Archive of Our Own

While Glam would never say he was a complete expert at being a father, he didn't think he'd ever earn the right to say that, he did think he knew at least something about fatherhood after Dee was born. Two years spent with a fairly quiet child who looked and acted so much like himself had eased any concerns he may have had about raising children. Dee was bright, calm and hardly caused a fuss most of the time. He was practically an angel, as far as Vicky and Glam were concerned. Accepting his new role as a Father hadn't been easy but with Dee he felt as if he learned a lot about what it was to be a parent and have a child. 

All of that was promptly thrown out the window the moment Heavy was born. 

Glam quickly found out that Dee, in all his temperance and calmness, had been a complete oddity as far as children were concerned. Heavy, on the other hand, was more like a normal child than the other. He was loud, whiny, needy and filled with so much energy that it seemed all Heavy needed was thirty minutes of sleep to stay up for an entire day. The only way the family had survived those sleepless nights during Heavy's first few years was because Glam was used to pulling all-nighters and spent the nights up with him when he was at his fussiest. He had hoped he'd never have to stay awake for days at a time ever again but was nonetheless glad to have at least some experience with sleeplessness if only to give Vicky a few hours of needed rest after the birth. If all else failed, honorary Uncle Ches would step in to give Vicky, Glam and Dee a few hours of blissful silence. 

That wasn't to say that Glam didn't love Heavy, he did. The whole family absolutely adored the youngest member of the Shvagenbagen household. Because despite the other's chaotic and near turbulent nature he was so sweet and cheerful. A bundle of smiles that the whole family could not help but be charmed by. The tiny redhead's utterly jubilant nature was just infectious and no one could stay mad at him for long. Even Dee, in his budding cold and callous personality, had grown a soft spot for his little brother. Glam could tell considering how much Dee let Heavy get away with and with how much time the two spent together as they grew older. It had made Glam and Vicky happy to see their sons getting along well.

However there were some issues that caused a rift between Glam and Heavy. He had a hard time connecting with the redhead who, while fond of him, didn't seem to really like spending time with him. At least not in the ways that Glam was used to spending time with Dee. While the younger blond seemed all too excited to read, study and chat with Glam alone, Heavy seemed to stray away from any one on one time with him. Reading bored Heavy, studying made him irritated and their chats usually fell flat without a third member to join them. Heavy seemed all too content being with people other than his own father. Glam noticed how Heavy seemed to latch on and follow other adults like Ches and even Anna around more than himself. It hurt him in a way that was hard to explain. He knew Heavy loved him, the child said it often and liked hugs and kisses from his father more than Dee ever did, but he wondered if Heavy truly liked him. It was an interesting and confusing problem. Heavy himself seemed to be confusing over all as every action he did seemed to lack any real reason beyond impulsive randomness.

Such as right now. 

When Glam had decided to work primarily at home, it had been a decision he made happily. After all he wanted to see his family more and had wanted to have more of a hands-on approach raising his kids. Daycares and school had been useful in the earlier years but seemed unnecessary now. Glam had been excited to spend more time with his kids...if he could find them at least.

“Heavy! Heavy!” Glam puts his hands on his hips as he stands in the living room, looking around with a furrowed brow.

Dee had gone to a friend's house and Vicky was helping Bug with some maintenance work at the shop. So it was just Heavy and him in the house...or so he thought. Deciding to take a break and get lunch started he had gone to check on Heavy in his room…but he wasn’t there. So he went to the living room...not there. Then Dee’s room, his room, the bathroom-but he was nowhere to be found. Panic began to set in quickly and he began to worry he had been taken or something terrible had happened. The logical part of his mind argued that Heavy was most likely just hiding...the other, irrational part of his mind expected the worst.

Taking a moment to ground himself, he tried to think of where the child would be if not anywhere in the house. It was raining so realistically Heavy shouldn't be outside, however…

The clattering of metal outside caught his attention and Glam frowned before quickly walking to the kitchen window and looking outside. Sure enough, he saw the trash can tipped over along with two legs wiggling from within. Ah.

Turning seven had been a life changing affair for Heavy, it seemed. It was the first time the child realized that he didn’t necessarily have to do what his parents told him to do; That the rules set and laid out by both Vicky and Glam weren’t written in stone and surely could be broken or overlooked for the sake of fun or self interest. That wasn’t to say Heavy went out of his way to disobey his parents but finding out that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, something that Dee most likely taught him, had made life easier for Heavy and more exasperated for his parents. 

Glam muttered under his breath as he grabbed his coat and an umbrella before he went out to the back. By the time he got there, Heavy had just managed to squeeze himself out of the can and was sitting on the wet ground, slightly dazed from the tumble. He looked up as Glam walked over and furrowed his brows, “Dad?”

"What are you doing out here in the trash?" He asked, moving the umbrella over the other to try and spare him from getting even more wet, "I thought I told you to stay indoors."

"I did!"

"So why are you out here?"

"Well…" Heavy peeled off an old wrapper from his face, "I kinda...threw something away by accident...so I went to look for it." 

"And you couldn't tell me because…?" When Heavy merely responded with a shrug and looked away, Glam sighed. "Come on, you're going to get sick." He reached down and helped him up, "Let's get you cleaned up."

"But I don't want to shower."

"You've been digging around the trashcan. You need one."

Despite the pout he put up no further protests as he followed Glam inside. After making him take off his shoes and socks, as well as hanging up the umbrella and his coat, Glam led the other to the bathroom. As they went up the steps he glanced down at Heavy who seemed to be fiddling with something in his pocket. He sighed as he pushed the door to the bathroom and ushered him inside. "Wash yourself thoroughly. Hair too." When Heavy frowned he crossed his arms, "I'll keep sending you back into the shower until you are fully clean." The threat seemed to work as Heavy huffed but nodded and closed the door behind him. With one last shake of his head Glam headed back downstairs to clean up the mess Heavy made. As he did so he thought over this whole situation.

