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Post by William Aldridge on Nov 23, 2018 15:37:38 GMT -5
William felt a lot of anger as he rode in Mackenzie's car on their way home. They hadn't bothered to wait for their coats as they'd just taken their mom's instruction to leave, but honestly, he hadn't even really felt the cold. He knew he should be as upset at Chace as he was, and a lot of his anger was in reaction to the situation in general than specifically directed at his younger brother. Nonetheless, the only words he could think of right now were the ones the younger guy had flung at him, and hadn't his mom put a stop to things, he would have kept going. It was unusual for him. He didn't fight. He never gave in to the anger he felt toward his grandfather, because he knew it wasn't just about the way he felt. And maybe it would have been different if he'd known how Chace felt about things, but how was he supposed to when his brother never talked to him? Never talked to anyone really. He'd once been so close to Mackenzie, and now... the resentment he felt toward his parents had been mirrored in the way he spoke of his sister. Giving a slight huff of frustration as Kenzie parked the car once they arrived at the house, waiting for everyone to exit the car and following suit as his older sister unlocked the front door. Making his way up to his room with Layla, because there seemed to be no good reason to linger downstairs right now.
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Post by Layla Fair on Nov 24, 2018 10:58:15 GMT -5
There was a lot that Layla had expected for the evening after hearing about it from William, but what she hadn't expected was just how much drama was actually about to unfold. She felt for Chace, even with his cruel words, realizing that he was lashing out and being reminded of a time she'd been horrible to her own dads because of a deeper hurt that had nothing to do with them. It hadn't been as bad as this even, so she couldn't begrudge him. When he started attacking William though she was less than pleased, but she didn't get involved because it wasn't her place. All she did was hold onto William's hand, trying to comfort him silently. The ride back to the Aldridge home was filled with only Alyssa talking and although she thought the girl made some valid points she kept quiet, not wanting to draw William from his own mind at this point as it was obvious he wasn't listening to anything. Of course once they reached the house they headed straight upstairs and once they reached William's room she turned to face her boyfriend, resting her hand on his shoulder as she looked at him. "Are you okay?"
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Post by William Aldridge on Nov 24, 2018 17:09:55 GMT -5
Although William knew he'd done nothing to improve the situation exactly, he didn't feel bad about the way he'd addressed Chace tonight. The fact that he was still a kid didn't excuse everything, and he'd clearly taken things too far tonight. Obviously, if he felt that their parents had known all these years that their grandfather verbally abused him, it didn't come as a shock to think that he held a lot of anger toward them, but he honestly didn't understand how he could even have thought that. Sure, their father had a much closer relationship with Leslie, and even Mackenzie, so one might think he wouldn't care as much about his two sons being given 'tough love', as he'd called it, but the idea that he'd have allowed his youngest daughter to be talked to the way she had was crazy to him. And maybe it just went to say that his dad should be a little more subtle about his favoritism, but even so. As for their mom, he just couldn't imagine their mother knowing something like this and not doing anything about it. She'd always been fiercely protective of them, and she'd put herself in the line of fire for them many times before. Why would this be any different? Giving a bit of a sigh as Layla stepped close to him, resting her hand upon his shoulder as she asked if he was okay, shaking his head a bit. "Honestly, I don't know," he told her.
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Post by Layla Fair on Nov 26, 2018 22:08:02 GMT -5
Really this was the first time that Layla had ever seen William actually angry about something. She'd seen him annoyed on rare occasions but never had she seen him like she had tonight. His response just furthered that idea as he shook his head and said that he didn't know if he was okay or not. Because this was a novel experience she didn't know how to handle him specifically in a way that would be most helpful for him but she decided that she was going to try anyway. "It seems like you're really upset with your brother still," she said, stating what was an obvious fact but to be honest she didn't entirely understand what had made him so upset about what his kid brother had said. "I'd have thought that you'd be more upset with your grandfather." The things that the older man had said had been pretty awful to listen to, no doubt about it but although William had been clearly upset he had been able to let it go fairly quickly it seemed. Maybe from the years of practice that had come from dealing with this? She wasn't sure.
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Post by William Aldridge on Nov 30, 2018 12:13:19 GMT -5
William didn't know that he felt like talking right now, especially not about what had just happened. However, he also knew that he shouldn't take his frustration out on Layla, and it wasn't altogether surprising that she would be trying to get a conversation going right now. Giving a bit of a sigh as she mentioned that he seemed really upset with his brother still, adding that she'd have thought he'd be more upset with his grandfather. "I'm not... it's not the same," he said with a light shake of his head, taking a seat on his bed as he loosened his tie. "Of course I'm upset with my grandfather. He treats everyone like dirt. He treats my grandma worst of all. How could I not be angry with him? But don't you see? If I gave in to it, I'd be angry all the time," he spoke with a bit of a huff. "So maybe I don't put as much weight into it as I should, because if I waste that much of my energy on him, then he wins. And Chace..." he trailed off with another shake of his head. "Listen, Chace and I, we've never really been close. If he wasn't attached to our mother's hip as a child, then he was with Mackenzie. And even once he stopped spending time with the two of them, it wasn't because he was tired of being around girls, it was because he was tired of being around the family," he went on with a shrug. "But am I really just supposed to stand back and let him go off on our parents, acting as if he's talking on all our behalf? I'm not gonna let them think I blame them for this, just because he's pissed."
