It was after breakfast at the Huntzberger house. A breakfast that had few indulgent flavors and textures, unlike most mornings, and stuck to basics - Weetabix and yogurt.
"Sorry, we're late," Rory said, apologetically, sliding open the porch door.
Corinne and Rory arrived with their coffee cups at hand, having not bothered actual food.
They'd all gotten back pretty late, and considering many of the kids had been at least a little hung over, and every single one of them tired from the action, they'd just gone to bed. After Rory had explained her own police encounter, that is. It hadn't really been terribly fun like getting arrested stealing a fun yacht or anything, but rather an example of the lengths Rory had once desperately gone to get a story, having been caught trespassing at an industrial facility once. She'd actually gotten blamed for corporate espionage, but thankfully had only gotten a small slap on the wrist for the actual trespassing in the form of some community service. It hadn't been her proudest moment, considering the adventure hadn't even gotten her the story she'd wanted. But in that moment sharing that story, on the drive home, it had dispersed the awkwardness.
Logan had even asked her quietly before departing for the evening whether that was her big secret. Rory had reluctantly only shaken her head as a response, but was able to joke a little about being a felon.
Logan had returned the banter by suggesting that had he known, he would've thrown her a 'jolly good felon' party like they tended to do for their friends in college. Even in the midst of teen drama Logan managed to make her laugh.
"Good morning," Logan said, happy to see her. In a few words, texting, he and Rory had agreed last night to talk to the kids all at once, knowing their stories were likely linked.
Arriving at Logan's with Corinne in tow, ready to listen and talk, felt surprisingly comfortable. The place seemed irrelevant, but in a way, they did feel like a family already, even if she was reluctant to admit it. There was some awkwardness between Logan and Rory too, as the situation they'd been pulled from their own private dinner into parenting mode, having caused it. But for the moment other things seemed to take a priority
"Okay, everyone - take a seat," Logan suggested, automatically switching on the meeting leader role he was used to but in a much different setting.
The guys seemed to find this a little funny, as this was certainly a first – getting a serious talk from their father besides announcements and decisions like moving. But then again, they'd never really been in this much trouble before. Not in a way that Logan had actually considered as serious offenses at least.
"This isn't funny, guys," Logan pointed out, not appreciating their lack of seriousness.
The guys tried to make a straighter face, but Rory could tell from her experience with high schoolers how this was likely just a defensive maneuver on their part. When things got serious, it was easier to just joke than own it, and it especially showed on Theo.
"Okay, how about you guys just fill in the blanks. Tell us what happened. Chronological order if possible so that we have all the facts before we say anything else," Rory suggested, taking charge in another way.
This made Logan feel oddly like a team with Rory, not that he hadn't before, but this was in terms of parenting. Their kids were in trouble, all on their own level, even Corinne having smelled a little of alcohol. Rory couldn't say she was very surprised, but then again, she'd vowed to herself not to nag her about the little things, her safety and the future of Logan's kids taking priority.
"This guy was pushing around Theo and I stepped in, alright?" Liam exclaimed.
"Yes, but what happened before that?" Logan insisted on the chronological order.
"The guy's a jerk," Theo said. "He was asking for trouble… I just told him to get lost and he started pushing me around. He was way more drunk than I was," he added.
Logan rolled his eyes, beginning to realize how flawed his thinking truly had been about allowing his kids to drink so freely. Sure, he'd been the same in their age, but the way they reasoned, the way they justified their behavior was just so juvenile it was evident there was a reason why these things weren't widely accepted.
"Elaborate, please," Rory insisted slipping a little into her teacher voice,. She wasn't sure if it really was her place to question Theo like that and she shot a look at Logan who nodded in agreement. That was what he wanted to know as well.
"I didn't like the way he was… with Cor," Theo confessed.
"Oh god," Corinne groaned, hiding her face. It was evident she really didn't feel like being at that table. "Thanks a lot, Theo," she hissed at the boy.
"Well, what way was he?" Rory demanded from Corinne, ignoring the fact that this might be a little uncomfortable to talk about. But there was one principle she always abided by at her job - if one was brave enough to do it, one should be brave enough to talk about it.
Corinne's hands went around her waist, clutching her stomach defensively, and her mouth changed into a pout, refusing to speak.
