Chapter 47: Awakening.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fosters.
AN: The new chapter. Also, I went through and edited a few of the chapters to make the bands rise to fame more realistic. I realized, because of a certain review, that such an overnight rise to success would be unrealistic. So I tried to make it more realistic. A metal band, in today's music climate, would not sell 300,000 copies of their first album on its debut. It wouldn't happen. So I edited it to make it more achievable. Also, I added a little behind the scenes detail about the Vegas trip to explain how Jude won so much money.
Jude's POV (February 22nd, 2026.):
It's been over a month since we confronted Wally.
The next day, we pulled him from Anchor Beach. He didn't make a single protest. He knew that going back to that school was too much of a temptation for him to revert back to his plans for vengeance. So we decided to home school him. Lena was a great help.
We sent him to see a therapist. Then another when the first failed, and then another when the second ended in the same outcome. Today, he met his third therapist. It didn't go very well. Actually, I think it's safe to say it was a complete fucking disaster. After today, he asked us to just gave up on therapy, since it was clear it wasn't working.
After we got home, he went straight to his room. He only left to grab a snack and a Coke about an hour later.
"I'm gonna do my homework." He mumbled as he disappeared back into the bowls of his darkened bedroom.
I looked at Connor and sighed.
"If Tim doesn't wake up soon..."
"I know, Jude." He said, "I know."
"Did you talk to your Uncle?" I asked.
"Yes. Earlier." He said.
"What'd he say?" I prompted.
"He did it. Just like he said he would." Connor said quietly.
"How?" I asked.
"You know? I asked him the exact same question." Connor said, "He told me I didn't want to know. He said it wasn't easy, and what he did was barely legal. It's probably best we don't know."
"But he did it?" I clarified.
"Yeah. Tim's in our custody. As soon as his parents get back they'll be arrested for child abuse, and their parental rights terminated." Connor explained, "As soon as we start adoption proceedings, Evan's gonna try and get it fast tracked like he did with Wally's."
I sighed in relief.
"The sooner we adopt him, the sooner we leave California, the better off we'll all be." I said sadly, "Wally's losing his mind here, Connor."
"I know, Jude." Connor said, "But where are we gonna go? And what about the band?"
"We swore, when we adopted Wally, that our family would come first." I responded seriously, "We've made seven albums with them. Our last album was our highest charting, best selling, and most critically acclaimed. Maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Connor asked, unsure.
"Maybe it's time to call it a day." I said sadly, "End on a high note."
"Are you sure? The band... it was our dream. It saved my life." Connor asked.
"Doing this might save our son." I pointed out, "We've made enough money. Even if we leave the band, we'll still get money from royalties and the like..."
"I'm not worried about money, Jude." Connor said flatly, "We've got plenty of that, and we've got investments that'll make us a whole lot more. And it's all because of my uncle rigging your poker games on our Vegas trip."
"Yeah, that's true." I said irritably.
Yeah, we found that out only a couple of months ago. Apparently, Evan Stevens, god bless him, rigged all of the poker games I played during our trip to Vegas all those years ago. Evan owns a lot of businesses. He makes a lot of money, and he lends a substantial amount of money to people as well. Apparently the owner of the casino borrowed about $600,000 from him. He squandered it. Evan arranged for the debt to be forgotten if I miraculously won all the games I played, "earning" an amount equal to what he was owed with interest.
He did all that, and all he asked for from us was for us to buy him a souvenir during the trip.
I swear to god, I sometimes wonder if Evan is secretly a national Mafia don with all the shit he gets into. It didn't stop me from throwing a punch at him when he told us about it though.
"I don't see why he had to go through such an elaborate scheme to get that money to me." I pondered, "He could have just put it in a trust account and gifted it when we graduated."
"You know my Uncle. He can't do things the easy way. It'd be no fun for him." Connor deadpanned, "Anyway, where do you think we should go?"
"I don't know. Mackinac Island?" I joked.
"HA!" Connor exclaimed, "But actually, Michigan isn't that bad of an idea. Wasn't Tim born their?"
"That's what Wally told us. Lived there for years, too." I recalled, "Moved here when he was nine. Lived in a town called Davison, I think."
"Well, it's an idea." Connor said slowly, "We'll have to wait to see what Tim wants when he wakes up."
We visited Wally in his bedroom after his schoolwork was finished. When we entered his room, all the lights were off, and he was sitting in his recliner, with Minion cuddled up to his chest asleep. Wally was just sitting there, staring off into space.
"Wally?"
He gave a small wave.
"You okay, bud?" Connor asked.
Wally shook his head.
"No. I'm not."
Connor and I moved to sit down on the bed next to the chair. Wally sighed sadly.
"I feel like shit, Dads." He admitted.
"You want to talk?" I asked.
Wally stared straight ahead for a couple more moments, before sighing and turning his head to look at us. He had been crying.
