=Normal POV=
(Thursday, April 11, 2019-7:00)
[Raseri Home]
Troy and Hayden had left for School of Infantry at 5 pm, and warned their loved ones ahead of time that this training would be tougher, and they may not get as many chances to make contact, but would do their best. Hayden let Gabriel know, and Troy, obviously, to his parents and little brother. Neither of the teenagers mentioned their discussion from the 8th because it was their business, and they wanted a clear head to start two months of Infantry Training Battalion, which is where they were going. Others from Boot Camp would be moving on to thirty days of Marine Combat Training. Gabriel was over at Dustin and Rachel's as he'd moved five minutes away on the other street into an apartment because he wanted to be closer to Hayden while the teenager was going through everything. Gabriel didn't tell Spencer or Vivian he was living on Berk because Gabriel knew it would spark the Haddock Parent's curiosity why Gabriel would move to Berk when Hayden was supposedly on Archia Isle. Gabriel had gone with Dustin, Rachel, and Cole to see Troy and Hayden off. Rachel invited Gabriel to stay once they returned to the Raseri Household for supper, and Gabriel figured why not. The meal had been simple, and now that it was cleaned up from with Cole downstairs; the adults were sitting around in the living room.
"I wonder if Troy ever talked to Hayden about the feelings situation," Dustin mentioned out of the blue.
"Well, Troy said he would wait until Hayden was better, and they left today as friends, so I don't think they're together," Rachel shrugged.
"Are we talking about Hayden being gay and liking Troy?" Gabriel wondered. Dustin and Rachel nodded. "Huh. The lad said he was going to wait until after training to say something,"
"Hayden said it in his sleep while he was sick with the food poisoning and Troy heard him," Rachel informed.
"Oh. I take it Troy was confused?" Gabriel questioned.
"Yes, and he came to speak to us about what he should do. We suggested he try to figure out his feelings, then talk to Hayden. That happened on the 5th," Dustin enlightened.
"I'm sure they'll be okay friends or if they end up lovers because the two of them will always have that friendship behind them," Gabriel assured.
"Well, we gave Troy a good starting point; to consider how much he goes out of his way just to see Hayden smile, and help him," Rachel smiled.
"You think Troy likes Hayden back?" Gabriel blinked.
"Oh, without doubt or he wouldn't have come to talk to us about it. If Troy didn't feel anything; he would have ignored it," Rachel giggled.
"So, Gabriel. What happened on the 3rd with Hayden's parents?" Dustin inquired.
"Spencer and Vivian on Hayden's 19th birthday had confessed to me that they knew they'd messed up, and wanted to repair things with Hayden. I had said they needed to back off and let me speak to him. Of course, Hayden was away training, and I didn't want to distract him. On the 3rd, I convinced Hayden to at least see them; it didn't go well at all. I had been in the car, and heard yelling. I went to find out what it was all about, and saw Spencer gripping Hayden's arm tightly. I demanded he releases the boy, and then Hayden, seeming afraid and hurt, asked if I'd bring him back here," Gabriel explained with a sigh.
"That makes sense why Hayden immediately went downstairs, and Troy hasn't mentioned anything about Hayden telling him what happened. And why did you want Troy watching him for a few days? Did you know Hayden had food poisoning?" Rachel pondered.
"No, but I knew that my nephew was hurting, and Hayden has a little history of depression because of his parents and ex-friends," Gabriel mumbled. "Hayden never had a problem with it before, but things just went so bad for him in such a small amount of time after graduating High School,"
"Hayden told us about it when Troy brought him here, and he stayed for dinner. Hayden said he was about to end up homeless, and we opened our home to him. We're so glad that Troy found him in the park and become his friend, or Hayden might have run away," Dustin smiled.
"Run away? No, Hayden was going to kill himself," Gabriel corrected as their eyes widened. "You…Didn't know?"
"No, Hayden said he planned to run away after everything that happened," Rachel said, a bit worried.
