Chapter 7 – The Son

To say that Lukas's mood was extremely sour would still be an understatement. Tino, chin resting in the palm of his hand, watched out of the window as pools of orange light grew and fell along the sidewalk as the car passed along. He had his back fully turned on Lukas and instead was watching him in the reflection in the car window. The blue glow of the digital clock on the dashboard that read 5:57am cast faint shadows on Lukas's face as he kept his eyes fixed on the road. Not once had he looked over in the direction of the passenger side or it's occupant since getting in the car.

Tino sighed and slumped even more in his seat. Last night they ended up having the biggest argument that Tino could remember ever having with anyone. His stomach was churning with guilt and the awkward silence that lingered in the small car was beginning to grow unbearable. Neither Tino or Lukas had said more than five words to each other since their argument, yet Tino didn't have the heart not to follow up Lukas's request for him to accompany him while he picked up his father from the airport; and Lukas didn't throw Tino out of the car or wake Emil to come with him instead so it was clear that all friendship between them hadn't been broken.

Lukas, who was chewing the inside of his cheek and lightly tapping his fingers on the steering wheel just needed time and space to calm down, Tino knew this very well, but with the stress of the arrival of his Dad weighing him down time and space would be non-existent for a while. Tino would just have to wait and just silently stand beside his friend when he needed him.

Their argument started when Lukas began questioning why he was home so early and why he had all of his things stuffed into his satchel.

"Tino d'ya not think about anyone but yourself? I've been struggling to pay these bills for months but I've stuck it out so that you could work at getting into your dream career. I didn't want ya stuck in a grocery store just for the sake of having a job and an income, but fuckin' hell I can't manage on my own for much longer! You've finally landed an amazing job with a good wage and you've blown it cause you didn't like your boss?!"

Lukas yelled from the bathroom as he dragged a brush through his hair. He'd gone to change into fresh clothes while Tino made a big deal of opening all the curtains and windows, coughing dramatically at the smell of the smoke for added effect. Fed up of shouting to and fro to Lukas in the bathroom he came flying out of the living room, stormed down the hall and stopped in the bathroom doorway, glaring at Lukas's reflection in the mirror that he was looking in.

"I just-" He stood there stuttering and flapping in rage, trying to get his words out and think of what to say in response for a few moments until he sighed heavily and yelled back,

"It's... W-Well maybe if you had a real job and just gave up on your stupid bankrupt bookshop already then we wouldn't be in this financial mess! You're nearly 30 Lukas and you have nothing to show for it!"

Lukas froze and stared back at Tino through the mirror, but Tino carried on,

"It's not because I don't like my boss, it's because he's an asshole! If you were treated the way I've been I would understand and respect your decision, you should be doin' that with me! It's not all about money, but even if it was I shouldn't be the only one relied on to bring it into the household while you sit around all day making pennies between selling second hand things on eBay and blowing cobwebs from the shelves downstairs, what kinda life is that?"

Lukas scoffed and slammed the brush down onto the back of the sink, looking over his shoulder to meet Tino's gaze.

"Ha, that's rich coming from someone who has leeched off me for the past 5 years! When's the last time you paid the electricity bill? I- sure, yeah, you buy food sometimes and cook dinner but just so you can stuff your own face! After letting you live here on a pretty much rent free basis it's about time you started to pay-"

"And with what money would I have paid the electricity bill with?!" Tino interrupted, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He was now shouting loud enough that his throat began to rasp.

"Unlike you I actually finished college and up until last year I was studying for my degree! What were you doing Lukas?!"

Leaning his weight on one leg Tino folded his arms and threw his head back, staring at Lukas through narrowed eyes waiting for him to answer back, but when he didn't he knew he'd gone too far.

Tears visibly prickled in the corner of Lukas's eyes as he flipped his hair out of the way with a small jerk of his head. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again before just shaking his head slowly and closing his eyes for a moment, finally breaking the piercing stare he had had on Tino for the past few minutes. Still with his arms folded, Tino began to fidget knowing that he had really hurt Lukas and it was too late to take back what he said even if he wanted to, but in the moment he was still mad with him and was in no mood to apologise.

"Fuck you." Pushing past Tino in the doorway, Lukas went into his room and slammed the door closed leaving Tino alone in the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror from across the room still dressed in Lukas's shirt and waistcoat.

