CHAPTER NINE
MIDSUMMERS

BY THE TIME Theo walks back through his front door, he feels totally exhausted. Sarah had been surprisingly good company and he thinks he may have judged her too harshly based on who her brother is. It's a mistake that he's been guilty of before.

The chatter in the home is louder than it had been previously, now three voices instead of two, and Theo knows he's walked back into an argument. He doesn't want to see her but it's practically inevitable at this point, he remembers that she used to be stubborn and he doubts that has changed at all — it's probably where he gets it from.

The boy closes the door as quietly as he can, trying his absolute hardest to not announce himself to them. None of them seem to actually hear him come in but they most certainly hear the sound of his footsteps on the ground, the blonde woman sticking her head around the door to see her son standing there. Theo stares at her for a few moments before kicking off his shoes and going to head up the stairs.

"Theodore! Please, I just want to have a chat," Sapphire speaks so sweetly that it makes Theo feel sick. This woman had once been the one who he adored, now she's merely the woman who gave birth to him and nothing more.

"I don't want to talk to you. You lost the right to speak with me a long time ago," Theo replies quietly, eyes moving to his father who comes up from behind the woman. "Dad, please make her leave,"

"I'm not leaving Theo—"

"Yeah, you are. Get the fuck out of my house," It's Emmy this time who speaks up, the dark haired woman walking by Sapphire and standing beside her step son. Almost on pure instinct, Theo shuffles himself close for comfort but also for protection in a way. "He doesn't want you here, Eric doesn't want you here and I sure as hell don't want you here. If he wants to speak with you, he will find you,"

The horror that washes over Sapphire's face is quickly replaced with anger, the blonde stepping forward to get in Emmy's face. "This has nothing to do with you, bitch. This is my family – my kid, my husband—"

"Ex husband," Eric interjects unhelpfully and if the situation wasn't so heated, Theo might've struggled to contain a small chuckle.

"Your family?" Emmy scoffs. "Well, bitch, when was the last time you saw 'your family'? Hell, when was the last time you even thought about them? You abandoned your son, you don't get to waltz in here and pretend that didn't happen,"

Theo loves Emmy so much, cherishes the way that she cares for him like his mother should've, and he's never been so grateful to have her in his life. He'd known from early on that she was in this for the long haul, willing to love him like her own and protect him like he was as well. Theo knows it's one of the things that caused his father to fall in love too, that this woman would put in so much effort for a boy who wasn't her son.

"This is no longer up for any type of debate," Emmy's voice is calmer now, almost as if she can detect the waves of anxiety rolling off the teenager beside her. "You need to leave or I will call the police,"

Sapphire glares at her for a few moments before slowly moving her gaze to Theo, her face falling in a sadness that may have made him feel guilty at one point in time, now he simply looks away from her. Nodding her head once, the blonde walks by but stops just short. She reaches across to gently squeeze her son's shoulder but the boy flinches away from the contact, his body soon relaxing when Emmy wraps an arm around his shoulder in comfort.

"I sent a message to Ward Cameron earlier, I'll be saying there whilst I'm here," Sapphire comments, some sort of open ended invitation to her son if he wishes to come and see her. He gives no reaction, simply watches the woman's confidence falter before she walks out the front door.

The Cameron's don't live to far from here and it brings back that bubbling anxiety within, he could walk down the street and see her standing there.

"You okay?"

Theo looks at Emmy and slowly nods his head. It is hard to truly comprehend whether he is or not but in this moment there is that slight content, she's gone for now and right now, that's good enough.

Midsummers is an event that Theo loathes, he absolutely despises it in a way that most around here cannot understand. He'd been dragged along by Maisie for the last several years and now that they aren't exactly on speaking terms, Theo is almost certain that he isn't going anywhere near it. Well, he doesn't want to anyway — he always ends up at these stupid things one way or another.

"Emmy and I are going," His father says as they sit around the dining table the next morning. It's been rather quiet here since his mother had left yesterday, Theo choosing to spend his night locked away in his room. "It might be good for you to get out and socialize with your friends, take your mind off things, you know?"

"What friends?" Theo asks, sipping at his chocolate milk with a frown. "In case you haven't noticed from her absence the last couple of weeks, Maisie and I aren't really that close anymore,"

"I've noticed, Theo, but you made friends with some of the Pogues," Eric points out.

