HSS Family HCs
Saw someone complain that there weren't great back stories for the characters's family lives, and they are SO RIGHT >:( So here you go!
Warnings, it gets real angsty.
Caleb
Caleb's family is H U G E
Which means giant and exhausting family gatherings and way too many dates to remember.
Auntie Anna and Uncle John's anniversary? No clue. Grandpa T’s birthday? Fuck knows. Ezra's next gig? Shit, should probably memorise that one…
(ADHD does not help)
Losing his grandma was really tough on family dynamics.
His mom hopped on the bandwagon with blaming one of her brothers for not taking care of her as much as he should have, as the legal carer.
The funeral was one of the hardest things Caleb had to go through.
Everyone drifted apart a bit, until Caleb finally convinced his mom finally reached out to invite them over for Christmas, like old times. He knows that's what his grandma would have wanted.
After that, they were reunited, and have been inseparable since.
Which means more dates to remember, but that's okay, because everyone is happy again.
He and Ezra get along extraordinarily, always joking at the table (which his parents don't love), playing pranks on each other, and competing like their lives depend on it on Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Mario Party.
They get together in Ezra's room at least once a month to catch up on gossip (Ezra is very keen to hear Caleb's opinion on the new kid). They throw on a movie and chat over it the entire time (unless there's some really bad acting or visual effects).
Ezra can be a little pushy for personal details during these hangouts, but Caleb has learned to trust his brother, or lie.
He loves his mom and she loves him, so much. They have a very kissy and cuddly relationship (which gets embarrassing when she kisses his forehead goodbye in front of his friends).
He will ALWAYS be a Mama’s Boy™
He gets along with his dad well, too. He has never missed a game, even standing out in torrential rain to watch Caleb play soccer with seven friends when he was six years old, still cheering him on and shaking his umbrella in celebration.
They all come along to his big games, even when he tries to tell them not to, but it always brightens the game up when he looks to the seating and sees his family, beaming at him, holding up ugly hand painted signs they've had since Caleb was ten.
Now we get to the angst >:) GET OUTTA HERE, GOLDEN BOY!!!
Emma
Obviously, Emma's family is split apart. Parents divorced, sister siding with their father, and no family close to the Cove.
The divorce was tough, especially when it came to her parents fighting over the kids and the battle of bribery that ensued.
Since her mom works so often, she has a lot of time to herself.
Sometimes she wonders if she made a mistake, staying with Julia, but she shakes that thought immediately when her father comes to mind.
He's… not the nicest man. Emma used to sit at the top of the stairs to listen to their arguments. The insults and swears she'd learned by the age of ten would concern every teacher.
He had all the money, a very good job, and that's why Robin followed him to the city. Better than this deadbeat town. Emma is sometimes jealous of the lavish life they have together, but when her mom comes home with that tired smile and opens her bag to show lemon meringue pie, Emma's favourite, Emma knows she's made the right decision.
She and her mom try to do things together when Julia has a day off: typical kid’s days out, like the fair, the roller rink, bowling.
As much as Emma appreciates these outings, her favourite part is watching trashy TV on the sofa, and the warm smile of appreciation she gives Emma every time she brings a fresh cup of tea.
When she's lonely, she's grateful you came into her life and built an (unlikely) chosen family with her. She genuinely considers the gang her siblings, and never misses an opportunity to show her appreciation.
Maria
She adores her dads, and they love her to absolute pieces . They had to fight for her, so she means a lot to them. A LOT.
They always reserve time for each other. Every week, shuffled around, they have a board game night, video game night, a collaborative from-scratch cooking night, and theatre night.
They love to dress up for these events, too, just to keep them feeling special.
(Except cooking night. Jose learned that the hard way when he spilled a can of tomatoes down a cream suit jacket.)
However, Maria does get lonely sometimes. Not having siblings or any extended family members (since her dads had to cut themselves off from their families when they got married on the first day it was legal) leaves her feeling quite isolated.
She loves her cats, though.
Aiden
Strict parents, no siblings, he gets even more isolated.
They get him diagnosed with autism when he's young, and since then have mostly kept him from social situations to “protect” him. Their hearts are in the right place, but it takes a toll on his mental health and means he doesn't learn very good social skills.
