Title: Martin Knows Best

Author: SneetchesToo

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Ethan/Rox

Summary: Martin wasn't happy with the way things were going in his son's love life, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Author's Note: These two are going to be the death of me.

—

Ethan had spent the past two weeks barely hanging on.

And by barely hanging on, he meant it.

He had been calling out of work more so than not.

And he had spent his night's getting wasted. Sometimes at home. Sometimes at the local bar.

But he hadn't ended a night sober since Rox had ended things.

And he certainly didn't want too.

He missed her. More than he thought possible. And every fiber of his being ached at her loss.

He had stopped taking calls and texts.

He had yelled at Leanne, telling her she was being selfish.

For what reason, he still didn't understand.

He had pushed Ariel away, shutting her out and refusing to spend time with her.

Yet again, for a reason he didn't understand.

He had even stopped dealing with his father.

Choosing to change the locks on the house and ignore his phone calls.

He knew he was being stupid.

He knew he was being childish.

But he had had enough.

And he just wanted it all to be over.

He wanted Rox back or he wanted nothing at all.

—

Exactly two weeks after their fight in the ambulance bay his dad had shown up at the house and refused to leave.

He had stayed on the front porch until Ethan had finally given in and pushed the front door open.

He hadn't bothered to say a word to the older man.

Instead, he had returned to his spot on the couch, his fourth beer of the night still in his hand as he absentmindedly watched the hockey game playing on the TV in front of him.

He didn't even know who was playing or what the score was.

It was simply just there for background noise.

To make his small, empty house feel not so small and empty now that Rox's laughter wasn't filling it's walls.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" His father's question startled him.

It's not that he didn't expect it.

He knew his father was pissed at him for his behavior.

He knew that he was pushing the man away and he didn't deserve it one bit.

"Nothing." He huffed.

He really didn't want to talk right now.

Instead he wanted to finish the twelve pack of beer he had bought on the way home from work.

He wanted to fall into bed barely breathing and wake up so hungover that everything hurt.

"Bullshit." His father slammed the front door shut as he made his way into the living room.

His eyes snapped up from the TV screen and he let out a sigh when he saw the look on his dad's face.

While Martin was obviously angry with him, he looked more worried than anything else.

"I'm fine dad." He was fine. Totally, fucking, fine.

He just wished everyone would let him deal with this his own way.

He didn't need their help. He didn't need their support.

He just needed to move the fuck on with his life.

"Ethan James, I swear to God…" His father got that look in his eyes that he used to get when Ethan was a kid. The look that said he was in trouble and probably about to get his tail whooped for whatever wrong he had done.

"Whaaat daaad?" He wasn't even drunk, so why he was acting like a complete idiot he didn't understand.

"What the hell is going on with you?" His dad's shoulder's slumped as he moved further into the room.

Seeing his dad throw in the towel was something Ethan wasn't used too.

He knew he was in for a fight if he kept it up.

"Nothing's wrong with me dad." He closed his eyes as he slouched back against the couch cushions, draining the last of his beer as he tried to calm his nerves.

"You're self-destructing Ethan and it isn't okay." His father's words made his head spin.

Who said anything about self-destructing?

He wasn't self-destructing.

He was self-medicating, yes.

But he was fine. Just, fucking, fine.

"I'm fine dad." He opened his eyes and gave the man the fakest smile he could manage. "I've just got a lot going on."

And he did.

Have a lot going on that was.

"I haven't seen Rox around lately." His dad's words were like a bullet to the chest.

He couldn't stand to hear her name.

The simple thought of her broke him in two.

"Nope." He closed his eyes once more, willing himself not to cry.

Not here. Not now.

And certainly not in front of his father.

"Trouble in paradise?" His father had to know that they had broken up.

He had to be aware of the situation at hand.

If last week's conversation on Valentine's Day hadn't told him what he needed to know Ethan would be worried.

"There's no more paradise dad." Simply saying those words made him tear up and he swallowed.

He didn't want to fall apart in front of the older man.

He just wanted to be left alone to drown his sorrows in his own way.

"You're kidding?" So apparently his father didn't know of their breakup. He was shocked. He was sure that everyone knew by now. "You two broke up? Why?"

"She wanted space." He shrugged his shoulders.

He honestly didn't know why they had broken up.

Her reasons didn't make any sense to him.

