Unfair punishment chapter 2
Flashbacks
Friday
"Donnie!" Chris's worried voice brought Donnie out of his trance.
"Hi Chris, do you have a new case?" Donnie asked and nodded towards the taped off area Chris had come from.
"What are you doing here?" Chris asked, ignoring Donnie's question. "You shouldn't be here."
"Really Chris?! I'm not five, I know the neighborhood."
"Not enough. I want you to stay away from here."
"What?!"
"This is a dangerous neighborhood as I'm sure you are aware of. Look I have a case I need to get back to, go sit in the car until I'm done, I'll give you a ride home."
"You aren't for real." Donnie stated in disbelief.
"Try me." Chris's tone of voice told Donnie he had about three seconds to get moving before Chris would throw him over his shoulder and carry him there himself.
"Fine." Donnie spat angrily and stalked towards King's and Chris's car.
"And loose the attitude while you are at it." Chris called after him. Donnie ignored the command and seething jumped into the car and slammed the door shut hard.
Tuesday
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sean asked worriedly. "What if they still have an ongoing case here?"
"I have to get it today. I don't exactly have a choice."
"What if you bump into them though? Didn't you say that Chris was pissed the last time?! Imagine his face now that he has strictly forbidden you to set your foot here."
"As I said; I don't exactly have a choice."
"Ask King for help."
"He'd forbid me from doing it. Besides I want it to be a surprise."
"How high of a price are you willing to pay?"
"Chris won't find out."
"And if he does?!"
"Then I'll just have to hope he understands." Determined to get it done Donnie took of on his bike, leaving Sean to bike home
"Hi."
"Hi" Donnie replied shortly, not turning his gaze away from the ball. Catching the return, Donnie threw it again, only to miss for the eleventh time."
"What's eating you?"
"Nothing."
"Uh-uh" Nate replied doubtfully. Seeing his chance, Nate seized the next return before Donnie and held the ball out of reach. "Spill."
"Chris grounded me."
"For what?"
"Only Chris knows. Now give me back my ball."
"Want me to ask him?"
"Go ahead, I don't care."
"How long for?"
"A week."
"That's hardly the end of the world."
"My first game is on Saturday."
"Oh." Now Nate understood. Donnie had looked forward to his first game for weeks. Donnie had made the Varsity Basketball team as the only sophomore and Saturday would have been his first chance to prove himself. "Did you remind Chris of it?"
"Yes. He didn't care. He also told me it was the only reason he didn't ground me for longer."
"That sucks."
"Yeah." Donnie agreed wholeheartedly. "May I have my ball back now? And now offense, Nate but I'd rather be alone."
"Okay, but I'm here if you change your mind."
"Thanks." Donnie stayed outside for the rest of the evening, practicing until Nate called him in for dinner.
"I'm not hungry."
"You still have to eat."
"I'll eat something later."
"Come on kid, you need the energy if you are going to keep practicing." Donnie sighed but followed his brother inside.
"Are you feeling okay, kiddo?" His Mom asked worriedly when Donnie ate nowhere near his usual amount of dinner.
"I'm just not hungry, Ma."
"Try to eat a little more anyway, you need it."
"I'll eat a sandwich later."
"Has something happened?" His Dad asked knowingly.
"Chris grounded me for a week." Donnie answered evenly, rising from his spot at the table to put his plate and utensils in the dishwasher.
"What for?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." Donnie answered, his back still turned towards his family.
"Does your grounding include the game on Saturday?"
"Yes." Donnie answered shortly.
"Oh honey." His Mom reacted.
"No matter how much you disagree with Chris you still have to eat." His Dad reminded him.
"I know. May I go back outside now?" Donnie asked, finally turning around to face his family again.
"Is your homework done?"
"No sir." Donnie answered honestly. "But I don't think I could concentrate right now. I'll do it in the morning."
"One more hour." His Dad said with finality. "And I expect you to inform your coach tomorrow."
"Yes sir."
Friday
"Hi buddy." Chris greeted as he answered the phone.
"Hi Chris." Nate said unusually seriously.
"What's up?"
"Want to meet up? I think you need to hear this face to face."
"Okay, when?" Chris was ready to drop everything to be there for his little brothers.
"Tonight?"
"My place? At seven?"
"Sounds good."
"Good. See you then."
Chris greeted Nate with a tight hug.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing with me."
"Donnie?"
"You know then?" Nate asked surprised.
"That Donovan isn't exactly fond of me right now, yes. I'm giving him some time to calm down before I have a talk with him again."
"I'm not so sure he's just angry. He seemed equally hurt under the surface." Chris's hard expression softened.
