Pov, William.
I walk into the club with that idiot, scanning the crowd for my son.
I let out a long exhale, rub my forehead, and look around when I can't find him.
"There he is!" Harry says, and I look over at where he's pointing with his index finger.
I furrow my eyebrows and look at a young guy laughing really loudly. He seems to be enjoying being carried on people's shoulders. He's swaying from side to side and waving two glasses of...beer?
I run towards the guys, squeezing between them to get to that goblin who doesn't notice me.
"Evander! Get down from there!" I yell, but he doesn't hear me.
I grab his arm to pull him towards me, but I stumble because he throws himself on me, and I fall on my back.
He's breaking my ribs.
It's really painful.
I blink a few times and all I can see is his face, so close to mine, smiling at me so wide that his upper teeth are sticking out.
"Daddy!" He hugs me tightly, and I grumble and push him away. I try to get up off the ground, then grab him by the arms to make him stand up, but he's really heavy.
"You're drunk, Evander! Let's go home. That's enough!"
I grab his wrist to drag him out, but he pulls his wrist roughly and says in a childish, drunken tone. "Let go of me! I want to have fun!"
"You had plenty of fun already! You have to obey me; I'm your father!" I yell and wrap my arms around his body from behind, pulling him towards the car. I open the back door and shove him inside, and he is just fumbling like a child.
I ignore him and get in the car, ready to drive off, and the whole time I'm staring at my cousin out of the corner of my eye.
On the other hand, I look in the side mirror and see the goblin, who's suddenly all calm and quiet.
"Dad, I'm not okay."
I turn to him to check on him, but in an instant he starts puking, smearing the car.
"William! Look what he did to me!" Harry lets out a yelp as he glances at his dirty shirt and almost loses it.
I'm a bit annoyed at first, but then I smile as I see the look of disgust on Harry's face.
You deserve this punishment.
...
I get him out of the car and carry him on my back. He's causing me a headache because he didn't stop for a second the whole way home, making random noises that almost drove me crazy.
When I finally get home, my cousin opens the door, and I walk over to my bed and make Evander lie down on it.
I take off his shoes and he just stares at me with sleepy eyes and smiles faintly. "I love you, you and mom."
I don't say anything, just look at his childish features as if it's the first time he's said that to me.
But when I think about his mom, I'm hit with all those old feelings again.
I stare at the ground, bite my lower lip, and ask, hesitantly, without looking at him.
"Does Rose still love me?"
I swallow, put my hand on my chest, and wait for him to answer, but he doesn't.
I turn to find him asleep, and I smile faintly.
I move towards him and cover his body with a warm blanket, remove his black strands of hair from his forehead, and gently kiss his forehead.
"William also loves you very much." I whisper, smiling.
Just as I'm about to leave the room, I spot a piece of paper on my bedside table. I pick it up to read it, but my eyebrows furrow when I can't make out what it says.
What kind of bad handwriting is this?
I ignore it and leave the room, closing the door slowly behind me.I go into the living room, and I feel someone look at me. I look up at my aunt, who is standing in front of me with her son sitting on the couch.
I'm going to tell them everything. I can't hide it anymore.
...
Pov, Evander.
I wake up to the sound of someone shaking my shoulders, trying to wake me up.
"Wake up, Evander!"
I slowly open my eyes and blink twice, and the first thing I see is Harry's face, which is close to mine.
Is he smiling at me?
"What do you want?" I frown when I remember what he did to me last night, and then he scares me even more when he covers my mouth with his hand and whispers, "Shut up! You'll wake William!"
I glance over at my dad, and he's turned away, catching some Zs.
I raise my eyebrows, staring at the metal thing that Harry is moving back and forth in front of my face, and then he smiles broadly.
"Let's take my mom's car. We're heading to the countryside."
I'm a bit taken aback by his sudden change of heart.
Did he finally agree to help me?
"What makes me believe you won't deceive me again?" I ask, annoyed.
"You'll see," he replies while grabbing my hand and pulling me up and out of the room.
...
I'm waiting in the car for him to come back, tapping my fingers nervously on my thighs.
He comes back and throws a bunch of bags on my lap, then he sits down on the seat next to me. "It's going to be a long road, so we need to make sure we're fed."
He smiles at me, then drives off. I keep staring at him suspiciously. I hear him sigh and then he says, looking forward. "Look, I don't know where your grandmother is, but I'll do my best to get you to meet her. Your dad's hometown will be the starting point."
Is he serious?
I smile broadly. I'm happy.
"Thank you."
He ignores me and continues driving silently, and I watch the road through the window next to me.
...
He suddenly says, and I turn my head back to him, listening intently.
"William's parents divorced when he was nine. They fought almost every day, for some reason I don't know, and one day his mom left the house. We haven't heard anything about her since."
"The only one affected by her absence was William. He couldn't stand living with his father under the same roof. He always blamed his dad and said his dad was the reason his mom left him. Plus, his father just didn't care about him. He'd bring girls home every night and get drunk."
"One day, William decided to run away from home and live with his grandfather, whom he loved very much. But when William was eighteen, his grandfather died, and this affected William's psyche so much that he decided to leave and finish his studies in Winchester and live alone."
"He didn't like socializing with people. He was afraid of losing someone else he cared about."
I don't know why, but it makes me feel like I'm choking when I try to talk to him. I look away, my head down, and I had no idea about his sad past.
I don't know much about what he's hiding.
I only know a few things that my mom told me, and she kept other things from me.
...