The Return of the Prodigal: Part I
"Oh my, I am so sorry, I wasn't…" Jeff began, but his voice faltered and fell away as he got a proper look at them. His eyes widened, and his breath hitched, and then he blinked, just to make sure he wasn't imagining it. Then he uttered one word in an almost reverential tone….
"Drew!?"
There was silence then, as two pairs of eyes observed each other again for the first time in over six years. It had been five years since anyone had even heard from the man that now stood in front of Jeff - and the blond man could see that those years had not been kind to his friend. Drew was much thinner than he recalled, his shoulders hunched and his posture less straight. His eyes had lost their sparkle, and looked tired, and if Jeff was not mistaken…
"Jeff!? Oh my, what on earth are you doing here in Kensington?" Drew said quietly. "This is the last place I would have expected…"
"…to meet me?" Jeff finished for his friend. "Nick is in London for a year with his work; he is with the human rights division of the UN, and there was no way I was letting my husband come here for a year on his own. How are you?"
Drew hesitated to reply to that very pointed question, as Jeff had guessed he would, but he was saved from answering by a small voice. "Do you know this man, papa?"
"Papa?" exclaimed Drew, a hint of a smile attempting to lighten his face.
"Yes, this is our son, Wes. Wes, this is an old school friend of mine, your dad, and Uncle Ethan; this is your Uncle Drew." Jeff at once felt guilty for the mention of Ethan's name, particularly when he saw the brief flash of pain on Drew's face, but before he could speak again, his friend replied.
"Wes, it is so nice to meet you! No prizes of course for guessing who you are named after; you even look a little like him… I take it that Nick is his biological father, as you planned?"
Jeff nodded, but mentioned nothing about who his mother was as little ears were present. "He is the eldest of a whole crop of unofficial nieces and nephews; Trent had a son, as do David and Flint. Cooper has twins, and Sebastian has two daughters, one with Dave, and one that he donated the necessary to create; her mother is Santana…"
"You mean that our Sebastian has had a child with an ex-cheerleader…" said Drew, and then he laughed; it was cut short as he winced as a pain shot through him from his ribs. Jeff immediately looked concerned, and Drew noticed. "I tripped on a kerb, fell badly and cracked a rib; it is painful, but it is healing… Anyway, I need to be somewhere, but it was nice seeing you Jeff…"
"It was…" said Jeff, suddenly realising that if Drew left now, he would never see him again. He couldn't risk that; he would never forgive himself… "Look, Drew, if I tell Nicky that I saw you, and he didn't get the chance to see you too, he would be really upset. Could we all meet again sometime? Nick is off work tomorrow, it being Saturday, and we have no plans. You could come to us, and have lunch, or…"
Drew interrupted him. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that is a good idea Jeff…"
"You know how Nicky can get when he feels that he has missed out… Please, Drew, just a cup of coffee even…"
"I really can't come to yours, I can't…"
"What if just you and Nick meet up somewhere - a coffee shop, or a pub? You would make him so happy, and make things easier for me too… Please, for me and little Wes here…"
"It's not that simple, Jeff," said Drew, but then he saw the look on his old friend's face. "Okay, okay, he could come to my place, but it has to be at a set time for my sake. Number 10, Launceston Place, tomorrow at 11am. No earlier. He can't be early, and if he can see a blue vase in the ground floor window when he arrives, then something has happened and I can't see him. Please make sure that he knows that…"
Jeff saw the terror in his friend's eyes as he said those last words, and replied, "Okay, I understand… Right, I will let you go. Please take care of yourself, Drew…"
The other man nodded, then hurried away. Jeff did not look to see where he went, as all of a sudden he felt so sad… He knew that there had been no kerb to trip over, unless there had also been a hand at his back at the time. He knew that she was obviously scheduled to be out of the house for 11am the next day, but that there had to be a signal in case her plans altered… Blinking back tears, he forced a smile for Wes, and decided that a diversion via the French patisserie in the Old Brompton Road was necessary that night. He needed something to cheer himself up, and the cramique and marveilleux that they sold there would be just the thing…
The moment that Nick stepped into the house that night, he sensed that something was wrong. Jeff seemed cheerful enough, but he could tell from little things he was doing that someone or something had upset him that day. He had said that morning that he would make a quiche lorraine for dinner that evening, but Jeff had instead taken a chicken chasseur that Nick had made out of the freezer and reheated it. Then he saw the pile of bags and boxes from the bakery, and he knew that he would have to ask some questions later…
It was his turn to supervise little Wes as he prepared for his bath that night, and having ensured that was done, he then got him into bed, and ready for sleep. He decided that he would ask his son if he knew what was going on. "Wes, did someone make papa sad today? Someone at the kindergarten, or in the street?"
