“That’s what I do,” Scott agreed. “But I do that so none of you have to,” He added. Scott knew that if the roles were reversed, he would’ve grown wings and flown to them if he had to. Being on the other side was unbearable. He hated himself for putting the looks on all of their faces. “Ah,” Scott said, his stomach dropping to his feet when he realized just how far out of hand this had gotten. Sophie called? If Eleanor wasn’t going to kill him, then Sophie must be sharpening her knives. He wasn’t sure which was worse. “She should know better than me that this isn’t anything new. Dunno why she’d bother you with it,” He grumbled. “Once again proving me point that me honesty is a problem for you,” He said, then chuckled to himself. “Right, because these are the conditions that she’d want to—you know what?” He huffed, and put his hands up in surrender. “You got what you wanted. So let it be,” He griped, then crossed his arms. “You think I don’t know what they used to say—what they still say about her?” He spat. He felt guilty every day for not being there, for removing a piece of her armor. “This is what it’s like,” Scott replied before he could stop himself. He immediately regretted it. They got on well enough. The lights mostly stayed on, and he usually had food in his belly. He was lucky to have even that much. “Because I don’t want you to,” He countered. “That’s what I’m supposed to do,” He said, and then put a hand up before she could argue. “I just am,” He added, silently pleading for her to just let him have this one. Now, when he imagined his eternity in Hell, it was going to a whole lot like this day. “Well, you’re gonna get more of it than you’ll want to handle in about—“ He paused, looking down at this watch. “Eleven-sh hours?” He concluded. Scott was never sure how to talk about his mother. Things were easier with Ivy because she’d always known Erica. She’d grown up with a house full of Ericas. As a kid, he didn’t think Eleanor could understand. Now, it just felt too far gone to even mention. “It is,” Scott said, then heaved a heavy sigh. “Which is yet another reason why this circus didn’t need to happen,” He said confidently. “Trust me.”
“The cost of having a sexy boyfriend is that he’s gonna drive you nuts,” Isla said with a laugh. “It’s a fair trade if you ask me,” She added, then gave Eleanor’s side a little poke. “I think Scott’s gentleman enough to at least pretend that your punch really landed,” She added with a smirk. “I keep hearing all these stories about young Scott. I’m dying to figure out how to bring him to the surface,” Isla pouted. She couldn’t help but be curious about that version of Scott, the one that seemed to be a polar opposite of the one she knew. “Oh, there’s no doubt that Scotty’s intelligent,” Isla argued. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not fucking stupid,” She added with a giggle. “I mean, it’s hard to know how much of that would’ve even been true,” She agreed, shrugging. “Because it’s a who said what to them who heard this and said that to the next one, ya know?” She said. “And besides, what really matters is the person you know. So long as they’re not like—a secret evil person or whatever,” She chuckled. “I can’t say that I’m totally surprised that Scott’s so protective of his mom. He’s so protective of all of us, she must have it tenfold,” Isla said, hoping Eleanor wouldn’t get offended for her to be arguing Scott’s side. “My love, I’ve known some crazies that would’ve come in screaming and causing a scene. You kept your screams to a whisper. Didn’t even catch a glance from the people around you. That’s grace,” She laughed. “You know Scotty’s saying the same about you, right?” She teased. “Mr. And Mrs. Stubborn,” She added with a smirk. “I’m your Emotional Support Isla,” She said, puffing out her chest with pride. “It’s my job,” She grinned, then gave Eleanor a squeeze. “I already knew it before, but this just cemented it,” Isla said, and smiled dreamily between Eleanor and Scott. “You two are gonna make it. I’m an expert with these things.”
