Hi everyone! This will be two one shots based on Cal telling his brother about his newly found discovery of his background; he's adopted. Obviously from the spoilers we've had the actual thing is not going to play out this way at all but I thought it would be fun to play around with this storyline instead of trying to keep to the spoilers of what is actually going to happen which keep us informed up until early February which I am finding incredibly hard to bite my tongue about! Both one shots will start off the same but will both have different turns of events throughout as both Cal and Ethan come to terms with "facing reality", I hope you enjoy, please let me know your thoughts as always, I will try and get the second one shot up as soon as I can, Kayxxx :)
Facing reality – Part one
"What's gotten into you Caleb? She wasn't yours, you put her into care - it was the right thing to do, we can just carry on as normal now okay? Yeah I know it's going to take time and yeah you're not a dad anymore but you're my brother and I don't like seeing my family like this, drinking doesn't solve anything. If you're struggling this badly with coping that you can't get through a day without alcohol then maybe it's best to get you some professional help-" Cal cut his younger brother off.
"You don't get it!" He shouted as he pushed off his brother's hands as he guided him out of the pub.
"Get what? What is there to get?!" Ethan shouted back, now finding it harder than ever to hide the anger he had building up inside of him, caused by no one but Cal.
Cal looked at Ethan who waited impatiently for a valid answer to why he had been acting so off lately. He could blame his attitude on the loss of Matilda as everyone figured, or, he could tell the truth...but then the thought of breaking that news to Ethan ached his heart, he didn't want any of this to be real yet reality was powering over him more suddenly than ever.
Ethan looked at him uneasily, "Cal you're scaring me now...what's happened?" he asked seeing the glimmer of tears in his brother's eyes, there was obviously more to this story he had been kept in the dark about.
Cal took in a deep breath and closed his eyes tight hoping to god he would just disappear from this situation, but something he had learned during the past few months was that there was no such thing as miracles, "I'm adopted Ethan!" he roared the thing that he had used up every ounce of energy in his body to keep hidden away and rested his drunken body against the wall as he allowed his tears to trace his cheeks, he visibly deflated right before Ethan's eyes.
Ethan was taken aback completely more so at the fact his brother would come out with such a random thing, "Cal you've had a lot to drink" he almost chuckled as he grabbed hold of his brother's arm once more to lead him away from the pub.
"No Ethan!" Cal protested as he pushed him off once more, "I got my paternity test results back and my blood group doesn't match up with mums...I'm adopted" he whimpered.
The younger man watched him warily, realisation growing over him slightly, overpowering the small part of him that still hoped this was all part of Cal's drunken slurs, "What do you mean? I don't, I don't understand-" he stuttered as Cal cut him off.
"You don't understand?! Try being me! My entire life has been a lie Ethan; I don't even know my parents" Cal cried.
Ethan shook his head as he listened to his brother's words, tears now building in his eyes too, "No, no! This makes no sense! How can you be adopted? You're my brother, I-I know you are" he whimpered desperately trying to cling on to the only bit of reality he had ever known.
"No I'm not Ethan" Cal sniffed.
"Yes you are!" Ethan roared as tears poured from his eyes. Robyn caught a glimpse of the pair through the window of the pub, she gave Cal a smile of concern, he managed to return a slight smile of reassurance and she looked away. Both men stood, unknowing of what to say "...you know, maybe, maybe I'm adopted too, maybe I am still your brother, just maybe-" Ethan rambled on.
"Ethan stop!" Cal warned, "It all makes sense, that's why dad loved you and hated me, I wasn't his blood you were! Obviously mum would treat us the same because that was mum" he smiled sadly as more tears traced his cheeks.
"No Caleb" Ethan shook his head.
"I mean look at you, I don't know why it never hit me before- we're complete opposites, God look at you..." Cal sighed as he held him in front of him, "...you've got mum's eyes" he whispered as he looked into them, though both pairs of eyes were currently overflowing with tears.
"Yeah, and you've got dad's!" Ethan protested as he shrugged him off, "Cal there must be some mistake, I refuse to believe this" he stood his ground.
