"I don't see him," Ollie fretted as the three men arrived at the picnic site, Francis making sure to come to a slow stop so as not to further stress his son out. No one in the truck wasted a second after the car was parked, both doors went flying open and they all leapt out and closed the distance between themselves and Xavier and Findley. The couple was sitting in the grass, Findley cross legged and leaning back against Xavier, who had his chin on her shoulder and temple touching her own while his legs were sprawled out on either side of her, his arms enveloping her own and their fingers intertwined as their hands rested on her stomach. It was a clear sign of her needing to keep Prof grounded and Prof needing to keep her close. Ollie's shoulders dropped along with his expression as he took in the shattered platters, the wings they had jogged past in their haste to reach the other two, the soda cans on the ground in every direction, and the couple on the ground. Xavier's lip was busted but at least not really bleeding much and the reddened bruising spread down to his chin, and with a lack of Dolce came a lack of ice for Findley to put on it.
”Y’all a’right?” Callum asked outright, eyes on his friends instead of the disaster around them.
"That's your mom's-" Ollie cut himself off, a lump of guilt forming in his throat while his father and best friend began picking up the cans closest to the couple.
"What happened?" Ollie finally asked once the chaos was fully registered.
"Where is he?""He got a call, I'm guessin' from that Peach girl," Prof answered, pulling back from his girlfriend slightly to stare blankly up at them, his tone level and detached.
"Dropped the wing trays tryin' to answer it. Kept his cool long enough to finish the phone call and hang up. He thrashed the setup completely before he came out of it but as soon as he did, he bolted."Findley, who had been busy trying to calm herself and the unborn child moving around inside her belly, finally looked up at the new arrivals. It was clear that she was crestfallen about the unfortunate direction this day had taken.
"He didn't hurt any of us at any point-- the table, the food and that tree over there took most of the damage," she noted, pointing to the tree trunk where faded,dried blood stains from Chase's knuckles could be seen.
"Xavier's lip was from a soda can that caught him before he could step away from it after Chase flung it out.""We need to get you some ice there, kiddo," Francis said as he and Callum finished dumping all the sodas into an intact pile and a busted pile.
"Callum, find your balls and call your girlfriend, tell her I said to get here with the ice." Paling a bit at the command, Callum nodded and took a few steps away from the group to make the call as Francis took another step towards the couple.
"Xavier, let me look at it.”"I'm fine," Xavier intoned with a half lidded gaze, hooking his chin back over Findley's shoulder and tightening his grip the slightest bit, protective. A warning. Francis stopped his progress.
"I've literally been stabbed before, a busted lip is nothing."“I’m sorry, Demo,” Findley apologized to the older man with sad eyes. She felt responsible for the incident, in a strange way. If she had taken the time to carry the wings from the car to the table instead of choosing that moment to take a break, this whole incident could have probably been avoided.
“I called out to him as he was leaving, but he didn’t stop. And I didn’t want to get too close just in case… you know…” she explained, jerking her head in the direction of her belly.
“So I wasn’t scared of that. I know he wouldn’t dream of putting hands on me. I just didn’t want to take the risk of getting hit with what was being thrown around like Xavier was.”“I’m fine.”“It’s not your fault, baby girl, never,” Francis comforted from afar, respecting Xavier’s triggered possessiveness of his love.
“He was already so nervous ‘bout all of this that the littlest thing was gonna strike his match. I’m just glad that you and Xavier were mostly unscathed at least. Right, Ollie?”“Yeah,” Ollie answered distractedly, eyes trailing from Callum’s back to track whatever his friend saw while on his phone call, and saw a classic black low rider Lincoln rumble its way into a parking space next to his pop’s old beat up truck.
“But what will they think?”The vehicle in question came to a smooth stop beside the rusty pick-up truck. A young blonde dressed in an all-white blouse and skirt ensemble and matching bright pink accessories gracefully stepped out of the front passenger’s side of the Lincoln, a small pink bag hanging from her elbow. She seemed visibly anxious as her bright blue eyes scanned the vicinity for any signs of her ‘date’, as evidenced by the way she bit her sparkly, glossy, pink lower lip and how she bounced on the balls of her wedge-clad, perfectly pedicured feet.
“I don’t see him, Uncle Tazzy…” Tiffannie complained to her uncle as he exited the vehicle shortly after her, growing increasingly nervous the longer she went without seeing Chase. From a distance, she could see a group of strangers in close quarters: most of them her age, one of them visibly older-- but none of them Chase.