“I know it means fuck-all to her, but I can’t really see the point in all of you wasting the money and time to fly to Scotland, just to turn around and fly right back before the weekend’s through,” He said with a sigh. “This is—“ Scott paused, trying to think carefully of how he wanted to proceed. “I’m gonna get to the hospital, they’re gonna let me sign her out, and we’re gonna drop her off on our way back to the airport,” He explained. “Doesn’t even make for a holiday for you all,” He added with a sigh. “We’re ultimately going to be fine,” Scott agreed. “We’re just not thrilled with each other at the moment,” He added with a sad chuckle. “Gotta find some silver lining in you all coming,” He chuckled. He was already having a vision of Ewan knocking his and Sam’s heads together. “Oh, I’m sure you’re gonna love him,” He teased. “Life would be a hell of a lot quieter,” Scott replied with a snicker. The truth was, now that he knew he had a brother, there was no life without him. Scott would sooner travel to Hades and drag Sam back rather than live any more life without him. Not that he’d ever let Sam know. “She’s got shit taste, clearly,” Scott agreed with a laugh. “The poor lass,” He added, shaking his head. He chuckled at Sam’s look when Isla came up. He wondered if he had the same stupid look when someone brought up Eleanor. Hopefully Sam would catch up faster than he did. “It’s hard to be upset when you’re around that girl too long,” He chuckled. “Never said it was,” He said, then shook his head. “I just don’t want anyone to. I can handle it.”
As they made their way from the bar with the boys, Isla gave Sam’s arm a little squeeze to hold him back a step. “How did it go with Scott?” Isla asked quietly, keeping an eye on Eleanor and Scott to make sure that they didn’t hear. “This is all such a mess, I feel awful for the both of them,” She said with a quiet sigh. “I’m just hoping that they settle down on this flight. If not, I’m putting melatonin in both of their drinks and forcing them to relax,” She joked. “I’m excited to see this side of Scott’s life. I’m sure you must be ten times more excited,” She said, and gave Sam a little side-hug. “I’m also really excited that it might snow while we’re there. I’ve never actually seen snow before, somehow,” She chuckled. “Been everywhere but the cold-weather countries.”
Scott’s body felt like it weighed a million pounds as he dropped himself into his seat. He was starting to feel the gravity of what was really happening. On top of Eleanor’s desperation to connect with Erica, he also started to worry about Sam. If he looked too closely, he might start putting together two-and-two and start a conversation that Scott wanted to have even less than one about his mother. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. This was all more than he was prepared for. He tried not to be resentful of Erica for being the very reason that all of this started in the first place. But he learned long ago that blaming Erica got him nowhere but deeper in the hole. He was so lost in his head that he’d barely registered what Eleanor had said. “Let’s uh—“ He started, then heard the tone of her voice. He wanted to kill the guy that caused it. “Let’s just cross that bridge when we get there, okay?” He asked. “If we’ve got time before the flight home or something,” He said mindlessly. “You’re going to sleep too, right?” Scott said, then kissed Eleanor’s forehead. “I love you, Len,” Scott murmured, then put a hand on her thigh. Once Eleanor reclined, Scott leaned over to take a glance at Sam and Isla, then gave his brother a short nod. It felt so foreign to sit in a seat so lush. It might’ve been even more comfortable than the bed he’d grown up sleeping on. Though he tried to fight it, Scott felt himself starting to nod off.
What Eleanor wanted to do was call Scott thick, and about a hundred other unkind words at this relentless need to be independent. But she couldn’t. Not after the look on his face after she mentioned Sophie. “And you don’t think perhaps…something of greater concern is going on if she called me?” she said as gently as she possibly could. Eleanor felt taken aback by the denial that Scott was clearly in right now, and it made her ache for him all over again. “If not by force of hand then how else was I going to get to meet her?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest again. She felt like a young girl again, plotting ways to just turn up at Scott’s house herself to meet Erica. But she could never bite the bullet when he was so adamant about keeping them apart. She wouldn’t have ever risked losing him because of her stubborn nature. “Of course I know you know. I know you know better than anyone,” she said softly, his tone cutting through her like a hot knife. How could people be so cruel? She’d never understand. Then he cracked the door open for a moment, and she watched his face turn in instant regret. “And now you won’t be doing it alone. I can’t sit aside and watch you suffer. I just can’t. I never could, and I absolutely can’t now.” Eleanor took his face in both of her hands and made him look her in the eye. “I want to handle anything—everything you could possibly throw at me. I’m a tough girl. And I love you so much that I probably could move mountains with it,” she pressed.
