Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage nor I am associated with Dean Devlin, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf. I do not own the song I Look at You, nor am I associated with George Strait. Margaret and Leroy Spencer were created by me for the purposes of this story.
A/N: I cannot believe how long this took! I just couldn't come up with a way to smooth out the outline I basically chucked. But I sat down today and this just all poured out so here we go! I just hope it lives up to the expectation after so long.
I Mean It
August 2001
Aimee was like a daughter to him and his boy had hurt her. Leroy sighed, crossing his arms as he watched her working in the arena with a new Thoroughbred. Eliot had always been a flighty one but he had a good heart. He loved that girl, that much was obvious. Yet he kept running away.
Bob, Aimee's new boyfriend, sauntered over to the gate beside him. "You're Leroy, right?"
Leroy glared but grunted. "Yep. Eliot's dad." Not that Bob would know Eliot as any more than an ex. He had been gone four months this time. And Leroy didn't think he was coming back.
"Right." Bob cleared his throat, quiet for a moment, before saying, "You've known Aimee most of her life, huh?"
"Yep."
Bob ran a hand over his face nervously at the monosyllables. "I want to ask her to marry me. Do you think she'll say yes?"
Slowly, Leroy turned to look at him. "I think she won't say no," he told him honestly, though it hurt to admit it.
Nodding shortly, Bob practically ran away, heading inside for the offices. It was two months later when Aimee approached him, wringing her hands. "Leroy?" she called, stepping into his barn.
"Down here!" he called back and she followed his voice to the last stall where he stood, brushing out a paint.
"Hey…" Aimee leaned against the stall door, crossing her arms. "Um, Leroy. See, the thing is, I want to talk to you about- about Bob." Leroy nodded without looking at her so she continued. "See, he asked me to marry him."
Glancing up at her finally, Leroy straightened. "He really did it, hmm?"
Aimee's brow knit in confusion. "He told you? But- then you're okay with it?"
"Aimee-girl." He brushed hay out of her hair with a fatherly look in his eyes. "Are you happy with him?"
Swallowing hard, she nodded slowly. A woman would have stopped and needled her about the hesitation but he simply took it for feminine indecision and smiled. "Then, yes. I'm happy you're happy."
---
"Hi Dad." Leroy spun around at Eliot's unmistakably soft-spoken voice as he walked into the dark house. Margaret was at her bunco club so he was up for dinner by himself – or at least he thought he had been. Eliot sat in a chair in the living room, looking contrite when he flipped the light on.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Leroy demanded, more harshly than he meant to.
"It's nice to see you, too," Eliot snapped, standing with a sigh and rubbing his hands together. "I didn't know she was getting married. I wouldn't have come. Bad timing, I guess."
"Oh you didn't know." It was obvious Leroy didn't exactly believe him.
"No!" Eliot insisted, pacing in the shadows. "I just got out of a- an unavoidable business complication down South. That's where I've been."
"An unavoidable business complication?" Leroy narrowed his eyes, glaring at the dark shape of his son. "Do you know how long she spent crying over you? Over spilt milk, obviously."
"Obviously not very long! It's been six months and she's getting married!" Eliot yelled, running his fingers through his too-long hair. Before he knew what was happening, Leroy had him up against the brick fireplace, both hands gripping in his shirt.
"She's happy. If you give a damn about her, you'll stay far, far away. And if you don't, you'll stay further," he hissed, hot under the collar.
Eliot blinked, taken aback, an unusual feeling for him. He pushed his father away, maybe a tad more violently than he meant to. "I don't just give a damn. I love her. But I'll stay away. If she's really that happy." His voice came out as an angry growl and the light hit the side of his face, displaying barely healed wounds that ran all down his neck. Eliot pulled away, slipping quietly to the door, deceptively stealthy. He turned as he opened the sliding glass, adding, "Why don't you just say it? Bob could make her happy; what's wrong with me?"
Margaret came in that night to find the house dark but for one light, the sliding glass door open and Leroy sitting in an armchair, his head in his hands. When he looked up at her, she gasped at the tears in his eyes.
---
Present Day
Leroy sat outside in the truck long after Parker and Margaret had gone upstairs to the apartment. Eliot's car was nowhere to be seen, despite his hoping and wishing. "He didn't make her happy. I was wrong," he said to the dark, empty street.
"I know." He jumped at the sound of Eliot's voice and glanced around, spotting him leaning against the apartment building. Eliot slowly walked over to the truck, leaning against the open window. "I heard they got divorced."
Leroy nodded, clenching and unclenching his fingers. Opening the door, Eliot climbed up inside. "You know, sometimes I wonder who you thought of as yours. Me or Aimee. I was never jealous but, really. You kicked me out because she got married."
"That's not fair," Leroy muttered.
"Isn't it, Dad?"
"Would you have done something? Something to stop her marrying him?" he demanded.
Eliot looked away, not sure himself. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "Maybe."
"Then, no, it isn't fair." Eliot heaved a sigh. It seemed, even after all these years, things would never change between them. "But. But, I am sorry."
Eliot's eyes shot to his father's face. "What?"
"I'm sorry. You'll always be my son, no matter what, and I'm sorry I let you think I didn't feel that way," Leroy said, quiet, but sure. Eliot stared at him in disbelief for a long moment.
"You-you really mean that?"
"Yes, I really mean it. Besides, it would seem you and Aimee weren't meant to be, anyway. That Parker… she's a handful but she's just your type."
Eliot couldn't help but laugh out loud.
---
Parker sat in a chair at the window in the bedroom, her knees tucked up to her chest. "Hey," Eliot murmured as he came in.
She shifted but didn't answer. Eliot sighed, walking over to her and setting one hand on her shoulder. Flinching, Parker looked up at him, inadvertently showing him the tears she so desperately wanted to hide. Eliot swallowed hard, wiping them away with his thumb. "Did you mean it?" she asked, her voice cracking.
It took him a moment to realize what he meant but as the lyrics flooded back to him, he nodded slowly. I look at you, when the world is full of lies. "Yeah. Yeah, I meant it." He squeezed her shoulder in hope that she took the dedication in the spirit it was meant and didn't bolt. I look at you, and I know I've got it all.
Parker stared at him for what felt like hours before she stood, wrapping her arms around him. "I mean it too," she murmured, her cheek pressed against his chest. Eliot rubbed a hand up and down her back, his face breaking out into the kind of smile that said 'I've got it all' though there was no one else in the dark room to see it.