"It was the man that papa bumped into outside the kindergarten that made papa sad," Wes said quietly in reply, before he yawned.
"The man?" said Nick with concern.
"Yes, it was Uncle Drew that made papa sad…"
Nick's eyes widened, and he stuttered out "Uncle…"
"Drew, daddy. Uncle Drew made papa sad. He seemed to be sad too, daddy…" Wes yawned again, then closed his eyes, and fell almost instantly to sleep. Crouched at his bedside, Nick was frozen with shock. After all of this time, it had been Jeff that finally saw their long lost friend. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask his husband, but he knew he would need to wait until Jeff volunteered the information. All he could hope was that Jeff would want to tell him the moment he got back downstairs; that he had only been waiting until Wes was in bed to tell him. The biggest question in his mind right now was why Drew had been in London on a Friday afternoon, when he should have been at his job in Oxford…
As soon as Nick came downstairs, Jeff knew from the expression on his face that he had been beaten to the sharing of the news by the little boy upstairs. "He told you, didn't he?" he said quietly. "Who I quite literally bumped into today…"
"He did, yes," said Nick in an equally quiet tone. "I know that you would have told me eventually, but this is big, Jeffie. Everyone will want to know about this, particularly…"
"Nicky, you didn't see him; it was Drew, but not, if you know what I mean. He looked so awful, as if all of the goodness and vitality had been drained out of him, which might well be true to an extent. Whatever has happened to him since we last saw him cannot have been good. I know what we all suspected she was doing to him, but I never imagined that I would see the results first hand. He has a cracked rib, and he said that he had tripped over a kerb, but I do not buy that for a minute. The 'kerb' punched him in the chest, or struck him with something…" Jeff's voice faltered, and there was a sniff then; Nick came over to sit at his husband's side, placing an arm around him in comfort.
"He could have tripped," said Nick calmly, "and most people would just accept that. People do not ever imagine an abusive wife, and they should; it isn't always the man that is violent… Anyway, did he say why he was in London? Was he in town for a meeting of some sort?"
"No, he actually lives here, which surprised me. It must be such a long journey for him to work every day in Oxford. Tube first, and then a train, then possibly a bus. The only good thing is that it will keep him away from her for longer."
"How do you know that he lives here?" asked Nick, trying to imagine the kind of questions that his husband must have asked to get as much information as he could.
"I told him when he wanted to leave that you would be upset not to have seen him yourself, and I might have suggested that we would have an argument about it, which was a blatant lie of course, and so I asked him if he would be able to come here tomorrow for lunch, or even just coffee. He didn't want to, but I was persistent, and so in the end he agreed to see you at his place tomorrow morning at 11am sharp. I have the address here and some important further instructions…."
Nick however had already stopped listening to Jeff by those final words, and was oblivious to his husband delving through his pockets to try and find the paper he had written the address on. He was too busy doing calculations in his head; he glanced at the clock, which showed him that it was just before 7.30pm, which meant that there would be time, but only if he acted right away. He got up, and headed for the table, where his cellphone lay. He had a moment of doubt, but then it went. It had to be done. He input the correct code, and then typed in the number he needed.
By the time Jeff found the paper, and looked up to see what his husband was doing, the phone on the other end of the call was ringing. Nick avoided his eyes as the call was picked up, and he replied to the greeting with the words "Hey Ethan, it's Nick…"
Jeff's eyes instantly went wide; he knew exactly what his husband was about to do, and he instantly felt conflicted. He had badgered Drew into meeting Nick; he had done so under duress. He had not agreed to what Nick was doing now…
"I need you to sit down for me; Jeff met someone today… He met Drew…"
Jeff hung his head, the conflict inside him now raging. He knew that telling Ethan wasn't a bad thing to do, but it still felt like a betrayal of trust to him…
"Honestly, I don't know, but not to sugar coat it in any way, Jeff told me that he was a mess. The thing is, he is living in London now, and my husband managed to get him to agree to me meeting him tomorrow at 11am. If you leave now, you could get a flight which would get you here in time…"
Jeff gasped at that; it had been bad enough when he thought that Nick was just going to tell Ethan, but no, he was now telling him to fly across tonight so that he could go with his husband in the morning. Drew would not want that, of that he was certain, at least not without warning. He wanted to get up, to protest and stop it before it was too late, but his voice wouldn't come, and he was rooted to the spot. And now Nick was telling Ethan to let him know which flight he was going to be on, and it was too late to prevent it. If he told his husband that he had lost the address, and could not recall it, then he and Ethan would never forgive him; if he let them go, then Drew would do so instead. It was a Catch 22 situation…
Then Nick was off the phone, and walking back over. Jeff fixed him with a glare, and Nick spoke quietly. "I deserve that look, but we both know that Drew is suffering at her hands. We both know that there is no way that I could ever persuade him to leave her though; Ethan is the only one that could ever possibly achieve that. Yes, Drew might hate us both for this, and never speak to us again, but he is here. Could you really have returned to the West Village, having said nothing, and lived virtually next door to Ethan again, knowing what we did?"