"Yeah well believe Ethan because it's true." Cal shrugged, "Who knows, I might have an entire family out there, a real mum, a real dad...a real brother" he spoke, now suddenly filled with anger, he shoved Ethan back away from him and held his head in his hands, "I could have a sister and grandparents and aunties and uncles and cousins. I have an entire family out there who I don't even know about, who don't even know me...I don't even know me...I don't know who I am I feel lost" he sighed.
"I'll tell you who you are, you're Caleb Knight, you can be a complete idiot at times, when you were younger you'd go out and get drunk, come home at stupid o'clock in the morning and wake me up, every single time, telling me about the newest girl you were with even though I couldn't care less, you'd fight with dad and argue with mum and then you'd storm out and wouldn't come back for days sometimes, mum would be worried sick and I'll admit I hated you at times, you were my only friend growing up and at times my worst enemy, not much has changed to this day to be were the one who taught me how to play Rock Paper Scissors, badly at first so I'd always lose and you would win, you would purposely shoot me with your toy gun and tell me it was my fault for getting in the way, you always be the first to make fun of me but the second anyone else joined in you'd put them in their place and tell them "only I'm allowed to mess with my little brother"..." his voice cracked as he said the last word, but he composed himself, "...right before you'd give them a punch, you always looked out for me, protected me. When I was little and there would be thunderstorms you'd let me stay in your bed with you because the sound of the thunder utterly petrified me. You were the one to give me my first drink when I was eighteen we sat in our room all night drinking vodka giggling like two school girls all night until I passed out and spent the entire weekend in bed swearing I'll never drink again, and I never did, to that extent at least...you were the only one who taught me how to be Caleb, I looked up to you, I always have...I still do, you're cocky and strong and confident and popular and talented and brave and I can only wish to have some of those traits. God Cal you saved my life not too long ago remember that? You don't know who you are? Well that's who you are to me. You are Caleb Hardy, yeah okay people now know you as Cal Knight, but to me you'll always be a Hardy, you may have annoyed the hell out of me when I was younger, and even sometimes now these days when you make the stupidest decisions, but you're my role model, my best friend and my big brother, that's who you are Cal" Ethan cried as it all got too much for him.
"Ethan..." Cal sighed as he put his arm around him, but Ethan stood back away from him as he continued.
"And I fully understand if you want to leave and find your real family, your real brother then I support that, but just know, I'll always be here for you because you'll always be my big brother Caleb, okay we may not have the same blood running through our veins but you're my brother, nothing will ever ever change that" he concluded as he looked toward the ground, unable to bring himself to look up at the older man who he now couldn't help be feel a stranger to. He wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand but it was pointless; the second he did so more tears traced his cheeks anyway. He had never felt so scared, he had just given the last person on the planet he would think to call family permission to leave him, to find his own family, and the thought of losing him suddenly terrified him more than anything.
"Ethan..." Cal's voice suddenly sounded distant, it was as though Ethan's body had decided to go into survival mode to protect him from the decision his 'brother' was about to make, "...I'm not going to leave you" the distant voice called causing him to snap back to reality like a switch being flicked on, he looked up at Cal in disbelief, "I've been on this planet for 30 years and not once has my birth family thought to make contact with me, that I know of anyway. I mean, of course I'm intrigued to know about my true background but honestly? I wouldn't want anything over the life I've known, you being my brother and Matilda being my mother...even if that's not true. The only thing that upset me about this entire thing was the thought of you not being my brother but after what you just said then, I know I am your brother...or as close as I ever can get to having a brother at least" he smiled slightly in reassurance.
"You're not going to leave?" Ethan asked, showing off a vulnerability to himself that he had never shown before, only because even he didn't realise he had this side to him before, never had he realised how much he needed his brother Caleb.
"What? Leave little nerdy Nibbles to face the world alone? No chance little bro" he smirked as he pulled Ethan in for a hug, they both let out a huge sigh of relief as both tightly clung to their brother, knowing they were all they had left in this world; blood relation or not, they will always be brothers.