Hey babes! So, I'm the absolute worst and got caught up in work and colege nonsense and totally let my little brain baby fall to the wayside. My bad! I promise I'll make time to update at least twice a month from now on. I missed writing this sooooo much. Slight retcon- I mentioned that Honey and M.L share art class together in the last chapter, but that was a mistake- they only have third period psychology together. And also, I don't know if this came across properly, but M.L is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. I don't have anything else of importance to tell you guys, so here ya go!
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The rest of the day was uneventful . It hadn't been too bad, however; math had been boring as hell, but his last two classes of the day were art and photography, both subjects that he enjoyed. He'd noticed that both of the Cullen girls shared those classes with him, the blonde supermodel in his art class and the tiny brunette fairy in his photography class. The latter had even spoken to him, approaching him before class and introducing herself as Alice with a strange, secretive smile. Honey hadn't known quite what do, simply offering up his own name and an awkward wave before she left to find her own seat. Admittedly, not his finest moment.
As Honey climbed onboard the bus after school, he decided that, all in all, it hadn't been a bad day. Sure, it could have gone better, what with that asshole Conrad who seemed to have an issue with him, but he'd managed to make a friend and avoid any fights, so it definitely could have gone worse. He was especially optimistic about meeting M.L. In all his years of moving around, he'd never clicked with someone so easily. Sure, he'd had other friends and acquaintances, but they'd mostly just been people to hang around with and bum liquor off of, not people he'd truly liked.
As if summoned by his thoughts, M.L slid into the seat beside him. already slipping their bulky black bookbag onto their lap as they let their head thump back against the vinyl seat with an exhausted groan. "God, why did they have to give me sixth period Calc this semester? It always seems to drag on forever. I swear, Mrs. Sweeney is pushing 80, and the most boring woman on the planet."
"Why on Earth would you sign up for Calculus in the first place? That just seems like a terrible life choice in and of itself," Honey pointed out, crinkling his nose up as the bus rumbled to life and began to pull away from the school.
"True," M.L conceded with a little shrug. "It's not that (italics) bad, though. The subject matter is pretty easy for me, it's just the fucking teacher."
"Listen to you, smartypants," Honey teased lightly. "I absolutely hate math of all types, that's why I'm taking Finance and Workplace this semester, and then never touching it again."
"It was my compromise with my parents- I take advanced courses this year, and next year they'll let me take all the artsy courses my little heart desires," M.L explained, sounding a tiny bit bitter. Honey wasn't sure how to properly respond to that, so he simply changed the subject.
"I refuse to believe that anyone interesting could possibly have been born in this boring ass town, so where are you from?" Honey asked, turning his body a bit to face them as the bus bumped along the neglected pavement.
"You're right, I'm not from here, although I wouldn't call my hometown much more interesting. I'm from Coreysville, which is approximately 500 miles from anywhere worth being." M.L explained, shrugging one shoulder. "But my mom got a really good job offer here, so we relocated when I was about seven. I was stuck in a van with my four brothers for almost three days, it was absolute torture."
Honey honestly found it hard to believe that there was even such thing as a good job offer in a place like this, at least not one that would be worth moving such a far distance. He kept that thought to himself, though- no need to insult M.L's mother's livelihood, at least not before he'd even met her.
As if sensing him drifting off, M.L redirected the conversation. "So, how about you? Where is the mysterious new boy from?"
"First of all, I'm anti-social, not mysterious. Mysterious implies that there's something interesting for people to uncover about me, and that's the complete opposite of the reputation I want to cultivate," Honey corrected, not entirely kidding. The last thing he needed was for some busybody to start poking around in his past. "To answer you're question, though, I'm from Toronto, technically, but my parents moved us out of there when I was really young. Now I'm just from wherever."
"For someone who claims not to be be mysterious, that was some pretty mysterious ass shit you just said," M.L ribbed good naturedly, gently nudging Honey's shoulder with their own.
"Ya caught me," Honey joked, rolling his eyes. "I'm secretly an angsty teen vampire, shrouded in secrets and intrigue."