Closing his eyes momentarily, Tino thought back to last night and saw Lukas's tearful face in his mind. He never wanted anyone to look at him like that again on account of something he had said. Of course, he didn't mean everything he said from a place of malice, some was out of genuine concern for Lukas who seemed to have no life of his own outside of their apartment, and sometimes it infuriated him to think that his best friend was wasting his life. Not that he was doing it on purpose; Lukas was simply proving for his brother but at the same time neglecting himself and his path in life. Glancing over at Lukas properly, not through the reflection of the car window, Tino couldn't help but wonder why Lukas was even offering to entertain his Dad, who was more or less responsible for the way that Lukas's life had ended up.

A car that was now coming up at great speed against Lukas' in the next lane caught Tino's attention and brought him out of his thoughts. He kept his eye on it, watching as it was weaving about the road coming dangerously close to them before the driver put his foot down and accelerated and suddenly pulled over into their lane, right in front of Lukas car just inches from the bonnet.

"Shit!" Slamming both his foot on the brakes and his hand on the horn Lukas had to swerve out of the way as the car in front sped right across all three lanes and into the lane leading to the slip road off the motorway. Tino sat upright in his seat and stuck his middle finger up to the window in the direction of the car.

"You dickhead don't pull in front last minute we're trying to drive here!"

Obviously the car couldn't hear him, but Tino still thought it necessary. He glanced over at Lukas to find he was already looking at him.

"You okay, Luke?"

"Yeah. Fine. Just a stupid driver realisin' he was about to miss his turn off probably. Thanks."

Lukas sighed and quickly cast his gaze back onto the road, pulling his shoulders back and shifting in his seat. The drive from their house to the airport was quite long and took just over an hour when the roads were dead at this time in the morning, and could easily take up to two during the day with traffic build ups. Tino knew how much anxiety Lukas got when driving on motorways and in cities and so he didn't want to distract I him when driving, but now the silence between them had been broken he wanted to clear the air. Taking in a deep breath, Tino turned once again to Lukas ready to say something, but Lukas brought up a hand to flick on the indicator and began to take the car off the motorway and up the next slip road.

"Gonna pull in at the service station, I need a piss and some coffee."

Tino just nodded and cast his gaze back out of the window.

The sun was now starting to rise, casting long shadows onto the asphalt of the service station car park. With a watery Styrofoam cup of coffee each between their hands, Lukas and Tino had talked for nearly half an hour. Tino had apologised numerous times for his behaviour during their argument, even though Lukas had more than forgiven him the first time. Despite this, Lukas didn't bring up much about what Tino had said to him about his failing bookshop.

Neither of them could stomach breakfast, and so they had gone into the service station, used the bathroom, grabbed their coffees from a grubby self-serve machine and returned back to Lukas's old Fiat. Lukas was sat with one leg on the driver's seat and his knee hugged toward his chest. A more comfortable silence had now settled around them, and he looked down into his cup and swilled the last dregs of coffee around in the bottom, then, glancing at Tino through a gap in his hair that fell over his face he let a smile creep across his lips. Tino caught his eye and broke into laughter.

"I know what you're thinking, how did two coffee snobs just drink that stuff?" he said.

Lukas chuckled as he sat up in his seat and the engine rumbled to life.

"Trust me, weirder things are probably just around the corner." He replied as he brought the car to a stop by a bin in the car park and Tino rolled down the passenger window and tossed the coffee cups in.

"Well, I'll be beside you the whole time." Tino said, his expression absolute. Lukas nodded, tucked his blonde hair behind his ears and took a deep breath before gripping the steering wheel and guiding them back onto the motorway.

When Emil heard the muffled sound of Lukas's car crunching across the gravel drive below his bedroom window he quickly turned off his PlayStation without even bothering to save his progress and scrambled back under his duvet. He'd not slept well after diffusing the argument between Tino and his brother which lead to an awkward evening full of tension between those who were supposed to be the responsible adults of the house. Emil had eaten dinner in his room and talked to Leon over facetime instead of eating at the dining table in silence and went to sleep without taking his dishes into the kitchen or saying goodnight. This morning he had woken at the sound of Tino and Lukas shuffling around the apartment this before they left and hadn't been able to fall back to sleep.