Not after everything they had been through at least.

"And you gave it to her?" There was a hint of disappointment in his words and Ethan felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on him.

He was used to disappointing his father.

It was apparently what he was best at.

"Not like I had much choice." He wasn't going to fight with Rox anymore over the issue. If she wanted out, he was going to let her. "She pretty much just walked right on out of my life."

In reality, it had been him that walked away.

But his father didn't need to know the specifics.

It's not like they mattered at this point anyway.

"That doesn't sound like Rox." Actually, it sounded just like Rox. Or at least, the Rox she had been before they had gotten together. He thought that he had been changing her for the better. He thought that he had been helping her. "Did something happen between you two? Did you fight or something?"

"I worried about her." But he guessed that he was wrong to make those assumptions.

"You worried about her?" His dad's voice echoed his exact thoughts.

It was crazy that she wanted to break up simply because he cared.

"Yep. And apparently I'm not allowed to do that." He shrugged his shoulders before pushing himself up and off the couch, his legs carrying him toward the kitchen. "So she left."

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm confused." That made two of them." She broke up with you because you worried about her?"

"Yeah." He barely got the words out.

Simply acknowledging that they were no longer together was killing him.

He grabbed another beer from the fridge before slamming the door shut.

He shot daggers at his father from across the small space.

He really just wanted to be left alone.

"That makes no sense at all." He was glad that he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"You're telling me." He whispered.

It didn't make sense to him why they were even in the position they were in in the first place.

Things had been fine at the wedding.

He didn't understand what had made her crack that evening.

"When was the last time you talked to her?" He didn't even want to think about it.

"Two weeks ago." They hadn't spoken since he walked away from her in the ambulance bay.

Not a phone call. Not a text. Not a carrier pigeon in sight.

"What about work?" His father must have realized the severity of the situation.

He must have known that two weeks was more than normal for them.

"She asked to be reassigned." In fact, she had told her boss, and Campbell, in no uncertain terms that she wanted Ethan gone or she was quitting. He had been removed from ride-along duty and had spent what little time he actually bothered to go to work in the ER. "We've crossed paths a few times, but she hasn't said a word."

"That's crazy." Crazy was understatement at this point.

"I know dad." He knew exactly how stupid this sounded.

He couldn't believe it himself actually.

"You need to get her back." He rolled his eyes as he made his way back to the couch.

There was no way in hell that was going to happen.

"I wish I knew how." He plopped down on the couch as he took a swig from the now open bottle of beer.

He just wanted to drown his sorrows and forget this whole mess even existed.

"Let me talk to her." He shook his head back and forth violently.

"No dad. Please don't do that." That was the worst idea his dad had ever had.

"Ethan, I can help." He doubted that.

No one could help him.

Not Leanne. Not Ariel.

And certainly not his dad.

"Dad, it's fine. If she wants out, she wants out." He just wanted to drop the subject and go back to his wallowing. "I'm not gonna keep her here. It'll just make things worse if I force her to stay in a relationship that she doesn't want to be in."

"But Ethan…" He knew his father just wanted to help.

He knew that he probably hated seeing them broken up.

He had been the one to comment on how much they needed each other.

He knew how badly they loved one another.

But it wasn't his dad's place.

"No dad." He could feel his blood starting to boil. He didn't want intervention from anyone. "Leave it be."

"I can't just sit by and watch you fall apart like this son." The pain in his father's words startled him.

He had never heard his dad sound so concerned before.

At least not when it came to him.

"I'll be fine dad." He whispered. "I just need some time to figure out what I want to do."

"What do you mean?" His dad moved further into the living room, stopping right next to the couch.

His eyes shifted to the fireplace beside them.

The place where Robbie's body had been found.

The place where Robbie had decided that he had finally had enough.

"I just…" He closed his eyes.

He had contemplated taking his life before. Especially after he lost Robbie.

But Leanne had brought him out of that hole.

She had dug him out and saved his life and he owed her everything.

But now.

Well now he wondered if he was just better off joining his brother.

"Don't you even think about it Ethan James." His father's voice cracked as he spoke and when he turned his attention toward the man he could see the tears in his eyes. "I've already lost one son, I'm not losing another."

He shook his head back and forth as he drowned the rest of his beer.

"Might be for the best." He whispered.

"Bullshit." Martin spat back. "Bull, fucking, shit."