Something glinted in M.L's eyes for a brief moment, something hard and cold and unforgiving, gone so quick that Honey almost thought he'd imagined it. They covered it up with a light chuckle. "Oh darling, youre far too cute to be a bloodsucker."
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The rest of the ride went much the same, M.L and Honey chatting back and forth about nothing in particular, mostly delighting in finding someone else with a similar personality. When they reached their stop, they got off together, saying their goodbyes as M.L turned down a side street and Honey started to trek up the little hill to his newest foster home.
Huffing and puffing a little as he reached the house (god, he really needed to get in shape), Honey noted that Helena's little blue sedan was missing, replaced a large black pick-up truck in the yard that hadn't been there this morning. The man of the house must be back, he mused. He trudged up the stairs onto the porch, debating knocking for a moment, before he shook his head at the notion. This was his new home, and Helena at least seemed nice. There was no way he was knocking. He opened the door, carefully taking his shoes off and putting them on the rack.
"Honey, is that you?" Helena called from the kitchen, sounding a bit harried.
"Yeah, I'm home," Honey answered back. Feeling kind of rude, yelling across the house to her, Honey set his backpack down by the foot of the stairs and padded down the hall, peeking into the kitchen. Helena was at the counter, chopping carrots. She was already surrounded by a veritable mountain of veggies, making Honey wonder which army she was planning on feeding.
"I hate to ask this of you, especially on your first day back to school, but would you mind giving me a hand? My good friend Laura asked me to help her make some easy meals for a few of the seniors around town, and it completely slipped my mind until today. Wendall is already off clearing the grocery store of all their pie crusts, god love him, or I'd ask him." Helena requested, looking genuinely regretful. God, how could anyone say no to such a kind woman, especially with a cause like that.
"Yeah sure, no sweat," Honey agreed, already on his way to the sink. he turned the tap on, squirting some soap into his hands and began to wash them. "What do you need me to do?"
"Thank you, Honey. Do you mind taking over the vegetables while I start cooking up some meat? I'm making chicken pot pies and beef stew," She explained, already putting down her knife and going to the meat she had thawing on the counter.
Not bothering to reply beyond a hum of agreement, Honey turned off the tap, drying his hands and replacing Helena by the counter, easily taking over where she'd left off. He didn't have a lot of experience in the kitchen, definitely not enough to cook himself anything more complicated than hamburgers, but he was fairly confident he could handle chopping vegetables.
They worked in companionable silence for about a half hour, Honey working through another bag and a half of carrots and almost a dozen potatoes before the front door opened, followed by the sound of heavy boots being kicked off carelessly. A deep, masculine voice called out, "Helly, they only had 12 crusts, is that going to be enough?"
"That'll have to do for now," Helena sighs, looking around at all the ingredients. "I can make a few homemade crusts, and then maybe after dinner we can make a run to Fairley, see what they've got there."
The man- Wendall, Honey presumed- came into the room, and Honey felt his breath catch in the back of his throat. He was massive, built like a brick shithouse and almost a foot taller than Honey's measly 5'6", with thick black hair and a salt and pepper beard. Heavy black eyebrows sat over dark blue eyes. All in all, he was one of the most intimidating men that Honey had ever seen in his life.
Honey couldnt help but think of the damage a even a smack from one of those big meaty hands could cause. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time a foster parent smacked him around, but normally he had an out. Act up, cause enough trouble and stay our of their grasp for long enough that getting rid of him was easier than beating his ass. That wasn't an option this time, though. He had to make this situation work, no matter what. He just had to pray that this Wendall character was a gentle giant.
"...Honey?" Helena called, snapping Honey from his reverie. He looked over at his foster mother. Judging by the look on her face, that wasn't the first time she'd said his name.
"Sorry, I was distracted." Honey apologized, shaking his head a little to clear it. "Could you repeat that, please?"
"I was just asking if you'd like to come to Fairley with Wendall and I after dinner?" She asked again, not seeming annoyed at having to repeat herself. Honey barely even had to think about that, shaking his head almost immediately.