Should be pretend to be asleep? Peering out from under the duvet, he looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was a few minutes past 8. With any luck, Lukas wouldn't come and wake him up until 8:30am as he usually did for school. Emil could take his time getting ready before Leon's mum came to pick him up and wouldn't have to speak to his Dad. During their facetime, Leon had arranged for Emil to be picked up on the way as Lukas wouldn't be able to give him a ride. Lying curled up under the covers he looked around his room, ears pricking at the slightest sound until he heard the jangle of keys in the front door and closed his eyes.

Treading softly, Lukas opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Tino and his Dad.

"Hvor skal jeg legge veskene mine?" Lars asked in Norwegian as he pushed past Lukas and Tino and strode into the living room. He looked around at the colourful walls and the various paintings and pictures of faeries and trolls that were hung haphazardly along them with an expression of distaste. Tino noticed that Lars hadn't taken his shoes off at the door like he and Lukas had done and so breaking the number one house rule, but Lukas didn't seem to notice at all.

"You can put your bags in the corner over there next to the couch, that's where you'll be sleeping." Lukas replied in English, as he had been doing the ever since Lars had greeted him at the airport, and pointed to the space between the couch and the far wall. During the drive back home, Lukas had been making small talk with Lars, but Tino had only caught half of the conversation as Lars spoke in Norwegian and Lukas replied in English. It was clear where Lukas got his stubborn nature from as no matter how many times Lukas asked him to speak English for the sake of Tino and not to be rude, Lars continued anyway in Norwegian.

Lukas's Dad didn't look how Tino had expected at all. He was quite short with dark wavy hair streaked with grey. He had a stubbly 5 o'clock shadow, a hollow face and smelt of strong and overpowering cologne. What was striking though, Tino thought, is that if he tidied himself up he would look just like Emil in his features; or rather Emil would look like him.

Lars dropped his things and took off his jacket, slinging it on top of the pile of bags and completely ignoring the coat stand by the front door. Tino fidgeted by Lukas's side as he sighed and tossed his car keys into the glass dish on the sideboard.

"I'll go and start the coffee machine if, uh, you guys want any?" Tino said as he squeezed around Lukas in the small hallway and backed towards the arch of the kitchen-diner.

When Lukas shook his head and Lars didn't respond at all, Tino took this as his que to give the father and son a bit of time to adjust to seeing one another after so many years. He busied himself with replacing the coffee filters and then re-organising the mugs in the cupboard while he waited for the coffee to brew, humming quietly to himself to try and stop him from straining to listen to what Lukas and Lars were saying, but he was too nosey for his own good.

The muffled voices that came from the living room were once again half a conversation for Tino as Lars continued to speak in Norwegian. Tino sighed and bit his lip out of frustration for Lukas and was just about to balance on his tiptoes to reach the top shelf of the cupboard when he heard the soft pad of bare feet on the cold kitchen tiles behind him.

"Tino I need you to do me a favour because this is driving me mad." Lukas said, standing by the table in the centre of the kitchen, leaning on its edge with both palms spread out flat. Tino closed the cupboard, cocked his head to the side to indicate that he was listening and turned to face Lukas.

"Remember those Finnish swear words you taught me?" said Lukas with the tiniest lopsided grin, "I need you to have a conversation with me."

Confused, Tino opened his mouth to speak, but then his lips formed a soft O in realisation as Lukas began to speak again, and Tino saw his Dad coming into the kitchen behind him.

"Vitun iso, perkele saatanan helvetti kusi?" said Lukas as he pointed at the coffee machine, feigning asking a question to Tino.

Suddenly aware of what Lukas was trying to do, Tino instantly played along just as Lars stepped into the room.

"Ah joo, jumalauta," he said with a nod, and grabbed Lukas's favourite mug from the draining board. Then Tino turned to Lars and asked "Kyrpäyrjö?"

Lars was stood looking back and forth between Lukas and Tino, causing Tino to bite his tongue so hard to suppress his amusement.

"Hva-" Lars began, catching Lukas's eye, "What did he ask me?"

Lukas stood up straight and flicked his hair out of his face, "Oh, he politely asked you to mind out of the way, you're stood in front of the fridge and he needs to get the milk, don't you Tino?"

