Make Me (Remdy)

We All Need Someone To Talk To

Trigger warnings: Mentions of death, depression, injury, alcohol

Andy hears them before he sees them. Lucas is loudly talking in the corridor, and he makes out the words where's daddy, and Remi. "Hey, little Batman," he says when the two come in. 

"Is daddy dying?" Lucas asks, looking up at Juliet, who shakes her head, picks him up, and sits him on Andy's lap.

"No, honey. Daddy's just fine," she says, pulling up the chair and sitting down. 

Andy hugs Lucas with the arm that isn't broken. "I'm here forever." 

"We saw Remington. He's in a bit of a state." 

Andy sighs. The boy has settled down into his chest. "We had an argument. He's scared, I'm scared. I should have known it'd happen." 

"You know he had a weird fainting episode when he found out you'd been in an accident?" 

"He did?" 

"Yeah, like twice." 

He closes his eyes. "I'll talk to him later, give him time to calm down." 

"You want me to tell him anything?" 

"No, I don't know. Probably not. It's really complicated." He looks at her. "Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. I know things are weird at the moment." 

"Yeah, of course. You're family." 

"I never thought I'd hear you say that to me." 

Juliet smiles. "Yeah, me neither. Funny how things change. How're you feeling?" 

"Me? I'm fine. Gonna have to wear this fucking neck brace for, like, a week and can't use my arm for shit, but it's not bad, all things considered." 

"He's gonna be a swear-y kid," she jokes. 

"He's fast asleep," Andy says, stroking his hair.

"I'm not surprised, he was playing snakes and ladders all morning. I'm surprised Remington didn't tip the board after pretending to lose for the twentieth time." 

"Remington's perfect, that's why." 

"You're so in love with him, it's adorable."

"Oh, shush." He smiles. "Do you know how we're gonna do this parenting thing?" 

"We alternate weekends and drop off and pick up from reception?" (Pre-school) She shrugs. "We'll work it out as it goes. I mean, I don't know how we'll do it when we're both touring, but I'm sure we'll work something out." 

Andy looks down at the child. "He's so cute," he gushes. "We made a beautiful baby." 

"Yeah we did. Have you seen us?" 

"Do you really think I'm a good dad?" 

"Look at your son, Andy. Do you think a bad dad would get that sort of cuddle? He loves you. He's loved you since he met you. He needs you."

"Since when did you become nice?" 

Juliet laughs. "Since we divorced. Like you."

"What do you mean, I was always nice." He continues stroking Lucas' head. "The divorce was totally the best thing to happen to us." 

"Totally," she agrees. "He's flat out, huh?" 

"Drooling." 

"He does that." 

* * * 

Juliet finds Remington in the waiting room after her visit, having left Lucas asleep with Andy for the time being. She sits in the chair beside him and after a moment of quiet, says, "I don't know anything about you or what you've been through, but I do know that Andy really cares about you, and if he said something that upset you, it's because he's incapable of communicating most of the time." She pauses, adds, "You don't have to listen to me, I know he's probably told you all the shit I put him through. I wouldn't blame you for hating me." 

"I don't hate you," Remington tells her, staring at his lap. "I'm sorry for fainting on you." 

"Don't worry about it." 

"He's done so much for me. I don't know what I'd do if he died." He shakes his head. "My therapist thinks it's co-dependency."

"What do you think?" 

"I don't know. Maybe it is." 

"What did Andy say earlier? He said you had an argument." 

Remington look at her now and shrugs. "It wasn't him. It was me. I got mad at him for not being injured enough." 

"Sorry?" 

He shrugs again. "I was in a car accident a while ago. Broke my collar and shattered a couple ribs." Another shake of the head. "Watched my brothers die in front of me, so..." 

Juliet is quiet and she puts a hand on his shoulder. "That's awful, I'm so sorry." 

"Yeah. Everyone is." 

"You were upset because he got out of it pretty unscathed and you and your brothers went through much worse?" 

He nods. 

"Have you told him that?" 

"In an indirect, yelling sort of way, I suppose. I don't know. I keep fucking everything up." 

"Talk to him, honey. He'll understand. You know he will." 

"I just don't know how. You know him better than I do. Give me advice?" 

"The Andy I knew back then was not the Andy you know now. If something like this happened when we were married, he'd have disappeared, got drunk, and come back the following day, only for us to fight, and he'd drink again. The advice I could give you would not be the advice you're after."

"He was that bad?" 

Juliet nods, smiles mournfully. "He was so sad and he didn't know how to deal with it. He didn't want his band's help and he sure as hell didn't want mine. Alcohol was his therapy and it nearly ruined him." 

"He said he'd gone to rehab." 

"That's right. I'll never know what pushed him into making that decision, but I'm glad he did." 

"He talks about you like you're a terrible person," Remington says. "You don't seem that terrible." 

She hums. "I was when we were together. Sure, he was pretty bad, but I only made it worse. The divorce was the best decision we made." 

"Is it true you were only with him for how he looks?" 

"No, of course not. I loved him at the start. He's gorgeous, anyone can see that, and by the end, that was the only positive thing I could say about him. Like I said, I knew a very different version of him than you do." 

"I'm sorry your marriage was so horrible." 

"Don't be." 

"Is it not weird having a child with someone you used to hate?" 

"A little, and even more weird that he has a boyfriend now. Never thought that'd happen." 

"Neither did he," Remington says with a small laugh. "He kept saying he was straight after I sucked his dick, like, four times." 

"He's a stubborn bastard. But he also really cares about you, and he's in there with a drooling child asleep on him, so he'd welcome your company." 

"You think so?" 

"If he doesn't, he's an idiot and I take back all the nice things I just said about him." 

Remington looks at her. "Thanks, Juliet," he says. "I really needed to talk to someone about it." 

"Of course, honey, anytime. Go get your stubborn idiot of a man, I'll wait here. You okay to bring Lucas back with you?" 

"Yeah, sure." He gets up. "I can't promise I won't swear in front of him." 

"Andy's already done that." 

"Of course he has." 

"Tell him you love him," she says. "I think he needs it." 

Remington nods, smiles, and turns around.