"No, I probably couldn't have, but it doesn't stop me feeling like I have betrayed Drew's trust…"
"Actually, if anyone did that, then it was me, not you. I will tell him that. Hopefully though it will not be necessary; hopefully he will come to his senses and escape whilst he can…"
Miles away in Manhattan, Ethan was sat at his desk in shock. This was the moment that he had been waiting for; this was that call to action. He might have been shocked, but even as he had still been talking to Nick, he had pulled the airline website up on his computer, and had been searching for a flight that night, regardless of cost; one that got him there in good time, and with an open return date. He managed to get a seat on the 19.25 BA flight, which would have him in Kensington in plenty of time.
The moment it was booked, he gathered up his things, and left the office, telling them he had a family emergency. He ran down to the street, hailed a cab and was soon heading home. The driver was only too happy to wait for him in the West Village whilst he packed an overnight bag. His passport safely in his pocket, he was soon off again, grateful again for the fact that he had expedited clearance at security through the special program. He had so little time, and the roads were busy as always en route to JFK. He made a quick call to Beats, telling him he had been called away, and asking him to keep an eye on his house. He did not tell him where he was going and his friend did not ask. That at least saved him from having to lie…
By the time that Ethan confirmed the flight that he would be travelling on and its arrival time to Nick, it was after 11pm in London; he sent the message just after he had passed through security. Nick was alone in the kitchen when the message came, baking; Jeff had retired to bed early, claiming that he had a headache. For the first time in his marriage, Nick knew that Jeff was telling him a lie, and was just not able to face him as he dealt with all that had transpired that day. Nonetheless, he had no second thoughts about what he had done; it was what needed to be done after all. This might be the only chance that they would ever have after all to get Drew to see sense and leave the abusive woman that had tricked him into marriage. Yes, he could have tried to persuade him of that himself, that much was true, but Ethan would be a much better choice for the task. The arrival of the message confirmed that it was now too late anyway to change things. Ethan was on his way, and his flight would touch down at Terminal 5 at Heathrow the following morning around 7.30am…
It was then that Nick felt that familiar draught, and he waited for the voice to come; when it did not, he sighed, and said, "Okay Wes, tell me off. Tell me how I have just ruined everything, and the consequences of my actions will be the end of civilisation as we know it."
"That is a little extreme, and in any case, I did not come to tell you off; I cam to congratulate you on doing the right thing in the circumstances."
"Jeff doesn't think it was," said Nick with a sigh. "He can't even look at me just now, Wes, and that darn well breaks my heart." He sniffed, and felt tears starting to form.
On seeing that, Wes came over and wrapped an arm around him. "He is upset, but he will forgive you for it when it all ends well, and it will. You have to trust me on this one. The simple fact is that, sometimes, you have to break a promise if it will make tings better for everyone concerned. Ethan coming here will do that…"
Upstairs Jeff had been lying awake, allowing his tears to fall. He hated falling out with Nick over anything, but he had made him into a liar, a betrayer of trusts. He would never be able to look Drew in the face again after this…
"And why ever not?" came a voice, which made Jeff jump. He looked up to see Kurt standing at the end of the bed, his arms folded across his chest, and his stern face in evidence. "Do you think that Drew should stay with that woman? That he should continue in his quest to heal her, when after all of these years his ribs are obvious proof that she had not changed one iota?"
"No, of course I don't," said Jeff. "That does not alter the fact that I told Drew that Nick would want to see him; I didn't say that I would go home, call New York, and get Ethan to fly over!"
