Broken Bonds
AKA He Left
Alex was twelve when he came home from summer camp and found out that his dad no longer lived there. June was at dance practice, so she didn't have the chance to give him a heads up. His mom didn't mention it on the two-hour car ride home. His mom was positive and upbeat, rapid-firing question after question at him about everything he had done all summer.
Here's the thing, there were six parent days throughout the summer where the parents could come and spend the day. His mom came to the first one and left after forty-five minutes. Something had come up for her job and she needed to head back to Austin.
Evan's had driven June out to see him once, since Evan's kid sister was at the same camp.
However Oscar had come three times to visit and they'd had the best time. Rock climbing, sailing, canoeing, hiking, fishing. One time it was even hot enough and Oscar went swimming with them in the lake.
Oscar never mentioned him leaving the family home.
When Alex had discovered that his father had packed his bags and moved away, Alex slammed his door. He knew they had been fighting a lot and June had done her best to try and shield him from it, but he wasn't stupid. He could hear the screaming and he had heard enough to know that it usually coincided with something he had done wrong.
June had come home from dance practice, not bothering to change and come straight up to Alex's room. Alex had refused to let her in, at first. He conceded and he let her in, only in hope that his older sister had the answers he desperately sought.
They spoke for over an hour. She was honest and told him that Oscar had taken her to the mall and bought her a new outfit and taken her for ice cream, before telling her of the divorce. June confided in Alex that she had been blindsided. That they usually worked out their fights. Oscar had told her that this time they couldn't work it out.
"When you're older, you'll understand." Was what June would always say, when he would ask his older sister why their parents were no longer together.
She never did tell him why they separated.
No one ever told him why.
However, that didn't matter. Alex was smart and he figured it out on his own. It was late about a month after he had returned from camp and he had gotten out of bed and headed downstairs for a glass of water. He paused midway down the stairs when he heard his mother laugh. It was a laugh that he had never heard before. Then he heard a low rumbling voice of a man who was not his father, quickly followed by a sharp "Leo."
That had been enough evidence in Alex's mind and he had abandoned the idea of getting some water. He had not spoken to his mother since he had come home from camp and June was no longer giving her the silent treatment. She was just downright hostile to their mom.
Oscar finally called the house to talk to Alex. Alex hung up the phone, refusing to talk to his father too. Oscar had taken June out for a special day, given her a treat and told her to her face he was leaving. To Alex, he just left. No note, nothing. Just a broken heart and home.
Right then and there, Alex vowed that if he ever fell in love; it was going to be for keeps.
The following year was tense. June moved to California to be with their dad, leaving Alex alone with their mom. Oscar tried and persisted with Alex and Alex felt it was June pushing him to keep trying. She was begging him to forgive their dad, but in his eyes what their father had done was inexcusable.
Not that their mother was any better. She was always around that Leo character and he was at their house so often that Alex told June she had moved him under their noses and June had not believed her. Not until June had come for a visit and she had seen for himself that Leo, did indeed, live there.
Quickly, she had ushered Alex out of the house in anger. They strolled down the street towards the arcade. Alex loved the arcade, and she had wanted to cheer him up. As soon as Alex had realised where they were headed, he became cagey and stopped walking. He was begging June not to make him go. But she wanted to see Evan who worked there. What she hadn't banked on, when she walked in was Ethan, Samuel, Nathan and Johnny bullying Alex because his dad 'had skipped out'.
June was livid and had told them off in no uncertain terms. Nathan was Evan's kid brother and honestly, she thought he would have known better. She followed Alex back to the house and they snuck through the side gate and up into their treehouse.
Once they were up in the treehouse, June hugged and held Alex to her chest and let him cry. She hadn't known how bad Alex had it here. How the children were bullying him. She had heard the nasty things those boys were saying. Things like it was his fault his dad left. That he was too much. That his father didn't love him because he left.
That last one, she knew Alex believed.
Alex and Oscar had not made up. Oscar had tried exactly one time to explain why he left without a word, and one time only. After that he had not bothered. It was a sore point between him and June. Especially because June was privy to knowing Alex felt like his father did not love him. June had tried to tell him he was being silly, however, the evidence Alex had to support his arguments was compelling. June had to admit, from Alex's point of view, it made sense.
They sat in that tree house for a long time. The street lights were coming on and they knew that was their mom's curfew time for them, so they headed in through the back door.