“He told me he would be here, but I don’t see him anywhere.”Taz surveyed the group and from all that were present he was quick to deduce who her date was. She was here to meet her friend’s family. Friend? Were they friends? And the people that stood out from the group were those he knew as the Dawsons. Good people. Demo and Zippo. Rest In Peace, Fiona. Francis’ beard seemed a bit bigger from the last time he saw him, which was a week ago when they passed each other on Main. He knew all the faces, from Oliver and Callum, who both reminded him a bit of himself, to Fin and Xavier, two kids too smart for their own good. Kids who unfortunately couldn’t see a way out of their circumstances, so they made the most of it. Whether by booze or a baby, they were surviving.
With the dessert box in one hand, having the grace of a man who worked in a kitchen all his life, Taz locked his car up and led the way.
“Chase Warren, is that the boy you like?” He glanced at his nervous niece, curious how she, out of all people, got involved with some of the more well known faces of the southside. Francis was a pillar, and she found herself an in through his son.
Tiffannie’s cheeks turned pink, and she confirmed her uncle’s suspicions with a shy nod, tucking a stray strand of silky hair behind her ear.
“I do. I really, really, reeeeeeeally like him-- but we’re just friends, Uncle Tazzy!” she was quick to clarify with raised hands, hoping to ease any worries Taz might have about this being another Father Joe-type incident. The furthest she and Chase had gone was her kissing his cheek and holding hands, so any concerns about Tiff engaging in any nefarious activities would be baseless and unfounded. She was a reformed lady.
“Chasey and I are just friends, I promise.”Friends. She promised. Tiffannie reminded him so much of his sister. From her faith in others to her sexual appetite. Somehow his niece befriended the most unlikely people, at least for someone of her stature. For someone like him, this was his life, he simply chose to do better, for his kids. But for Tiffannie? She knew nothing of this kind of hardship and struggle. She knew nothing of what it meant to have to think about whether or not you have to buy food one day, or pay rent instead. She was given the world and more, and that’s because Mel made sure her daughter didn’t have to experience the same things she went through. The same things Taz went through.
That’s what Taz aimed for too. To provide his kids a life unlike his. He wished his kids were grateful for all the things he provided for them, but some things were beyond his grasp. They were unhappy, and that only meant he failed them. Even after all he’s done, he still failed them. Natalia tried to cheer him up earlier but he knew. He knew his character. He knew he wasn’t a good man. But he was trying. Trying to not act so hastily. Trying to connect with his children. Trying to be a better man. This was his first step. Repairing his niece's date, if it’s even salvageable at this point.
Francis looked over to where Taz Belmonte was speaking with his niece and sighed heavily, looking down at the ground and roughly scratching the back of his head as he tried to put his thoughts in order. They couldn’t just ignore the new arrivals, but explaining what they now
really needed to explain to the older man and his bubbly charge was going to require a lot more thought than he could currently put into it. He looked to Callum who stood a pretty equal distance between the two groups, and as if he sensed his gaze the blond turned around with his phone in his hands, his face dull and vacant as he read whatever she had texted him after no doubt hanging up on him mid sentence. The collector gave Francis a feeble thumbs up, confirming the ice was on the way despite however Dolce was feeling at the moment. He waved the younger man back over to their group and clasped him on the shoulder when he arrived.
“Okay, Cal: I need you to start cleanin’ up the wings now that we’ve got the cans sorted. Ollie, come with me to greet our guests. Xavier and Fin,” He looked down to where they were still sitting against the tree trunk, freezing under the icy gaze that Prof met him with.
“Just stay here and try to chill out by the time we come back,” he sighed.
“We’ve got this, kids.” He hardly believed himself, but he still made his way towards the car park.
“Oh yeah, let’s go say hi and tell T’s Barbie friend that he’s more of an action figure than a Ken doll, real C-4 included,” Ollie said unenthusiastically, following one step behind his father, who turned his head to give him a warning glance.
“Sorry.”Tiffannie noticed the older man and one of the younger ones depart from the group and begin to trek in their direction, her eyes widening in surprise. Why were these people coming over? Did they know her uncle? Did they know
her? Because Tiff sure as hell didn't know them. As the two unknown men got closer, she let out an involuntary shriek, took a step back to half-hide behind her uncle's taller frame, and pulled on the sleeve of Taz' shirt, requesting his attention.
"Some of the people from that group over there are coming over here!" she hissed at the man in alarm before nervously scanning the area again, growing more frantic the longer she spent not spotting Chase.
