Chapter 11 - The Friend

Once again, Henry was trying as hard as he could to avoid Janice's gaze.

What he had just seen her son do...

She would never believe him, and at this point, telling her, or anyone else what had happened would only get him caught in the middle.

And for that reason, Henry bit his tongue and didn't say a word about this morning's incident. In fact, he hadn't spoken a word to anyone since. Unfortunately, his total silence was now drawing Janice's attention.

"Henry? Are you all right?" Janice asked.

Henry slowly looked up at her.

He and Mark were seated on the bar stools behind the counter, and Janice was over by the oven, making their lunch: toasted chicken subs.

Henry shrugged.

"Yeah..." he replied in a mildly offhanded tone. "Just drifted off for a sec there."

"Okay..." Janice said uncertainly. "I was just wondering, since you've been so quiet."

But even after she had plated their food and set it in front of them, Henry just stared at it, while Mark quickly began to wolf his down.

"Are you sure you're okay, Henry? You don't seem like you're very hungry."

Henry nodded. But he still couldn't get the memory of that morning out of his head.

"It's pretty unusual for a boy your age not to have any appetite," Janice said.

Henry looked over at Mark.

"We stopped at Parsons' in town this morning. Henry had his fair share of the cookies there," Mark said in between bites.

"Ah ha," Janice said, nodding. There was a slight grin on her face. "That explains it."

Henry bit his lip. The temptation to let Janice know the truth about that morning was almost overwhelming. But then he briefly locked eyes with Mark.

Neither of them even flinched. They just stared at each other.

Just keep your mouth shut, Mark's eyes seemed to say to him. Not unless you want to get in trouble, too.

Henry quickly broke off eye contact and finally took a bite of his sandwich.

Dang, it really was good.

Janice knew her food, that was for sure.

Henry was barely halfway finished with his sandwich when a loud car horn sounded from the driveway. Mark's face lit up upon hearing the noise. He eagerly looked up at Janice, who nodded, a smile on her face. Then he turned to Henry.

"Hey, Henry – You mind coming outside with me?" Mark asked.

Henry was uncertain. "Why?"

"There's someone out there I want you to meet."

"Who?" Henry asked.

"One of my friends from school."

One of his friends... Well, it couldn't be all bad, especially after what had happened earlier. With any luck, he wouldn't have to worry about Mark's friends doing anything strange, either.

"Sure," Henry said with an offhanded shrug. "Why not?"

He took one last bite of his sandwich and rather wistfully left it on the plate to follow Mark.

On their way down the hall, Henry was very nearly mowed down by Richard, who came bolting down the stairs, face eager.

"Is Daddy back?" Richard asked excitedly.

Henry went stock still for a second and he shook his head rather sadly.

"Sorry, buddy. We went over this the night he left, remember?"

Richard's face fell. The four year-old nodded dejectedly.

Henry kneeled in front of his little brother and laid both hands on his shoulders.

"Dad's going to come back when he comes back, Rich. I miss him, too. But you've gotta be strong – show everyone how grown up you can be," Henry said, giving Richard an encouraging smile.

"Real-y? Me?" Richard asked, blinking back tears.

Henry nodded. "You bet, little man. Maybe you can even show up your big sis, too."

That brought a tiny grin to Richard's face. He sniffled. "OK. I will do 'at."

Now it was Henry's turn to smile. "Atta boy, Rich. And don't worry – I promise we'll do something together later tonight, OK?"

"Okeydokey, Henny."

Henry had to grin at that one. Richard could pronounce almost every 'R' he spoke aloud, except for the one in Henry's name.

He even heard a barely suppressed snicker from Mark.

Henry ignored it. Then he wrapped Richard in a bear hug and growled in a low, throaty voice, eliciting a fit of giggles from the four year-old.

"Now go on," Henry said. He tousled Richard's hair and gave him a pat on the head before the little boy scampered off into the kitchen, probably to ask Janice for a snack or something.

Mark gave Henry a strange look as they slipped on their shoes and jackets.

"What?" Henry asked, raising an eyebrow.

His cousin shrugged indifferently.