"Hayden was so depressed over everything, losing it all; that he took the gun out of the house and went to The Cove in Raven Point Park to kill himself. Your son is the one who talked him down," Gabriel informed now.
"How did Hayden get access to a gun?" Dustin asked.
"Spencer has a registered gun at the house for home defense. Viv and Hayden were both trained how to shoot it in case of a break-in. Typically, the weapon was kept in Spencer's office safe, but Hayden knew the combination. Troy found Hayden at The Cove when Hayden had the gun to his head, then Troy talked him out of it. I wanted Troy to watch Hayden for a few days after the situation on the 3rd to make sure Hayden didn't slip that far into depression again," Gabriel stated.
"Why didn't Troy tell us this?" Rachel asked her husband.
"I don't know, but Hayden told me a couple of days after moving in here with you all, and he made me promise not to say anything to his parents. The last argument I heard at the house there on the 3rd was Spencer asking Hayden why he took the gun, and Hayden said they never listened before, so why bother now, and he felt they wouldn't believe him," Gabriel shrugged.
"I cannot believe they pushed Hayden so far that he wanted to end his life," Dustin sighed heavily. "And all that anger and hate over a hacking, framing, and few little police incidents that weren't even Hayden's fault?"
"Afraid so," Gabriel nodded.
"Well, I won't stand for that in my departments. Hayden has the right to be proven innocent, and I'm going to see that he is cleared of everything before he returns from ITB(Infantry Training Battalion)," Dustin said firmly.
"I think Hayden would really like that, and if we can keep this whole attempted suicide between us?" Gabriel asked.
"You don't believe Hayden will appreciate us knowing, do you?" Rachel questioned. Gabriel shook his head, "Then we won't say anything to him or Troy that we are aware,"
"Much appreciated. I should get going. Thank you for dinner, and letting Hayden into your lives," Gabriel smiled.
"Oh, no problem. We love him," Dustin chuckled. "And hey, if all goes well; he could end up our son-in-law,"
"One could hope. Have a good night," Gabriel waved, then left the house as Dustin instantly began working on a plan to clear Hayden's name, and stick it to Spencer and Vivian that their son was innocent all along.
. . .
[Raven Point Park]
(Saturday, May 11, 2019-3 pm)
Spencer and Vivian decided to go to the park with Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher, their dogs, for a long walk, and think back to last month when they finally got to see Hayden again. And then messed it all up by getting upset with him when Hayden refused to tell them anything. Gabriel knew something, but it was clear the man was protecting Hayden, and wouldn't say anything either.
"Mr. And Mrs. Haddock?" came Drew's voice as they glanced over to see Shane and the six friends.
"Hi, kids. What brings you out?" Vivian inquired.
"We do this once a week on Saturday or Sunday, or at least we try to," Rylee said.
"Yeah, just get together and have lunch," Fisher informed.
"Sometimes dinner, then a walk if the weather is nice," Avery added.
"I-I don't suppose Hayden has returned?" Hailey decided to ask.
"Unfortunately, no. However, we did see Hayden last month," Spencer informed as their eyes widened.
"Y-You did? How is he?" Avery questioned.
"Did he say anything about-," Tyler began as Vivian shook her head.
"Gabriel convinced him to see us, and we ended up making him angry. Hayden left not more than ten minutes later with his uncle. No number, no address, nothing. However, Hayden did appear to be quite healthy," Vivian mentioned.
"Yes, he's taller now. If I had to take a guess; Hayden is five foot ten, and has grown a bit in the upper chest and arms. Hayden's hair was cut shorter; shaved back, longer top and front," Spencer enlightened. "I'm trying to get Gabriel to come around and have Hayden see us again, but it's not going so well,"
"I've told you, Chief Haddock," came Dustin's voice, and they looked to see him walking up with Gabriel beside him. "You can't make him,"
"Hayden is nineteen-years-old, and doesn't have to return if he doesn't want to," Gabriel remarked.
"Where is my son, Gabriel?" Spencer demanded.
