Another chapter! Wheesh, they just keep on coming, don't they? However, I believe the next one will be the last, yesyes. I hope you enjoy reading this one!
Rei woke up in the morning and for a second nothing seemed to make sense...if he was in bed at home, then why was Bryan with him? But it hit him soon, and he collapsed back onto the pillows, sighing. "What's the matter?" Bryan muttered, shifting slightly.
"Everything."
"Alright." Before very long, Bryan was snoring again. Rei watched him, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. He was so busy watching that he didn't see Niu and Jin come into the room...
"When's visiting hours?"
"Ah-!" Recovering from the shock, Rei sat up. "Um...two till four...I think..."
"It's only ten o clock..."
"Um. Yeah. Do you two need breakfast making? I know your mother usually cooks it but you know what I'm like when it comes to cooking..."
"...I can cook." Bryan muttered, face buried in the blankets. Rei looked up at Niu and Jin uncertainly, and read their blank expressions to mean that they didn't particularly like Bryan being there. "But they probably don't want me cooking..."
"We are here, you know." Said Niu acidly, folding her arms. Bryan sat up, rubbing his eyes with the back of one hand.
"So you are. Still true though."
"I don't mind you cooking. Niu and Dad can't cook." Jin smiled at him hopefully. "Can you make pancakes?"
"Shut up, Jin. Just because he put you to bed doesn't mean he's your new best friend." Bryan sighed. Feh. Kids.
"I -can- make pancakes. But apparently Niu doesn't want me to. So I'm going back to sleep. Goodnight." He flopped back down again, stealing the last of the blanket from Rei.
Jin gave his sister a dirty look. "Niu, I'm -hungry-!"
"Yeah well! If -he- wasn't with Dad Mum would be here to cook for you!"
"Niu..." Rei began, getting up finally. "You can't blame this on Bryan...if you blame anyone it should be me. I told you everything last night. And...if I'd been honest with your mother from the start we wouldn't be where we are now." He explained, taking hold of her arm gently. "His pancakes really are good, you know." He tried, smiling. Niu snorted and flounced to the door.
"Well why don't you and Jin eat them then? Because I don't want any!"
Bryan ended up making pancakes for himself and Jin. So that left Niu sulking at the other side of the kitchen and Rei sipping boiling coffee and feeling as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. And he was still half asleep. The whole thing seemed to have exhausted him, meaning Bryan was left trying his hardest to understand and interact with Jin. It had been so many years since he'd had to be around children...and it wasn't as if he had a normal childhood to go by in the first place...
But he persevered, desperately dredging up the five or so clean jokes he knew. All the rest were dirty or used bad language, and he knew that by no stretch of the imagination was it appropriate for him to tell Jin jokes about bitches, whores or strippers. And blonde jokes might be a stretch too far as well... He was just trying the one about the shark-infested custard when Niu stood up, glowering. "Stop it!"
"Niu?" Rei looked up, feeling an argument in the air.
"Stop being so HAPPY! Mum's in hospital and it's -your- fault!" She yelled at Bryan. The Russian blinked.
"Do you think she'd particularly want you to mope around being depressed? And since when did it become -my- fault?"
"Because you took Dad away from her!" Niu screeched back.
"Niu-" Rei stood up, anxious.
"So what, you'd rather your dad drove himself insane from having to lie for the rest of his life? And if it wasn't for me your mother would be -dead- now. She might be in hospital but at least she's alive!" Bryan snapped back. He was aware that it wasn't done to shout at children, but it was a subject that was lodged firmly in his heart and no-one would keep him quiet about it.
"Oh! I HATE you!" Niu hollered. "I'm going round Ashley's, I'm not staying in the same house as YOU!"
Rei took hold of her arm as she stormed past him. "Niu, you're not going -anywhere-. Now come out here, I want a word with you." Bryan watched the Chinese lead his daughter out of the room, sighing.
"I'm never going to understand kids or women. And she's both..."
"She's just moody." Jin supplied, pouring golden syrup all over his last pancake. Bryan nodded, dipping a finger in the pot and taking a fingerful. "Mum doesn't let us eat out of the pot..."