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Post by Layla Fair on Dec 4, 2018 21:28:06 GMT -5
Layla let William talk without any sort of interruption, only looking at him and listening as he explained how upset he was with his grandfather and his thoughts on why he'd had to speak up to Chace. As he explained that he'd never been close to Chace her eyebrows pulled together the slightest bit, wondering what it must be like to only be close to one of your siblings. Tessa was her best friend. "I don't know that your parents would have believed he was talking for all of you," she pointed out, her voice calm and neutral. Laying out a fact as it was. "I don't think Leslie and Mackenzie are going to let them think that either. I've never seen you so mad about something and I know that it's not really entirely directed at your brother but... standing there watching you, it looked that way. That he was the one who got to you. Your grandfather made your brother snap, but he made you snap." Her mouth pulled down slightly as she looked up at him and slowly began to speak again. "I can imagine... it must be lonely. For all of you, to have gone through this sort of abuse and never have confided in each other. It must have been scary too, feeling that you couldn't ask for help or that no one cared enough to help. I can see how it'd make anyone really angry. Just maybe, none of you know how to express it to the right people."
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Post by William Aldridge on Dec 9, 2018 13:40:15 GMT -5
William gave a light frown as Layla kept talking, saying that it seemed like his brother was the one who'd gotten to him tonight, not his grandfather, and that he was the one who'd made him snap, mentioning that she'd never seen him so amd about something. So what if he had? Was he not allowed to be mad at more than one person as well? It seemed to him that Chace was angry at the entire family. Sighing a bit as she went on to add how it must have been lonely and scary, feeling less and less like even talking about all of this at this point. He didn't need his girlfriend to take his side, but right now he also didn't feel like listening to her trying to neutralize the entire situation. "Do we have to talk about this right now?" he asked, feeling uncharacteristically agitated. "Why am I not allowed to just be upset right now? So what if I'm maybe mad at my brother on top of being angry with my grandfather, I can't be both? He's blaming everybody but himself on this, he's angry at everyone, and I can't be mad at two people at the same time?" he went on, growing a bit more frustrated.
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Post by Layla Fair on Dec 19, 2018 13:45:00 GMT -5
Layla was certainly surprised when she heard William's response toher. Not so much the words, but the way that he said it. She wasn't used to him being like this as he was usually so levelheaded and it made it hard for her to figure out what was actually the best course of action. She knew he wasn't close with his brother, but she also knew that maybe he wasn't thinking outside of his own hurt or the attack on the rest of the family. "You're allowed to be mad at whoever you want, William," she answered patiently. "I just think you should examine your anger a bit more. Sometimes..." She let out a soft sigh. "Sometimes, people say really awful things when they're hurt. And the more you feel like people have let you down, the more you can justify what you're saying in your own mind." Vivid memories of the awful things she'd said to her dad came to mind, making her feel guilty even now that years had passed. "It doesn't excuse it but it should be something you recognize. I just don't want you to get into a train of thought that you'll end up regretting. You might not be close, but you're still the only older brother that he has."
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Post by William Aldridge on Dec 19, 2018 15:43:26 GMT -5
William was finding that maybe his frustration with Chace wasn't just something that had happened tonight. Maybe like his younger brother's anger toward his grandfather and his parents had grown over time and blown up this evening, his own annoyance toward the younger guy had been long standing without even his realizing. And maybe it was unfair, and it probably had a lot to do with the fact that their personalities were so drastically different, but his brother's ways could get on his nerves at times. They all faced incredible amounts of criticism in their social circles, but somehow, he always made it seem like what he had to deal with was the worst, and they always had to walk on eggshells around him. And maybe that came down to the fact that it was echoed by their grandfather, and if he had believed that their parents knew and didn't care, clearly the issue ran a lot deeper down. Did it excuse everything else?
