Chapter 4: Acts of Business

A/N: That last sentence makes it sound a little like Jim's gonna find out Silver's dating that guy or something xD this is NOT a SilverXOC. This isn't a SilverX anyone, to be honest. Not even Jim, though I know tons of people ship it. That's not my style. If it's romantic, cool, but I prefer the father/son thing they had going on in canon. Oh, also, I know I mention Jim flipping the Bennbow Inn's sign to 'closed', and that normally inns stay open all night, but in my opinion, as it's just Jim and Sarah there, I imagine that they probably close up every night, probably late. I mean, with only two people there, they kind of have to, right? Anyway. Rambles. Here ya go. Sorry for the wait, I'll try not to do that next time.

Walking leaves too much time to think.

I can't believe I actually wanted time to think when I left Silver's…house? Trailer park? Really, it's tiny enough to be the latter. Now that I've walked around a little bit and solar sails are beginning to pour out into the streets again, I start wondering if anybody's noticed my absence. Before I went on that voyage to Treasure Planet, everybody was glad to be rid of me at the inn. A day that I didn't help out always seemed to mean more customers, but sometimes the work got to be too much for Mom to handle all by herself.

Really, I don't know how my family is going to react when I go back to Interstellar Academy. They probably won't even have noticed I'm gone. Then again, maybe I'm just making excuses for myself. There is the chance that Mom will be worried; but I just don't want to go there right now. I don't want to face them. I want to be alone. I have so much to think about still, yet at the same time, thinking is the last thing I want to do. My father's face flickers to the forefront of my mind, his mouth pouring useless, worthless apologies.

I don't want to think about it. I don't even know what to say. My mom has finally healed from what he did to her. How can I tell her…?

No. No, I can't tell her anything. On the off chance that he didn't try talking to her, too, (and just the thought makes my blood boil) then I'm going to keep quiet about it. My mom, at least, has finally let go of my dad. I refuse to be the one to dredge all that stupid stuff about him up again.

My decision made, I start heading for Interstellar, my hand clenched into a fist in my pocket, my graduation gown still in a crumpled ball in my other hand. When the building comes into view, its high rooftops practically obscuring the sky, I exhale slowly, one long, deep sigh. When I was standing on that stage in the bright spotlights, waiting for my name to be called, I couldn't imagine being happier. Now, I'm just confused and miserable. Seeing Silver again was amazing, but he just keeps being so vague, and deliberately evasive when I try to ask him questions…and why did he come to Montressor? You'd think he'd choose a planet he's not wanted on! But he's avoiding all my questions about that, too.

I quicken my pace to a jog as I reach the parking lot, taking off the graduation hat as I go, spotting my family standing in the parking lot. My mom looks pale and anxious, and BEN appears to have fried a circuit or two in worry.

"James Pleades Hawkins!"

It's been a long time since she's seen reason to call me by my full name. I inwardly cringe, practically tiptoeing over to the group. "Um…yes?"

"Where did you go?" She grabs me into a bone-crushing hug, so tight I can barely breathe. "I couldn't find you, and you hadn't let anyone know you were leaving…we thought something might have happened to you! You can't just walk away without telling us!"

"I…I'm sorry—

"Where were you?" Amelia cuts right to the point. She's not the type for those breath-quenching hugs that my mom is. She just wants to know what happened.

"I…you know celebrations aren't my scene." Three years ago, if you'd asked me to lie to somebody, I probably could have done it without flinching, but this time, I stutter a little, pointedly avoiding my mother's eye as I speak. I'm a little rusty, as I've been trying to quit lying lately. But what do you expect me to do? I can't tell my mom what happened. If word ever got out that Dad was back in town…

It feels like a block of ice just slid into the pit of my stomach, slowly freezing me from the inside out. I'm lying to her for absolutely no reason. People on Montressor talk, especially people at the Bennbow Inn. Exactly how am I going to keep this quiet? And when Mom finds out, she really will kill me, for not telling her when I should have. She'll be devastated to hear about it, and then she'll be angry, no, furious. She'll yell at me, scare off customers in her anger, and then she might go looking for him. And she'll be furious with him, too.

But I…I can't tell her. I've already gone missing on her, and I think that's enough excitement for the day. I'll…I'll tell her tomorrow.

Maybe she sees something in my face, because she actually pauses in her scolding. "Jim?"

"Yes?" I pretend I've been listening this whole time, and not totally spacing out and thinking about my father.

"Are you okay, honey?"

"Yes." I've already ruined today for her. I'm not ruining it any more thoroughly.

She frowns, maybe confused. Maybe she knows I'm not telling her something. But whatever her current emotions, she starts back in on her rant. "As I was saying, you're eighteen years old. This was the height of irresponsibility, and I've told you a million times, don't wander off unless you at least let me know first, that's all I ask of you, and that's only so I won't worry…!"

It feels good to flip the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. We're closing early tonight, as Mom didn't want to make me work on graduation, which is good because I didn't want to work on graduation. Things have been a little uncomfortable between us since I disappeared on her during graduation – the ride home was all kinds of awkward – but she seems to have forgotten about it again. Running the inn takes a lot out of her. It takes a lot out of me, too, to be honest. It's hard to keep all the customers happy and make sure every dish gets served on time. Things have gotten easier since we hired BEN to wait tables, but it's still pretty tight around here.

And what feels even better than closing up for the night is finally being able to get to my room. I didn't want to think earlier, but when all I want to do is think, everyone suddenly needs me for something. I've finally found a free moment, but I can't even make sense of half the things that happened today.

My dad came back, that's at the forefront of my mind. He came back with most likely ulterior motives, and Silver certainly thinks so. Silver…my mind drifts back to that ridiculous cyborg. Why can't he just tell me what's going on? I'm going to find out eventually. I'm a lot smarter than he remembers, and it's kind of insulting that he thinks I won't figure it out just because he's avoiding my questions.

First act of business, though? Sleep.

Tomorrow I'll take care of the second act of business, which is going back to that yellow house. Maybe I can figure out the guy's last name, at least. If I've got a last name, I've got at least a slight lead. I just need to know more about him, and find out why Silver's visiting him. Because, whatever he says, he and that man in the yellow house are not friends. I know it.

I just have to find out what they are.