He resents them a little. Quietly, of course, but if a jab at them ever does slip, they're prompt to punish him by grounding him, isolating him further. Genius.
He sneaks a second phone into his room so he can chat with Myra, who he honestly considers to be his sister and best friend.
She listens to him bitch for a few minutes before she changes the subject, which takes Aiden's mind off of things quickly.
(Especially when it involves a certain someone)
Glen and Bridget's expectations have always been high, and not just for music - he is grounded immediately if a single subject’s grade is below a B.
That does, however, provide its own distraction of studying. No need to do anything against the rules this time. Little wins?
One time, Glen catches him on his phone during grounding. Yelling about disobedience escalates to conversations around mental health (they don't believe that “anxiety” is real) and sexuality, and how he's distracted thinking about the wrong thing. Bridget smacks him when he talks back one time, which left Aiden with a small mark that he brushed off as a bow snapping in his face.
Michael
Michael doesn't get along with his parents.
Or his older sister, for that matter. She stayed at Hearst when Michael moved, and she loves having a reason to be rude to him.
Only his immediate family live in Cedar Cove: the rest live in New York, where Alex was until age fourteen. He misses his cousins a lot, and a couple of aunties and uncles, but he can take or leave the rest.
His grandfather used to put his cigars out in Michael's skin if he ever misbehaved, which has left him with nasty, circular scars running up both arms.
His mom tries her best, but rarely gets it right. She tries so hard to support his mental health, but it's too much for one woman to take, and her check-ins become less frequent as Michael grows up. She has a nasty habit of manipulating him, but he becomes a little less easy to manipulate every year.
He's still not all the way there, though. She still sometimes gets under his skin and in his head, and he agrees to things that he doesn't want to do.
His dad is abusive, and the worst part is that everyone knows it.
It's mostly emotional, but every now and then Michael turns up to school with a couple of bruises. He always brushes it off with a smile.
He had a LOT of pressure put on him, particularly around sports and arts.
His father owns a big camera company, which is why he has so much practise with cameras, and so many wonderful and expensive bits of tech.
He works for his dad by testing out their new products. His dad will always find a way to punish him for not being good enough, but will use Michael's artwork for advertisement anyway.
His parents are why he starts rebelling - firstly with fights (against them and people at school), then with B&Es, joyriding, hacking, then with drugs.
He steals his dad's money, which gives him a few heavy beatings.
Starts with cigarettes and alcohol, then weed, then starts slipping into stuff like cocaine, ketamine, and acid.
He thinks if he can fuck his life up enough, maybe they'll back off.
They do, but he's been left with a criminal record and a couple of dangerous addictions.
(Bonus: Michael + Gay!M!MC)
Michael's dad is massively homophobic.
Never towards Michael, he never suspected a thing, but he would often open political conversations with Michael to make sure he was still his son, his puppet, regurgitating every opinion he has.
It works for a while. Michael is completely brainwashed into believing that homosexuality is wrong, so when MC turns up in all his powerfully gay glory, Michael takes some time to adjust.
He teases MC sometimes, at first, calling him names and telling him to man up. It's a defence mechanism, because in reality, Michael noticed how much he liked him immediately.
MC wasn't even the first boy he liked, or even kissed. But those were such drunken/high/adrenaline fuelled/‘fake’ experiences that he wiped them from his mind as soon as he could, terrified that his dad would be able to read it from his brain when he got home.
It took Michael a lot of time to soften his exterior and apologise to MC. A lot of sleepless nights. A lot of lying to his family if he ever asked what was wrong. A lot of breakdowns.
When Michael and MC finally figure out their relationship, he carries that secret around home with complete and utter fear.
His mom is the first to find out, and tells him they always wanted him to be “perfect” and have a “good” and “acceptable” life.
His dad finds out accidentally and beats Michael for the first time in over a year. Michael runs away to MCs house, still bleeding and crying, and Scott instantly agrees to let him stay for the weekend.
A lot of Michael's story is taken from my OC from a novel I've been writing, so if you read a novel that has an eerily similar plot, hey! Maybe it's me :)
Didn't proof read soz I'm lazy xoxo