"Nothin'," Mark replied as they headed out the front door, his voice all-too nonchalant.

Sitting in the driveway behind the carport was a dark blue Chevy Suburban, engine idling. And as soon as Mark and Henry were outside, the engine shut off and a boy of near-equal height to both cousins hopped out and let out a deep breath, a contented grin on his face. Mark jogged over to the boy, not waiting for Henry to follow, hand outstretched.

They shook and clapped each other on the back.

As Henry strode down the walk to join them, he saw an older man, probably of his own father's age and roughly the same height leaning against the far side of the SUV. He was wearing a dark green windbreaker and jeans, and sported a head of average-length, medium-brown hair.

The boy, on the other hand, though of equal height and presumably similar age to Mark and Henry, sported a head of shaggy, carrot-red hair. He wore white and gray sneakers, blue jeans, and a black hoodie emblazoned with the Los Angeles Rams logo.

Then he saw Henry and offered a hand. "You must be Mark's cousin from Maine. Alan Parks."

Henry shook his hand. "Henry."

"Kinda sucks that we all live in states or parts of states where you can get pneumonia from swimming half of the year, huh?" Alan quipped.

Henry smiled and laughed. He was glad to meet someone else his age with a more normal sense of humor. "It's that way almost year-round in Maine. At least here you have some real beaches to speak of. Back home, what few beaches we have are all cold and gray. Not very exciting, as I'm sure you can well imagine."

"What say we head in and watch something?" Mark said, suddenly breaking into the conversation. "Preferably a movie."

Alan chuckled as he hefted a sleeping bag and backpack out of the SUV. "Always in a hurry, aren't you?" he said.

"You have no idea," Henry said.

That earned him a slap in the back of the head from Mark.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Mark just shrugged indifferently. Then he waved to the man standing behind the SUV. "Hey, Mr. Parks."

Chuck Parks nodded. "Mark. How's things?"

"Pretty good."

"Dad, didn't you say something about Christmas shopping on the way over?" Alan asked, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

His father sighed and chuckled as he got back in the SUV. "I'm going, I'm going."

The three boys stood off to one side as he carefully turned the huge vehicle around, and waved until he disappeared down the drive and out of sight. Then Henry and Alan followed Mark inside, where Janice was waiting for them.

"Hello, Alan."

Alan nodded and gave Janice a goofy grin. "Hey there, Mrs. E."

"You ready for tomorrow night?" Janice asked.

"You bet," Alan replied, his tone confident.

Mark groaned and rolled his eyes. "Aw, Mom... You're not gonna make Alan practice, are you?"

Henry looked on in confusion. He had absolutely no idea what was going on now.

Janice's tone was surprisingly patient. "No, not right now, at least," she said, folding her arms in front of her.

Mark's face suddenly looked downcast. "I'm sorry if I came across as rude, Mom. I didn't mean to be."

"I know, sweetheart."

"I'll try to be more understanding next time," Mark said apologetically.

"I know," Janice replied. "Now you three go on and have some fun. By all means don't let me stop you."

As she returned to the kitchen, Henry scratched his head in confusion. "Okay... Someone mind telling me what just happened there?"

Mark sighed. "She's set up a benefit concert at the high school tomorrow night, for her beach thing. Chloe and Al-Park here are part of it."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "Al-Park?"

"Alan Parks. Al-Park," Mark explained.

By Henry's look, anyone could tell he still didn't understand.

"Watch it," Alan said. "Don't go pulling that one out unless you want to be called Marky-Mark."

A sigh escaped Mark's lips. "Fine," he grumbled.

Turnabout's fair play, Henry thought.

"Now, Mark. You still got those Nerf guns?" Alan asked, grinning.

The next few hours practically flew by.

Following an hour-long Nerf battle in the upstairs hall, they watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on the flatscreen in Mark's room, all the while eating popcorn and occasionally whispering back and forth. Once the movie was over and done with, Mark had practically begged Janice to order them some pizza.

Now the boys were out in the driveway, with Henry and Alan engaged in a heated, one-on-one basketball game, all the while trying to teach Mark the basics of the game. In order to do so, Mark simply watched from the open tailgate of the van in silence as Henry and Alan each dribbled the orange and black ball around the driveway, with one occasionally faking the other out and trying to make a basket.

