Christmas Break, 2021

Music

Drew's Dialogue | Lucianna's Dialogue

Andrew Lycan knew something was wrong even before he got home. His parents had been, for lack of a better word (which, in this situation, means that though there is a better word, Drew sure as Merlin's pants wasn't using it), ghosted him. They hadn't written to him ever since summer camp, which was strange. They were just suddenly... gone. His grandmother had reassured him, telling him that oh, it was all okay. Everything was okay. Everything was fine. She dodged every question he had about it, as if she had skimmed over the importance of it. He had once written her a twelve-sentence paragraph, but had only gotten back the same response-

Everything is fine, Drew. Don't worry about it.

But Drew knew his parents had never ever ghosted him before. They would never ignore him on purpose.

As he left the car and saw only his grandmother at the top of the steps, the feeling settled in even more. The crisp air hit his face, and he waved at his grandmother, a confused smile on his face. Usually his parents stood on the front steps, too, waiting for him to come home. But it was only his grandmother. She was smiling widely, as if nothing was wrong, but the feeling that something was wrong remained. Where were his parents?

He grabbed his suitcase, and rolled it up to the front of the house, hauling it up the steps. Once he reached where his grandmother was, he left the suitcase and came forward to hug her. She hugged him back. Drew didn't really want to hug his grandmother, he wanted to know what was wrong. But he knew if he didn't hug her, she would think that he was mad at her. And though he was a little bit mad at her, he didn't want her to know that.

"Gramma-" Drew started, about to pull back.

His grandmother didn't release him, holding him tight, and interrupting him. "Drew. Drew. Oh, my dear Drew."

His stomach sank, but hope sparked within him. Was she finally going to tell him what was wrong? She was acting like something was wrong.

Drew withdrew from his grandmother, trying to search her eyes. She just looked happy to see him. Goshdarn girls- they were so good at faking things. His grandmother, his mother, his aunt, Rose- they were just so good at faking that they were happy, even when Drew knew deep down that they weren't. "Gramma, what's-"

"Come in, Drew! Oh, how I've missed you," she said, interrupting him. "It's cold out here," she said, opening the door and letting him in. Buddy, Drew's American Pit Bull Terrier, was inside the door, waiting for him. He bounced and wagged his tail, eager to see his owner.

Drew grinned at the sight of his dog. "Hi, Buddy! How's it going?" he asked his dog, petting the dog on his head and grinning. But his distraction only lasted a moment. She led him into the sitting room.

"You may want to sit down for this," she said reluctantly, taking a seat on a chair. Drew sat across from her, on the sofa. So there was something wrong! He was right! "Do you want a cookie?" she offered him, gesturing to the tray of cookies on the coffee table.

Drew was trying really hard in that moment to be polite. "Just tell me what's wrong, Gramma," he said gently.

Lucianna looked down at her hands, taking a deep breath. "Your parents... are in Azkaban."

The blonde froze, unable to move, unable to breathe. For a split-second, he was waiting for his grandmother to laugh and reveal it was all a joke. He would have preferred that, actually. He would rather his parents and grandmother pulling a cruel prank on him than for the truth to stare him in his face.

And if there was one thing that Drew was afraid of, it wasn't anything he could fight with his bare hands. It wasn't anything he could punch his way out of.

It was the truth.

Drew, still frozen, became aware of his senses once more. There was a sharp ringing in his ears, and he could hear his grandmother, saying his name. Asking if he was okay. But she sounded underwater. She sounded far away from him. He clenched his jaw, the muscles in his face hardening abruptly, at the same time as his heart. Drew stood up slowly, his senses coming back to him. His fists were clenched.

"Roo, please say something-" his grandmother was pleading. He made eye contact with her, the look in his eyes foreign to her. She had never seen that look in his eyes before. Her angel grandson, suddenly...

Angry. Drew was angry. He couldn't bring himself to face the truth, so the emotion sharpened into anger... for his grandmother.

"And you weren't going to tell me?" he demanded, approaching her slowly. His stance was intimidating, though not as intimidating as the sudden hate in his eyes. Buddy cowered and backed away from his owner, away from his boy, terrified.

Out of fear, Lucianna stood up, taking steps back from him. "I was just trying to protect you, Drew," she said.

Excuses. She was just making excuses. "Protect me?" his voice started to rise. "Protect me?! From what, Gramma? The truth? I can handle the truth. I can handle the truth!" he repeated, trying to convince himself it was true. "You think hiding things from me is going to protect me? You think throwing my trust down the gutter is going to make me feel better?! You think that treating me like I'm two years old is going to help me?!"

Lucianna backed up farther, but Drew still advanced on her. Her eyes began to dart around, not sure where this sudden outburst of rage was coming from and where it would go. "I didn't mean-" she started, holding her hands up in front of her defensively.

Drew continued to advance, steadily. "No. You did. You were being selfish." She backed out of the sitting room, and he only followed. "Why are they in Azkaban?" he demanded.

"I don't know, Roo- I promise, if I knew I would tell you-" she said, her eyes wide and pleading. "I don't know what they did," she stated.

"What they did?!" Drew was finding more and more ways to be mad at her. "You're just assuming they did something wrong? You're not going to challenge why they were put there? You're not going to stand up for them?! You-"

Lucianna finally was able to get a hold of her emotions, cutting off her grandson. "Drew! That is enough!" she said in a demanding tone, holding her ground. "That is enough." She pointed a finger at him, though her hand was trembling. "I am your grandmother. I did what I did to protect you."

"Some grandmother you are," Drew snarled. "Some mother you are."

"Believe me, Drew, I did everything I could for them. They wouldn't tell me what they did!" Lucianna said.

Drew scowled. "I don't know if I believe anything you say to me anymore. You've sure shown your true self. You're a selfish liar of a grandmother."

"Drew, stop it-" Lucianna warned. But Drew had decided he wasn't going to do anything she said. He powered forward, hitting her shoulder hard with his own while he walked past her towards the stairs.

Lucianna was knocked on her side from the impact, and Drew looked back at her, his eyes wide and his brain only full of worry for his grandmother. But that only lasted a second. She had betrayed him. He couldn't trust her anymore. Drew ran as fast as he could up the stairs to his room, hiding the tears in his eyes.

Pathetic. This whole thing was pathetic.

Reducio

I wrote this a long time ago and thought I posted it but... I didn't Sooo here is an angsty solo that happened like 5 months ago IC