Annalise knocked and waited outside of Noah's room. A moment later he opened the door with a smile.
"Annalise, come on in," he said as he opened the door wider.
Annalise smiled at him sadly, "I think it's time we had a little talk."
Noah's face fell, "You're sending me home, aren't you?"
Annalise nodded, "Unfortunately, yes. I really like you, Noah, I do. But with everything going on lately, I really need to narrow down the elite." She said, thinking about Jeffrey's erratic behaviour, she needed someone who could handle him in the elite and as her spouse, and she wasn't sure that he was up to the task. "I want to thank you for competing, but I just don't think it's going to work out between us."
"I understand, it was wonderful to meet you and your kids, they're really great, even if Jeffrey is a little bit of a handful." Noah said as he pulled Annalise in for a hug.
She smiled as she hugged him back, "I want to thank you for entering my Selection and giving it a chance."
"Of course, it was fun," Noah said. "I'll pack my stuff."
Annalise nodded and kissed him on the cheek, "I wish you the best of luck in the future."
"I hope you find the one, Annalise, you deserve to be happy," Noah said.
"Thank you," Annalise said, then left the room.
Annalise sighed as she closed the door on her way out of the room. She was sad to see Noah go, but her Selection had been going on for long enough and she glad that she had narrowed down her Elite to four. She needed to give her sons, especially Jeffrey some stability, and she figured that getting through her Selection was the easiest way to do that.
Annalise had gathered her children in the family room and Jeffrey, as usual, was the last one to arrive. He entered the room and lingered by the door, but one look from Annalise and he stepped further into the room.
"I have invited the families of the Elite to the palace," Annalise said. "One of them will become your stepfather, which means their children will become your stepsiblings, I expect you to be nice."
"I'm always nice," Callum said.
Jeffrey shrugged but nodded.
"Callum, I need to talk to your brother for a moment," Annalise said.
Callum nodded and took off from the room.
"How are you doing?" Annalise asked.
"I'm fine," Jeffrey said curtly.
"You know you can talk to me about anything, don't you?" Annalise said softly as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I just want you to be happy."
Jeffrey looked away and shrugged, "There's nothing to talk about."
"I'm here for you, whatever's going on," Annalise said as she wrapped her arms around her son. Jeffrey relented and hugged his mother back. "I've dismissed Noah, we're down to the final four."
"Oh," Jeffrey said.
"It's time for you to face that fact that one of them will become your stepfather," Annalise said firmly. "I'll give you some time to adjust to that, but you had better behave yourself when the families of the Elite come, or you won't like what happens next."
Jeffrey nodded and headed towards the door. He lingered in the doorway, "Mom? If you could…would you legalize same-sex marriage?"
Annalise gave him a confused look, where did that come from? She thought. "Of course, I would."
"Cool." Jeffrey said, then left the room.
Annalise watched her son leave the room with a sigh, she suspected that he was gay, and was just waiting for him to tell her. Why won't you just let me in? She thought as she ran a hand through her hair. She left the room and went to her own office to start preparing to bring the families of the Elite to the palace.
Jeffrey went back to his room and grabbed one of the reports that his grandfather had given him and started to read it. His heart wasn't really in it and he found that he couldn't quite focus on the words. There was a knock at the door, and he got up to answer it, frowning slightly when he saw Greg.
"Can I come in?" Greg asked.
Jeffrey hesitated a moment before he opened his door wider and allowed the man entrance to his room.
"I came to check in on you, see how you were doing," Greg said.
"I'm fine." Jeffrey said as he crossed his arms.
"Have you been cutting?" Greg asked.
"Can't really do that after my mom had my room searched because of you," Jeffrey said in a bored tone.
Greg sighed, "I should have never promised to keep quiet about that, but you're a smart kid, if you really wanted to, you'd find a way, so I'll ask again; have you been cutting?"
Jeffrey shrugged.
"Let me see your arms, Jeffrey," Greg said sternly.
"Seriously?" Jeffrey asked as he crossed his arms.
"I can wait all day if I have to," Greg said.
Jeffrey bit his lip as he rolled up his sleeve and exposed his arm to Greg. Greg frowned at the fresh new cut on teen's arm.
"I'll be telling your mother about this," Greg said.
"I figured as much," Jeffrey said as he pulled his sleeve down again.
"Give me your phone, Jeffrey." Greg said sternly as he held out his hand.
"No, that's not fair!" Jeffrey protested.
"You know that cutting is dangerous, but you continued to do it. Maybe if you don't care about your own well being, you'll care about losing privileges." Greg shot back; his hand still extended.