"Have you thought any further about coming out to San Diego for a stay with Dad?" June asked him when they were watching TV after a dinner of pizza later that same night. "You don't even have to talk to dad, just come back with me and we can hang out. Give yourself a break from Austin and those nasty boys."
"Maybe." Alex sighed, as he picked at the skin around his pinky nail. It was a new habit he had picked up since June had moved across the country. No one had mentioned it or even commented on it.
June gave him a disapproving look.
"Stop picking at your goddamn fingers, Alex." June huffed, stilling his actions with the palm of her hand covering his.
June always was the only one who cared about him. She was the only one he could count on. But even then, June had her limits too.
Alex was no stranger to the turn of phrase about 'being too much'. Talking too much had been how Alex had been described, by every adult that had ever met him since he first discovered he had a voice.
He often wondered to himself if there was something innately wrong with him. Like perhaps, there was some kind of genetic marker that made it impossible for him to be liked. To be loved. To feel like he was loved.
He had never felt loved before.
His parents were supposed to love him, and he supposed that they did, in their own way. But he never felt it.
June loved him, in fact she was the only person who had ever told him that she did. But even then, Alex never felt it. June always tried her best to comfort him and help him. But even she had her limits. She moved to California to get away from him.
His friends - well, they were far and few between these days. Some stayed for a week, if he was lucky. But most left after a couple of days. Comments like 'being too much' or 'talking too much'.
Alex had tried being quiet, he really had. However it was a struggle. There was always this insatiable need to fill the silence.
Alex decided to give California a go. Worst case, it was the pits and he pretended he never went there. His mom seemed pleased to be getting rid of him and when he pressed her, she admitted she needed a break from him. Seeing his heartbroken face, she had tried to backpedal, but the damage was done. He flinched away from her and went through security at the airport without so much as a backwards glance at her.
June had flown on ahead. Their father had booked her return ticket when he had booked her ticket to Austin. Alex was flying as an unaccompanied minor and as such, he would need to be seated next to an air marshall.
When he landed in San Diego, the plan was for their father to meet him at the gate, only there was no Oscar Diaz. There was a woman named Camila and his sister June. Turned out that Camila was the neighbour and apparently, his father had found something more important to do than collect him from the airport.
Camila was kind, and she spoke with such awe. She had seemed genuinely excited to meet him and Alex thought he had felt something. She had asked him about his flight and Alex had gone into excruciating detail. Camila had seemed as if she was listening to him, only to turn away and utter those dreadful words to June. "He really does talk too much."
Alex winced from his spot on the back seat and sank into the chair. He tried to make himself small and preferably invisible. Two things stuck out in Alex's mind. One, they had definitely discussed him at one point. Two, he had yet more confirmation that his father had moved out here to get away from him.
When Camila pulled up in her driveway, June had politely thanked her and Alex had mumbled a thanks. When she looked closer at him, she asked him if he was ok. "Long flight." Was all Alex said.
He heard June cover for him, once again, telling Camila that he was always like that after a long flight. That was June, always covering his ass. He just wished he could stop people from always resorting to hating him so quickly.
"You're here." Oscar declared excitedly, when they stepped into the apartment. His words may have been for him, but their father's eyes were on June. Oscar may have only just walked in the door, but in Alex's fourteen year old mind, Oscar just hadn't wanted to collect him.
It had brought back all the old feelings he had of feeling rejected. Like he wasn't good enough.
He would never be good enough.
If he was good enough, their dad wouldn't have left without a word.
"Sorry Mijo," Oscar sighed, looking around. The apartment was a small three bedroom. One for their dad, one for June done up in pale pink and mint green and one for his office. "A foldout sofa is all I have for you, right now."
Alex wasn't even surprised.
"'T's fine."
June gave him the short tour while Oscar prepared dinner for the three of them.
After dinner, Alex told them both he was tired and retreated to the office where the fold out sofa was. He didn't even bother pulling it out. He just grabbed the pillow and made himself a bed on the small couch. As soon as they were both asleep for the night, he would be gone.
He wasn't going to stay where he wasn't wanted.
His dad sent June to bed at ten, Alex had already been holed up in his makeshift bed for half an hour when he heard his father send his sister to bed. She did whatever it was that she did before bed that took her almost another thirty minutes before there was no longer any noise coming from June's side of the wall. He kept an eager ear out for his father's movements but nodded off before his father went to bed.