"I could have done something." He whimpered.
"Wally..." Connor tried to say, but was cut off.
"If I had noticed something was up sooner, if I'd reported the bullying sooner, none of this would have happened." Wally cried, "Tim would be fine. My best friend wouldn't be in a fucking coma. He wouldn't have tried to... tried to..."
Wally couldn't bear to speak the words.
"It wasn't your fault, Walter." I said softly.
Wally looked startled, because Connor and I rarely ever used his full first name.
"You hear me?" I continued sternly, "It was NOT your fault. You can't blame yourself for this."
"The blame falls solely on the ones who did the bullying." Connor consoled, "You did the best you could, bubby. You fought back for him, even though you knew you would get suspended for it."
"Tim's lucky to have you as a friend." I added.
"He's not just my friend, Dads." Wally whimpered.
Connor and I shared a look.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"He's my brother, Dads." Wally said quietly, "Even if he isn't related to me by blood, he's my brother."
"Blood doesn't make a family. Love does." I told him, with a mental sigh of relief.
We all sit in silence for a few moments.
"How have you been coping?" Connor asked.
"I'm this close to pulling my hair out." Wally deadpanned, "Even writing isn't helping like I thought it was."
"We'll find something." Connor promised, "You haven't... hurt yourself have you?"
Wally didn't answer immediately.
"No. But... I have thought about it." He answered.
"If you ever feel the urge, you come talk to me, you understand?" Connor said softly, "I know what that feels like. I've been there."
"Really?" Wally asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah. It was a bad time." Connor answered.
I opened my mouth to add to what Connor had just said, but I was interrupted when the phone rang. Connor leapt up to go get it as I continued to sit with Wally.
He came back five short minutes later.
"That was the hospital. Tim's parents just arrived. They're waiting for us now."
Wally leapt from the recliner and bolted for the door.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Stef's number.
"Hey bubba."
"Hey mom. Are you and Mike still on patrol?" I asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Tim's parents are at the hospital. It's time." I responded.
"We'll meet you there."
We arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later. We met up with Stef and Mike and walked into Sacred Cross and headed for the elevator. When we arrived at the floor that Tim's room was on, we stepped out and headed towards a nurses station.
"Are they inside?" I asked.
The nurse nodded.
I turned to Stef and Mike.
"Wait out here. Wait for us to call you in." I said.
They nodded.
Connor, Wally and I walked into Tim's room without so much as a knock.
They were standing there.
Kurt, Tim's father, stands only a few inches shorter than Connor, and is dressed in an expensive black suit. He is skinny, ridiculously so, and has a shaved head. He has a look of supreme boredom plastered across his smug face.
Cassidy, Tim's father, is even shorter than her husband. She is dressed in a suit that looked almost as expensive as her husband's. She had long wavy brown hair. She had the exact same expression on her face that her husband did.
I immediately felt a spike of anger in my gut, and after shooting a look at Connor out of the corner of my eye I could tell that he shared my anger.
They turned to us, and their eyes narrowed.
"Oh. It's you people." Kurt drawled.
"Yes. Us people. The people who have been taking care of your son during this whole mess." I bit out venomously.
"It took you morons over a MONTH to come make sure your son wasn't dead." Connor growled as we approached them.
"We had more important things to deal with!" Cassidy exclaimed coldly.
"Your SON SHOULD COME FIRST!" I shouted, "He should ALWAYS come first! If I had been in your position, we would have been on a plane back before the fucking DIAL TONE SOUNDED!"
"I don't expect you to know how running a company works..." Kurt bit out rudely.
"Don't you dare act all high and mighty with me you stupid asshole." Connor snarled, "We probably have more money than you do from being in a metal band. Try again."
"We don't have to listen to a bunch of queers telling us how to raise our son!" Cassidy screamed.
"YOU CALL THIS RAISING A CHILD?" Connor screamed at them.
"PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON THIS WORLD IS GOING TO SHIT!" I screamed at them, "PEOPLE WHO CARE MORE ABOUT WORK THAN THEIR COMATOSE CHILD!"
"We never wanted the little brat in the first place!" Cassidy growled, "He was a fucking accident. He's never been anything more than a disappointment. A burden!"
"YOU ARE SLIME!" Wally screams, "TIM IS THIRTY TIMES THE HUMAN BEING YOU TWO TROGLODYTES WILL EVER BE!"
"WATCH YOUR TONGUE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
SLAP.
Wally reeled as a hand collided with his face. Simultaneously, I felt a hand grip the revolver on my belt and wrench it free from its holster, before I could do it myself.
I turn slightly. Connor has my revolver. I watch as he turns the safety off, and cocks the hammer back.
"You dare?" He hissed venomously, "YOU DARE LAY A HAND ON MY SON?"