He could hear the pain and anger in his words.

The way he was trying his best to not get violent with the way he spoke to him.

"It would…" He couldn't finish his sentence because his head was too fuzzy.

He didn't know if it was the beer or the conversation, or maybe a combination of both, but something was making it very hard to focus.

"It wouldn't be anything but tragic!" His father moved to stand in front of him then, knocking the empty bottle from his hands. "And if you do that to me, I will never forgive you."

He let out a sigh.

He didn't understand how this had become about him all of a sudden.

"Dad, please…" He just wanted this to be over.

The conversation. The heartache. The disappointment. Everything.

Losing Rox had taken everything from him.

"Think about that little girl of yours Ethan." His head snapped up at his father's words. How dare he bring Ariel into this. "Think about her mother. You really want to do that to them?"

He knew that it would destroy them both if he ever did anything like that.

Hell, if they even knew that he had thought about it it would kill them both.

"Think about Roxane." Tears sprang to his eyes instantly. He wished his father would have left her out of this. "You honestly think she would be able to handle losing you like that?"

"She doesn't want me anymore dad." He whispered. "She doesn't love me. She wouldn't care."

"She would care Ethan!" His father shouted. "She would care and it would destroy her! She loves you, more than anything in this world. And I refuse to believe that this stupid little fight between you two is enough to convince you otherwise."

"She wanted out dad." And she had. She was the one who had broken up with him. He never wanted to let her go. But she didn't want the same thing and he couldn't force her to. "She's the one who walked out. She doesn't care about me. I honestly doubt she ever really did."

He didn't believe those words.

Not for a goddamn second.

But it made it easier to think about their subsequent break up if he convinced himself that she just didn't love him at all.

"Whatever you say son." His dad threw his hands in the air and walked away, his back staying turned toward him as he ran a hand over his head. "This entire thing is bullshit and you know it. You two need to talk and you need to do it soon."

He let out a chuckle.

It was kind of hard to talk to someone who ignored you twenty-four seven.

"Right dad." He rolled his eyes as he spoke. "I'll get right on that."

"You're pathetic Ethan." His father turned toward him and shot him a look that surely could have killed if that's what they were meant for. "You're stupid and pathetic and you're acting like a fucking child." If he had been two or three beers less into the evening he may have stood up and took a swing at the old man, but he was far more tipsy than he thought. "You need to get your head out of your ass and stop being so damn selfish."

"Me? Selfish?" He was pissed now and he pushed himself into a standing position. "I'm not the one being selfish!"

"Yes you are!" He got ready to move forward when his father stuck a hand out. He knew what that meant. He knew that it was in his best interest to stay put. "You're pushing everyone away and we're just trying to help you!"

"I don't need help!" He knew that was a lie. He needed help. Lots of it. He just wouldn't admit it out loud.

"Yes you do son." His father's statement was softer than he expected. "You need help. And if you refuse to let Leanne help you and you continue to push your own daughter away and you continue to shut me out, you're going to wind up all alone." He was perfectly fine with that to be honest. "And then what?"

"Than maybe I can finally be happy!" He knew that was bullshit too. He wasn't happy being all alone. In fact, he was miserable. He missed Leanne and he missed Ariel and he missed his father. He missed Rox and Emo. He missed everyone. But he knew that it was best for them all if he just kept to himself and shut them all out. He would only hurt them if they stayed.

"I don't believe that." His father whispered.

"Well that's your choice dad." He fell back onto the couch with a huff, his eyes filling with tears as he did his best to control his breathing.

This entire conversation had made him feel weak and overwhelmed.

He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this way.

Maybe when Robbie died.

Maybe never.

All he knew was that he hated it.

"You do what you want Ethan." His dad turned back toward the door then, his shoulders slouching forward as he took a deep breath. "Just please don't do something stupid." His dad stopped as he reached for the door, turning back toward him with tear filled eyes. "I've already lost one son, I couldn't handle losing you too."

And then he was crossing the threshold and the door was closing behind him.

Ethan let out a shaky breath when he heard his father's truck pull out of the drive.

He let his head fall back against the cushions as the tears poured from his eyes.

He had never meant for any of this to happen.

He had never wanted to hurt anyone.

But losing Rox had taken so much from him.

So much more than he could have ever imagined.

And he was broken beyond repair because of it.

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