When Alex woke, it was still dark outside and the sounds of his father snoring were reverberating against the walls of the small apartment. Sitting up and groaning, Alex stretched and looked at the clock, it was just after three. He stumbled his way out of bed, in search of some water. In the kitchen, he snagged a bottle of water from the refrigerator and looked through the pantry for something to eat. It seemed that in spite of the anger still swirling around his stomach, his appetite had returned in full force.
He saw the protein bars that his father had always religiously eaten after his workouts and snagged one, before thinking again and snagging a second one. Once he had hastily retreated to his father's office and the uncomfortable pull out bed that awaited him, Alex made a split second decision. He hastily gathered his belongings. Not wanting to wake anyone up with the bathroom light being on, he decided he could live without his toothbrush and cinnamon flavoured toothpaste. Once he was fully packed, he threw on his warmest hoodie and slung his bag over his shoulder. A quick pit stop in the kitchen for another bottle of water and he was retrieving his coat before slipping out of the door.
Once he had made it out of the building, he pulled his coat tighter around his body to ward off the biting chill of the early morning air. Without a direction in mind, Alex aimlessly wandered around, before finding himself in the city. From there he was glad he had packed every dime he owned, as well as his own bank card when he left Austin. His mother had told him it wasn't necessary, but his instincts had been telling him something very different.
He managed to find a bus that was heading to the airport and boarded it. He prayed he would get someone at the ticket counter sympathetic to his plight and help him out. Otherwise he would just have to find an internet cafe and purchase a greyhound bus pass, one way. San Diego to Austin.
When he approached the airline's ticketing desk, he had scanned and watched the desk to see who would be the least suspicious of him. He had decided that the older woman with the name Shiela, printed on her gold tag would be the easiest to convince. His other option was a twenty-something year old man named Damien with facial piercings and a neck tattoo that said 'eat the rich'.
He wound up in front of Damien. Damien was the one with the neck tattoo. Whilst Alex didn't necessarily like the appeal of the tattoo, he definitely loved the message. Eat the Rich.
Luck was not on his side.
"What do ya need?" Damien asked, he looked bored and uncaring. Alex felt a swirl of optimism start to churn in his stomach.
"Change the date of my return ticket." Alex replied, trying to deepen his voice to make him sound older, but all that did was make it crackle.
Damien scanned the desk, before scrutinising Alex. With his colleague distracted, he peered down at Alex. "You gotta parent on the other end?"
Alex felt a glimmer of hope. "Mom." He grinned at Damien.
"Alright man, I hear ya." Damien whispered, winking at Alex. He typed a series of commands into the computer and when he looked up, he handed Alex a new ticket. "My dad's a deadbeat too. Just make sure ya take care of ya momma."
Alex thanked him before making his way through security. Next, he needed some coffee because he was still tired and he really needed to stay awake. There he purchased a coffee and a red bull. Under the analysing gaze of the barista, Alex quickly lied and said the coffee was for his mom.
The barista didn't believe him, but made the coffee anyway because Alex had given her a generous tip. He took his coffee and his redbull and went and sat by his gate waiting for the flight to be called. The bright morning sun was shining in; by the windows and Alex could have curled up like a cat and caught a nap, but they were calling his flight, so up he got. He gathered his belongings and made his way to the door. He quickly boarded and found his seat, the air hostess helping him with his bag.
He was still half expecting someone to stop him, or stop the flight. He was expecting someone to come up to him and physically haul him off the plane.
But no one did.
The wheels were up and they were in the air.
The flight was seamless and easy. Alex thought he was home free. As they touched down at Austin, Alex had never been more relieved to be home.
He already felt more at ease.
Austin was home.
He was home.
He caught the number fifteen bus from the airport into the city and from there the number thirty-six bus to Doveton street and walked six streets over the home with the white weatherboards and the god-awful yellow bricks, the front door painted in black gloss that had began to chip and the brass numbers that he and his dad installed only four summers ago.
He retrieved the key from the necklace around his neck. He wore that key like a talisman. He let it protect him and it always guided him home.
He stepped into the living room and he was surprised. His mother was home. Normally she would be at work right now.
"You're in big trouble, mister!" Ellen declared, before vehemently pulling her son into her chest and into a hug.
For the longest time in too long, his mother held him tight, as if he was cared about.
"I feel it's only fair to warn you that June and your father are on their way here." Ellen kept a controlled tone of her voice through deep calming breaths. For now, you should head to your room until I can decide how to punish you."
