Modern Love {A Cinderella Retelling}

Chapter Four

Noah watched as Brock raced out of the office and down the stairs. He looked over at Alaric and shook his head. No one wanted to deal with someone like that and if Brock lived with them then Noah assumed it was ten times worse. Get out of his cubicle, Noah followed Brock downstairs and out the door. Exiting onto the street, Noah looked around. He saw Brock heading toward the water fountain where a lot of people were sitting around and having fun. It wasn't as cold as he had imagined but then again, they were in the city and this was Greensboro.

Waiting until the cars pass by, he made his way over to the fountain where Brock was sitting and deep in thought. At first, Noah didn't know what to do, but he wouldn't let Alaric treat the guy like that. He walked over to Brock and cleared his throat.

Brock tore his eyes away from the fountain and looked up.

"Are you okay?" Noah asked and sat down next to him.

"I'm fine," Brock answered.

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"What? I said I was fine; do you need it in writing?"

"No, I don't need it," Noah responded. "I only asked because I saw you running out of Alaric's office," he continued. "Tell me that isn't your stepfather,"

Brock remained silent. Staring straight ahead.

"Damn, that's tough," Noah said matter of factly. "Where are you from?"

*~*~*~*

The two continued having a conversation until Brock began to calm down. Sure, he wasn't crying and didn't allow the tears to come down, but it felt good having a friend to talk to. Someone that he could count on. A thought occurred to him however, and he wondered if Noah knew where he could find that Amelia girl.

"I got a question for you," Brock said.

Noah perked up.

"Do you know a girl by the name of Amelia Dehalia?" he asked.

Noah thought about it at first, then smiled and narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe? Why?"

"Because um... I'd like to talk to her again,"

Before Brock could get more information about the girl, his phone had gone off. He pulled it out and saw that his stepfather was contacting him. It had been a text stating that Alaric needed him back so they could go ahead and head back to Burlington. Despite wanting to know about the girl, he thought about coming back when Alaric came. Shaking his head, Brock thanked Noah yet again and made his way back over to the office building. He'd arrived on time when Stella and Alaric stepped out of the building. Not even looking at him, Alaric climbed into the driver's seat followed by Stella in the passenger's seat. Putting his earbuds back in, he climbed into the backseat. Alaric started the car and together all three of them went back to pick Aston up from try outs.

Upon arriving at the football field, Aston came over to the car covered in nothing but dirt and grime. The doors slid open, and Aston entered the car smelling like he needed a shower. Brock tried his best not to gag but it made things hard so instead he turned away and did his best to fall asleep as it was going to be a long thirty-minute drive. Wind whistled through the crack in the window allowing for him to fall asleep.

Thirty minutes later the car came to an abrupt stop forcing Brock awake. He groaned and sat up. Next to him, Aston rolled his eyes.

"Dad! Brock was asleep!" Aston exclaimed.

"Can't you go to sleep?" Brock demanded. "Instead of pointing out every little thing?"

"You're lucky I'm too tired to argue back, now why don't you help me get my football gear inside?" Aston jumped out of the car and began walking toward the front door.

Brock grumbled to himself as his stepdad and stepsister got out of the car. Going around to the trunk, Brock began pulling out the gear when the rest of his stepfamily came by. It was six thirty in the evening and all he wanted to do was sit down and crash. But that wasn't to be as Alaric and Stella placed the piles of paper on his already full hands.

"Hey!" Brock exclaimed. "I'm not a fucking Pack mule you assholes! Come help me with this shit!"

"Do you hear how he talks to us daddy?" Stella pouted. "it's screwed up,"

Brock rolled his eyes.

"Hey spoiled princess! Why don't you stop acting like a child and start acting like a nineteen-year-old?!" Brock demanded.

"Don't you argue with us," Alaric ordered. "Get those items inside and get ready to cook dinner,"

Turning on his heel, Alaric and Stella walked into the house leaving Brock alone outside and struggling to take the bags and the packets in. After a lot of struggling, Brock finally got the bags and the packets inside, he placed the packets on the table and dropped the bags on the floor. He sat down exhausted from the day. But when Alaric noticed things didn't go like he had planned.

"What exactly are you doing?" Alaric asked.

"I'm resting, do you mind?" Brock responded. "I carried a bunch of junk inside without any help,"

"Because that's not our job, and your job is to get cooking now either get up from that chair and cook or we order take out and you don't get anything," Alaric threatened. "Oh, and if you try to weasel your way out of this, trust me it's going to be a whole lot worse,"

Brock got up from the chair despite being exhausted and entered the kitchen where there were pasta and sauce sitting out. Going through the normal routine, Brock began to boil the spaghetti until it was soft enough. Taking the meat from the fridge he oiled the pan and cooked the meat. This went on for a few more minutes before he eventually finished making dinner and placed it on the table. His stepfamily came downstairs and took their seats around the table. Although, he gave himself a plate of spaghetti and gathered up his dishes heading back to his Barn. Brock ate his fill and put away his plate. Still he laid back on his bed and fell asleep.