"You shouldn't. It's a terrible habit really." He sighed. "Do you think she really hates me?"
"Don't know." Bryan sighed.
"If she doesn't want me around, I can't stay. But I want to stay with your father..."
"...What about Mum?"
"...I don't know. I really don't know."
"Niu? Jin?" Rei peeped around the door as his children ran in to see Mariah, leaping up onto the bed beside her and hugging her tightly. "Oh...are you two alright?"
"Yeah, Mum, we're fine." She hugged them closer, looking haggard and anxious.
"Who looked after you last night?"
"Dad and B-"
"Dad did, Mum." Niu cut across her brother. Mariah closed her eyes tightly.
"Don't talk to me about your father..."
"But you -asked-, Mum..." Jin said quietly, timidly.
"You're not to see him again, do you hear me!"
"But who's going to look after us?" Jin's voice was a whisper now.
"I don't know!" Mariah snapped, letting go of him and sitting up straight. "Just stay away from him! He's a terrible man!"
"But...why?"
"Don't ask stupid questions! Just stay away from him!" Mariah yelled, tears running down her face. As Jin turned to look to the door, Rei could see tears in his eyes.
"Jin, shut -up-..." Niu hissed at him, grabbing her mother's hand and squeezing it tightly. "It's okay Mum, we will. It's alright."
"But Niu..." Jin tried, obviously not possessing Niu's tact. "Dad and Bryan-"
SLAP! The harsh noise of skin hitting skin rang into the air.
The next few seconds felt like forever. Jin recoiled, scrambling up off the bed as his mother glared, panting. Niu screamed, watching in horror and-
"HEY!" Bryan barged past Rei and into the ward, furious. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"
"YOU! GET OUT!" Mariah seemed to descend into a mad rage, shooting to her feet and lunging forwards. Bryan moved out of her way, shooing Jin towards Rei. "There is something -wrong- with you!" He hissed. "No parent should ever- EVER- hit their children. Not like that!"
"Something wrong with me! Something WRONG? TWELVE YEARS!" Mariah screamed, red in the face. "Twelve fucking -years-..." She fell to her knees, sobbing.
"Mum!" Niu was on the floor with her, but Mariah didn't respond, just slumped further to the floor, wailing. There was mass confusion after that.
Jin stood and cried, Niu screeched at Bryan, Bryan tried to get Mariah back to her feet and Rei ran for a nurse.
"Nervous breakdown." Rei said, much later, as he went to find Bryan, Jin and Niu from the cafe. "They said she'll be...in for quite a long time. It'll take a lot of getting over." Jin sniffed.
"Is that why she hit me?"
"Jin...Mum's ill, you know that. Ill in her mind. She didn't mean to hit you." Rei replied gently.
"It's all your fault!" Niu hissed, glaring at Bryan.
"Niu-"
"Don't bother, Rei." Bryan turned his face away, sniffing. "I don't need to justify myself to a temperamental little girl. And if she thinks that it's okay for parents to hit their children then I hope to God she never has any."
"Oh what do -you- know?" Niu sneered back. Bryan's eyes narrowed to slits. Rei grabbed his lover's hand and spoke before the Russian had the chance to.
"Niu, stop it. Right now." Bryan folded his arms.
"I should go." He said darkly, voice icy. Rei sighed inwardly, wondering how to make peace between the two of them.
"Niu, shut up and stop being so horrible! Jin cried suddenly.
"What?"
"You wouldn't act like this if Mum hit -you-! You're being an idiot!" Niu blinked at her younger brother, then glared.
"Mum's in hospital because of -him- and you don't even care! None of you do!" She cried. "You're so selfish!"
"Niu..." Rei said gently, reaching out a hand towards her.
"You don't care!" Niu replied, bursting into noisy tears. Bryan and Jin shared an uneasy look as Rei pulled Niu up onto his knee, hugging her tightly.
"Shh, hey...calm down, it'll be alright...and I -do- care, Niu...I...never meant for everything to turn out like this..." Niu snivelled and clung to him.
"It's not fair! You just ran off with -him- and you never gave any of us a second thought!"
"Niu, that's ridiculous. I wouldn't have left home if your mother hadn't thrown me out. How can you think I didn't think about you two when I left?"
