If Sollux had known that all hell was going to break loose starting the day after Christmas, he never would have gotten out of bed on the twenty-sixth. It was like, for once, Sollux thought that he was holding a great hand. A nice solid straight flush. He had it this time. The pot of happiness. It was right there, he could almost taste it.

Then the God of Fuck You had to throw down the royal flush of fucking diamonds and rub it in Sollux's face. This royal flush played out over the span of quite a while, and it got to the point where Sollux didn't want to know the end. But, for now, let's start at the beginning.

Cronus acted as the Ten of Diamonds. He was right before the true royals of bullshit, not proving to be much of a threat, but acting as the beginning of it all. His meeting with Sollux on Christmas was the mere basis, the starting line, if you will. After him, things only got worse. So who was the Jack? The next terrible event?

Carter.

Sollux had woken up in an extremely pissy mood. Like, borderline angry. He had no clear idea why, though he figured that it had to be because of what Eridan had said the day before. About hurting, about being scared, worried, and everything else on his list. Everything that Eridan just didn't deserve to feel. It pissed Sollux off how much Eridan had to deal with, and he assumed that after sleeping on it, his mind decided that the whole thing was really going to get to him.

Eridan was really the only person that Sollux wasn't a complete and total asshole towards. Everyone else got the shitty end of his frustration, and, although it kind of bothered him that he was being so bitchy, he had no intentions of stopping. That was the terrible part of Sollux's emotions; sometimes he just really didn't care.

He had finished packing and was putting his things in the first car, which held the luggage, closing the trunk to find Carter standing there, arms crossed, eyebrow raised. Sollux paused and looked at him, the very position of his adoptive father annoying him. Sollux looked at him a moment before turning away.

"If you're going to say something, I would appreciate it if you would just spill it," Sollux informed. Carter's brow only rose further.

"Would you care to clarify what happened in there?"

"In where?"

"In there, the house, with your brother. Latula just barely saved him from tears. Did you tell him that he needed to "Get his ass into gear and help out, because as of now, he was only in the way"?"

"Yeah, I did, because it's true. Anyways, Mit's too sensitive, he's going to need to learn to grow up sooner or later."

This seemed to anger Carter, who stepped forward and uncrossed his arms, hands finding their way to his hips. He looked at Sollux with suspicion and disbelief, a bit surprised that he was acting this way. Sollux just leaned against the car, looking undeniably bored as Carter spoke.

"Oh, is that so? Well let me tell you something, Sollux; if your brother could grow up, he would. He wants to. He wants to be like you. Unfortunately, I think that if Mituna wants to be more like an adult, choosing you as a role-model isn't the smartest idea. You're beginning to seem more like a child than he is," Carter informed, only making Sollux tip his head back and laugh.

"Oh, is that so? Who should he choose as a role-model, then? My real father?"

This seemed to sting Carter. "No."

"Oh, I suppose that you mean you then. Right, Mituna should grow up to leave home and marry young, never work, waste his husbands money away on unnecessarily expensive clothes and hair products to make him feel better about himself. Oh yeah, and vacations, don't forget vacations."

Carter swallowed hard, undoubtedly offended, though more angry than anything at this point. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, calming himself down. He obviously didn't want to say anything that he would regret, like Sollux was doing right now.

"Sol, honey, what's wrong? Yesterday you seemed fine, what happened?" He asked, stepping forward and allowing his stern aura to melt away into a more caring one. His care and compassion only made Sollux feel guilty, in turn, making him more upset.

"Nothing."

"Well, obviously something happened, because this is more than just a mood swing," he informed, immediately causing Sollux to spin on his heel and make his way over to his adoptive dad, very much in his face at this point.

"Is it? Is it more than a mood swing, daddy? Wouldn't that just be terrible, seeing as it's so convenient to just blame everything on my "violent mood swings". They are, in fact, a "medical condition"," Sollux snapped in a mock, causing Carter's eyebrows to raise in surprise.

