Today was the day I would meet Bradley's father.  I was nervous because I don't know anything about the guy.  Bradley hated to talk about his dead-beat dad, but he was being forced to spend a weekend with his father.  Bradley only agreed to go if I was allowed to as well; he didn't want to be alone because Caleb was their Dad's best friend. 

Caleb didn't get that Elliot was broke and used to be a drunk.  That's the whole reason why Mrs. Karen left him and remarried to Mr. Ted.  I liked Ted he was a nice guy and loved Bradley and Caleb in every way that their father never could.

Bradley insisted that I go along for the trip because I understood how he felt.  We have been dating for three years now and we have told each other everything about ourselves.  I told him how my mother abused drugs and Bradley told me all about his father.  I was his rock and he was mine.  And there was no way I was going to let him face the man who ruined his innocence alone. 

We were sitting in the car driving down the road.  I was next to the window, Bradley was in the middle, and Caleb was next to the opposite window.  Up front Karen was in the passengers seat and Ted was driving. 

"So you guys do know to behave for your father, correct?" Karen asked.

Caleb rolled his eyes and Bradley squeezed my hand. "Yes Mom we know. You have been over this a thousand times," Caleb stated.

"Are you sure I still have to go?" Bradley questioned.

I gave his hand a squeeze as Ted spoke, "Look I get why you don't want to go but it's called parent rights for a reason.  If we could let you stay home we would." 

Bradley sighed and the car went silent.  I leaned my head on his shoulder while Bradley was drawing patterns on my hand. 

The car ride remained silent for thirty more minutes before the car came to a stop. 

"Ok we are here guys," Karen said while getting out of the car. 

Ted followed and so did Caleb.  I went to get out of the vehicle as well but stopped myself.  I turned and faced Bradley who was staring at the house.  There was one emotion on his face that I could pick out. Anger.  I placed one hand on his shoulder and my other on his cheek.  He turned to face me and his eyes softened once they met mine. 

"You can do this Bradley. I know it's hard but I'll be here the whole time," I reassured.

He gave me a weak smile, "Thank you for coming. It means the world to me."

I placed a small kiss on his lips.  "I would do this every time you asked me.  I get what it's like and I don't want you to go through it alone." 

This time Bradley's smile was real. "You're amazing I hope you know that," he said.

"Oh I know it that's why you love me. Now let's get this over with," I replied while hopping out of the car.  Bradley followed and we made our way up towards the front door. 

Once Bradley and I were on the steps, Karen knocked on the door.  A second later a man opened the door and by the way Bradley grabbed my hand I assumed that it was their father.

He was a tall man with blonde hair. He had a scruffy beard and worn out clothes on; it appeared he hadn't slept in days.  I also noticed that he had a cast on his arm.

"Hi," Elliott quickly said.

Karen smiled and replied, "Morning."

Elliot opened the door wider, "Come on."

Caleb was the first one to step inside the home. "Hey," he greeted.

"What'd you do to yourself?" Karen  asked.

"This? This is nothing," Elliot replied as Bradley and I stepped into the house. 

The house was messy.  There was trash everywhere and stains on the floor.  Clearly Elliot had no idea how to clean.

"Guy back in September, he got tangled up in the bailer, took his whole arm off," their father continued as if he was trying to impress us.

It worked for Caleb. "Cool," he gasped.

"No it's not," Karen scolded.

"The cast comes off next week. It'll be as good as new," Elliot stated.

Bradley was looking around the house, trying to do anything to avoid his dad. Caleb stepped up to his father and gave him a handshake.

"Woah what are you trying to do brake the other one?" Their father joked.

Caleb replied, "Uh, Ted says a firm handshake shows strong character."

"Oh so that's been my problem all this time?" Elliot said in a little less joking manner.

"How's this? How's this, huh?" Elliot asked as he started to play fight with Caleb. 

I glanced over at Bradley and saw that his expression was stone cold.  It was a look that I only saw when his father was mentioned.

"Hey stop it," Caleb laughed as his dad hugged him from behind. 

I moved from my place by the wall and made my way over to Bradley.  I grabbed is hand and I could feel how tense he was at the sight of his father touching his brother.

"Love what you've done with the place," Karen complimented.

"Yeah," Elliot replied, "Feng shui and the motifs over there and everything."  He gestured to the house.

"Maybe you should be a decorator. You have a lot of spare time now," Karen said sarcastically.

Ted noticed tensions rising so he cut in, "You know, Elliot, if you're interested I could talk to my guys down at the warehouse, see if they could use a hand?"

"I'm good, thanks Ted," Elliot said with a shake of his head. Bradley gripped my hand tighter and I understood why.  His father just turned down a great job offer even though he desperately needed one.

"Okay, come say goodbye," Karen said as Caleb went to give her a hug.

"You uh- you ever go on any type of cruise?" Ted asked in order to ease the tension.

Elliot shook his head once more, "It's not my thing. I don't want to be stuck on a boat with two thousand rich assholes for a week. And that norovirus thing going around?"

"What's That?" Caleb interjected.

Bradley turned to face Caleb and answered, "It's killer diarrhea."

"It's just a stomach bug that we are not gonna get," Karen reassured.

I leaned in close, during her sentence, to Bradley's ear and whispered, "I don't even want to know how you know that, but I'll add it to the list of things I know about you." He smiled at my comment.

"Cause, you know, we wash our hands," Karen finished. "Oh and eat a vegetable at some point," she added as she headed towards to door.

Ted came up and shook Bradley and I's  hands, "Have a good one," he turned to face Caleb, "You too."

"Yeah, you too," Caleb repeated as he shook Ted's hand.

They started to head toward the door. "Take care, nice to see you," Ted stated. With that he walked out the door.

A second later Karen came back, "Hey, you sure you're good with this? My mom called again this morning, said she's more than happy to come and help if you need it."

"Jesus, Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I got this," Elliot stated while leaning into the wall.

Karen nodded her head, "Alright." She turned to leave and called out, "Love, you."

"Bye mom," Bradley called back.

Caleb called, "Love you too." 

And with that Karen walked out of the door.  I stared at Elliot and realized that the three of use were in the care of the person my boyfriend hated the most.  And it was going to be a hell of a long weekend.

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Author's Note

Hey everyone. This story is just something that I want to write for fun.  I have other stories planned but this was a spur of the moment thing because I really love this movie.  I'm going to have these chapters about 1000 words long so I can have more of them. It's a short story and it is going pretty straight by the book except for a few things. I hope y'all enjoy and see you next chapter. Btw this doesn't mean I won't post twice a week on Now or Never.