"What's going on, dad?" Hunter asked as he made his way into the living room, where Matt had his eyes set on his laptop.
"Nothing, don't worry." Matt shrugged it off, while barely looking up at the 24 year old.
"You can't lie to me. I'm not stupid. This has all been going on way too long now. I wanna know why you're shutting me out of the gang."
Pausing what he was doing, Matt finally removed his eyes from the laptop screen and looked up at Hunter. Sitting back into the sofa, he let out a long sigh before gesturing for his son to take a seat opposite him.
"It's for your own safety, Hunter. Now is not a good time for you to be involved."
"But why? I'm not a kid!"
It had been a whole month since Todd had revealed what he believed to be going on with the gang. Although Jay had been incredibly apprehensive to believe him, Matt wasn't as doubtful. He knew that there was a high chance that Jazmine wasn't truly on their side but it hadn't been easy to persuade Jay of that. Instead, Mat had actually given up trying and just decided to figure things out for himself.
That hadn't been so easy though. Todd had gone back to New York, after insisting he couldn't stay here any longer. Sophie was fed up and wanted to get back to her business and Todd wanted that too. Therefore, Matt was now trying to work with his brother to figure things out while they were countries apart, and also trying to prevent Jay from finding out too.
This was never how Matt wanted it to be but he felt like he didn't have much choice. Until he found proof, there was no way Jay was going to believe him however, finding that proof wasn't turning out to be all that easy either.
"Because we're dealing with more than just Kye Gibson now, Hunter. This involves his parents too and potentially Jazmine." Matt bit back, not prepared to argue with his son on this.
"You're the one making this more risky by going behind Jay's back. You always said you trusted Jay better than anyone but now you're suddenly taking Todd's side?" Hunter exasperated, not so enthusiastic with his dad's choices.
He loved his uncle but he didn't always trust him. He'd been warned one too many times about Todd, sometimes by his own dad, so he didn't understand why he was taking his side.
"This is different Hunter. Jay is swayed by Jazmine at the moment, his view is biased, so this is for his own good. Plus, Todd knows what he is talking about."
"But didn't you say that he shares a daughter with Jazmine? Surely you can't trust his word either?"
"We can't trust that she's actually Todd's daughter either. She's lied before."
"I just don't get it." Hunter sighed, now sounding aggravated. "You're supposed to be working as a gang. You're supposed to be able to trust each other but you're all doing stuff behind each others backs."
Matt understood why Hunter found this all so confusing. The gang made sticking together one of the most important things and claimed it's why they were so successful. However, in times like this, sometimes they had to make slight sacrifices if it ensured the long term safety of them all.
"That's how it works sometimes Hunter. I really don't want to go through this now but you need to promise me that you'll stay out of it." Matt warned, knowing for certain that he couldn't allow his son to get involved in this. "Live your normal life, alright? Enjoy it and stop worrying about the gang."
Hunter desperately wanted to argue with his dad but he knew he would be shut down no matter what. Matt wasn't up for listening right now, he was too focused on figuring this out so he and Todd could ensure that everyone was safe.
"My normal life consists of working at the track and then going home to my housemates and my nagging girlfriend. This seems much more interesting." Hunter attempted to lighten the mood but it didn't quite work in his favour.
"What's going on with you and your girlfriend?"
"Nothings going on."
"You said she's nagging you." Matt remarked, fully taking this opportunity to divert the attention away from the gang, much to Hunter's reluctance.
"It's just over petty stuff."
"Like what?"
Hunter was usually incredibly private in front of his family when it came to his girlfriend. She only came over to the family house on odd occasions and none of them really knew why. Therefore, when Hunter did open up about her they were all eager to grasp that moment and get as much detail as possible.
"Just about me going out and stuff." Hunter began, deciding he may as well give in or his dad wouldn't stop asking questions. "I haven't been out much in ages but I've just started going to the pub and out for drinks with Harv and friends, but she just gets pissed off."
"She doesn't like you going out?" Matt asked, genuinely curious on this situation.
He understood if Hunter was going out every night and not spending anytime with the girl but considering it had become a rare occurrence, it seemed strange.
"She complains sometimes because I don't invite her but I don't want her coming everywhere with me. I need time with my friends alone like she does."
"That's understandable." Matt nodded his head in agreement but also being wise enough to understand the other side. "But you should invite her on the odd occasion as she might think you're embarrassed to show her off or something."
"Wait, what? No, that's not it." Hunter immediately began shaking his head, shocked that it could even be an assumption.
"But she might think that if you're never letting her go with you. Just try and see it from her point of view."
Thinking about it for a moment, Hunter did see where his dad was coming from. He hadn't really thought it through until then but realised how it may have come across.
"The reason I don't invite her is because my friends can be a bit much sometimes."
"You're scared they're going to hit on her?" Matt chuckled and Hunter rolled his eyes.
"No! Well, yeah... but I just mean they might scare her off."
"I'm sure she can handle herself, Hunter. Plus, you never know, she might wanna hit on your friends rather than the other way around."
Matt's teasing comment was not taken so appreciatively by Hunter as he looked back at his dad in shock.
"She wouldn't want to do that when she had a catch like me!" He hit his hand to his chest, in an act to look tough.
"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that." Matt grinned before letting a more serious expression fall across his face. "Everything is good with you two though yeah? Living together is fine?"
"Yeah, it's good. It's cool having other housemates as it doesn't feel so serious."
"Alright good."
With everything going on with the gang at the moment, things had been pretty intense within the Russle household. Matt felt like he hadn't been as present for his wife or his children and wanted them to know he was still there for them for whatever they wanted.
It was tough enough keeping on track with Hunter, Ava and Mason, so keeping up with James and Grace had been even more difficult. With James living his own life with Ellie and his struggled relationship with the 26 year old anyway, it was almost impossible. Then when it came to Grace, it was difficult to get a minute with her alone now that she was spending the majority of her time with Harvey. Then when he did finally get a minute with her, she would just criticse his questions as being too protective. Therefore, he couldn't seem to win.
"Oh and dad..." Hunter captured Matt's attention as it did begin to drift. "... let me know if you need any help with anything. I know you said you didn't want me getting involved but this must be pretty lonely with Todd in a different country."
"Thank you Hunter. I do appreciate that." Matt said as he gave his son a genuine smile.
He did appreciate Hunter's offer but it wasn't one he wasn't going to take. It didn't matter how intense or lonely this whole thing was, he promised himself not to allow his family to get impacted. He didn't want his children growing up in the same environment he had and that was why he was majorly regretting allowing Hunter to get involved in the first place.
He was beginning to realise once again how truly dangerous it could all be, as he felt like the past was reliving itself. Part of him was wishing he had done what Jess had done and made his escape while he could. However, at the same time he knew that wouldn't have worked for him. He loved it too much. It was a part of him. However, that didn't mean it had to be a part of his family too.
....
0 comments: