Growing Up Is Overrated Chapter 20

[patchy4vam]

Yay! 20 chapters done! And for all of you who are curious about the Alex-Carter thing, some information is in this chapter =P

Title: Growing Up Is Overrated
Author: Craig (patchy4vam)
Rating: Mild
Pairing: Vam
Summary: Ville's family died in a devastating car crash, and he's been sent to live with the only family he has apparently got left. His first shock comes when he's told they live in America. His second shock is when he finds out that his two cousins are his age, one of whom is openly homosexual. The other however, Ville comes to think is insane. He is due to attend their high school, where he will meet some rather... unusual... friends. Ville's life is about to change, a lot. Especially when he meets a skater boy with cerulean eyes...

Prologue And Chapters 1-10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19

Chapter 20: The Morning After

Craig groaned as a stream of sunlight filtered past his curtains and illuminated his face. Determined to rid of the annoying light, he rolled over, aiming to bury his face in Jude's neck. However, when he found himself face down, and alone, in the bed, he sat up. He cringed as a bolt of pain shot up his spine.

"Owwie. I really hope this goes away after time." He managed to get out of bed and, instead of finding clean boxers to wear; he pulled on a dressing gown and tied it securely around his waist. He opened his bedroom door and looked around to see if he could spot Jude anywhere. He frowned as he saw Alex's door was ajar. She never left her door open, even when she was in there. Curious, he walked over - well, limped, really - and knocked on the door. "Alex?" There was no reply, so he pushed the door open. And stopped dead.

Everything was thrown around the room, and one of her skateboards had been snapped in two. On the wall opposite her bed, there was a photo of Carter and her when they were younger, with another boy, however now there was an obvious tear and a deadly knife sticking into it. As he walked into the room, he saw that another skateboard was lying in her bed. He only needed to glance at the deck to know which skateboard it was and he sighed.

"Oh no, not again."

"Get out." Craig spun around to see Alex standing in the doorway. She did not look happy.

"Alex, are you okay? I saw…"

"I said, get out." Craig was confused. Despite however mean she could be to everyone else, she never treated him like this.

"But, Lexi, I was just -,"

"Get the fuck out!" She yelled. That was it for Craig. He'd never had Alex yell at him like that, and it hurt for his little sister to treat him like that. Plus he was a very emotional guy anyway. Alex's glare eased off when she saw the tears in Craig's eyes. "Oh Craig, don't cry." She walked over and hugged him. "I'm sorry bro, I just… well you know how I get."

"I know, I know." Craig sniffed and ran the back of his hand over his eyes. "I just wanted to see if you were okay." Alex managed a smile and ruffled his messy hair.

"Jeez Craig, you came out of your room with hair that isn't perfect?" She laughed. "Hey, now I can officially say you have sex hair." This made Craig blush. "Lover boy is downstairs, by the way. Dad's giving him a lecture."

"Oh, great." Craig sighed. "I better go rescue him." He walked to the door and turned back to look at her. "Try not to think about him." Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I want to think about that blonde moron?" Craig rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't talking about Carter, and you know it." That said, Craig left the room to rescue his boyfriend from the clutches of his father. Dave Hudson was a frightening man when he wanted to be - it was rather obvious where Alex got it from - and since Alex very rarely indulged in boyfriends, he took it upon himself to treat Craig like a daughter. This of course meant that any boyfriend Craig ever had was going to be put under the usual interrogation. He found them in the kitchen, where Katri was making breakfast. Dave was sat opposite Jude at the table.

"And where do you plan on going with my son? Where do you see this relationship going? Because if you sleep with him and then leave him, you'll want to watch your back. You never know when I could be around the corner, waiting for you." Dave had his back to Craig, and so only Jude could see him. Jude smiled, though the smile was aimed at Craig.

"Dave, I love your son, so much. It's hard to see where it's going, since we're only fifteen, but I'm not going to leave him." Dave caught on and turned around. He grinned at Craig.

"Hey there buddy." He said, reaching up and ruffling Craig's hair like Alex had done. It was scary how similar those two were.

"Dad, how many times have I told you, don't interrogate Jude!" He walked around to Jude and stood behind him, draping his arms around him. "He's already had a death threat from Alex, he doesn't need one from you, too." Katri turned around and laughed.

"Craig has a point. Alex is scary enough to keep Jude around." She smiled at Jude. "I wouldn't worry about Dave, Jude. I'll keep him in check." Dave scowled at her. Craig ignored them and tilted Jude's face up so he could kiss him.

"Is Alex alright? She seemed pretty pissed earlier." Jude murmured. Craig looked unsure for a moment, not knowing whether to say anything in front of his parents or not, but Jude seemed to catch on. "Ah, is it him again?" Craig nodded.

"Craig, you need to get ready for school." Katri cut in. He sighed.

