Bury the Past

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 21 (Father of Mine)

"We're closing in." Trina settled into the passenger seat of David's car, sighing heavily as she sipped coffee from her metal mug. "I mean wow." Her eyebrows popped and she shook her head once. "Tori's going to be incredible to put in that courtroom."

"She will be, if she's able to testify." There was a good chance it might be too hard emotionally and mentally for Tori, but if she understood where her sister's mind had gone in the last several years, she was almost certain the girl could do this.

This was a momentary break from the singing they'd been doing while driving; singing along to the playlist of songs David had. They were cruising down the street, taking a brief break from the case to clear their heads.

As they drove, Trina was surprised to hear Everclear come on with Father of Mine. Trina raised her eyebrow and looked at her dad. She had this song on one of her own personal playlists, and it wasn't a song that people put on without reason. "Really Dad?" David laughed once and turned to look at her.

"What?"

"We both know why I have that song on one of my playlists." David smirked and raised his eyebrows. "But why on earth would you have it? People don't just put this song on for nothing." She was curious, especially because she knew her dad had some difficulty with his father-even if she never saw her grandpa in a negative light. "Maybe it's time you told me." David breathed in and chuckled.

"Told you what?"

"About Grandpa." She crossed her arms and pressed her shoulder against the glass, rolling her back onto it. "When I was a very little girl, I think I asked you about it. You didn't seem like you were always happy to see Grandpa, like you'd rather just take me and Tori to see Grandma and not bother with Gramps. You told me it was something that you'd have to explain to me when I was older, but you never did."

He frowned and looked sideways out the window next to him. "Okay."

"So maybe now's the time?" She tapped her foot along with the song, singing the lyrics in her mind. She could hear her father humming to them, but he was taking his time to answer her.

"I never wanted you to see your grandfather as anything less than he was to you, Trina. Like me, he'd never been the best father, but he was a good grandfather."

"I can handle it." She folded her hands in her lap and looked down. "I'll remember Grandpa always the same. If nothing else, I'll understand a little better now." David nodded slowly and hit the pause on his CD player.

His shoulders dropped and he looked out at the street with a frown. "When I was a boy, you have to realize I grew up in a very different world than you did." He exhaled and pushed down on the brake pedal as the light in front of them turned red. "I grew up in the sixties with a father that grew up abused by his own father. That was the norm, though. Everyone knew it was okay to beat your children or beat your wife. My own grandfather would take shots at my grandmother just to see how close to her head he could get without hitting her…"

Trina gasped softly as David narrowed his eyes. "Your grandpa ran away at seventeen to join the military, not unlike you leaving to form a life of your own ten years prior." She smiled gently and closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of the cool AC blowing against her skin. "My dad smoked a great deal, drank a great deal. He boasted about getting into bar fights and bragged about how he could beat anyone up."

"Wow." She ran her hand along her arm and frowned. Much of what she remembered about her grandfather was pleasant. The man would always crack jokes and smile, he'd often call her his 'little helper' whenever she helped him with yard work. "I remember painting the fence with him once as a little girl, he was laughing the entire time and just making jokes…"

"You were a child. You should always remember him as you do." David furrowed his brow and started to sigh. "But now you're an adult. You understand that everybody has his or her own demons to contend with. As a child, you wouldn't have known that, you wouldn't have understood that anyone could be less than perfect…that your grandfather was less than a perfect man."

"Yeah." It stung to hear how her grandfather was, and she knew there was more than what she'd just been told. Part of her wanted her father to stop, but the rest of her wanted to know more. "I'll always love my grandpa, so don't worry."

David smiled briskly and started to nod. "Good. I don't want your opinion of him to ever change, okay?"

"It won't…"

"When I was a child, he was distant, far more than I think I ever was." David tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel and started to sigh. "He was always at work, an engineer in the military. The only time I ever saw him was when I would do something wrong and my mother would often say 'wait until your father gets home'. He would discipline me with a lot more than a belt…"

Trina felt her heart drop into her stomach. She let out a heavy breath and moved her hand to his wrist. "Oh Dad…" David tensed and his nostrils opened wide.

"'Fear teaches respect', that's what he would say. I swore I would be nothing like him. My children would love me, I would shower them with praise and treat them the way a father was meant to." Her fingers slid from his wrist and she looked away for a second. "But I failed to do that."

"You didn't come home drunk every night. There's that."

He scoffed and let out a single, dry chuckle. "There is that, yeah." He ran his hand through his hair and groaned. "But I was distant. I was negligent. I ignored you and Tori when I should have been there for the two of you. The greatest regret I have is that my two children grew up to hate me."

"I don't hate you." It was sudden, it was abrupt and without hesitation, but it was true. Even if she thought of all the years of trouble that she had, she had never been able to hate her father. David let out a heavy sigh and started to smile. "It's been hard, yeah, but I don't hate you."