"Well?" Rory insisted from the boys.
"Dad!" Theo objected, wordlessly saying something along the lines of 'who is she to force me to say anything'.
"Well?" Logan just repeated, causing Theo to groan audibly.
"They were making out and he was getting handsy, okay?" Liam said, ripping the band aid off.
"Wait-wait, who is it that we're talking about in the first place? And how old is he?" error bells ringed in Rory's mind, and she focused on the less relevant part of the story. Or well… to her they were relevant, even if it was clear to everyone in the room that Corinne was acting older than her age as it was, and wasn't likely that she had just been the innocent party at this.
"Yeah, why wasn't he arrested if he was the one who started this?" Logan shot back.
"I think his name was Zach or something," Liam said, getting a nasty look from Corinne's direction. But clearly, he didn't care as long as it got him out of this situation faster.
"And how old?" Rory demanded from her daughter, mostly just wanting to make sure this wasn't some adult, taking advantage of her daughter, despite knowing damn well herself that Corinne could be too brave for her own good sometimes.
"He goes to high school. I wasn't exactly asking him to fill in a survey. He was just nice," Corinne shot back, reluctantly.
"Yeah, if you think him being an asshole to almost everyone at the party defines him as nice," Theo complained, mockingly.
"Yeah, I think there was some issue with him earlier in the night. Some girls were pissed at him but I am not sure why," Liam shared.
Rory would've loved to find out how her daughter had good judgment when it came to guys, but clearly there was a way to go in that regard with the coolness factor still taking precedence. But how was one exactly supposed to learn if not from life? Not everyone lived in books and movies like she had through her childhood. It was not like besides school and preschool, she'd had a lot of other kids around the Independence Inn.
Rory frowned, but didn't say much, knowing that a talk concerning how a guy was supposed to treat a girl, was due another time. In this context it was likely not going to be heard anyways.
"Okay, so you didn't like the sight of what was going on and you intervened?" Logan asked Theo, after observing Rory for a second, wondering whether she wanted to add something else.
"Kind of," Theo replied.
"He was just butting his nose where it didn't belong," Corinne replied.
"Well - if the guy was a jerk like they said, I for one am frankly glad he did," Rory butted in.
"Why is everyone against me?" Corinne threw her hands up in the air, desperately craving to walk out and slam some doors.
"We're not against you," Logan said calmly, being able to say that just in the right tone, guessing that Rory currently couldn't.
"And then Theo and this guy argued, and I saw from afar how he shoved Theo, pushing him against the wall," Liam explained, referring to his brother.
"And then you hit him?" Logan asked his eldest.
"I guess, the hit just came out of nowhere," Liam rubbed his face as he said that.
"There were some buddies of his too," Corinne added.
"Right," Logan exhaled, getting the gist of the events.
"You just had to butt in you know and get yourself into this whole mess, didn't you?!" Corinne exclaimed suddenly, aiming her anger towards Theo.
"I'm sorry, if all I was trying to do was protect you," Theo replied, sounding equally pissed at her.
"What is it to you?! You've made yourself perfectly clear about me so why ruin my life in the process?" Corinne shouted at him. This was a conversation best had in private, but clearly many feelings had surfaced and were just boiling over. Maybe part of Corinne had been intentionally effusive with public affection, wanting to make Theo jealous? Even if she had not, it had at the very least woken a protective side in him.
This made Logan proud of his son, both of his sons to be real, but he also knew that things between Corinne and Theo were far from simple. They were comfortable around each other, they probably even cared about each other, but if Theo was the way that he was - it was an unsolvable situation, one where Corinne could never really feel wanted the way she wished to be.
Theo refused to reply, simply shaking his head, while tightening his lips. He was clearly angry, both at himself, for the way that he was, and for Corinne. Maybe Corinne was just too emotionally immature to fully understand him and all this time they'd spent together; it had been about her fooling herself by the possibility of 'what if'.
"Okay, I think I understand now," Logan exhaled, finally sitting down.
Rory was quiet, not feeling like talking.
"But why the fuck did you have drugs on you? And where did you get them?" Logan asked, trying his hardest to continue to stay calm, but the use of the choice expletive betrayed him. He was angry. Angry and disappointed.
"I found it," Theo replied.