"Hmm, more of an acquaintance type of thing dad. I mean, they're a lot better company than the rest of the people around here but I'm not quite sure whether or not I'm their favorite person,"

He'd failed to help JJ. It still plays on his mind now, he hasn't seen the shaggy haired blonde since and it has weighed on him immensely. However, he's been much too preoccupied with the woman storming back into his life he has not had time to rectify that problem. It's odd, considering how little they know each other, he's worried about him — really worried. It isn't an emotion he generally feels towards people but more so one that lingered around his constant indecisiveness.

"Come on, Theo, I bought you that suit and everything. It won't be so bad, I spoke with Kiara's father and she's going to be there at least. I'm sure she'll appreciate the company," Eric comments enthusiastically, his smile a little larger.

"Not so sure about that," Theo responds quietly. He'd failed to help JJ, the thought that keeps spinning around inside his head. Would Kiara be mad at him? Theo had all the resources to help the boy out — the money, hell his father is a freaking lawyer. "Besides I heard the Heywards are catering which means Pope will probably be there anyway,"

Eric is giving him that disappointed stare, the same one he has used so many times. Theo has never been one to shy away from it but nine times out of ten it ends in him doing whatever it is that Eric is asking of him. Although, he will say, that most of the time it revolves around something as simple as taking out the trash.

"Look, I'll make you a deal, an hour. If you still want to leave after an hour, I will call an Uber for you," Eric bargains, watching as his son's demeanor cracks a little.

"Fine. I can do an hour but you better have somebody on speed dial to come and pick me up at the end of that time,"

"Of course kiddo,"

It's safe to say that his dislike for these people certainly has not dwindled, not in the slightest. The parents are sipping on their expensive champagne and chatting about things that involve a stupid amount of money whilst their kids eat caviar and pretend like the people on the other side of the island still aren't suffering after the vicious storm.

"Dad owes me big time," Theo mummers to Emmy as his father shakes hands with some of the richer members of the island. "I don't know how but they've managed to become even more pompous than last year,"

"Did you see Rose?" Emmy says quietly in response, failing to hide the small chuckle that accompanies her words. "Ridiculous, right?"

Theo bites his lip to stop himself from laughing but nods his head nonetheless. Theo politely greets people as they walk by, the phoniest of smiles on his face, trying his absolute hardest to be nice. He can already feel the facade slipping away, each passing second fizzling out the rather small social meter he actually has.

"Hey Theo,"

Maisie steps in front of him, her brown hair beautifully sculpted into a curly bun. The makeup on her face is soft and gentle, just like she always has been, but also matches the lilac dress she is currently wearing. He'd been there with her when she picked that out, helped her sift through dresses for hours before she finally settled on that one.

"Mais," Theo greets softly, fiddling with the sleeves of his suit jacket. It's still so odd, the silence that washes over them so quickly now, as if their years of friendship had been a product of his imagination. "You look beautiful,"

The compliment brings a smile to her face, something close to gratitude swimming in her eyes. He can't quite decipher the look on her face, but there's something hidden within the pull of her lips. "Thank you. You're looking very handsome,"

"Thanks," Theo breathes quietly.

It's awkward again. What could he possibly say to her right now? Anything they used to talk about feels like something in the past, they've grown so far apart that those connections are barely registering.

"Would you like to dance with me?" Maisie asks, holding her hand out to him and he looks at it for a few minutes before slipping his into it. She gently guides him to the crowded dance floor and the two sway to the slow song. "I didn't know if you'd actually come tonight,"

"I wasn't going to," Theo admits, feeling eyes on him from around the room. There is no doubt in his mind that two sets of those belong to his dad and Emmy. "Dad thought that maybe I should,"

"Well I'm glad he did, maybe now we can talk better. You uh, you were right about him, you know?" Maisie's voice is beginning to sound a lot more fragile.

"Rafe?"

He and Maisie might not be on the best of terms, they days as best friends may have even passed completely, but he cannot deny the fact he cares about her.

"Hmm. I thought that maybe I-if I spent some time with him that I could help him. Stupid, I know, but to begin with he seemed so friendly. It was like any wrongdoings he'd done to me before vanished and I'd finally be able to be friends with him," She explains quietly.

"What did he do?" Theo asks, eyes now searching the room for the boy on their own accord.