Wally collapses back into me, and I wrap him in a tight hug. He starts crying, and then he starts shaking as he clings to me. I could see the signs. He was trying to stop himself from having a flashback to one of his foster homes.
"If you move another FUCKING MUSCLE, I will not hesitate to blow your fucking head clean off!" Connor shouted angrily, "STEF! MIKE! DO YOUR JOBS! ARREST THESE SONS OF BITCHES!"
No sooner had he given the command, did Stef and Mike step through the door in full police uniform.
"You are both under arrest for child abuse, assault on a minor, and neglect."
"YOU HAVE NO PROOF!" Kurt screamed as Mike threw him up against a wall to put the handcuffs on him. Cassidy just glared hatefully at us.
"On the contrary, we have photographic evidence of Tim's injuries." Stef said angrily, " We have eye witnesses who saw you back hand Wally. It took you a month to come see your comatose son. You're both going to jail, and you're parental rights will be revoked. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be assigned to you by the court. D you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"
"YES YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Kurt shouted, "YOU'LL ALL FUCKING PAY FOR THIS!"
"S-s-shut u-up."
Everybody in the room froze.
Had we really just heard what we think we heard?
"G-g-get th-them o-out o-of h-h-here."
As one, Jude, Wally and I turned to look at the figure laying still on the bed.
His eyes were open. He was staring at us.
Tim was finally awake.
He lifted a trembling finger to point at his parents.
"Get them out of here. Please." He muttered slowly.
Stef and Mike both nodded, and dragged the two handcuffed parents from the room. They didn't go quietly, screaming a variety of slurs on the way out, but we weren't paying attention. Wally was slowly making his way closer to Tim.
"W-w-w-wally." Tim muttered.
That was all it took for Wally to dissolve into sobs. He quickly, but gently crawled into the bed next to Tim and wrapped him in a hug. Connor and I stood at the foot of the bed, watching the future siblings embrace.
"T-Tim." He coughed, "Y-y-you're o-okay. Why did you do that? Why d-d-did y-you j-jump?"
"I'm sorry." Tim croaked, "I wanted to die."
"I should have noticed it..." Wally started to say.
"There was nothing you could have done, buddy." Tim cut him off quietly, "It's not your fault."
"You never know. He might have been able to help. I know how that feels." Connor said softly, "I was in the same spot once. I was on my way to jump off the same room you did, but I ran into Jude. He helped me, he put me back together when I was at my lowest, even though he didn't know it at the time. If I had actually done it, look what I would've missed out on. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't end it, because of a bunch of homophobic pricks that hate you for who you are."
"I'm sorry..."
"And why didn't you tell me your parents were hitting you?" Wally asked.
"I didn't want to worry you with it."
"Well you won't have to worry about it again, Tim." I said softly.
"What?" Tim asked quietly.
"We've got custody of you." I explained, "It wasn't easy, and how it happened might not even be entirely legal, but we've got custody of you. Your parents will lose their parental rights, and we are planning to adopt you as soon as we can."
"Wait, WHAT?" Wally exclaimed, his eyes growing wide from the shock of what I had just said.
Tim just stared at us.
"Y-you'd really d-do that for me?" He whimpered.
"Of course." Connor said soothingly, "You're already like a son to us already. Wally loves you like a brother. So that's exactly what you'll be. If that's what you want."
Tim's composure crumbled, and he nodded his head as he cried into Wally's shoulder. Wally turned his head to us.
"Thank you." He mouthed to us.
"We're also thinking about moving." Connor said.
"Sounds like a plan." Tim whimpered, "I wanna leave and never set foot in California again."
"That's what we were thinking." I agreed, "We were thinking about where we would go."
"What town did you say you grew up in, Tim."
"Davison. It's in Michigan though." He answered slowly, "You're thinking... about going there?"
"It's a possibility." I confirm, "We've looked it up. The schools have good ratings. The areas safe. It would be perfect."
"Nothing's decided yet, of course." Connor clarified, "We might find something better, but that's the first option at the moment."
"What about the band?" Wally asked.
"We're gonna step down as vocalists." I revealed, "We've already talked to the band, James and Lars. They agree with us. You two come first. They can find a new vocalist for the band. We're replaceable. You two aren't."
"Thank you." Tim whimpered sincerely.
"No thanks needed, son." Connor said, "You deserve a family who loves you, and treats you the way you deserve to be treated. You'll never have to worry about that again. We're here for you till the very end. We promise."
As we sat there that night, watching our current and future sons sleep, Connor and I both pondered how much had happened in the last few years. Once again, we found our lives were irrevocably changed and hurtling down a path we never expected to be on.
AN#2: New chapter. PLEASE LEAVE LOTS OF REVIEWS. Also, all my stories are now being posted on archiveofourown. This chapter would have been posted sooner, but the site was screwing up.