Episode 464: Escape

They wouldn’t be running away from all the reminders of the past, to start over, for real this time, stowing away in a beach house, hopefully in a bed. Finally. Please.

Okay, he wasn’t exactly mad at Ava.

Sebastian was mad that he had to stop here first. He was mad that he had to pay common courtesy to his father after the way his father had treated his eldest sister, after the contributions he’d made to Sebastian’s issues with Ava. Back then, he’d ruined things just fine on his own with Avalon; he hadn’t needed his father’s help to make it worse.

But if he didn’t come here and tell his father he’d be away for awhile, Phillip Marques would send out a swat team to track him when he didn’t show up for the job he’d yet to really do. If they did manage to get in the mood at the beach house, a team of intruders would more than likely kill it.

So he knocked on the door, prepared to feel the seething contempt he so often did over the last year or two when meeting with his father.

"What?" Phillip barked without raising his head. Apparently, Sebastian wasn’t alone in his seething.

Why did that bother him, Sebastian wondered. Why did he care whether he got a decent reception from his dad anymore? "Nice to see you too," he snarked.

Phillip looked up, his expression hard, his voice apologetic though. "Sorry, son, I thought you were your mother."

He should not care anymore. Whatever their problem was, it wasn’t his concern.

Once upon a time, he’d carried around the guilt his mother hadn’t felt for her affair. A situation his father had purposely ignored. Their house had always been a disaster area, utterly dysfunctional even before Justine’s first banishment. They weren’t good at this. Being parents. Being children. Being together. If they finally split up for good, it ought to be a call for celebration. Put them all officially out of them misery, end the slamming of their heads against the wall trying to be something they weren’t. Their family should have done each other a favor and disintegrated a long time ago.

Then again, the same could be said for him and Ava couldn’t it?

Episode 465: Where Life Begins