"Aww mom, do I have to go?" He complained, causing Jude and Katri to laugh.

"I know you're bound to be in a lot of pain, Craig, but you HAVE to go to school." She stated firmly. Craig flushed bright red. Dave chuckled.

"Ah, leave the poor boy alone. Go on Craig, go get yourself dressed. And tell Alex to hurry it up." Craig nodded, though he wouldn't be telling Alex anything. Not when she was in such a destructive mood. He'd have to sit down and talk with her at some point during the day.

When Bam awoke the next morning, his stomach was complaining. He knew he shouldn't have drunk all that alcohol. He tried to get up, but Ville's arm tightened around him and held him place. Smiling, Bam cuddled back down. He was just about to go back to sleep when someone pounded on the bedroom door.

"BAM! Get up! School!" It was Ape. Groaning, he covered his ears. However, he knew if he didn't answer, she'd walk in and see all the empty bottles. And then he'd be screwed. "Bam!"

"Alright, alright! I'm up!" He groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. "Just stop yelling." He added in a quieter tone. He rolled onto his other side to stare at Ville's sleeping face and the words Ville had said the previous night came back to him. He grinned. Bringing up a hand, he brushed Ville's hair from his face, which stirred the Finn. Jade eyes opened and stared into his. "Morning." Bam grinned again. "Ape's yelling for us to get up."

"I heard." Ville smirked. For a moment there was silence between them. "Bammie, last night…"

"You don't have to worry about that Ville. Everything is fine." Bam cut him off, getting up and out of bed. Ville watched him with a confused smile. Bam seemed so much more chirpier than normal. Something was definitely different about him, but it didn't seem to be a bad thing, thus there was no reason to bring it up. As he, too, got out of bed, Ville felt a searing pain in his forehead.

"Bloody hangovers." He grumbled, searching for wherever he'd dumped his bag the night before.

As the group slowly collected outside the school gates, they were met with two grinning idiots. One was, of course, Bam. This was not unusual. The other was Jude, which was unusual, though everyone could guess why there was a grin plastered to his face. Craig was quite happily hiding behind him. He came out, however, when Carter and Brandy walked over.

"Carter… can we talk?" He asked casually. He watched Alex turn to look at him, but ignored her icy stare and tugged Carter out of earshot of everyone else.

"What's up Patch?" Carter asked, looking concerned. Craig only ever used the 'can we talk' line when something bad had happened.

"Alex was, well… it happened again, Carter." He sighed. "She was holding the board again and she'd practically trashed the place. Another photo has been slashed, too." Craig explained. Carter swore under his breath and looked away. Reaching up - ignoring the pain that came with such an action - he turned Carter's face to look back at him. "Talk to her, Carter. I don't care how you do it, but you have to talk to her. She's getting worse. I'm scared, Carter. I'm scared of what she'll do." Carter sighed.

"Do you think I haven't tried, Craig? Every night when I go home I look at that photo and it kills me that I can't do anything about it. It kills me that I'm the reason he left." Carter ran a hand through his normally perfect hair and shifted his gaze to Alex, who was furiously kicking at the sidewalk. "It kills me that she won't let me back in. I know I deserve it, but that doesn't stop it from hurting." Craig stepped closer and hugged Carter's waist - since the guy was so tall it was all Craig could reach properly.

"I know Carter, but you have to keep trying. Don't give up." He pulled back and looked up into Carter's sky blue eyes. "You didn't stop trying when we had that huge fight. And I know Alex is scarier, but us Hudson's are all the same. Don't stop trying." Carter nodded. Craig smiled when he spotted Brandy watching them from afar, looking worried. "Brandy's worried. Go tell him everything's fine." Carter smiled and walked back over to Brandy. Craig sighed and leant back against the fence, closing his eyes. When he opened them a moment later, Alex was standing in front of him. He jumped visibly. It was really scary how she could do that.

"What was that about Craig?" Craig wanted to lie, make up some excuse for the private talk with Carter. But he knew he couldn't. He was useless at lying, and besides, he couldn't do that to Alex.

"Alex, I know you don't want to, but will you at least talk to him about it? Maybe it'll help." Craig winced the moment he realized what he'd said. Alex glared.

"Help? Oh, I'm sure he can help. He sure did a lot of helping in the past. In fact, it was his 'help' that got his here in the first place." Scowling, she walked away from him. Craig's gaze landed on Ville. He'd help fix the violent argument between Carter and Brandy. Perhaps there was a chance he could fix the one-sided hatred between Carter and Alex. He'd have to try. He knew that no matter how hard Carter tried, Alex would never listen to him. And he was tired of it. He was stuck between his sister and one of his best friends. The moment school let out, and they got home - providing Bam didn't snatch Ville up again - he'd explain everything to the Finn.

This thing was going to get sorted, once and for all.

Sorry it's a short chapter, but I'll try and make the next one longer! =)