"Well, used my crush on Topper as blackmail to come here with him tonight for one. Then he uh, he tried to kiss me and made it seem like I owed it to him for bringing me,"

Theo holds the girl to him a little tighter, a comforting embrace as his mind works over time to think of a way he can punch Rafe Cameron in the face several times without getting arrested. At least his father is a lawyer.

"You don't owe him anything, May,"

Maisie looks up at him with tears in her eyes, relief flooding into her features — it's as if she hadn't thought he would believe her. "I'm sorry, Theo, I'm so sorry. I just, I thought that I was doing the best thing for us, that we needed some time apart because all we ever did was spend time together,"

She's said the same thing to him so many times now, almost as if Maisie was trying to convince herself. There's that voice in the back of his mind that screams out at him, that she'd had those words planted into his own mind. He can just about guess by who.

"Maisie—"

"Oh, Theo!"

Theo let's go of Maisie and turns around to watch his mother glide over. Obviously she hadn't gotten the message about wanting space and she's now going to do this in public instead. Theo is not above causing a scene in public, half these people don't even like him anyway.

"It's so lovely to see you. You look so handsome – oh is this your girlfriend?" Sapphire asks with a beaming smile.

Theo hears Maisie snort amusedly behind him. It simply goes to show how little this woman actually knows about her son. "Uh well she doesn't have a dick so she's not really my type," Theo shrugs.

"Oh- I didn't know you were—" Sapphire starts, slightly taken aback by his bluntness.

"Gay? Yeah, its something you would've learnt if you had actually stuck around for more than five minutes,"

Several people are staring at the two of them now and whilst he may not back down from an argument with her, the woman has always been obsessed with maintaining her public image. The last thing she will want is to be made a fool of in front of all these people, which of course only eggs him on even further.

"I don't have time for this now, okay? Just go off and mingle with your snobby rich friends and continue pretending like I don't exist. I would've thought you'd be an expert at it, six years of practice was it?" Theo sneers harshly, ignoring Maisie's hand that wraps around his wrist gently.

"Honey–" she starts.

"No. I've told you several times already that I don't want to see you, get it through your head. You left, mum, you were the one who walked away. You don't get to just waltz back in when you please,"

Theo pushes passed her and counts in his head, steadying his breathing for what feels like the hundredth time this week. The partygoers watch him like hawks, eyes staring in that same judgmental way they always do. They've clung to the idea of him being a troubled child, this probably only reinforces that. However, he truly pays them no mind and continues on his way only to be stopped by somebody grabbing onto his arm.

"Maisie—"

"Unlike her I actually do have a dick,"

Theo spins around so quickly to come face to face with an overly amused JJ Maybank, that familiar smirk plastered upon his face. Theo stares at him for a few moments before he properly registers the fact he's here, his face covered in bruises and his lip busted. Without much of a second though, he wraps his arms around the boy who lets out a noise of surprise.

"Woah, okay, I didn't realize we were at the hugging stage," JJ's voice is teasing but there's a hint of happiness in there too.

"You're an asshole. I was worried about you," Theo admits rather breathlessly, pulling away to get a look at his face again. "What happened? Did somebody attack you when you were in holding? I'll get my dad to sue the ass of them if—"

"Dude, I'm fine. Don't worry about it,"

But that's the problem, he does worry. JJ Maybank wasn't somebody he ever expected to care for as much as he does now, over a month ago they didn't even know each other. Even now, they don't know each other as well as most friends do but there is that feeling of content whenever Theo is around him.

"You sure? Maybe we can clean that cut up a little more, it could get infected if it isn't cleaned properly," Theo leans a little closer and looks at the split lip.

"I'm fine, Doc, I promise. Now, go and have fun because I have a mission to carry out," JJ is smirking again.

"Mission?"

"Don't worry about it, Theo. I have this under control,"

Theo would like to say he believes him but he doesn't. JJ manages to sneak back through the crowd in his waiter's outfit, which Theo hadn't even noticed he was wearing. He's most certainly up to no good but this party is rather dreary anyway, it could most certainly do with some entertainment that isn't him yelling at his mother.

The night has barely started and yet Theo knows it's only a matter of time before it descends into utter chaos and Theo happily sit by and watch it take place.

NOTE!

Hi! I decided to split Midsummers between two chapters so the rest of that will be coming up in the next chapter! I really hope you enjoyed this, lots of stuff is starting to happen and will hopefully get better soon!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you next time!