𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙈𝙚 𝙄𝙣.

Regina.

West's Physics final was coming up, and he was studying hard. He was an average student, so he had to work ten times harder to obtain an A. In all honesty, though, everything in the textbook was just a bunch of jargon to him. It seemed as if he was absent from his classes the entire year because he didn't remember being taught any of the things that lay in front of him on his study desk. He was about to throw the textbook across the room when Paul knocked on his door.

"Come in."

"Hey, have you seen my car keys? I seem to have misplaced them..." Paul asked from the doorway.

West narrowed his eyes. It was weird. Paul always knew where everything was.

"You never misplace anything."

"Yeah, well."

"I'll help you look."

Paul shook his head, "I'm going to be late for my meeting. Mind taking me? You look like you could use a distraction."

You read my mind, "Okay."

They climbed into West's Toyota and sped off. The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was held in a neighboring town called Cambridge. It was a busy, but, beautiful city, more livelier than Easton. And the people were much more friendlier. Paul was grateful that they were far from their own town, if people from Easton knew he was attending such meetings, his name would be on everyone's lips for the next century. Gossip was in their DNA. He suddenly remembered what Linda said the day she came over to bitch about West.

"Linda once told me she heard some unsettling things about you. What was she talking about?"

"Oh. Nothing serious, just that I'm a drug addict who loses underground wrestling matches on a daily."

"What?"

"It's whatever." He shrugged.

"Do you know who started these rumors?"

West side eyed Paul. He was debating whether to tell him or not. "Uh, Dennis, I think."

"WHY ON EARTH WOULD HE DO THAT?"

"Don't... yell." West chided from the driver's side. He thought about the day he came into the police station to report Paul for child abuse. Dennis had immediately called him a lying, disrespectful child who 'Must be on crack because my brother would never do something like that'. The junkie rumors started soon after that, so West had put two and two together and concluded that Dennis must've said something to someone, which in turn, turned the whole town against him.

"It doesn't matter. I'm over it."

Paul stared at West in bewilderment, "What the hell do you mean it doesn't--"

"Dad, no." West snapped as he pulled up to the City Hall. "Just... forget about it. I have."

Paul suddenly winced. He brought his fingers to his temples and started rubbing in a circular motion. "Fucking migraines." He muttered.

"You've been getting a lot of those, lately."

Paul ignored West, "Would you like to join me, today?"

"I don't think I should."

"It'll be fun."

"I seriously doubt that." West disagreed as he reached for the door handle. He figured he'd give it a shot, anyway. It's not like he had anything better to do. Studying for his Physics final didn't count... that was a lost cause.

They entered the City Hall, only to find people already seated in a circle.

"Uh, sorry I'm late. This is my son, Weston. I asked him to join us today."
They grabbed two chairs and joined the circle.