#galvin

Everything somehow felt even more shit than it had the day before. Or maybe that was just because Cal screwing up at quidditch—because that was what had happened today—made everything feel even more tenuous than before. Like an unneeded reminder that things could fall apart again and Ian would be useless to fix them only now Mac was also in worse trouble than before. One thing Ian was not useless at, though—the one thing he’d always been good for—was listening. Ian had ushered the kids outside once they got back from Cal’s match with worried, upset faces and explained to Ian what happened, how Cal had totally missed both the snitch and the opposing seeker chasing after it until he was way too late to catch up, and how he’d also taken a bludger while trying to catch up anyways. Best to let Cal have some space in the house, he figured, and sure enough Cal had gone straight to his room when he finally got home. Ian let him be, and he made sure Patty kept her distance as well. But he’d listened. To Patty in her room, making sure she stayed there. To the kids on their brooms. To the silence from Cal’s room. And then, to the sound of footsteps coming up to the house. Ian sat up from where he was pretending to read against the side of the house. The last thing they needed was some random bloke showing up today. So he rushed inside to the front door and pulled it open just in time to see a bloke holding something on the front stoop. Only this was not the sort of bloke he was expecting. The bloke was younger than what typically went for Patty, for one. A lot cleaner. Ian studied him for a few seconds before it hit him: this wasn’t a Patty bloke. This was Cal’s bloke. He tilted his head sideways, regarding the bloke, trying to figure out what to do about the fact he was on their doorstep. Ian thought about what he’d heard two nights ago, before he put the earplugs in. He also thought about Cal and Mac’s conversation the next morning. About Cal’s worries, and how Mac encouraged him to push past them, because he wasn’t Patty. Ian believed that too. And then he thought about how, when Ian felt like everything was falling apart, he’d wanted to see Ethan, and doing so made him feel better (even if it left him with a new sort of confusion). With all that in mind, the answer seemed clear. “Cal’s in his room,” Ian said without introduction or preamble. “Everyone else is outside, so if you’re quick you can get in there without anyone spotting you,” he said, stepping out of the way of the front door so the bloke could go in. Assuming that’s what he was here for.