Kurt shook his head, then sat on the bed next to Jeff. "I think that given the choice between seeing Nick and Ethan, Drew would choose the latter. Do you remember how you felt when you thought that Nick was going off to Harvard, and you would never see him again? Just the idea of that destroyed you. Drew hasn't seen his best friend for years. Imagine that you had been separated from Nick for all that time, and suddenly, there he was at your door…"
"This isn't as simple as that. Ethan knows what has been going on; what Drew has allowed her to do to him. He will be embarrassed for a start…"
"Oh, at first he will be, but then he will find such hope in the fact that Ethan was prepared to drop everything and fly here to see him. It will prove to him that he still has friends, and that he has somewhere safe to run to."
"I guess," said Jeff quietly. "It doesn't stop me feeling guilty though."
"But you don't hate Nick for doing what he did?"
"Never; I love Nicky with all of my heart. I will forgive him, as long as everything goes alright…"
Ethan had made it to the airport with very little time, and ended up being the last person to board the plane in business class. He had with him just a small carry on bag, but he had requested checked bags on his return journey; if Drew agreed to come back with him, then it would give his friend extra room to bring his belongings with him. He still wasn't sure though that he would be returning with company. Drew could be so stubborn sometimes, and he had chosen to remain with that woman, his wife, for so long now. He had no idea what he could possibly say to definitely change his mind, if he was being honest…
He sat in silence as the flight took off, then picked at the in-flight meal, his appetite suppressed by stress. That fact was noticed by one of the crew, a motherly lady, who came over and asked him if he was feeling alright. He told her that he was, and faked a smile, but he knew it wasn't true, and deep down, so did she… Maybe all of this was a massive mistake…
"It's not." Ethan nearly leapt out of his skin at the sound of Blaine's voice. He looked around, unable to see him, until he turned his head up to the roof of the cabin, and he saw him floating there. "This is not the easiest of places to get to, you know, and this is quite hard to achieve. Okay, so this is not a mistake. It is all meant to happen. You just need to be prepared for a long and trying day tomorrow. It will be difficult to get through, but worth it in the end."
Ethan nodded, and then Blaine was gone. His words had helped, but they had not answered the ultimate question; what on earth did he say?
The following morning saw Nick out of bed earlier than he would have been on a normal Saturday. Ethan had told him that he would make his own way from the airport to South Kensington via the tube, and had asked that either Nick or Jeff met him at the station. Nick had been late to his bed the night before, having spent some time in the kitchen, using his normal mechanism for coping with stress. Normally the smell of the baking cakes and cookies from the kitchen would have brought his husband to the room, but last night there had been no sign of Jeff; by the time that Nick himself had headed up to bed, Jeff had been sound asleep. It had broken Nick's heart to see that he had his back turned to Nick's side of the bed, and that his faced was marked with tear tracks. That sight had been enough to set Nick crying too, as they had never gone to bed without having resolved any disagreement or squabble first…
Now in the pale light of dawn, Nick noticed that his husband was absent, and that his side of the bed felt cool; he sighed, but blinked back the tears that were threatening to form. He and Jeff would make up, and everything would be fine… He got up, and headed downstairs to the kitchen, looking in on his sleeping son on the way; Wes was the reason that he and Jeff had to be okay. Walking into the kitchen, he saw Jeff sitting there, waiting for him. "I'm sorry…" they both said at the same time, which made Nick giggle, and that set his husband laughing too. He sat down at the blond's side, and spoke once his laughter had finally died down. "I'm the one that should be saying sorry here," he began, holding up his hand to stop Jeff breaking in. "I should have told you what I was about to do beforehand, so that we could discuss the pros and cons like we always do. It was just that time was short if Ethan was to catch a flight…"
"I know that is true, and I am sorry too. Kurt came to see me, and like always, he talked a lot of sense. Drew would always rather have Ethan than either of us, and if we are going to get him safe, he is the one that needed to be here to do it," Jeff replied.
"Kurt, eh? I had Wes. He told me that I had done the right thing, but to be honest, I am still not sure if it is."
"It is done now, all of it, and we just have to hope that our angels have called it right. I am also sorry that I acted like a complete crosspatch last night, and that I was so unkind to you, Nicky. I love you so much, and I hate it when we argue…"
"Me too," said Nick, as he took Jeff's hand with a smile. "As you say though, that is all in the past now. We need to move on past it, and a good place to start would be with breakfast."
"Yeah - French Toast with some of those nice peppery sausages," said Jeff, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Okay, I will make a start on that if you want to go and wake Wes up. It's early, but he does love his French Toast, and he will want to see his Uncle Ethan too." Jeff nodded, then kissed his husband with a degree of passion that they usually kept for the bedroom. With a wink, he left, and a happier Nick headed to fetch the eggs, bread and Cumberland sausages.
