The next day Jeffrey had off from his lessons with Rupert. He was glad it was the weekend and had plans to spend the day with Ethan. The two were in his room, playing a game of monopoly while listening to music.
"I forgot how long this game is," Ethan complained.
Jeffrey smirked, "You're only complaining because you're losing." He teased the older boy. He rolled the dice and moved his piece four places forward, landing on free parking.
"I fucking hate you," Ethan joked.
Jeffrey laughed as he collected the money from the middle of the board, "Don't hate the player, hate the game."
Ethan grinned as he leaned in and kissed Jeffrey on the lips, at that moment the door opened, and Rupert stepped into the room. He slammed the door shut, causing both boys to flinch. Jeffrey turned around to see who had entered the room and froze when he saw his uncle.
Jeffrey's eyes widened as he scooted away from Ethan and stood up.
"What, pray tell, is going on in here?" Rupert questioned, his tone eerily calm.
Jeffrey bit his lip and looked down, "I was…I was kissing my boyfriend," he said quietly.
Rupert raised his eyebrows, "Your boyfriend?"
"Y-yeah," Jeffrey replied nervously.
"Interesting…" Rupert mused as he stepped further into the room. "I didn't know my brother's son was a faggot."
Jeffrey flinched at the use of the word and glanced to Ethan who was glued to his spot. This is why I didn't want to come out, Jeffrey thought miserably. He stared at the floor, unsure of what to say to his uncle.
"You." Rupert said, pointing at Ethan. "Out of here." He snapped as he pointed towards the door.
Ethan shot Jeffrey a sad look and mouthed the word "sorry" to him as he left the room. The door closed behind him, and Rupert closed the gap between Jeffrey and himself. Without warning Rupert punched Jeffrey in the face. The boy's head snapped to the side, and he cried out in pain.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour," Rupert hissed as he grabbed Jeffrey by the collar of his shirt. He pulled him closer, "Do you understand me?"
"Y-yes," Jeffrey said quietly, he stood limp in his uncle's grip, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it. Rupert had custody of him, he was stuck with him.
"Do you really think this is what your father would have wanted?" Rupert lectured angrily as he let go of Jeffery's shirt. He shoved him, causing the boy to take a step back. "For his son to be a little faggot?"
Tears welled in Jeffrey's eyes, and he choked them back, he really didn't want to cry in front of his uncle.
"Well, do you?" Rupert demanded.
"N-no," Jeffrey replied quietly, his eyes glued to the floor.
"Is this really how you honour his memory? By acting like a girl with your little boyfriend?" Rupert seethed. "You should be ashamed of yourself, that's disgusting." He spat.
Jeffrey flinched at the tone and kept his eyes on the floor.
"Don't worry, I'm going to make this easy for you, he's Reagan's son, isn't he?" Rupert asked.
Jeffrey nodded, "Why?"
"Because Reagan's going to be transferred and he'll bring that fag with him." Rupert snapped as he grabbed Jeffrey's face. "And don't even think about seeing that boy again, if I catch a whiff of you spending time with him, I'll have you whipped. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes," Jeffrey said softly.
"Good." Rupert released his hold on Jeffrey then stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Once his uncle was out of the room, Jeffrey allowed himself to cry. I never should have dated him, he thought miserably.
That afternoon Noah had a date with Annalise, she had agreed to let him make coffee for her and he was ecstatic to make it for her, coffee was his passion and he was thrilled to share it with one of the most important people in Illéa. Annalise was running a bit late, so he got started in the kitchen. The staff had left him enough room to himself, so he got to work. He paused when the door to the kitchen opened, and Jeffrey came in with a bruising cheek. Noah dropped the coffee grinds he had been holding and his jaw dropped. He knew Rupert had been mistreating the boy, but he didn't think it was that bad. Jeffrey froze when he saw Noah, he vaguely remembered him.
"Hey, are you okay?" Noah asked as he approached Jeffrey slowly. He sniffed when he thought he smelt marijuana and frowned as the closer he got the stronger the smell got.
Jeffrey smiled slightly, as if amused, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little hungry."
"You're high," Noah accused.
"As a kite," Jeffrey said then chuckled. "What are you going to do about it?"
Great, Noah thought as he ran a hand through his hair, he would have to tell Annalise now, which meant he would have to tell her about the first time he caught her son high. Jeffrey ignored him and moved towards the freezer. He grabbed a mini tub of chocolate ice cream and a spoon from the drawer. Jeffrey struggled to open the container of ice cream. Noah sighed and did the task for the teen then handed him the tub of ice cream.
"What happened to your face?" Noah asked, hoping in his impaired state Jeffrey would open up to him.
Jeffrey shrugged, "Dunno." He lied nonchalantly as he ate a spoonful of ice cream.
Noah sighed, "Was it your uncle?"
Jeffrey averted his gaze to his tub of ice cream and shrugged.
"Jeffrey, if he's hurting you-"
"You'll what?" Jeffrey challenged. "My own mother can't even do anything, what the hell are you going to do?"
"If Rupert is hurting you, it can help your mother's case," Noah said patiently. "But getting high is not the way to cope with what's going on."
"Whatever," Jeffrey said dismissively. "You're harshing my mellow." He picked up his tub of ice cream and left the room.