"But...but she said..."
"What did she say?" Asked Rei, feeling slightly fearful. What had Mariah been saying? Was that why Niu seemed to dislike Bryan so much? What kind of lies and poison had Mariah been spreading?
"She said you said that...that -he- didn't want you to see us..." Rei blinked, looking over Niu's head at Bryan. The Russian had gone pale, paler than usual.
"That's a complete -lie-." He said vehemently. "I would never, -never- say something like that. And do you really think -anyone- could stop your Dad from seeing you two?"
"But...Mum said..." Niu's voice was barely a whisper. Jin looked puzzled.
"She never said it to me..."
"She told me you were too young to know, and she was only telling me because I was old enough to understand..." Niu looked up, hurt clear in her eyes. "She -lied- to me!"
"Niu, she's -ill-." Bryan reminded her. Very ill, apparently...
"So...so you never said..."
"No."
Niu sniffled and snuggled herself under Rei's chin. "Will she be okay, Dad?" Rei sighed.
"Of course she will. It might take a while, but she'll get all the help she needs here." He assured. "Don't worry, from now on everything is going to get better."
However, later that night Rei was to learn that things were going to get worse before they got better. They were all sitting in the living room, Jin almost asleep in the armchair, Rei and Bryan curled up on the sofa, and Niu watching the TV while playing games on her mobile. Through the dim chatter of the TV, they talked, joked, laughed...and then the doorbell rang.
Rei got up to answer it, pulling himself out of Bryan's tight embrace and shuffling out into the cold, empty hall. The bell ran again, impatiently. "Yeah, I'm coming." Upon opening the door, Rei found a fist flying towards his face. It impacted, sending him to the floor in a haze of pain and with a yell of confusion. "You SHIT! You traitorous little SHIT!"
"Uncle Lee!" And so it was- Lee, Mariah's half-crazed and violent brother...
"Go back in the living room, Niu, I'm having a talk with your father!" Rei sat up, clutching his nose, and sighed.
"Lee..." He was rewarded with a kick to the ribs, which made him fall back, gasping with pain.
"I'll teach you to fuck my sister about like that, you cheating little FUCK!"
"No you won't." A hard, cold voice rang around the room.
"Oh, and I suppose this is your little toyboy, Rei? Well I'll teach him a fucking lesson as well!" Rei sat again, clutching his ribs and his nose, and saw that Bryan was standing, tensed.
"You shouldn't swear so much around children. Niu, Jin...go back in there and shut the door, please." The two children obeyed his ominous voice instantly. "Now why don't we sit down and have a chat?"
"Have a chat? Have a fucking chat? I've only got one thing to say to you, one word, and it's FILTH! Because that's what you both are!" Lee lunged for Rei again, just as he got to his feet. But somehow Bryan was in front of him, shoving Lee away easily.
"Are you going to calm down, or am I going to have to hurt you? Because I can, and I will."
"What the fuck are -you- going to do to me, pretty boy?"
"Telling you would spoil the surprise." Bryan's eyes were narrowed, his face creased into a glare that made Rei feel weak inside.
"How the fuck could you -do- that to her?" Lee growled, turning his back on Bryan and glaring at Rei. "After twelve years, just up and run off with another guy..."
"Lee, I never meant to hurt her-"
"Like FUCK you didn't! If you didn't mean to hurt her she wouldn't be in hospital!"
Lee swung for him again, fist arcing through the air like a comet. However, it didn't connect, and Lee ended up on the floor with Bryan standing over him. "Get out. Get out of here right now or I'm going to throw you out and rearrange your face for you to teach you a lesson!" Bryan's voice was a hiss, an angry, raging hiss that chilled Rei to his bones. Was this what Bryan had been like?
Lee glared, then shot to his feet, going for Bryan. But Bryan wasn't there...Bryan was behind him, grabbing him by the neck and marching him to the door, forcing him outside. There was a sick crunching noise and a cry and Bryan came back inside, a wild, mad expression on his face. "Bryan-"
"Are you okay? Because I swear, if he did anything permanent I'm going back out there and-"
"I'm fine...Bryan, what did you-"
"Broke his nose." Bryan's fists clenched. "I really wanted to do that." He closed his eyes, face grim. "I haven't felt like that in a long time."