If anything, she understood her dad even more. She knew how difficult his job was, and how much time it ate from his family. She also understood how affected he must have been from what happened to them many years ago, and she didn't hold it against him.

"I forgive you." He jerked his head back and looked at her with arched eyebrows. "For being distant, for being unable to be there as a father." She squeezed his forearm and took a deep breath. "I know it must have been hard for you after what happened, and I don't hold it against you for becoming distant after that. You're still my dad, no matter what, and you need to know that."

He shifted back, pumping himself up with confidence. "More than Gary?"

She laughed openly and placed a hand on her dad's shoulder. "One step at a time, Dad. Gary's been a great surrogate dad for the last ten years, you're still my dad."

"Uh huh."

"You are."

"Martin said you considered Gary your dad. He even gave you away at your wedding."

She smirked, catching the jealousy in his tone. "Dad. Are you honestly jealous right now of a man that you once chose as a godfather if anything happened to you? You should be happy that he was able to be there for me when no one else was…"

"I am! I just-" He stammered and his face started to turn red. "If I had been a better father, you might never have left. If I had been better, I wouldn't have lost everything, everyone that mattered to me."

"I'm here now." She smiled as he looked at her, his gaze fearful and his brow heavy. "You haven't lost me, and maybe you haven't lost Tori."

"I don't know. You still left. For ten years."

"I know. There was a toxic situation, I needed to get away. Things are different now, Dad." She needed that time away, and it wasn't all about him-or as much as he thought it must have been. She loved her father, and she always would. "I love you, Dad." He gasped and held his breath, looking at her with trembling eyes. "I always have. I don't want you to think you're the only reason I left, because you're not."

"I love you too. I'm sorry I wasn't the father I could have been."

"You're here now, that's all that matters."

All they really had now was each other, regardless. Yes, Tori was awake, but nothing would ever be the same. Even with Tori, things were certain to be different. Tori would need a lot of help, there was no questioning that. Whatever darkness lay in the past between Trina and her father, it was gone. Or at least, it needed to be gone so they could take care of Tori.

She moved her hand to her stomach and closed her eyes. "I think Martin will be a good father, and I think I am going to do the best I can as a mother. I know you'll be a good grandfather. In fact, I'm confident you will be."

"Yeah…" David blinked twice and looked at her for a moment, his eyebrows raising and his eyes widening. "Wait…" Trina started to smile and David gasped. "You aren't-"

"I am."

He slammed on his brakes and turned into the parking lot of a supermarket. The car stopped in a parking spot and he quickly shifted the gear into park. His entire body began to tremble and he looked at her abdomen with a trembling breath.

"Martin doesn't know yet. I don't know how to tell him, or how to deal with it while I'm dealing with this case." She took a deep breath and released it suddenly. "All I can do is finish this case, get it done and make a start on my life."

"You should tell him as soon as you can." David moved his hand through the air and furrowed his brow. "The case can wait. I know it's your mother and your sister, but don't let that stop you." He started to smile and a flash of pride flickered in his eyes. "I can't believe it's true, that I'm going to be a grandfather." He took her hand and looked her in the eyes, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm going to do my best to be the best grandfather I can be."

"I know. I think you'll be great." She cracked a smile and raised her eyebrows. "Does that mean you'll consider that retirement community?" David cleared his throat and moved his eyes to the side.

"I don't know…I still have to figure out what's going to happen with your sister."

"Bring her with you. You'll only be twenty minutes away, and she's going to need her family."

"Yeah…"

"Trust me." It was going to be difficult, but they could manage. Los Angeles didn't matter, all the connections any of them had here were gone now. They could grow, experience life one way or another, in this new town. "It'll be better for her, for you, for all of us."

"Yeah…"

"Until then." She hit the play button and started to smile. "Let's relax and continue singing, shall we?" David laughed and nodded as the two of them continued with the song.

"Father of mine, tell me where have you been…"

After a while, they got the news from the lab, news that was pivotal to the case. Blood had been found on the brass knuckles-transfer likely from when the assailant removed his gloves.

It matched Tori's blood, making it more likely that whoever wore those brass knuckles was the one that brutalized her.

The second bit of news was, to Trina's surprise, Jade had been arrested. There was a gun in the home that hadn't been confiscated by police; it was a shotgun. Jade used it to shoot her husband in the leg during a fight. The neighbors called the police and she was arrested for domestic violence. Beck, on the other hand, was in the hospital.

For the first time, Trina felt more that this case was coming close to its end. Now she could talk to Jade without Beck creating an obstacle. They would never have a better opportunity than this.

So Trina and her dad grow closer yet. What are your thoughts this chapter? Observations? Do tell.