Ethan's flight arrived in London early, which was no bad thing. He had forced himself to eat his breakfast on the plane, conscious that the same member of cabin crew that had asked him if he was alright the night before was watching him, and the fact that he ate seemed to mollify her. As was usual, he was given priority at security, but unlike back in February, he did not head to the lounge to freshen up; instead he collected himself, and using the Oyster card he had picked up then, and kept in his wallet since, he headed into the tube station below the terminal to make his onward trip to South Kensington, pausing only to text Nick to say that he had arrived, so that he could work out when he would need to arrive at the station to meet him at the barriers. Unlike the fast train he had taken the last time, the Piccadilly line was fairly slow, giving Ethan time to think as it headed through the sprawl of suburbia towards the centre of the metropolis. Despite his visit from Blaine, he still had his doubts, and much as he tried to dismiss them, they kept returning to haunt him.
In the end he tried a spot of people watching instead, trying to find something in the people around him that would cheer his heart. He saw people in love, people with a friend or engaged in a messaging marathon. There were people of all ages, creeds and colours, all moving in the same direction, impacting on others whether they liked it or not; all connected by this one trip, just as he would always be bonded to Drew by the bonds of school…
He was so deep in thought that he almost missed his stop, and barely made it through the doors, before heading off to join the other people heading up to the street. He was glad to see Nick at the barriers, and the hug that he received from him there on the busy concourse was most welcome. Nick insisted on taking his bag, and they walked along the streets from the station side by side. They were lined with grand Victorian houses, now more or less all divided into flats, and soon they reached Thurloe Square. Ethan had to admit that it was the most wonderful setting, and that the house they had rented was a good substitute for the one in the West Village. The moment that they stepped through the door there was the sound of small feet running on the woodblock floor, and then little Wes was throwing himself at his Uncle Ethan. Nick smiled as he set down his friend's bag, taking off his coat as his husband appeared, a small smile on his face. All was happiness right now, but soon they would need to discuss the reason why their visitor was there; and then the time for the pivotal meeting would be upon them…
With little Wes chattering away, anxious to tell his Uncle Ethan about all the strange things he had seen in London, and the fact that they drove on the wrong side of the road, and how exciting double decker buses were, there was very little time for the three men to dwell on matters. The young boy's incessant chatter helped to lighten the mood; to make what might have been a very tense and difficult situation into a tolerable one. However, Ethan could see that Jeff was not 100% happy, and eventually he asked if his friend could show him up to his room, so that he could sort out a few things in his bag. Once upstairs, he closed the door behind them, and spoke. "Okay, so you aren't so sure that I should be here, are you? I got that impression from Nick, although he said nothing; he just seemed a little subdued as we came here. If I am being honest, I am not entirely convinced I should be here either…"
"I just feel like I have betrayed Drew," said Jeff quietly. "I asked him to make time to see Nicky, and this… well, he might not be ready or able to see you. He isn't the Drew that we all knew in all honesty; he is drawn, in pain, and miserable. I don't want him getting even more hurt, physically or emotionally, and both of those are things that will potentially happen now. Then there is the simple fact that he might still feel determined to fix her. I mean, what happens if he refuses to accept your help? You end up as shattered as he is, and that will be my fault…"
"For a start, if he does still insist on staying with her, then so be it. It will hurt, but no more than it has hurt me every day since she took him away from us. At least I will know that he is alive; I have had nightmares in which he has died, and we never find out until years later. Even knowing you saw him made me feel so happy… Whatever happens today, I am glad that you met him; that you found him for me. At least now, if he does tell me to go, and still feels the same, I can say goodbye…"
"I hope that it doesn't turn out like that," replied Jeff, stepping forward to hug his friend, a gesture that was gratefully returned.
Jeff headed away after that, leaving Ethan alone to get ready. He washed up, shaved quickly and combed his hair; he could do little else as time was marching on. He changed into fresh clothes, smart but casual, making sure to transfer the contents of his pockets into the new garments, and to have all his documents to hand. He also added a last minute item to the lapel of his jacket; his Warbler pin. After a glance in the mirror he headed downstairs, to find Nick waiting for him, dressed in a similar fashion. Without a word, the two of them set out, to head across town to the street of neat villas that Drew had ended up in, by accident or design. It was a short walk, but so much was riding upon what happened at their destination…