"No thanks, I actually have homework, and it's been kind of a long day..." Honey trailed off, hoping he didn't have to elaborate.
"That's fine, Honey," Wendall said, addressing Honey for the first time. he stepped forward, holding his hand out with, well, not quite a smile (Honey wasn't sure if smiling was even possible with such a gruff looking face), but a pleasant enough expression. "I'll take over helping Helly, if you wanna head upstairs and get started on your homework."
Nodding softly, Honey handed the knife over to Wendall, letting out a quiet "Thanks," before he near scurried out of the kitchen, grabbing his backpack on his way up the stairs.
He went to his bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him before flopping down on the soft bed. God, he hadn't realized it until just then, but he was exhausted. Squirming around a little, Honey managed to kick off his socks and pants and wriggle out of his top, left in nothing but his black boxer briefs. He tugged the little plastic headband out of his hair, tossing it onto the floor, before going boneless, completely worn out. His dark brown eyes began to drift closed as he let out a jaw-cracking yawn. Just a few moments of rest, and then he'd start on his homework. Just a few moments...
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"Honey, dinner's ready, are you coming down?" A voice called from the other side of the door, startling Honey out of his rest. He groaned, rolling onto his side and peering over at the clock. 7:00. Fuck, that had definitely been longer than just a few minutes.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute," He answered around a huge yawn, grabbing his pants and wrestling back into them as he sat up. He had to hunt around for a few moments before he found her shirt amongst the crumpled shirts, shrugging it on and scratching idly at his pec as he stumbled into the ensuite bathroom to wash his hands.
Not wanting to keep Helena and Wendall waiting for too long, Honey finished quickly and left the comfort of his bedroom. Sparing a wince for his untouched school bag. He hadn't been lying about having a lot of school work to do- it sort of came with the territory of transferring in mid-semester. He shrugged to himself as he closed his door behind him, padding down the hall as he made his way toward the kitchen. He'd just have to stay up a little later than ideal and get it done after supper, no biggie.
When he entered the kitchen, Helena was at the counter, cutting up one of the meat pies, while Wendall sat at the table, clearly waiting to be fed. Honey dithered in the doorway for a moment, unsure what he was supposed to do. Did he sit down and risk looking entitled? Or did he go to help Helena and risk being considered a pest? Whhy did figuring out new foster family dynamics have to be such a hassle? Thankfully, before Honey could stand there looking like an idiot for too long, Helena came to his rescue.
"Sit down, Honey, I'll bring you and Wendall a slice," she directed, gesturing with her knife towards the large 8-person table. Honey nodded and near-scurried over, taking the middle seat on the outward facing side of the table, not wanting to sit right next to Wnedall, but not wanting to be a dick and sit as far as possible.
"So, Honey, huh?" Wendall started, voice deep and rough with a bit of twang, like something out of an old Western movie, putting Honey at ease a little (what? One of Honey's old foster fathers had fucking loved those things, and it'd rubbed off on him.). "That's a pretty unique name."
Aaaaand there went the modicum of comfort Honey had felt with the man. He couldn't stand when people questioned his name like it was a bad thing. He shrugged one shoulder, eyes tracing patterns in the grainy wood surface. "S'a family name, I liked it so it stuck."
"Don't mind Wendall, sweetie," Helena said, approaching the table and setting a place with a slice of chicken pot pie in front of both men. "He's an awkward old man, that's just his way of trying to make conversation. Now eat up, you're too skinny."
Not needing to be told twice, Honey picked up his fork a dug dug in, knowing by now just how good of a cook Helena was. Honestly at this point, he was wondering if there was anything the woman wasn't good at. Scolding puppies, maybe. His last foster mother hadn't been much for cooking, mainly preferring to order out or have something ready-made, so it was nice to eat a home-cooked meal. Honey could honestly say he'd seen enough of delivery pizza to last him the rest of his teens, at least, maybe even into his twenties.