"Fuck you." Jeffrey spat as he handed over his phone. "You're such a prick."
"You're not exactly the world's best kid yourself." Greg snapped.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes, "I'm telling my mom, she'll just give it back to me."
"Running to your mom every time you don't get your way, I am in awe of your maturity." Greg replied with sarcasm.
Jeffrey clenched his hands into fists, "Get the fuck out of my room."
"I'm sure that your mother will be in here soon enough to talk about your behavior and your language." Greg insisted as he stormed out of Jeffrey's room to find Annalise.
Fuck, Jeffrey thought as he sat on his bed. He tapped his foot as he waited for his mother, who entered his room a few minutes later with Greg.
"Greg, how long do you want his phone for?" Annalise asked, giving Jeffrey a warning look.
"A few days," Greg replied.
Annalise nodded, "You can give it back to him when he's ready for it."
"I'm ready for it now," Jeffrey said, annoyed.
"Oh yeah, prove it." Greg challenged with his eyebrows raised. "Apologize for the cuss words."
Jeffrey glared at him and crossed his arms.
Annalise sighed, "Do we have to search your room? Or are you going to hand whatever you're using over?"
"Search my room, I don't care," Jeffrey said as he stood and made his way to the door. He rolled his eyes when Greg got in his way. "Move."
"Say please." Greg challenged as he stood his ground.
Jeffrey glared at him then glanced at his mother.
Annalise sighed, "Jeffrey, enough of this."
"Then get him out of my fucking room!" Jeffrey snapped.
"I'll leave if you ask me nicely." Greg replied with a shrug.
"Jeffrey, calm down," Annalise said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Jeffrey pushed her hand away and clenched his hands into fists, digging his nails into his skin, "So what I don't even get privacy anymore? It's my room, this peasant doesn't have a right to be here."
"This peasant spent years facing death so that you would have a throne to sit on, you might want to thank me for it someday." Greg shot back.
"Enough!" Annalise said, raising her voice. "Greg, stay with him, I'm getting his therapist, he doesn't leave his room."
Greg stepped aside to let Annalise pass and Jeffrey glared at him. "Happy now?" he asked bitterly.
"If by that you mean, I'm happy that you're facing consequences for your actions, then I am peachy keen." Greg teased.
"You know what? I'll make this easier for the both of you." Jeffrey said as he stalked towards his window. He opened it and kicked the screen out.
"Stop it." Greg said as he approached the teen.
Jeffrey climbed through the window before Greg got near him.
"Touch me, I dare you, if I fall it'll be on your hands," Jeffrey snapped.
Greg grabbed wrapped an arm around the teen and pulled him back into the bedroom. Jeffrey kicked and struggled against Greg, but he was no use for the army veteran. Jeffrey glared at him as his mother returned to the room with his therapist in tow.
"What the hell happened here?" Annalise asked.
"Jeffrey was trying to climb out a third story window and I didn't think that was very safe." Greg replied as he set Jeffrey back on the floor. Jeffrey glared at Greg as he stood up.
Annalise sighed, "Let's just…let them talk."
Greg nodded and followed Annalise from the room.
"Thank you, Greg, I honestly didn't think he'd do that…are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, this isn't my first time saving somebody." Greg said.
Annalise sighed, "I just can't believe he'd do that..."
"I'm sorry Annalise, but that boy is out of control!" Greg exclaimed. "If he keeps doing theses stunts, he's gonna get himself killed."
Annalise frowned as she heard yelling coming from Jeffrey's room. "I have no clue what to do with him anymore, just...keep his phone for as long as you think is necessary, at least three days."
"All right." Greg said as he patted the phone in his pocket. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked tenderly.
"I'm just so stressed out." Annalise said as she ran her hands through her hair. "What do you think I should do about him?"
Greg gently took her hand in his. "I wish I could tell you Annalise, Jane could be difficult when the divorce happened but…I'm not used to something like this."
"Are you really sure you want to put up with... this for the rest of your life?" Annalise asked.
Greg was silent for a few moments before he turned to the Queen and looked her straight in the eye. "Annalise, after my wife betrayed me, I thought that my one chance at love was gone…but you, you give me hope that maybe I could get a second chance at being happy. But Jeffrey…I am not going to lie; he's wearing me down. I don't know what I'm more afraid of: living with him or living without you." He explained as a stray tear fell.
Annalise sighed and pulled Greg in for a hug, "Maybe we should have just given him some space..."
Greg returned the hug as he wept silently. "I'm sorry Annalise…I'm trying to be strong." He insisted as he wiped his tears.
Annalise pulled away, "You're doing great, Greg." She said as the therapist emerged from Jeffrey's room.
