. It was stupid! You could have hurt lots of people. You could have killed yourself." Dad's voice was strong and he was talking slowly, the way he did when Annie didn't understand her math homework and he had to explain, except that he liked teaching them and he sure wasn't enjoying what was happening now.
The steps kept getting closer and she saw the silhouette of her uncle walking towards the front door before she heard his words.
"Well, it's not like it would be too bad if I got killed, I'm not sure anyone would care."
"Ah!" Tess gasped loudly and suddenly she was discovered. Three pair of eyes were staring at her - one pair of very sad sparkless eyes, two pairs of very angry eyes.
Dad was the first one to speak. "What did your mom tell you? Why aren't you in your room?"
She tried to speak between her sobs. "You were yelling and I don't want you to fight because of me!"
Mom's expression softened a bit. "We're not fighting because of you, we are fighting because your uncle did something really bad."
"Tess, honey," uncle Kevin started and his voice sounded as tired as his looks, his words rushed. "I'm sorry for making you go through this. I... I... You shouldn't be here, listen to you parents, okay? I promise you this will never happen again."
"You bet it won't," mom replied, his eyes narrowing at him.
Tess looked from he mother on her right, to her father in the center and her uncle near the door. She wanted to be a good girl, she wanted to go to her room and not give he parents more reasons to be mad, but she couldn't make her feet move. While her parents stared silently at her, waiting for her to obey, Tess surprised even herself by saying, "I care about you, uncle Kevin" her voice was soft and she wasn't sure they had heard her until he lift his eyes. Then, with all the courage she had, she continued. "You said no one would care if you died and you said all that stuff in the car and..." She wanted to continue, but her throat was hurting, physically hurting and the words couldn't get out. Her mother touched her arm.
"Sweetie..." Mom started, but then she changed her mind and turned to uncle Kevin. "Kevin Pearson, what did my ten years old daughter heard you saying in that car that she can't even finish speaking about it."
Uncle Kevin gave a step back and leaning in the wall, he slip until he was sitting on the floor. He put his hands on his face, mumbling something Tess thought was "I'm sorry".
"Kev?" Dad asked, his expression changing a bit. His brother didn't move. Dad rubbed his face, not knowing what to do, before trying again. "Kevin, I need you to tell me exactly what is happening here. Because I do want to believe that you would never do something that stupid, but yet you did, so something must be happening and I need to know what it is."
Uncle Kevin was sobbing even more than Tess. She felt he wasn't going to say anything, so she did. Without courage to face her parents yet, she kept talking to her uncle. "You said you are a loser and an addict," in the corner of her eye, she saw her mother's "Oh my God", but she didn't let it stop her. "I know what that word means, grandpa William told me once. Then you said you're a bad brother to dad and aunt Kate and you don't deserve your family, because you weren't there when they needed you. You said everyone would be better if you didn't exist. But that's not true." At this point, uncle Kevin was shaking, like he was a sick baby. Tess glanced at her parents, dad was taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes as if he was trying to wipe a tear too. Mom was on the other side, shaking her head with her mouth open. Tess continued. "That's not true, uncle Kevin. I know, because I know you're sad and, sometimes, when you're sad, you can't just hold your little sister and tell her everything is going to be okay, that you won't loose people you love, because you don't know that. You're not a bad person if you can't protect your little sister. Sometimes you try, you try so hard, but bad things still happen." Her voice failed again and she had no more words or strenght to keep looking for it.
Tess noticed dad was still staring at her uncle, but her mother had come to stand in front of her again with a curious look on her face. "Is she still talking about..." Mom asked dad, who replied without looking at them. "I don't think so." Tess hated when they communicated that way and she couldn't understand what they were saying. Her mother continued, looking like she was the only sound mind in that room at the moment. "Okay, so maybe we should..."
"Yep," dad replied and Tess aprehension rose. What were they going to do? Could it be that she was in a bigger trouble now? And why wasn't her father looking at her anymore? In the middle of all he questions, Tess felt her mother's hands touching her shoulders as the woman went down on her knees to talk eye to eye to her daughter. She looked concerned, but tender, and Tess surprised herself by wanting to jump into her mother's arms.
"Sweetie, let's go to your room, okay? Your dad and your uncle have some things they need to sort out and I want to talk to you, because I don't want you to be sad."
Tess felt safe and she let her mother lead her by her hand towards the stairs. Dad and uncle Kevin were still in the same position. She had never sem her dad that way, not even when he had a big fight with grandma last Thanksgiving or when grandpa William died. After climbing the first two steps of the staircase, with her mother still holding her hand, Tess turned back.
"Dad?" She said.
"Yes?" Dad answered, finally looking back at her.
She replied. "You're not gonna kill uncle Kevin, are you?"
Dad shook his head. "No, sweetheart. I... I said that earlier because I was mad, but I am not going to kill him."
Tess trusted her dad, but she just needed a confirmation that nothing bad was going to happen in that house. "But you're still mad."
He nodded. "I am. I am still very mad, because your unc..." he paused, and turned his eyes to uncle Kevin again. "Because my brother endangered the lives of two people that I would give my own life to save. I just need to make sure he will never do that again."
Letting out the breath she had been holding while he answered, Tess started to go up again, slowly and with her head still facing the two men downstairs. When they were almost out of her field of vision, she saw uncle Kevin lifting his head and accepting the hand that was extended to help him to get up. Then she went to her room and let herself rest in her mom's loving arms.