thought about this in the shower, random angsty teddy/bailey friendship/fluff scene

don't own

you should probably read In the Rough first…

"Where's Teddy?" I asked as I pulled myself into the tree house.

"Huh?" Gordie asked, not looking up from his magazine. According to the cover, he was probably reading the story of the Sorority Killer.

"Teddy," I repeat. "Where is he?"

It's Sunday, he went to visit his dad." Chris told me, laying down a natural thirty and making Vern cry out as he lost what looked to be his last three pennies.

They started playing for fun and dealt me in. Gordie finished the magazine he was reading and joined in as well. We waited for Teddy to show up. Hours passed and it was getting too warm to stay in the tree house, so we deiced to head to the Blue Point Diner for a late lunch of fries and brownie sundaes.

We had to stop off at Gordie's house so he could get his money. That's when we saw Teddy, helping his mother into the house. He didn't see us, or if he did he didn't acknowledge us.

I turned to Chris. "Should be ask him to come with us?"

Chris stared at the closed door for a moment. "I don't think so." He turned to me. "Let's go."

After stopping at Gordie's house, we made our way to the diner. By this time, I was so hungry wanted to chew a shoe. Chris didn't have any money, and fought me when I tried to pay his way.

"Just pay me back when you can," I tell him after ordering for him.

"Thanks," he said with a smile as the waitress dropped off our drinks.

After we gorged ourselves on fries and desserts, we headed back to the tree house. Teddy still wasn't there.

We didn't see Teddy for a few days. I saw his Wednesday. He came over just a few minutes after mom left for work.

"Teddy?" I asked, surprised to see him.

He dodged around me. I closed the door and followed him to the couch. "Teddy, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting next to him.

He didn't speak for a long time. I wanted to ask him again, but I was worried if I said anything, he would lose his nerve and not tell me what was going on in his head.

"We went to the hospital Sunday," he said.

I waited for him to continue.

"Dad didn't recognize us. He started shouting at us and he attacked mom. We had to leave."

"Oh Teddy, I'm sorry." There were no better words. I was shocked; I don't think this had ever happened before.

Teddy looked up at me and said the seven words I never expected to come from his mouth.

"My father isn't a hero, is he?"

I stared at him. I wondered how long he was thought about this. I wonder how many sleepless nights were devoted to this thought, this question.

"I can't answer that for you Teddy." That was something he would have to go over in his mind while lying awake in bed, looking at the moon off-center in one windowpane.

"Bailey, seriously."

"Teddy, I can't tell you-"

"God dammit Bailey! I don't want you to sugarcoat it, I want you to fucking tell me the truth!"

"Fine!" I snapped. "Teddy, you're father did amazing things for this country, but he came back a different person. He is not stable; he almost burned your ears off, he shot at the police, and he is unfit to be released from Togus. Your father is very messed up, and maybe the war did that and maybe it didn't, but if you still want to believe your father is a hero, that is all that matters."

We sat quietly for a long time before Teddy left without a word. A few days later he showed up at the tree house like nothing had happened. I don't know what he decided; I never knew how he saw his father from that moment. All I know is that the following Sunday he wasn't at the tree house.