Inwardly, Tino was struggling to choke back laughter at the fact that he had just looked his best friend's father square in the face and said what would translate to 'cock-vomit'.

"Of course, beklager – I mean, sorry." Lars said, all of a sudden was very red in th face as he crossed the room and out of Tino's way.

"Tiukkapipo." Tino smiled at Lars and shrugged before opening the fridge and taking out the glass milk bottle.

A loud scraping noise broke the silence in the kitchen as Lukas dragged a chair out from under the table and sat down, motioning for his Dad to do the same. Lars took a seat and clasped his hands in front of him, watching Tino as he poured three coffees and a glass of orange juice.

"I didn't know you could speak Finnish." said Lars once Tino had his back turned.

Lukas picked at a loose thread in his blue cardigan casually and replied "You pick up the odd sentence or two when you live with a Finn."

After a few minutes of nothing but the faint ticking of the kitchen wall clock and the hum of the refrigerator while Lukas, Lars and Tino sat at the table sipping their still too hot coffee for want of something to do other than sit in silence, Lars spoke up.

"Thank you for letting me stay here. I know this can't be easy for you Lukas." He said, solemnly.

Lukas stiffened a little but didn't look up from looking at the patterned table cloth. Lars continued,

"I know I haven't made things easy for you, but I want you to know that I am sorry, and I hope that we can make up for it."

He spoke with a thick accent compared to Lukas who had clearly grown up knowing Norwegian as a second language rather than a first.

Tino had both elbows resting on the table and his mug clasped between his hands, taking slow sips while blowing on the hot drink inside, feeling a little awkward. He had promised Lukas though that he would be by his side the whole time Lars was here.

Finally, Lukas downed the rest of his coffee and rose from the table,

"Yeah well I still have a business to run which I need to open in," he began, glancing at the clock on the wall, "about half an hour." he finished whilst dropping his empty mug into the soapy water in the sink.

"And right now I need to wake Emil for school."

Tino also stood up and handed Lukas the glass of orange juice he poured out for Emil.

Lars leant back and grasped Lukas's wrist as he walked past,

"Can I see him?"

Lukas pulled his arm out of Lars's soft grip and adjusted the strap on his watch. "I don't think that's a good idea right now. If Emil wanted to see you he would have come in by himself. Let's wait until dinner." he said, and stalked out of the room. Lars watched Lukas leave and didn't turn around again until he heard the soft rapping of Lukas's knuckles on Emil's bedroom door, and then a creak and a click as it opened and closed.

Tino's kind eyes briefly met with Lars's before he dropped his head into his hands. A small bubble of sympathy welled up inside Tino for a brief moment at the sight of a father trying to make amends with his only remaining family, let alone his two sons; but it soon disappeared when he thought back to everything that he had put them both through. Part of Tino wondered why Lars was even here other than as an excuse to try and patch things up with Lukas and Emil. Surely Lars could have found somewhere to stay back in Norway while some work was done to fix the burst pipe in his house, and didn't need to fly all the way out here. Yet here he was, sat at their kitchen table.

Suddenly Tino jumped at the sound of the doorbell ringing and he put his mug down on the counter behind him.

"I'll get it!" he shouted to Emil and Lukas as he left Lars alone in the kitchen and made his way down the hallway.

Peering through the netted glass pane on the front door as he reached for the handle, he paused for a moment, not recognising the shadow of the tall figure on the other side as neither Leon nor his mother. Puzzled, he let go of the door handle, pulled the net curtain back to check who it was before opening the door and his breath hitched in his throat upon catching sight of the unmistakable red lipstick smile.

It was Christina.

A:N – Well, lockdown as forced me to blow the cobwebs off this fic and my existence in the hetalia fandom!

Hi everyone, if you're a returning reader – I am so sorry. If you're a new reader thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying this fic so far!

It feels great to be back, I have really missed writing and I hadn't realised how much until I came back to this fic.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I promise I won't be leaving again until this story is complete! (Along with Finding Utopia)

For reference to the Finnish words used –

Kyrpäyrjö does translate literally to "cock-vomit"

Tiukkapipo = Literal translation is "Tight Hat" which means a narrow minded person.

And the rest of the Finnish was various words like fuck, piss, shit, etc.

Thank you for reading! x