Dinner was a mostly quiet affair, interrrupted occassionally by Helena asking Wendall how his trip was, or Wendall inquiring about Helena's newest artistic masterpiece. It wasn't until everyone was done eating that the mood shifted into something more serious. Helena turned to Honey, giving him a warm look. "So Honey, how was your first day of school? Did Rodney call you into his office? I told him not to, but that man never listens to anyone but himself."
"Rodney...?" Honey questions in confusion, before clueing in. "Oh, you mean Principal Berger? Yeah, he spoke to me. It was pretty standard stuff- they'll be watching me, I better keep myself in line, no funny business, that sort of thing.
Helena nodded, seeming to have expected that. "Yes, that sounds like Rodney. Sometimes I think he's confused on whether he runs a high school or a military base. That does lead into what Wendall and I'd like to talk to you about, though."
Oh, here we go. Honey had known this was coming. It always did, sooner or later. Foster families took one look at his mile-thick file and either ran for the hills or started installing bars on the windows and locks on the fridge. He's have thought they'd learn by now that the more people tried to control him, the more he rebelled, but hey- some people just weren't that smart. He relaxed a bit in his seat, preparing to zone out as Wendall began to speak.
"We want to start by saying that, as of right now, we trust you." Yeah, that sounded about- Wait, what? They trusted him? What did that even mean? Some of his disbelief must have showed on his face, because Wendall smiled ruefully and continued. "Whatever you've done in the past, whatever trouble has brought you to our doorstep, we don't care. Hell, I haven't even seen your file, and Helly only glanced at the relevant information. This is a clean slate for you, Honey."
Honey just sat there, blinking slightly. He couldn't quite wrap his head around a foster family who didn't care even a little about his checkered past. Even the best foster families had been a little wary of him at first. Finally, he managed to speak, if only to say "Oh. Uhm, okay."
"All we ask is that you don't break our trust in you," Helena chipped in, startling Honey a bit. He hadn't expected her to contribute much, honestly. "Curfew is 11pm on school nights, and 1am on weekends, unless you let us know you're going to be out later beforehand. We don't condone drugs or alcohol in the house, and ask that you don't partake outside the house as well, but if you do, please call us to pick you up- don't get in someone's car or try to walk home. Please keep your phone on and on you when you go out, and give us a general idea of where you might be, just in case. Other than that, it's all just basic respect and common decency stuff. Do you have any questions, Honey?"
Honey shook his head, taking a few moments to digest that. Honestly, those were some of the most lax rules he's ever had. He couldn't quite tell if he wanted to jump for joy or question their sanity. In the end, he settled for a small smile. "I understand. Those should be pretty simple to folow and remember."
Wendall nodded, standing up from the table, followed quickly by Helena. "Well, Helly and I are gonna start on these dishes. You might wanna head upstairs and get a start on homework for real this time."
Blushing slightly in embarrassment, Honey nodded and stood as well, having the decency to scrape his plate into the garbage and set it by the sink before heading up to his room. He drifted outof the kitchen, climbing the stairs in a bit of a daze. Once in the sanctuary of his room, he grabbed his backpack and dragged it over to his new desk, pulling out his depressingly large stack of homework. Even as he started on a basic trig worksheet, he couldn't stop dwelling on the strangeness of his little "family meeting" with his new foster parents. He'd been trying to ignore the feeling all day, but this had solidified the feeling he was getting.
Something told him that this family, this town, wasn't going to be like anything he'd experienced before.
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AAAAAAAAAAH there we go babes! Chapter 5, hot off the presses. I'm not 100% satisified with it honestly, but thats the writer's curse. I do want to promise that I'm gonna do my damnedest to get a proper updating schedule up and running. I posted my (tentative) schedule on my profile, but that subject to change, depending on how busy I'm gonna be when I start school next month and go back to work.
Also, I've been wondering if there was anyone interested in being a beta for me? I tend to type pretty fast and have hella clumsy fingers, so I'd need someone to proofread, and spellcheck for me, as well as someone to give me a second set of eyes like plotwise, let me know when I'm contradicting myself or creating plotholes, that sort of thing. PM me if you're interested!