Despite how upset she felt, Eleanor still cracked a smile at Isla’s comment. “I think this is a little much, don’t you?” she said, cocking an eyebrow and rubbing her eyes again. It was useless, though, with how heavy this sort of tired felt. “You won’t have to wait much longer. I have a feeling as soon as we land and meet Ewan and Sophie he’ll start acting like an eighteen year old dickhead again,” she said with a smirk. Truthfully, Eleanor had no idea what to expect. It had been ten years since she’d been with Scott in Scotland. So much had happened to him in that time, things she knew he wouldn’t admit to her if his life depended on it. She was nervous for what being back there would be like for him, and she felt hurt for him all over again. The only thing she wanted was to be able to protect her boy, and she felt so helpless. “Well, what I do know to be true is not good,” she said of Erica, her face solemn as she looked down at her hands. “Sophie told me more about Erica than Scott ever did,” she sighed, glancing at him again, “My darling boy. He’s been through too much.” She shook her head slowly. “Well of course, he’s always been like that. But I just thought—well I’d hoped—that he would know I would never judge her. I couldn’t. She gave me the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said with a sad shrug. She huffed a short laugh. “Well then it’s a good thing we both like fighting then, isn’t it?” she chuckled. “Not like this, though,” she frowned. “Oh, love, he couldn’t get rid of me if he tried now,” she said, squeezing Isla’s hand.
“So we don’t fly right home. We make a holiday of it, maybe go to Edinburgh for a few days or something? I’ve never been. Or we could hop on a ferry to Belfast. The world is our oyster, mate,” Sam said, though he was starting to worry that Scott didn’t really understand the gravity of the situation with his mother. From what Sam understood, Sophie had relayed some very upsetting news to Eleanor on the phone before they all left. He also didn’t think Eleanor would be one to blow things out of proportion if it weren’t really serious. But he was here for Scott, and he would be cheery and outrageous as he was expected to be—he figured his brother at least needed that. Sam barked a laugh. “I didn’t really even think about if you and Eleanor wouldn’t be fine after this. Considerin’ I risked gettin’ strangled for you to be together, you’re stuck with her forever far’s I’m concerned,” he teased. “And he’ll love me when I get to tell him all about what a fuckin’ tosser you’ve been while you’ve been away,” Sam countered. He didn’t really doubt for a second that he’d get on with Scott’s family and friends—from what he knew they were just like his own in Ireland. “You like when everyone else around you talks so much that you don’t have to, lad. I see your shite,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Oh really she does? Want to say that to Sweet Lenore? She’s really the one she’s after, I’m just someone to bide her time with,” he joked, nodding his chin over to the girls when Scott teased that Isla had bad taste. He sighed, and hoped that maybe Scott would one day come to the same conclusion as he did one day—it was no good to do it all alone. “Right, lad. Drink your beer,” he said, shoving the side of Scott’s head and downing the rest of his coke.
As soon as he felt Isla on his arm, Sam turned to her with a warm smile. He didn’t know how she managed to be so sunny still, but he thanked god for it. And hoped he was faking it well enough in himself to look as real. With Isla though, he knew she was real. “How do you think it went?” he smirked. “Lad’s a brick wall. Nothing I say could change that. Was just tryin’ to distract him I guess,” he shrugged. Sam was at quite a loss of what to do except just be here, for Scott, for Eleanor, while this was all sorted out. He was grateful not to be that person alone, with Isla on his arm. “If anyone can get then to relax through sheer force of will, it’d be you bug. They’ve got quite the soft spot for you. Me, not so much,” he snickered. “Yeah. Anything to get to know ‘im better,” Sam said quietly. He wasn’t sure how to talk about what this all meant for him, for what he’d read in Scott’s journals when he was nosing around for lyric inspiration. “Aye, right, you were saying. That’s fuckin’ wild to me. Didn’t snow too much in Donegal growin’ up, so it was always extra special when it did. Reckon it’s not too different in Glasgow, but I dunno,” he said. “If it’ll snow for anyone though, I bet it’ll be you bug,” he said with a grin.
Eleanor didn’t even expect Scott to respond, but she wasn’t surprised when she got his half-distracted answer. Though it was better—the most she’d ever gotten, actually—than a flat out no for asking to meet his mother. “Okay, love,” she replied quietly. The smallest smile came to her lips when he couldn’t help himself and asked if she would get some sleep too. “I’m certainly going to try,” she assured him, then closed her eyes when he put his hand on her leg and kissed her forehead. “I know,” she said. What she wanted to hear was I’m sorry, but she was patient. She had to believe that he’d come around to keep her sanity. “I love you too,” she finally replied. It was easier, then to get some rest with him beside her. Even now, just listening to the sound of his breath was enough to soothe her to sleep.