Fractured World

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious or iCarly

A/N:


Chapter 6 (Deeper Understanding)

When Mark and Jenny arrived to the house, Tori was quick to try and help them unload some luggage from their white suburban; she had grown tired of moping around and was looking to unwind by helping out.

"Thank you sweetie," Jenny said while handing her a black suitcase that rolled on the ground. Tori extended the handle and grabbed a few more items from the back of the car. "How are feeling?"

"Still nervous, but I'd rather be mobile." She placed the extra items on top of the suitcase and stretched her back, rolling her shoulders a bit and looking around the back yard. The concrete driveway wrapped around the back of the home while also stretching forward until stopping at a wooden fence that bordered the yards next to and behind theirs. On the other side of the vehicle, the concrete bordered a sea of cut grass. "They keep their yard nice."

"Yeah, John used to do all the yardwork himself; but he hires people to do it now." Jenny reached up to the door of her suburban and closed it down. Tori gripped the handle of the suitcase and turned around towards the house.

The alcove where the kitchen table was looked like half of a hexagon, with windows on each edge. To the left of this was a small reddish brown wood tiled patio with a two-seater, iron rocking chair. Two wooden end tables were positioned at the edge, behind it were shrubs running along the brick wall and two windows.

"That's a neat little patio too."

"You like it?" Jenny walked past Tori, turning her head towards the patio. "John tiled that and the patio outside the back door." She opened her mouth to an oval and started moving with Jenny, glancing at the yellow garage door in front of the suburban.

They walked over a similar surface on the right of the kitchen alcove, a square shaped patio with two iron rocking chairs against the living room windows, and a round table between them.

Jenny opened the wooden door with three rows of square windows while Lillian held open the inner door. Following the woman into the home, she breathed in the fresh scent of coffee and the sound of water boiling.

Glancing to the end of the counter, she saw John working inside the kitchen. He had a towel on the counter with a portable stovetop grill plugged into the outlet on the other side, there was a pot of tomato sauce he was stirring. On the stationary stove between the ovens and refrigerator was a boiling pot of macaroni.

"You're going to like this," John remarked. Tori detected a note of pride in his voice. "I'm making ghoulash." Tori could feel her stomach rumbling, so she was excited for the coming dinner.

Mark and Spencer were sitting in the recliners, chatting about various things. Carly was stretching her legs out on the sofa and sitting at the end closest to the door, she had her phone out and looked like she was going through text messages.

The television set was on, but had been turned to a music choice channel playing old country music. Strangely, it created a pleasant, calming atmosphere.

Jacob was inside the bar area, sitting on the tall black pleather barstool. A handheld gaming device was in his hands. Sarah was in the dining room, straightening out the red tablecloth and setting up plates. Tori saw her stand upright and look towards the living room. "Mom? Tori? Do you need any extra help?"

"We have everything," Jenny replied, "Thank you honey."

Tori made her way to the hallway entrance and looked past the bar countertops into the large den.

The den truly looked like a chapel, the brightest room in the house due to the sunlight peering in through the giant windows. There was a blue sectional couch that wrapped all the way along the wall going from where the front door adjacent wall began, around the corner and ending where the windows were.

In the corner, behind the chairs, was a long brass lampstand. In front of the sectional was a square oak coffee table. Three rocking chairs were positioned in the room, spaced out and facing the couch. One was a large, navy blue lazy boy recliner and it was the closest to the front door. In the center was an older style, wooden rocking chair with a yarn blanket folded and thrown over the center, it was directly facing the corner of the sectional. Finally, a third swing rocking chair with a wooden base and arms sat closest to the windows. It had a large grey cushion that was tied to the back of the chair and the seat.

Ian was sitting in the center rocker, his right ankle propped on his left knee and his fingertips pressing against each other as Spencer's father and grandfather sat on the sectional, chatting with him.

Ian turned his head to Tori, his forehead creased and expression suggesting to her that perhaps he wanted to be elsewhere. "Need any help setting things up?" He asked. Tori smiled his way and shook his head, to which she heard him sigh.

Following Jenny into the hallway, she peered into the computer room briefly to see it looked like a former bedroom. The computer desk was against the wall where the person sitting there could see into the living room and vice versa. There was a window on the side wall with blue curtains running along the top. Two smaller bookshelves were against the corner walls, and a guitar was standing upright in the corner.

Surprised to see the musical instrument, she called out to Jenny, who was standing in front of the doors going to the restroom. "Grandpa John has a guitar? He cooks, he did the tile floors in the house and the patio…I get the feeling he's done a lot!" Jenny nodded in response.

"He has, if you take the time to sit down and listen to some of his stories about his life you'll learn a lot. When he was in the Air Force, he actually taught about computers and programming. Back in the '90s he actually created a few computer games for the family, mostly just video poker."