"May I have a word, Your Majesty?" he asked.
"Of course, I'll see you around, Greg." Annalise said.
Greg nodded and kissed Annalise on the cheek, "Good luck." He said before he walked away.
That evening, despite being grounded, Jeffrey snuck out of his room, late at night when he thought everyone would be asleep. He was making his way out of the palace, but stopped when he saw Joel. Joel frowned and walked towards the teen.
"Jeffrey, you shouldn't be out and about," Joel said. "I'm not telling your mom, but you need to go back to your room."
"I don't care, I'm not going back there," Jeffrey said angrily.
"You can't just keep disregarding everyone, Jeffrey," Joel said in an eerily calm, but stern tone. "You need to go back to your room."
"You can't make me," Jeffrey said as he walked around Joel. "Go ahead, tell my mom, I don't care, I already lost everything anyway."
"You haven't lost everything, Jeffrey, think about Ethan, your mom, and Callum," Joel said. "They care about you, and I'm sure they wouldn't want you acting out like this. This is your last chance to go back before I get your mom."
"They don't care, they'll be better off without me, anyway." Jeffrey said as he walked down the hall.
Joel caught up to him and grabbed him by the wrist, not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to stop him from leaving. Joel flagged down a servant and instructed them to get Annalise.
"Let go," Jeffrey snapped.
"This is for your own good, Jeffrey," Joel said firmly. "What's the plan, huh? Where are you even going to go?"
"I don't know." Jeffrey said as he tried to tug his wrist free. "I'll figure it out, now let go of me."
"You're the Prince of Illéa, Jeffery, people could try to hurt or kill you." Joel reminded him.
Jeffrey pushed against Joel's hand as he heard approaching footsteps, "Why do you even care?"
"Because believe it or not, Jeffrey, you have people who care about you," Joel lectured. "Have you even thought about what this would do to your mother? You taking off like this? What even happened earlier?"
"He tried to climb out of a window," Annalise replied as she approached the pair dressed in a night gown and a robe. "Do I have to post guards outside of your room, Jeffrey?"
Joel released his grip on Jeffrey but stayed close in case the teen tried to bolt.
"If you had of just left me alone like I wanted I wouldn't have tried to go out the window!" Jeffrey snapped.
Annalise brought a hand to her temple, "You might want to watch your tone, you're already in enough trouble, young man."
"I don't think guards would do any good, Annalise," Joel commented.
"Then what do you think I should do?" Annalise asked tersely.
"I don't know, Annalise," Joel replied honestly. "Not even Cyrpress has tried to run away."
"So you were running away?" Annalise asked, her tone softening. She blinked back tears.
"Yeah, you made it pretty clear you don't want me around," Jeffrey said as he crossed his arms.
Annalise sighed and pulled Jeffrey in for a hug, "I always want you around, Jeffrey, but you've been so out of control lately I don't know what to do to help you."
Jeffrey stiffened at the touch but didn't pull away.
"I think you two should have a talk," Joel said.
"Go wait for me in the kitchen," Annalise said to Jeffrey.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes as he walked away. Annalise sighed and turned to Joel, "Thanks for stopping him."
"Of course, Annalise, I wasn't just going to let him leave," Joel said. "What's going on with him?"
Annalise sighed, "He's been cutting, I don't know when it started, but Greg found out and told me…Greg found fresh cuts today and took his phone away, and that's when he just…exploded."
Joel frowned, "I don't think he should be punished for that…it'll only encourage him further. I think you should focus instead on why he self harms and be working on that," he said. "I think instead you should spend more time with him and limit his free time, when my kids had outbursts I would limit their free time in half hour increments for a week, with each subsequent outburst resulting in an increase in the time cut and the length of the punishment."
"Well, after the window stunt he's definitely not getting his phone back anytime soon," Annalise said. "But you're right, maybe we shouldn't have punished him for hurting himself."
"Just, go talk to him," Joel encouraged. "He might be ready to talk."
Annalise took a deep breath and nodded, "Thank you, Joel. I appreciate this."
"You're welcome, and remember, he's just a kid with hurt feelings, even if he left, he would have realised that he has nowhere to go and came back in a matter of hours."
Annalise nodded, "It's just so frustrating."
"I know, but they never said raising kids was easy," Joel said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take him on a little camping trip tomorrow, maybe that'll help him get rid of some of that pent up energy."
"Sure, you can spend the night, too." Annalise said. "Just no knives for him, okay?"
Joel nodded and Annalise kissed Joel on the cheek, then walked towards the kitchen. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to her son, but she just hoped that she could get through to him.