"And I still don't know where Chase is!"“Tiffannie,” Taz breathed in exasperation, trying not to cause her any more anxiety than she already was experiencing. It was times like these that Natalia would tell him to
connect and
show he cared. It was also times like these where Taz did no such thing, not knowing how to handle the storm that was his family. This is what his wife was for. To handle the emotionally heightened situations.
“That is Chase’s father. And brother. If you are concerned about your… friend, I need you to act right.” If she panicked and something bad had already happened, she would only make the Dawsons feel worse.
"Oh," the girl answered sheepishly, stepping away from behind her uncle to stand beside him instead.
"I'm sorry, okay! I didn't know what they looked like!" she whined to Taz with a small pout at being chastised for something that wasn't even her fault. How was she supposed to know what Chase's family members looked like if she'd never seen them?! He hadn't told her what to look for, either: just that he would be there.
"I didn't mean to be rude!"Francis had already seen the action taken by the blonde girl, but knew full well not to hold it against her. After all, he was a six foot four, two hundred pound bearded grizzly bear making his way through a massacre of wings to meet her as a stranger. That immediate fear happened with him more than he’d ever admit to his sons, who saw him as nothing more than a teddy bear. It was worse when he was younger and still rocking an Angels patch on his jackets, and then later a Serpent patch as well, and he had almost forgotten the disappointed feeling that came with being the cause of that look. Fiona had never looked at him that way, even at their first meeting, and having her at his side as he walked down the street on the Northside had also lessened the fear instinct he seemed to trigger in strangers. He tried for a smile as he reached the two, holding his hand out to Taz for a strong shake, which he was given one, tight and firm, with both power and formality, before turning to Tiffannie.
“Nice to finally meet you, I’m Chase’s pop, Francis,” He introduced with his given name, knowing that she only knew Chase by his, and gave her an apologetic look.
“We’re tryin’ to clean up right now, and then we’re gonna try and find Chase once we’ve set things right here,” he looked back at the girl’s uncle.
“I’m sorry, Taz, we weren’t expectin’ this to happen. He’s been so happy recently.”“It’s no problem, no problem at all. It’s unfortunate that—” Taz’s eyes went from Demo to Tov when he was cut off with a nonchalant comment.
“I mean, his mornin’ kinda sucked bu-” Ollie’s mumble was cut off by Francis lightly elbowing his side in reprimand for interrupting so rudely, and he let out a tired sigh.
“He’s been real happy the past month, that’s for sure. Hey, I’m Molotov, T’s brother,” He introduced, nodding to the blonde. Through no fault of her own, he was now much less enthusiastic about meeting her due to the situation at hand. He tried for a smile anyways, for Chase.
“He calls you Peach, right?”The young woman nodded, blue eyes shifting from Tov's and Francis' faces in search for more information about what was going on. 'Clean up'? 'Try and find Chase'? 'Weren't expecting this to happen'?
"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but where's Chase?" she asked them point blank. Small talk could be made later, after explanations were given.
"When he called me twenty minutes ago he said that everything was good and that he wanted me here, but I don't see him around and you guys just said something about trying to find him. Is he not here?"Francis and Ollie exchanged a small glance at that bit of information, well aware of the calm he retains while his fuse slowly burns before finally reaching ignition. They’ve all learned to watch and listen for that calm, to do their best to put on the metaphorical blast suits before he blows. Ever since Conan’s death, there’s been no such thing as snuffing out his blaze, only directing it and evacuating those in the way. This poor girl couldn’t have possibly known about that.
“No, sweetheart, he’s not,” Francis answered after a heavy pause.
“The quickest way to say this is that he dropped the chicken wings for the picnic and…well, he doesn’t really handle sudden changes well. He may have sounded calm talking to you, and if he said he wanted you here then that’s true because he doesn’t make a habit to waste time on lies while he’s like that, but he has a condition and when things don’t go as planned he-”“Explodes, goes off, hits the roof and keeps goin’,” Ollie cut in.
“We don’t call him TNT for nothin’.”“Tov!” Francis admonished, looking at his son reproachfully.
“Aw c’mon pop! Why are we sugar coatin’ it? The whole picnic area’s thrashed and T’s gone, we don’t have time to pretend that we aren’t all fucked up,” he argued, crossing his arms and casting his gaze to the side, landing it on the shattered pieces of Chase’s phone at the base of a nearby tree. He looked back up and met Taz’s gaze with determination.