What a marvelous life the man seemed to have lived, and a sorrow that Tori had never been around enough to hear his tales. Thinking on it caused a spark of sadness which she immediately tried to force away, but her thoughts were already on it. "Holly robbed me of that too," she muttered. Jenny frowned and reached out for her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You have all the time in the world now." She breathed in and lifted her gaze to the woman. "Come on, let's get set up."

"How long are you and Mark staying?"

"A while. Jacob and Sarah are homeschooled, Mark works from home for IBM; so we plan to be here for a bit. Possibly not too long, John will get tired of having us around." Jenny started to laugh, then shook her head. "Maybe I do fuss too much."

They continued down the slightly long, narrow hallway. There were three doors on the left and a wall with family photos to the right. At the end of the hall, Tori saw what she assumed was a closet door to the right alongside a washer and dryer.

Passing the bathroom door, she glanced in to see a narrow six foot room with floral wallpaper on the left and a yellow ceramic countertop and large mirror that ran along the whole wall. The counter had two round sinks. At the other end was another door where she could see a yellow bathtub and shower curtain, and a toilet.

They continued to the third and final door where she entered a bright bedroom, set up similarly to the computer room, only as a guest room. There was a queen sized double mattress in the center of the room, a wooden end table with a compartment between it and the wall with a window.

Facing the foot of the mattress just a few feet away was a long dresser with two rows of three drawers. A television was set up on the center of the dresser. "I love all the brightness," Tori remarked. All the light in the house was truly soothing, and a far different feeling than where she'd been raised where it seemed as though the lights always had to be turned on. "There's something about the natural light."

"I agree." Jenny set some suitcases on the bed and Tori pushed the rolling suitcase she had against the wall beside the end table.

"How long have you and Uncle Mark known each other?" Tori sat on the edge of the mattress, flinching in surprise at the softness of the bed. She placed her hands on the edge and looked to Jenny. "Sarah made it sound like you knew Mom too."

"Briefly." Jenny opened one of the suitcases and removed some shirts. "We met in high school and I'd been over to his house a few times; but Sasha usually was busy doing something else. I got to spend a little bit of time with her." Jenny opened the closet door behind her and hung the shirts up. "I wish I had tried to pursue a greater relationship with her at the time, because that was only a short two years and…" The woman took a step back, her voice trailing off as she dipped her chin for a moment. "It really makes you realize how precious the time we have is."

Tori's heart jumped for a moment and her fingers squeezed the edge of the mattress. "I guess." She didn't know how it must have felt, but she did understand the desire for a connection with someone who may or may not want to form one.
"You both had just left for college when everything happened, right?"

"Yes." The woman's voice softened and she looked to the door. "I remember when it happened and we heard Spencer was also in the hospital, Mark was afraid to lose him too. The two were like brothers, and he'd just lost everyone. I did my best to be there for him; but it has been a difficult road."

"I can imagine. Sarah mentioned something about that."

"Mark spent a lot of years grieving, he was distant and I was always trying to do everything I could to help him. Sarah has grown too fast, feeling like she's had to carry the world on her shoulders. If I could go back, there are a lot of things I would change." Jenny closed her eyes and shook her head. "But we don't live our lives by staring at the past and regretting the things we've done or haven't done."

Tori laid back on the mattress and clasped her hands on her abdomen, she gazed at the brown ceiling fan, squinting her eyes as it spun. "That's easy to say, not easy to do." Certainly not in a position like hers, she had a literal lifetime of regrets.

Jenny sat down beside her, causing Tori to lift her head and peer at the woman. "It seldom ever is. Your father knows that more than anyone." The woman chuckled once, though her expression was neutral and she was staring at the closet doors. "I remember a story he told us a couple years ago, he laughs at it now but he was horrified by it."

"What happened?" She sat up and raised her eyebrows in an instant.

"One of the arcade games popular at the time that Sasha loved was Pak Rat. Spencer found an old arcade machine of that game and there was a girl that shared the name of your mother." Her eyes started to widen and she raised a hand over her mouth. "This was around the anniversary of when Sasha had disappeared and he was dealing with some extreme mental anguish at the time." Jenny tucked a strand of hair over her ear and shook her head. "Long story short, he kept picturing your mother whenever he interacted with this person, I guess because she resembled her a little bit and the whole Pak Rat high score thing…It was an embarrassing low point for your father, so um…"

Seeing where this was going, Tori smirked for a second and glanced to the door. "I won't tell him you told me that. Wonder what Carly was thinking the whole time."

"She was busy with her webshow at the time, so she didn't seem to think too much about it. I think. At least, that's what Spencer said."

It was amusing, but sad at the same time. The man had to have been going through some serious PTSD and mental exhaustion at the time. "Your father does seem to be doing better now, and even recently I'm not sure what it is but I see a bit more strength in him than there used to be."

"That's good." She pursed her lips and tilted her head. "So what hobbies does he have? I haven't gotten to talk to him too much about what he's been up to all this time."

"Well, you ought to." Jenny flashed a smile and Tori let out a nervous chuckle, mixed with embarrassment. After all, she's had weeks to talk to Spencer. "He seems to have thrown himself into artwork, and that's been something he's done for income too."

"Doesn't he own some apartment in Seattle?"

"His father does. Steven helps him out quite a bit, but it's looking more like Spencer's getting eager take ownership of the place. He's not exactly a struggling artist."

"Oh?"

"He takes advantage of how some people are ready to call just about anything 'art'." Jenny pushed her hands along her knees and chuckled. "He's talked to us about how he's gone to the local junkyard and just assembled whatever he could, and there will almost always be someone that's taking an interest in it. He also has clients who will want him to sculpt or paint something. So, I would say he's doing okay financially, but not sure how his father feels about it."

In other words it sounded like the problem was less Spencer struggling to make it by and more a proverbial leash attached by his own father. "You think Grandpa Shay is afraid to let him be or something?"

Jenny swayed towards the wall and nodded. "Well, Spencer thinks so. He's practically raised his little sister and thinks his father did that rather than move around with her out of some sort of guilty conscience." The woman cleared her throat and began adjusting the corner of the bedsheet, straightening it out. "Honestly I think Steven didn't want to have drag his children everywhere with him. The military makes you move a lot, and that can be hard on kids."

"Makes sense."

"Steven also had his own aggravation with his own dad several years ago when George," Jenny paused, "That's his father. George was about to take Carly away from Spencer because of some failed project that put her in danger. Spencer just about had a nervous breakdown right there and he told us after the whole ordeal that Steven laid in on the man for it."

Tori jerked her head back, huffing to herself as she thought about the scenario. It was aggravating to hear something like that could happen, especially because it sounded like the man may have forgotten his grandson had just gone through that exact situation. "Not like that would've done any good for anybody."

"No, but I can understand the concern a grandparent might have over their grandchildren. Still, it wasn't a good moment for him." Jenny sat upright and closed her eyes. "I remember that phone call. Mark was doing his best to calm your father down, and I was about ready to drive out there and find out how I could help and if I could." Tori felt a surge of pain, not understanding the situation because she wasn't there but realizing how much worse it could be for someone already in a mentally dark place to have his own relative deprive him of someone else he cared for.

"I see why Grandpa Shay would've been angry."

"Well, it didn't help that George wasn't conferring with him right off the bat. When he told Spencer that Steven okayed it, that 'okay' was in reference to George telling him he was concerned about Carly and would be picking her up, not that he was about to take full custody of her."

Cringing, Tori felt a wave of pain and irritation come over her. "That's horrible." Jenny looked to her with her eyebrows curling upwards and the corners of her mouth denting her cheeks.

"I don't want to paint a negative picture of them in your mind, I shouldn't have gotten into all of that." Tori shrugged with nonchalance, she was going to try not to be too critical of a judge of someone she still hadn't quite met. After all, even Jenny indicated that there may be various factors going on and she already knew Spencer may have perceived something far worse than what was actually going on.

"Okay."

"Your grandfather and great-grandfather are good people and they care about Spencer, they care about Carly. George can be a little harsh, stern and impulsive but that's just because he does care."

"I thought Grandpa John was supposedly the stricter one."

"A little, but he and Lillian softened up a great deal. They were more accepting of your parents than George at the start. I do believe when everyone found out about the pregnancy, George gave Spencer an earful. The very thing Sasha was afraid of happening to her seemed more likely to happen to Spencer."

"Is that why Spencer is still so close to Mom's family? It almost sounds like he's closer to all of you than his own family."

Jenny stood from the bed and Tori heard her smack her lips. "Definitely the family rallied around him after Mike and Amber were murdered and Sasha disappeared. Spencer's own family is a bit more fragmented, but I honestly shouldn't go into more detail there. You deserve to have these conversations with your father, not your aunt."

She hopped off the bed, feeling far more comfortable than she initially had. She understood Jenny's concern but was still grateful to have a little more insight on who her father was as a person. After all, she had a feeling these tidbits of knowledge might not be told to her right away by the man, but now she could try to be a bit more understanding when he did eventually feel open to talking about these things.

"Thank you for the talk anyway, Aunt Jennifer." She smiled as Jenny raised a hand to her chest. "Do you think supper's ready yet?"

"I think it will be in about thirty minutes. I'll go check in with John."

"Okay. I guess I'll see how Ian's faring…" Considering it looked like he was in the midst of an interrogation, she figured it might be time to rescue him before her grandparents scared him off.


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