They were quite evenly matched, from what Mark could tell.

But the way they had connected almost instantly was what worried Mark. Why hadn't Henry connected so well with him at first? A feeling of jealousy began to grow inside of him.

"Mark!"

Mark was quickly snapped out of his train of thought.

"Yeah?" he said, looking up.

Henry looked at him quizzically. "You paying attention here, or what?"

Mark shrugged. "Sure."

"Then come on over, man," Henry said, waving to Mark. "I shouldn't have to tell you, it takes a certain level of patience," Henry said.

Sighing, Mark stepped forward and took the ball from Henry. "I got it, cuz."

At first, Henry was inclined to believe him. Mark was dribbling the ball, albeit a tad awkwardly, but he was doing it nonetheless.

Henry nodded in approval.

Not bad...

Then Mark tried for a basket. But instead of simply lobbing the ball up and into the net like both Henry and Alan expected, he tried for a slam-dunk. The ball simply ricocheted off the backboard, sending it flying twenty feet down the driveway, and rolling another ten. Mark didn't fare much better – after hanging from the rim for a few seconds, he fell flat on his rear end.

Henry put his head in his hands and sighed.

Maybe I spoke too soon.

"You all right, man?" Alan asked as he and Henry ran forward to help Mark up.

Henry's cousin grimaced slightly. "Yeah. I'm good."

He suddenly put on a cheesy grin as he raced off to retrieve the ball.

"He just never learns, does he?" Henry remarked, sighing.

"Not really," Alan replied.

Henry's face suddenly grew pensive. "Alan?"

"Yeah?"

Henry briefly glanced in the direction Mark had disappeared and lowered his voice. "It may be nothing. My dad told me not to take anything too seriously."

"What is it, then?" asked Alan.

"Have you ever noticed anything..., well, 'strange' or 'different' about Mark?"

The other boy sighed and bit his lip. "So you've noticed, too, huh?"

Henry scoffed. "Hard not to," he replied. "Especially the way he treats Chloe."

"I just thought that was the way siblings typically were," Alan said, shrugging.

Henry shook his head. "Even at our worst, I'd never treat Connie like that. You don't know the half of it."

Alan snorted. "Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea. This one time he seems like he's actually in a good mood, I asked him if I can hold that Japanese sword, even just for a minute..."

"Believe me, I know," Henry said. "First full day here, I saw him practically twist Chloe's arms off just because she picked up a baseball we'd been tossing around earlier."

"There's something about him... I just can't put my finger on it." Alan said under his breath as Mark came jogging back up the driveway, the basketball under his arm, still grinning.

"So, how'd I do?" Mark asked.

Henry opened his mouth to respond when a strange car came rolling up the drive behind Mark, a lit sign atop it.

Mark whirled around and broke into a huge grin as he jumped out of the car's path. "All right!" he shouted triumphantly.

The pizza was here.

"Not bad," Henry said in reply to his cousin as they started trudging off toward the house. Mark was first up the walk and he quickly disappeared into the house. But Henry took Alan aside, letting the pizza guy past them.

"That something about him..." Henry said, his words trailing off.

"Yeah?"

"Does it feel as if..."

Henry hesitated for a moment.

"'Does it feel as if' what, Henry?" Alan asked, getting slightly impatient.

"As if something's missing?"

A/N: I know, a bit of a filler chapter and I may have rushed it a tad, but it'll help set up some later parts of the story. And don't worry - this won't be Alan's only appearance. Chapter 12 - 'The Drone' is next, and I'll try to get it out ASAP. The action and tension will pick up in there, and in the next chapter. I guarantee it. And, sometime in the next few chapters, I'll try to include the first POV from Richard's perspective.

As for the LA Rams reference, even though at this point it was a year before they moved to St. Louis in OTL, they'll still be in California through modern times in this universe.

* Try guessing where Mark's nickname comes from.

Reviews: Again, thank you for all the reviews and compliments, 90TheGeneral09.