"You've seriously got to do better…," Logan began, squinting his eyes. Even if he had found it, Logan was already getting ready to give him a whole other talk on the danger of using uncontrolled, possibly spiked, drugs.
"I found it in your pocket. It just fell out the other day as I was taking out the laundry," Theo shouted back at him.
"What?" Logan reacted, having not expected this to come back at him.
But it was then that it hit him - he had gotten a joint from that old buddy of his. So, in a way it had been his fault his son had had access.
"Ah, crap! Is that true? You really found it?" Logan reflected, calming down.
"Yeah," Theo replied.
"I'm sorry… I forgot about it,"
"But still, you were clearly thinking of using it," Rory pointed out.
"I wasn't planning on it," Theo replied, getting annoyed at the confrontation.
It was clear the adults wanted more explanation than that, and their faces showed it.
"It just seemed like the cool thing to have, to bring," Theo confessed, honestly, shrugging his shoulders, trying to make it sound like no big deal.
That Logan actually kind of got, thinking back to his earlier days. And with Theo everything seemed to be about fitting in and finding his place amongst friends - the boy craved it.
"Still, it's enough to get you in trouble," Logan said, a little weaker than he wished he had.
"Did you even know what the penalty for something like that was before you risked it?" Rory said, trying to offer another side of this for all the kids to try to see.
"Well, it's the same with alcohol, isn't it? But we all know how ridiculous these laws are here," Theo argued, trying to sound mature and worldly about it.
Logan turned around and walked around the room, shaking his head. It had been a matter of time his relaxed rules would come and bite him in the ass, hadn't it?
"Drugs are more complicated than that," Rory butted in, thinking about a teacher training session on drugs that she'd went through once. She wasn't sure it was the reason why Logan was upset with his son, but her mind did go there. In some cases, drugs triggered mental health issues, and while Odette was not related to Theo, Logan could now see a connection that he perhaps wouldn't have thought of before now. And Rory knew from her training that young boys were especially vulnerable for those chemical imbalances triggered by drugs.
"Nobody gets addicted from smoking one joint!" Theo argued.
"You don't know that!" Logan argued.
"You should know, Dad!" Liam said, pointing out the hypocrisy, knowing a little of his father's former habit to party with Odette.
"Yes, I've made mistakes. I know that! We all know that," Logan defended himself. Corinne was the one who knew the least about this, but it seemed all of their business had become everyone's business in a way.
"Why is it okay for you to…," Theo began, but Logan stopped him right there.
"It was not okay of me to do that. Not when I had you guys at home and responsibilities. And I have apologized for it, I have," Logan said, adding "But it's not me who did anything wrong here!"
"Except leaving a joint in your pocket," Liam teased him, causing Theo to laugh.
Logan shot an angry look towards his sons, calling for them to pull back.
"Yes, but it was not something I was saving for later or intentionally left lying around. I forgot I had it. It was my mistake that you were able to stumble upon it, sure. But if in the future you find something like that, what you do is tell a grown up, okay? And I don't mean Liam," Logan lectured, eventually seeing the flaw in his speech.
"And I guess all of you don't think this was really serious… I mean it ended up being just a fine. But it could've been serious. That guy, Zeke or Zack, or whatever his name was… he could've hit his head against the wall or one of you could get a punch in the wrong place and this could've become not only a fine but manslaughter charges," Rory added.
"And you're going to pay that fine yourself, Theo!" Logan said, unsure where that had just come from.
"What?" Theo burst into laughter.
Logan hadn't quite thought it through, and it was evident in almost everyone's faces too, as they studied him. Was he serious?
"You'll just have to get a job!" Logan confirmed, wondering whether this was close to being a good parent yet. Logan wouldn't have missed the 500-something bucks the fine was, and he realized that if Theo would struggle with actually finding work, surely he could work something out with one of his connections. It was not like every job these days involved flipping burgers, but instead could be a job about providing customer support chat or data entry. Certainly, this approach was better than just letting him forget about it.
At that Logan saw Rory smile at him, and he could tell she was proud of him. It was something seemingly so insignificant, it was hardly a harsh punishment considering the size of the amount too… but still, it was a step.
Rory was not only proud of the way Logan had handled this, but also how they'd handled this, without discussing it, having functioned as a family of sorts. Effortlessly, seamlessly, organically.