"If you think that I ever used your condition as an excuse for your behavior-"

"No, not me, Carter. Mituna. Everything wrong that he does is because he "can't help it", or because of his "medical condition". Mituna can't make mistakes because Mituna's sick, and obviously because Mituna has a medical condition, everything has to be linked back to that," Sollux snapped again.

Now this was his bipolar disorder at work. Taking anger and thrusting it to the top, forcing it out and forcing Sollux to act on it. Sollux didn't have a say at this point. Whatever happened, happened.

"Honey, I never used Mituna's condition as an excuse for anything. Mituna can make mistakes, we all can, we're only human," he assured, reaching out to stroke Sollux's cheek. Sollux was quick to force his hand away, stepping back and away from his "daddy".

"Yeah, but some of us are humans with a sever bipolar disorder and chronic mood swings, right?" He spat, engulfed by the sudden urge to lunge at the man in front of him.

"Sol, what's gotten into you?" Carter asked, not understanding where Sollux's blind anger was coming from.

Fortunately, nothing extreme could have happened, for Eridan had just made his way down the driveway with everyone else. Carter didn't even look at his family, concentrating only on Sollux, obviously desperate to help his son. He only ever wanted his sons to be happy, and it killed him when they weren't. This annoyed Sollux to a whole new level.

"Hey, Sol, are you alright? We heard yellin'," Eridan said, walking down and over to Sollux as he studied his boyfriend.

Sollux looked away, coming back to the world of rational thoughts. He could now apologize to Carter for being a dick, but he really didn't feel like it. He may not have been blindly angry right now, but he was still pissy.

"I'm fine, Eri," he assured.

"Are we ready to go?" Monroe asked, hoping to avoid further conflict. Carter was the one to reply, still looking at Sollux as he spoke.

"Yes, we're ready. Roe, you take Eridan, Mituna and Latula in the first car. Sollux and I are going to talk alone, so we'll be in our own car," Carter commanded, and Sollux shot him a look.

"Really? You really want to do that?" Sol asked, his irritated tone surprising Eridan slightly. Carter just nodded.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he replied. Sollux clenched his jaw in annoyance.

Carter made his way over to Monroe, giving him a quick kiss before whispering reassuring words into his ear. He then hugged Mituna before making his way to his own car, motioning for Sollux to follow him.

Sollux genuinely thought about completely denying the demands, though decided against it. He turned and barely brushed his lips over Eridan's, whispering that he'd see him later because Sollux had to work inventory tonight. Eridan replied by saying that he'd be home and would be up waiting for Sollux to get home later.

"I love you," Eridan whispered. Sollux managed a smile, running his hand through Eridan's perfect hair before turning around and mentally preparing himself for this car ride.

They sat in silence for the longest time, though Sollux didn't mind that too much. He just stared out the window, taking in the trees and the blur of colors as Carter drove. Sollux inhaled deeply, fingers gripping the door handle tightly. Damn, he hated cars, and he hated highways. They went way too fast on highways.

He decided to reach into the backseat and grab his laptop, pulling it on his lap and opening the top. He forced his nausea away as the screen of his laptop came to life, filling him with a sort of calmness. He was ready to concentrate on that before Carter finally spoke up.

"You're not going to talk to me, are you?"

"Not really."

"Are you comfortable?"

"Not really."

"Sol, please. I hate this, I hate not being able to help you," Carter confessed, looking over at Sollux with sad eyes.

"Keep your eyes on the road, daddy," Sollux muttered. Carter looked forward once again, relaxing slightly after Sollux slipped back into the nickname.

"Can I at least know why you don't want to talk to me? You can't tell me that it's because there's nothing to talk about. You're obviously upset about something, Sol," he requested.

"How about we avoid this conversation and just enjoy the comfortable silence until you drop me off at work?"

"That would be nice, but the previous silence was anything but comfortable."

"Only because you made it that way."

"Sollux, I'm beginning to become rather fed up with your rubbish," Carter admitted, growing frustrated. Sollux just shook his head, not even bothering to answer.