“Sorry for this Mr. Taz but I wanna go find him, not stand around talkin’ bout him. We can talk about his issues later, I’m just rippin’ off the bandaid first.”Francis continued looking at his eldest as he spoke, concern building for him as well. This is a stressful situation for all of them, and they all knew how Oliver handled his stressful situations. A sober Oliver looking for a burnt out Chase has happened many times, but never in the presence of those they didn’t consider family. Oliver sober was not nearly as happy as an alcoholically-turnt Oliver, so these two were about to see the hidden sides of both of his sons, and he sure hoped they were ready for it.
The more details Tiffannie heard about the events that had transpired prior to her arrival, the more her heart sank with guilt. If she had done her due diligence in setting and ensuring her alarm was on, she would have been on time. No time for unnecessary anxiety to develop, no phone call to Chase would have been made, no tripping over anything to spill their lunch entrée all over the park ground, no triggering her friend to go off on his surroundings, and no reason to abandon the scene of the crime. This whole thing was her fault.
The blonde girl shifted her sights to the floor, shielding her eyes away from the men so they wouldn't notice them slowly filling with tears that eventually found a home on the concrete underneath her feet. This whole ordeal brought the concerns she'd been pushing to the back of her mind to the forefront. Was she good enough for Chase, even as a friend? They were opposites in every sense of the word. She could never understand the hardships he went through, just like he would never understand the privileged world in which she'd been raised. She couldn't relate to him or his friends. What could a spoiled girl from Los Angeles who's biggest crimes were traffic tickets for speeding and parking in places she shouldn't and who got dizzy at the smallest hint of marijuana smoke provide someone like Chase, other than more reasons to worry and lash out? He had bigger, more important things to worry about than keeping her safe from a town she didn't belong in and making her happy. That shouldn't be another weight on his overloaded shoulders.
Maybe that's why he left.
"I'm sorry…" was all Tiff could say without her voice breaking.
“Don’t you start,” Taz boomed, furrowing his eyebrows. He had observed that child since he was small, perhaps not to the extent of Francis, but Palermo was open to both south and north. There was no judgment in his House. It was a place for all. It was a place where everyone, regardless of status, were the same.
Taz understood better than most how it felt to handle issues with anger — he was an angry man. He simply hid it better than most because that’s what his wife begged him to do.
“You both were fucking nervous.” The Belmonte patriarch cursed, which wasn’t something he did often.
“It’s clear you like him and he likes you. There is no use in thinking of what is wrong. All we can do, right now, is think of what's right and make things right.” Grabbing his niece and pulling her into his chest, holding her protectively while she wrapped her arms around him for comfort, he looked at his old friend,
“Demo, will your son return home? You know him better than anyone. If he comes back home, especially before the storm, we can sit and talk. Until then, I really don’t think it makes sense running around town if you don’t know where he will be.” His last words were directed to Tov, as he sternly rested his eyes on the boy going through withdrawal, suffering.
“If he’s calmed down by then, yeah,” Francis answered dutifully, putting a grounding hand on Oliver’s shoulder as his son was cowed by Taz’s gaze.
“But he’s got a few other places that we know he’d go, and every now and then he switches it up on us. Actually, now that I mention it,” He mumbled the last part, taking the chance to turn away from the tearful girl he was glad Taz knew how to handle and calling out across the clearing.
“Ransom!”“Yo!” The collector called back, straightening up from picking up the last of the mess, having only left the area around the quartet for the sake of their privacy.
“Whatchu need, bossman?”“Call Lost Souls and see if he turned up there. Have one of the guys check the usual apartments even if they didn’t see him come in. After that, call Mamba at work and see if he went to see her.”“If he gets nothin’ from that,” Ollie spoke up, shoulders hunched under Francis’ hand and no longer meeting anyone’s eyes.
“We should check Edenridge Tobacco.”“Yeah,” his father replied quietly, moving his hand from Ollie’s shoulder to the side of his head and pressing him against his chest to comfort him, unintentionally mirroring the Northside duo in front of them. That night was another thing they didn’t need to be thinking of right now.
“Ran can handle that.”“I’ll call ommer Shale and have them keep an eye out,” Xavier offered, finally taking the chance to stand and bring Fin to her feet with him.
“I know he doesn’t go there anymore, but maybe someone stoppin’ in saw him on the street.”“Thanks Prof, that’d be great,” Francis replied earnestly. It was already rather windy, so he was hoping to get as many eyes out there as possible.
“As for us,” he returned his gaze to both Taz and Tiffannie as the other serpents began their tasks.
“We should go to our place and wait for him, in case he shows up there. I think we need to have a full conversion either way.”Ollie, who shamelessly hadn’t moved from the position his father had him in, scoffed nervously.
“Oh, joy: waitin’ and talkin’. Two of my favorite things.” 
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