"Thanks mom." Alex hugged her back and Ellen could feel the relief seeping out of Alex's eyes and it stopped her mentally in her tracks and made her think.
As soon as Ellen had heard Alex was missing from Oscar's place, she knew in her heart that their son was headed back to her. Leo had managed to convince her that she should stay home from work that morning and await the arrival. Leo had called it and he had let himself into their family home just after 11am.
Oscar had panicked when he had woken at seven and checked on Alex and June and saw that Alex was missing. He had searched the apartment frantically, before waking June and checking with his neighbour to see if they had seen him.
They had not.
Oscar had wanted to call the police, but knew they could not do anything until he had been missing for twenty-four hours. He had asked June if she had seen or heard from Alex and June had quickly worried that Alex had run away. She confessed that she had all but twisted his arm to come out to visit.
Oscar had looked dumbfounded, before June had harshly explained exactly what Alex was going through. "He feels like he doesn't matter. That you don't love or care about him. Jeez Dad, you left without telling him or even leaving him a note. Of course, he's going to feel shitty about it. It's not like you or mom told him what was happening. You saw him at camp three times over the summer and you didn't even tell him you were leaving. You let him come home to an empty house. Between mom's new man and the kids in the community giving him a really hard time because you left without saying goodbye, and then to get here and tell him you didn't expect him, no wonder why he feels unloved."
He had taken June's words into consideration, but by the time he had purchased flights for him and June back to Austin, landed and made his way through the airport to Ellen's home, it was the evening and he had been stewing in his own anger all day. He was angry at Alex. That much was true. Alex should not have run off in the middle of the night, and he certainly should not have skipped the state. If he was going out, he should have at least had the courtesy to leave a note.
Most of all, he had been stewing over what June had told him. The guilt had been eating him alive. It wasn't that he didn't love Alex. Alex was his son, of course he loved him. However, between June and Alex, June was the easier child to deal with. Alex had the attention span of a goldfish. He was a messy, unorganised chaos of a child. He constantly lost things and he had uncontrollable emotional outbursts. Frankly, his departure from their family home was easier because he had not had to deal with Alex and whatever dramatic pique he was going to throw.
Oscar had wanted a clean getaway. He had needed it after the trials and tribulations of being married to Ellen Claremont. He may have still loved her, but she was far from easy to love and it had taken everything he had inside him, not to murder her.
Oscar came bursting into the house, voice booming and front door reverberating off the wall in the entryway. Oscar was like a raging bull in an antique china shop. You could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. Alex just curled himself up on his bed into a smaller ball at the sound of his father's angry arrival.
His mother had given him fair warning that his father was angry and had hinted to prepare for the man's arrival. But Alex knew no matter what he did or what he said, he would be the one with a broken heart at the end of the day. His father had always been the kind of man to blow his lid first and then maybe, and only if he felt like it, ask questions later. He was also a man of his word. He said as little as possible and frequently expected Alex to read his mind.
His mom was ruthless, his father more so. At least when it came to him. His sister however, could do no wrong. She was his favourite. That stang, but that was the way it had been his whole fucking life.
A fist banging on the door echoed through the room, before the door flung open and bounced off the door stopper. "Thank fuck!" Oscar's voice boomed. Footfalls on the staircase leading towards his bedroom meant that either June or his mom had followed him up the stairs. "Alex, what the fuck were you thinking? You can't just run off like that."
"Screw you." Alex snapped, feeling himself losing grasp of his self control. "You can't just decide you care about me when it suits you."
"Alex, is that what you think? Fuck, Mijo."
"Why the hell would I stay somewhere I am not wanted?" Alex shouted at his father. He had always argued back against his father, but never to this level. "Mom may not want me around either, but at least I am fucking welcome in her home."
"Alex." He growled.
"I see we're at your typical go to move when you know I am right." Alex taunted Oscar. "One word warnings because you know I am right."
"Alex." Oscar growled harder.
"Growling and grunting because you don't fucking dispute it." Alex spat out. "I am not fucking June, I'll never be June."
"Alex." June tried to intervene and Alex shot her the filthiest look that he had ever sent his sister's way.
"I love you June, you're my sister. But even you know it's true." Alex exclaimed, frustrated. "What kind of man tells one of his kids he's leaving and doesn't tell the other one? My whole life you've treated me like I'm nothing."
"Alex, that's enough." Oscar chastised his son, harshly.