"I'm not telling you so you can hurt him again," Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.
"Gabriel here informed me that Hayden got into a bit of trouble with police during 2018, and asked if I'd look into it after he explained the situations. I think you will find that you wrongfully placed blame on your son," Dustin mentioned.
"I cannot believe you two would think Hayden would associate himself with gangs, or pick fights," Gabriel huffed.
"That's what my officers told me," Spencer said.
"They are MY officers, Chief Haddock, as are you," Dustin gave a firm look.
"Yes, Director Raseri. My apologies," Spencer bowed his head. Dustin pulled out a tablet and clicked on a video, then turned it to face the group.
"This is the video from a camera posted in the alleyway your son was found in with the street thugs," Dustin stated as he played it. The video showed Hayden walking right by, then dragged in, cornered, and finally, the punks beating up on Hayden as all he did was try to defend himself until police showed up and arrested all of them. "This is the fight you thought your son started," another video played. This clip let Spencer, Vivian, and the former friends see Hayden trying to protect the girlfriend, then the guy hitting Hayden first. "The woman came forward, and admitted that Hayden was only protecting her and an unborn child from her ex-boyfriend who was abusing her. Hayden figured out she was pregnant because she kept covering her stomach. Also, the female didn't say anything at the start because she was terrified of the ordeal,"
"Go on, show them the last one," Gabriel insisted as he watched the faces of his two friends turn to guilt.
"The car accident he was blamed for," Dustin changed the video to the intersection where it had happened. Spencer and Vivian saw Hayden jerk the car into another vehicle's back end to avoid a head-on collision with a truck that was speeding through a red light and on the wrong side of the road. "You son might have caused a small backend accident, but if he hadn't moved; he would be dead right now. Also, the way he moved also saved anyone else who had been behind him because they had time to move to avoid crashing as well,"
"You have no idea how much you all hurt Hayden with your inability to listen when he tried to tell you all these things, but because there was no proof or you believed others; he had to suffer losing everything he ever cared about. Well, there's your evidence. Hayden never did anything wrong. After the last encounter that you two had with him, I went to Director Raseri to as if he could clear Hayden's name so you wouldn't think he's some…" Gabriel stopped, not having the world.
"Delinquent?" Dustin offered.
"Yes, that. Thank you, Dustin," Gabriel said as Dustin nodded while putting the tablet away. "You promised you wanted to fix things, and I got Hayden to come over, then you went and physically put your hands on him in anger to get answers!" Spencer stiffened at the reveal.
"Oh, don't look so nervous that Gabriel blurted it out, Chief Haddock. I'm very much aware, and I would take action but it's Hayden's call on pressing charges or not. We've already spoken about the matter," Dustin said.
"You've…talked to Hayden?" Vivian asked quickly.
"Of course. Gabriel told me about what happened last month, and he contacted Hayden to ask if he wanted to pursue the matter. You should be lucky he's decided not to," Dustin said. Spencer bit back a little. "I believe it would be in your…Best interest, Chief Haddock, to leave Hayden alone unless he wants to see or speak with you. Hayden is this close," Dustin demonstrated with his fingers the closeness, "to putting a restraining order on you and your wife," the parents became nervous. "Gabriel, if there are any further problems, you and Hayden both have my number,"
"Aye. Thank you, Dustin. Hayden will appreciate this, and as soon as I can; I'll tell him. I know he's busy with work," Gabriel nodded. After that, Dustin and Gabriel shook hands, then Dustin left. "Now, maybe the next chance you get to see Hayden, if you do; you'll consider apologizing before anything else. Hayden is on Archia Isle for another month, then returning to Berk for a little vacation, or so I've been told. It may or may not change, but that is all I am saying to you regarding him in an attempt that perhaps you can figure out a way to make up for everything you've done. So help you Odin if any of you hurt him again…" Gabriel stopped there, then walked away leaving the warning unfinished, and with the group in shock, also, feeling awful about everything they'd done to Hayden.