"I knew he wasn't okay but in the moment there was nothing I could do that would have done either of us any good. Donnie wasn't ready to listen or talk. I tried, I really did, but your brother had put up walls I couldn't break through."
"You've always managed with me." Chris snorted at that.
"Short memory kid?! Think about what led to us tightening the reigns the last time." Nate blushed at the memory.
"Okay, maybe not always. Nate amended. "But close enough."
"It's your big brother instincts that can't stand seeing Donnie this way, right?"
"Yeah I guess so. I can't fix this Chris."
"No because it's between Donnie and I"
"He spends all his time outside, training, and barely eats unless our parents force him. I'm not even sure he gets his homework done. And if anybody dares bring up the grounding he closes of completely and excuses himself."
"I'll talk to him on Monday, he has to check in then anyway."
"He isn't going to talk to you willingly." Nate said knowingly. "Has King tried?"
"No. He is ready to let me handle it."
"I hope you can fix it. I have never seen Donnie like this. The closest has been when he first got to know you again, and that isn't even close. We'll be lucky if he eats a bite of anything tomorrow since it's game day."
"And that is the exact reason I'm waiting until Tuesday for. Talking to Donnie tomorrow wouldn't lead anywhere."
"I'm just worried."
"Trust me."
"I do." I'm just not sure Donnie does, Nate thought sadly.
-Flashbacks ending-
"Sit."
"I'm not a dog." The duo had eaten at NCIS with King before heading to Chris's apartment. Donnie had barely eaten a third of his portion before declaring himself full. After an unimpressed look and a few stern words from King he had managed a little more, but barely even half of it.
"And I told you back at the office that I won't stand for attitude. This is your last chance Donovan." Chris analyzed his little brother. In only a couple of months it would be the one-year anniversary of them taking Donnie in. He had learned the hard way, but he now felt pretty comfortable of when to push and when to thread carefully with the teenager. This was the time to push. Especially since Donnie had broken or tried to break all three of the rules Chris found the most important; no lying, no running and no putting up walls between them. It had been a steep learning curve for Donnie, but Chris had held firm despite all the bucking and testing in the beginning. That's why he now gave the kid a stern look. Donnie was clearly having a mental struggle of whether to close Chris out or not and Chris wasn't having it.
"Don't even think about it." He growled. Donnie glared at him in response but wisely didn't deny it. Chris struggled with where to start the conversation. This wasn't the typical scenario where a hug would do most of the talking.
"What's the one thing I always tell you?"
"Huh?" Donnie clearly hadn't been expecting that.
"What's the one thing I always tell you?" Chris repeated himself.
"My rules?" The kid looked genuinely puzzled.
"No, I'm pretty sure that you know them by now. There is one thing though that I always tell you at the end of our conversations.
"That you love me." Donnie realized.
"Do you still believe me?"
"I know you love me Chris." Donnie sighed. "And I know that you did what you did because you care, but that doesn't change the facts."
"Okay, well I'm happy you know that. How about we look at the facts then?"
"I'd rather not talk about it. This is my first day off from your grounding. I just want to leave it and be done with it."
"I don't think you'll be able to do that though."
"What do you mean?"
"You are hurt and angry. That's a disaster waiting to happen."
"The only hurricane around made landfall last Tuesday. And I would very much like to begin to even fix what Hurricane Chris destroyed. That means I need to train my ass of to even have a chance to get to play this fall."
"According to your family you haven't done anything else but train the past week."
"Can I go now? I have stuff to do." Donnie asked, ignoring Chris's comment.
"No. We aren't near done here so you might as well sit down and get comfortable."
"What is there to talk about? And if it's quality time you are looking for you might want to call my brother. He is far better company right now than I am."
"There are loads to talk about. Starting with the facts." Donnie held his gaze stubbornly for a long moment before looking away with a sigh. Chris wasn't going to let it go.
"Fact: I went to a neighborhood we don't agree on." Donnie grudgingly started.
"Fact: I told you to stay away from there." Chris countered.
"Fact: I went there for a good reason."
"Fact: you went there repeatedly after I forbid you to do so."
"Fact: you never bothered listening to my explanation." And just like that they came to the heart of the matter; the injustice. "Fact: you didn't listen when I tried to explain about the importance of my game. And fact: I'm done."
A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. I struggled with this chapter a lot but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I honestly don't have all the answers right now for what is going to happen, but I'm personally loving the Chris/Donnie interactions and I have some ideas for how far Donnie is willing to push Chris. Your comments fuel my writing inspiration so please comment if you liked it!