"I'm sorry...it's all my fault..."
Bryan shook his head, sighing. "It isn't. But if he ever touches you again...I'll kill him."
"You mean that, don't you?"
"Yeah. I do. Look, Rei...you know about me. You know what I was. And just because I'm not that bad any more...there are days when I want to hurt everyone and everything. And I still remember how to do that. You learn things, when you live like I did. How to kill someone with one punch, how to knock them out with nothing but a finger, how to manipulate people..."
"Dad!" The living room door flew open and Niu ran out, Jin not far behind her. "Uncle Lee's at the window!" Bryan snarled, eyes narrowing again, but before he could open the door Jin threw his arms around his waist, sobbing.
"I'm scared!" Bryan looked down, his face softening. "Stop fighting!" The Russian looked over at Rei, helpless, then settled for patting Jin's head awkwardly.
"Alright. Um. I won't fight him."
There was a loud hammering on the door. "You! Open up!" Bryan glared and fumed, and Rei could tell that he was in two minds whether or not to just go out there and finish Lee completely or not. But as he opened the door, reason seemed to win; the Russian just glared, one hand still holding onto Jin.
"Look, you're scaring the kids." He growled, voice low and threatening. "So why don't you just-" He put his hands quickly over Jin's ears. "Fuck off? If you don't, I'm calling the police. Or I might come out and take your face off. It's your choice. But have a word with yourself first. Are you particularly wanting to terrify Mariah's kids? No? Then go away." He shut the door in Lee's face and turned, trying and failing to peel Jin away from him.
Rei wiped his nose with the back of one hand, sighing. Another thing to add to the growing pile of misfortunes. "Come on, Jin, time for bed. And you need to be thinking about getting there as well, Niu..." He said resignedly. Jin held onto Bryan a little tighter.
"Don't want to go to bed. Uncle Lee'll come back."
"I don't either..." Niu added, grabbing her dad's arm. "I hate him!"
"No you don't, Niu..."
"He hit you in the face right in front of me! I hate him!" She insisted. Rei wiped his nose again with his free hand and shook his head.
"Upstairs, then. I need to clean my face up..."
"Ow." Rei protested lightly as Bryan wiped his face with a flannel.
"Don't be a baby, it isn't broken..." Jin giggled at this. Bryan seemed to have become his new idol, and everything he said was either taken on board and held as timeless wisdom or giggled at because if Bryan said it it was evidently incredibly witty. Niu, on the other hand, seemed only to be tolerating him. But still, that worked, for the moment.
After several hours of coaxing, Jin went to bed and so did Niu, leaving Rei and Bryan to crawl to bed themselves, exhausted. Lee hadn't been back, but they both knew he wouldn't let the situation lie. "Jin likes you." Commented the Chinese at length.
"Mm. Don't know why, though. Half the time I feel like he's ten steps ahead of me anyway, and I can never think what to say to him...and Niu's even more difficult, I mean...I've -never- been able to make sense of women..." Rei laughed out loud at this, snuggling up next to Bryan's chest.
"I don't understand kids or women either, you know. I've just had a lot more practice with them than you."
"Sounds about right." Bryan yawned, holding Rei closer. "They seem to be taking the whole 'Dad with another bloke' thing well..."
"Yeah, I know...so far...I mean...Jin's a little young to understand it all anyway, and he's certainly too young to be prejudiced about it...and Niu's always been open-minded enough..." Rei sighed. "I just feel so guilty, Bryan...I mean...Mariah did everything for them...they'll miss her like crazy...and when she gets out, who'll be looking after them then? And...if they're with her, they won't be able to see me...and if they're with me, they won't be able to see her! It seems so unfair to just take a parent away from them like that..."
"They'll get over it."
"That sounds so callous..."
"But it's true." The Chinese sighed again, closing his eyes.
"I suppose. Ah, I'm too tired to think about it any more. Night, Bryan..."
"Night."
LAST Chapter: Boggy fields, the truth, a broken DVD player...and a little bit of spontaneity.
R&R please! You don't know how squishy it makes me feel to get your reviews...