Sometimes he wanted to talk to Carter, he really did. He wanted to confide in the man who took him in when no one else would and who helped him through so much, but he couldn't. He could tell Karkat and he could talk to Karkat about it, but there was no way that he could tell Carter. Telling your friends about things like this is far more different than talking to your parents about it. Parents just take things a whole different way, especially when it comes to safety. He knew that the second that he said anything about Eridan's family, Carter would freak the fuck out, not to mention what Monroe would do. They would also treat Eridan differently, and that was the last thing that Sollux wanted. Eridan already felt accepted by a family, and Sollux wasn't going to ruin that.

So he ignored him. Carter tried to talk and tried to make Sollux feel better. He tried to be the perfect dad, though he didn't need to try. He was already perfect, aside from the overprotective nature. He tried for another few minutes before shutting up.

Sollux felt bad. Really bad. But he couldn't talk about it, and he couldn't apologize for anything. Not today.

He was just beginning to cool off as they approached the bar and grill, Sollux getting out of the car as he grabbed his laptop bag and his wallet and keys. He also slid his phone into his back pocket, closing the car door and making his way to the door of his work. Just as he felt his bad mood being to subside, he heard the car door slam. He groaned, turning around to find Carter making his way after Sollux.

"Are you serious?" Sollux complained. Carter's eyebrow rose.

"What?"

"You're following me?"

"We're not finished."

"Holy God."

Sollux turned back around, fuming as he yanked out his keys. He jammed the key into the door and opened it, not holding it for Carter. Carter pushed the door open himself, not letting himself be defeated by Sollux's stubborn attitude.

"No one else is really supposed to be here when it's not opened, you know."

"Is there anyone else here? You're not going to get in trouble if there's no one else here."

"No, but there are cameras."

"Not today," Carter commented, nodding up to the corners where the cameras normally reside.

Sollux looked up, eyebrows furrowing. That's strange. Maybe they needed maintenance.

He walked behind the bar, shoving his bag under it as he grabbed his waist apron. He began to tie it around his waist, glancing up at Carter. The older man was looking around, not even bothering to talk to Sollux. For real?

"Aren't there normally people in the restaurant section this late in the afternoon?" Carter asked. Sollux nodded.

"There are normally people here all day, but renovations are taking place. I'm only here for inventory. Anyways, are you going to go? As much as I'm enjoying this deep, heartfelt conversation..."

"Sollux, I'm tired of sitting back and not doing anything. The entire time that we were at the cabin, you were tense. You were glancing over your shoulder and remaining distant from everyone. Don't think that I didn't notice, hon. For weeks now you've been acting rather uncomfortable. I don't like that. Please don't keep things from me, Sol," he begged. Sollux huffed.

"Why the hell do you have to worry about it? I can have my own life, you know," Sollux informed in a snarl. Carter sighed.

"I know that very well, Sollux..."

"You know, sometimes you're as bad as Delvin," Sollux snapped in interruption, hoping to shut Carter up as he turned and glared at the older male. Carter's eyes widened in offense, hurt filling green irises.

"I could never be like him," he defended himself. Sollux shook his head.

"You're right, perhaps you're worse," he snapped.

Sollux turned quickly in his anger, shaking his head as he began to unpack a box of glasses. He literally had nothing else to say on the matter and had no intention of continuing this fucking argument. He really didn't have to worry about it, though, because not long after he had turned around, he heard the smashing of glass.

He was just about to spin back on his heel and yell the shit out of Carter for breaking something before he realized what had happened. As soon as he had turned back around to face his adoptive father, Carter had fallen face first to the ground, revealing a short, young looking guy behind him, holding the remainders of a broken vodka bottle and smiling the creepiest smile that Sollux had ever seen on a human being. All Sollux could do at the moment was stand there in shock.

"I want to play a game," were the first words out of this boys mouth, brownish-red eyes twinkling with a near crazy gleam.