Giving a bit of a frustrated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head a bit. "I get it. He's a kid, and he had to deal with a lot that he shouldn't have had. And if I believed my parents knew about what I had to put up with with our grandfather and didn't do anything to stop it..." he paused, shaking his head again. "That's just the thing. I can't even think that way. And I'm just struggling to understand how he could think that way. Maybe with our dad, because I think Chace has always resented his favoritism of Leslie the most of all of us... although I don't know if it's so much that he cares that Leslie is his favorite, or if he resents that our mom doesn't make her own favoritism as obvious. And like, is that why he blames her, and thinks she knew and didn't care? Because everyone knows he's her favorite, but it's not as easy to tell as with our dad?" He knew this probably seemed odd to Layla that he talked of his parents' favoritism so casually, but he'd never felt neglected, or like they loved him less for it. "And we have to take responsibility for not speaking up or stepping in for him, when we were just kids too, but he doesn't have to take responsibility for the fact that he never came to any of us?" he spoke, giving a bit of a sigh.
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Post by Layla Fair on Dec 19, 2018 16:15:31 GMT -5
Layla let William talk, finding in surprise that he was really mad at his brother. She didn't understand it, even as he went on to explain his reasoning. She was surprised though as he pointed out that Chace was his mom's favorite since it wasn't something that she'd really noticed, but then, she was hardly around so it made sense that she wouldn't pick up on the favoritism that was more subtle. Obviously, his grandmother had a favorite in William and idly it made her wonder who counted Mackenzie as a favorite and how that must affect her. She got where William was coming from, as he finished by asking his question because it was a fair question, logically. "Maybe, neither one of you can put yourself in each other's shoes," she said. "Whether or not it was fair of him to expect you to help him isn't what he's looking at. And whether or not he sees the family the way you do isn't what you're looking at." Maybe the whole family had been hurt that way, with their own interpretations of how other people should be acting and what they saw being the only thing that they could comprehend. "I might be more sympathetic because I'm the youngest too. If I thought Tessa knew something that was hurting me... I don't think I'd go to her and ask. I'd expect her to stop it from hurting me. It isn't fair, but it is what I'd expect." She shrugged and gave half an apologetic smile. "I'm not telling you that to make you feel guilty but to help you see how he might see the situation. I think maybe all of you failed one another in protecting each other, Chace included. But you can't blame those who are being abused for not asking for help, William. You know that's not right."
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Post by William Aldridge on Dec 19, 2018 16:59:04 GMT -5
William listened as Layla spoke, mentioned that neither of them could put themselves in the other's shoes, and he felt like that was probably an understatement. He'd not specifically tried to keep himself out of Chace's life, it had just kinda happened that way. Sighing a bit as she went on to mention that, as a younger sibling, she would have expected her older sister to stop something from hurting her, regardless of whether or not it was fair. Giving a light frown as she went on to add that he knew it wasn't right to blame someone who was being abused for not asking for help, knowing that was what he'd been doing but not having really seen it that way until she put it into words. "I know, you're right," he spoke with a shake of his head. "That's not all there is to it, but I can't be upset with him on that front," he went on. There were other annoyances to be had with Chace, but it was likely unfair to let those mingle with what had happened tonight. "Can we just get some sleep, now?" he asked as he glanced over at her, feeling a bit drained now that his anger was deflating, just wanting to be able to close his eyes and stop thinking.
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Post by Layla Fair on Dec 31, 2018 14:40:52 GMT -5
It was possible that Layla might be seen as overstepping her boundaries by some people but she really going to let that stop her until William told her to stop. She loved her boyfriend and she supported him always, but that didn't mean that she always agreed with him or that she wouldn't speak up when she thought that he needed to hear it. Which was why she gave a little nod as he said that she was right on not being upset with him about the way he didn't reach for help, glad to hear it. She did note that he seemed to be a little less angry now, tired instead and so when he asked if they could just go to sleep she nodded. "Yeah, honey, we can go to sleep," she agreed, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. He'd heard what he needed to hear, which was that he had to examine the anger that he had toward his brother and figure out what parts of it were valid and which parts he would have to try and look over or work around. "I'll use the bathroom first if that's okay with you." She had makeup she needed to get off on top of her usual nighttime routine.
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Post by William Aldridge on Jan 5, 2019 23:16:30 GMT -5
William was glad when Layla agreed that they could call it a night for now, nodding as she went on to ask if she could ask the bathroom first. "You go ahead. Don't forget to lock both doors," he reminded her before pressing a light kiss to her forehead, sighing a bit as she headed off and closed the door behind her. As much as he wished to just put tonight's events behind him, he knew he wouldn't be able to, but at least for now he didn't really want to spend any more time thinking about it. Granted, it probably wouldn't be as easy said as done - putting an end to the conversation was one thing, but keeping his mind off of it was another. If he didn't manage to do the latter, it was likely to be a short night. Of course, it was highly unlikely that Chace would be willing to really have a conversation with him tomorrow anyway. Still, he did his best to push the thoughts out of his head as he pulled off the clothes he'd worn to the gathering and grabbed some pajama pants to put on, waiting for Layla to be done with the bathroom before taking his own turn and then joining her into bed. Hoping that his skill of letting his mind wander would come in handy for tonight.
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