"Oscar!" Ellen huffed from somewhere out in the hallway. "Alex is telling you how he feels the least you could do is listen."
"What do you know?" Oscar's eyes flashed red with anger at his former wife. "Our marital bed wasn't even cold when you were letting Leo into it. Did you fucking talk to Alex about it? Or just behave like a fucking harlot?"
"Well, at least I can stand here and say I love both of our children." Ellen argued.
"Yeah, you love Catalina so much she moved across the country to get the fuck away from you and your toxicity." Oscar retorted harshly. He supposed he should be relieved that his former wife hadn't reacted to him calling her a slut.
"Enough!" June snapped. "Jesus Christ, both of you. Stop it! Alex is trying to be honest and tell you both how he is feeling and you two are fighting like two sharks over a fucking baby seal."
"Sorry CJ." Oscar murmured. There was a softness and fondness in his voice that grated on Alex's raw psyche. His father had never used that tone with him. With him, every time he opened his mouth, it was gruff, or snappy, harsh, sometimes even hostile or argumentative.
"Sorry, Darlin'." Ellen's Texan twang was always stronger when her emotions were getting the better of her.
"Now listen. Even if Alex was a little shit today and scared me to death." June huffed, coming to sit beside her little brother and pull him close. "Why did you leave?"
"Wasn't gonna stay where I wasn't wanted." Alex mumbled, but Oscar had caught it.
He immediately sank into the chair at his son's desk. He felt like someone had kicked him in the guts. There was no wind in his sails.
"Do you really feel like I don't love you, Mijo?" Oscar asked in a small voice. "You're my son."
Alex shrugged and sank into June's side. He pulled his knees tighter to his chin and his voice wobbled slightly. "I …"
"Alex, Mijo." Oscar softened and Ellen took a tentative step into Alex's room.
For once, his room was tidy. Alex must have stress-cleaned his room when he had retreated upstairs because it definitely had not been that clean when she had been putting laundry away in here the night before. "It might be helpful to your father if you explain why and how long you've been feeling like this?" Ellen suggested gently.
"For as long as I can remember, I've never been good enough." Alex started and stopped. "Forget it."
"Alex." June warned him in a whisper. "You have the floor, make the most of it."
"I'm just an afterthought to both of you." Alex huffed, his anger now directed at both of them. "You should listen to the way both of you speak about our family. Y'all gush about June and her achievements and never mention me, like whatever I do doesn't matter. Then when you do mention me, it's always my behaviour or whatever the fuck I have done wrong, or how I am disappointing you. The first thing that Camila said to me in San Diego was actually to June and it was 'he really does talk too much'. And you mom, the first time I saw Leo was the morning after he stayed over and rather than say hello, he asked me who the hell I was. When I said I was your son, he replied he didn't realise you had a son. You had only mentioned June to him."
Oscar and Ellen looked increasingly guilty, trading looks and harsh glares with one another.
"I'm only asking to be treated with the same respect June gets." Alex sighed. "I am not even asking you to love me the same way. I know I am alot and I am too much for people. I know I am not what or who you wanted for a son, but I am your fucking child too."
Alex's eyes were stinging. He didn't want to cry. He wanted to get through this without letting his tears cloud his words.
"I am, right?" Alex's heart had dropped when no one had rushed to answer him. His stomach sank and his body was now full of fear. What if he wasn't really their child? Was he adopted? It would explain the difference between him and June.
"You're our son, Mijo." Oscar finally replied. "And we love you. It's just …"
Oscar trailed off and Alex felt his heart shatter.
"I think it's best if you all leave." Alex informed them.
"Alex?" June begged.
"Now." Alex was firm in his words, looking pointedly at June as well.
He wanted to cry. He needed to cry. He wanted to fall apart and he wanted to do it in the privacy of his own bedroom.
Alone.
Downstairs, Ellen and Oscar turned and snapped "What the fuck?" At each other and June intervened before it could escalate again.
"Enough!" Her tone was cold and unforgivable. "Right now, you both should be focusing on Alex. He clearly needs help, right?"
"We love him, Junebug, we really do. It's just that …"
"I don't want to hear your excuses."
"June," Her mother tried. "You have to understand …"
"I cannot believe the two of you." June spat out in anger. "You two can't agree on anything. Except when it comes down to a basic biological instinct of loving your child, you both make excuses. You need to fix this, now. Otherwise, it's going to be too late. I'm going to Evan's."