Shit, Noah thought, he was really looking forward to this date with Annalise, and now it was ruined.
A few minutes later Annalise entered the kitchen, she smiled at Noah, but frowned when she saw the troubled look on his face.
"What's the matter?" Annalise asked.
Noah sighed, "It's about Jeffrey…" he trailed off, unsure of how to start the conversation. "To start with he has a huge bruise on his cheek, and he's…well he's high."
Annalise looked at Noah shocked, "I'm sorry, what?"
"I don't think he's okay, Annalise, I think you need to go talk to him. I tried to get him to open up, but he treated it like it was a big joke," Noah said. "I don't have kids, I don't know what to do in this situation."
Annalise sighed, "I have kids and I don't even know what to do. I technically can't punish him, only Rupert can."
"I know, I know this is so hard for you," Noah said.
"Just…don't tell Rupert, I suspect that's where the bruise came from." Annalise said. "Let's just…let him come down from his high and I'll talk to him when he's sober."
"I think that's probably the best idea," Noah agreed.
"So, how about the cup of coffee? Please, I need the distraction." Annalise said with a small smile.
Noah grinned, glad that he could at least salvage his date, "How do you take it?"
"Two milk two sugar please," Annalise replied as she sat on one of the stools near the counter. "So, you don't have any kids?" She asked as she watched the coffee master at work.
"Yeah, but I have a bunch of nieces and nephews they're great kids, I love spending time with them," Noah replied.
Annalise smiled, "It's all fun and games until you're stuck with them 24/7, then it's draining and exhausting."
Noah chuckled, "Then they grow into moody teenagers," He joked.
Annalise nodded, "Exactly, Jeffrey's always been really independent, never liked being coddled much. Callum's the polar opposite, I find it hard to believe that they're related sometimes."
"Callum's idea to play soccer was great yesterday," Noah said. "I think it got all of our minds off of the rebel attack."
Annalise grinned, "He's good for that, I think he needed it too."
"Probably." Noah agreed as he handed Annalise a cup of coffee.
"This better be good," she teased. She took a sip of the coffee and her face lit up. "That is amazing, I'll have to get you to teach the kitchen staff how to prepare coffee like that, it's really a game changer."
"Thank you," Noah said, beaming with pride.
"So, I have to ask, why haven't you settled down and gotten married?" Annalise asked as Noah prepared a cup of coffee for himself.
"Honestly? I just haven't had much luck with the ladies," He replied.
"I find that hard to believe, you're a catch," Annalise said.
Noah smiled, "Thank you."
"I mean it, any girl would be lucky to have you." Annalise said with a kind smile. She took another sip of her coffee. "This is just incredible, I can't get over how good it is."
Noah chuckled, "I'll teach the kitchen staff how to make it first thing in the morning, I don't mind spilling my secrets for you."
"Thank you," Annalise said with a grin. "I appreciate it."
"Anything to make your day better," Noah said as he sat across from the Queen. The two sipped their coffee and talked the afternoon away and Annalise found herself feeling a bit better about the mess that was her life.
Annalise gave Jeffrey a few hours to sober up before she went to his room. She knocked, then stepped inside. Jeffrey was curled up in bed, fast asleep. He must be sleeping it off, she thought. She approached his bed and gently shook him awake.
"What?" Jeffrey asked as he yawned.
"We need to have a serious talk, young man." Annalise said sternly as she sat on the bed beside him.
Jeffrey yawned as he stretched, "About what?"
Annalise frowned, "Did you really expect Noah to keep quiet about what he saw?"
Jeffrey rolled his eyes, "You can't do anything about it."
"Let's start with the bruise, how did that happen?" Annalise asked.
Jeffrey shrugged, "How do you think?"
Annalise sighed, "I'm sorry that Rupert hit you, what happened?"
"I don't wanna talk about it…" Jeffrey trailed off.
"All right, is that why you got high? Because you were upset?" Annalise questioned.
"Does it matter?" Jeffrey asked impatiently.
"Yes, it does. Marijuana's illegal for a reason, Jeffrey," Annalise said sternly.
"I don't care, what are you going to do about it? You don't have custody of me anymore, you can't do anything." Jeffrey said bitterly.
"Oh that's where you're wrong, I most certainly can do something about it," Annalise said sternly. She held out her hand, "Phone, now."
Jeffrey sighed as he dug into pocket and pulled out his phone. He dropped it into his mother's waiting hand.
"Do you have any more, or did you smoke all of it?" Annalise asked.
"I smoked it all," Jeffrey replied.
"Don't get any more of it," Annalise said sternly.
Jeffrey shrugged in response.
"Where did you get it from?" Annalise asked.
"I'm not telling you that," Jeffrey said.
Annalise sighed, "We'll talk more in the morning, just get some rest." She said then kissed him on the head.
Jeffrey groaned at the touch, but laid back down in his bed. He normally got his weed from Ethan or one of the guards, but he wasn't about to tell his mother that. He also didn't want to tell her about his relationship with Ethan in case she had the same reaction as Uncle Rupert. Annalise left the room after closing the curtains. She frowned as she left the room, wondering what exactly was going on in her son's head. She just wished she could get through to him.