The front door had slammed shut. Oscar and Ellen looked at one another guiltily. "She's right, Oscar." Ellen whispered as they headed into the kitchen. "We have to do something about Alex. What if something had happened to him? He was a minor and he travelled across state lines unaccompanied? Not to nitpick, but you didn't even realise he was missing."
"He thinks I don't love him." Oscar stated. Ellen watched her ex-husband closely. "El - I swear to you I do. He's my son and I love him just as much as I love CJ."
"Maybe you need to show him that, Os."
It had been a long time, well before the divorce since Ellen and Oscar had been this soft and nurturing between each other. Oscar wasn't going to lie to himself, he knew he was still in love with his wife, even if she had moved on and they'd done nothing but fight since Alex turned five. Nine years of fighting, bitter rows, disappointment, heartbreak. Oscar had been fed up when he had decided to leave both his marriage and their family home.
"Maybe you need to mind your own business." Oscar snapped. "I don't see you rushing to fix shit with June."
"June and I are as good as a sixteen year old girl and her mother are going to be." Ellen retorted. "She left home because she's angry at me for not letting her boyfriend sleep over. So before you accuse me of being a harlot again, think about that little fact."
"We were eighteen," Oscar murmured in a low voice. "Our first time."
"Look where we ended up, Os." Ellen sighed. "Parents by the time we were nineteen. Broke and living in a two bedroom apartment we could barely afford. Both of our families were really angry with us. You were working paycheque to paycheque, working two jobs to make ends meet. I was at home all day with the baby and at night school. We had no help emotionally or financially and we struggled. We had barely grasped the concept of safe sex and surprise, Alex was on his way. We eventually made it out, Oscar. But at what cost? Do you want June to face the same struggles and challenges we faced? Because as much as I loved you and I love our children, I sure as hell don't."
"Neither do I." Oscar admitted in a small voice. "By the way, Evan might be a nice kid and all, but he sure as hell isn't sleeping with my daughter. What are we gonna do about Alex, El? He hates me."
"Start with an apology, Os."
"I'm sorry."
"Not to me, you ass." Ellen chastised him. Although she would happily take an apology from Oscar. Not that the dissolution of their marriage was entirely his fault. It took two to tango and two to fail. She was equally at fault. "To Alex. Maybe explain to him the reasons why you didn't talk to him. Be honest with him."
"Ok."
"I'm not done yet."
"Of course you aren't."
"Maybe we need to get Alex into some kind of counselling too." Ellen was already mentally calculating shared costs in her head. "Some of those thoughts Alex shared, they don't sound healthy."
"Agreed." Oscar murmured. "But, I also think Alex needs to face a punishment of sorts for running away. He can't just skip the state when he's in my care, El."
"Should we be punishing him, though? He said he didn't feel safe there." She let out a sigh she hadn't realised she was holding on to. "We have taught our children that if they don't feel safe to remove themselves and that is exactly what Alex did. We can't punish him for that."
"He said he didn't feel welcome, not that he didn't feel safe." Oscar corrected his former wife. "There's a big difference there."
Her mouth made an o shape and she halted what she had been planning on retorting. "You make a valid point."
"Maybe I should get a small holiday place here instead of buying a bigger place in LA." Oscar mused softly. "Somewhere I can travel to see June and Alex. Especially if Alex is not comfortable visiting me in San Diego. Somewhere big enough for the three of us. I'm always travelling between LA and DC for work, it just makes sense."
"Alex does love Texas."
In March, Alex started therapy.
By April, they were having family therapy sessions together. Oscar often dialled in from LA instead of visiting just for the appointment.
It was a whole new dynamic and it was a big adjustment for all.
Leo was around more and at Oscar's insistence, joined them in therapy too.
June moved back to Ellen's when she and Evan split up.
Oscar closed on escrow, on a generously sized five bedroom lake house in Texas at the beginning of May. It was an hour outside of Austin, on the shore of Lake LBJ. The out buildings, barn and guest house were a little run down and needed fixing up.
In June, Alex and June made the trek out to Oscar's lake house. Oscar managed to talk Alex into helping him fix up the barn while he was staying there.
Eventually that led to teaching Alex to cook and working together in the kitchen. Somehow, when they were both occupied in the kitchen the mines of communication and understanding opened up and they began actively listening to one another.
Slowly, things that were issues or misunderstandings began to get sorted out, apologised for, or forgiven for.
Their relationship slowly began mending itself.