Heavy was....interesting, to say the least. The other's temperament, logic and values seemed so different from the rest of the family. Of course, at surface level Glam could pick out the little similarities between Heavy and his family. His tendency toward mischief was a learned behavior from Dee, his strong emotions came from Vicky and even his creativity derived from Glam himself. However what he did with these traits were severely changed by his own personality. He loved to get into trouble but refused to put others in any sort of real danger and had a strong set of moral rules. Unlike Dee who, even at this young age, had little regard for people. His emotions were volatile but for the most part he was always happy and kind. It was a stark contrast to Vicky's usually sour and easily agitated mood. And despite being as creative as Glam...his art and interests were...strange. 

Glam was still trying to understand Heavy and it was most likely this confusion that had driven an unintentional stake between the two. Again, Glam had no doubt of Heavy's love but he worried that his son would turn away from Glam or see him as only an authoritative figure than anything warm or safe to turn to when needed. Heavy adored Dee, loved Vicky, liked Ches and even Anna seemed to hold a place in his affections despite her callousness to him. But for Glam? Well…

An hour, and three more showers, later Heavy and Glam were in the kitchen eating. Well, Glam had finished earlier and was merely sitting at the table with Heavy as he ate. Glam supposed he should go back to work but he had yet to get an answer out of Heavy. Usually he’d let it be and just chalk it up to his son’s irrational nature but if Glam wanted to know more about Heavy, he had to stop just excusing everything as being “just odd”. Surely there must be some method to Heavy’s madness, Glam just hadn’t solved it yet. He idly glanced out the window at the rain. It was still coming down fairly hard and didn’t seem like it would let up any time soon. Dee and Vicky wouldn’t be home till dinner, hopefully they wouldn’t have too much trouble in the rain by then. 

He looked back at Heavy who was nearly done with his food. After a moment he spoke up, "What exactly were you looking for in the trash?" 

The redhead looked up from the plate and gave a shrug, "Nothing."

" Heavy ." He gave him a leveled look, "You were obviously looking for something. I imagine it must be important if you went to the trouble of digging through the trash for it."

"Well...yeah, but..." he shook his head, "It's dumb."

"I'd still like to know."

The other seemed to debate it in his head for a while before sighing. "Okay...it was your...uh...makeup thing."

Glam blinked, "Makeup?"

"The make up pointy thing." he motioned with his hand. "It's kinda pokey, it's on the end of a stick and it looks like a tree sort of…"

Glam looked down for a moment before looking up with a raised brow, "My eyebrow brush?"

"Yes! That! You threw away two and I wanted them."

"What for? If you're trying to do makeup then I highly advise not to use dirty or used-"

"Ew! No, no, no!" he shook his head, "I just wanted to use them for something. For play."

"Play? How could you possibly use those for play?"

“It’s nothing.” He picked at the table, “I just wanted it.”

“Well why didn’t you ask me for them? What are you going to use them for?”

Heavy shrugged, “It’s dumb. Never mind.”

Glam paused. He was vaguely aware of Heavy's various artistic projects. Other family members had referenced them a few times and he had even caught Heavy and Dee working on some together in their respective rooms every now and then. But he was rarely told about them directly by Heavy. When he was younger he had shown Glam a few things but had stopped as of late. 

However this could be a good opportunity to try and bond with Heavy through this mysterious project. Even if only a little bit. "I'd like to hear about it." Glam smiled.

"...Really?" Heavy asked, looking up at him. He took another bite of food, "Are you sure?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, but yes! I heard from Ches you're quite creative and you seem to draw a lot in your room."

The other smiled a bit bashfully and he shrugged, scratching his head, "I guess...well...it's um...it's a...model."

"Model?"

"Yeah, um...it's just a thing I made with stuff around the house. Like your eyebrow brush, broken toys, and some sprinkles from Dee's birthday cake and...y'know stuff like that."

Immediately Glam thought about the model from his childhood. He couldn't remember a lot of it, and he's sure that's an unconscious decision, but he does feel a twinge of excitement. So Heavy enjoyed the same things he did? He also enjoyed making models of places! This could be something they shared! His smile widened some, "That's amazing! Have you been working on it for a long time?"

Heavy straightened up some, momentarily thrown off by his enthusiasm. He hesitated a little but gave a shrug, "About two months...it took a while to find some stuff to work with. I know I could have made some things but-"

"But it was more interesting to find the things."

"Yeah...yeah!" Heavy smiled, "And it's so cool to finally find the thing you were looking for!"

"Yes! And it's satisfying when you can finally place a building or object with something that looks similar to it."

"Yeah!" Heavy leaned forward, "It took me a long time to find out what to make trees out of but I saw you showing Dee your makeup stuff and I thought they looked perfect! And then the bubble wrap from the mail looks like bumpy ground if you color it right!"

"How interesting! You've really put a lot of effort in it, haven't you?"

Heavy nodded eagerly but paused. There was a flicker of hesitation before he looked at him sheepishly, "...Do you want to see it? I mean, I need to paint the trees so..."

Glam was momentarily caught off guard by the offer but once it sunk in he immediately grinned and nodded, "Yes, I'd love to see it!"

"Okay!" Heavy slid off the chair, "I'll go get it, hold on!"

Glam watched as Heavy ran to his room and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. How long has it been since Heavy had shown him anything? Before  he had shown him drawings of the family, his stick figures and block buildings all the time. Everyday he'd present him with at least one project he had been working on but soon he began to do it less and less. Glam hadn't noticed till he realized a few months had passed and Heavy hadn't shown him anything. The only indicator that he was still doing artistic projects at all had been the empty glue and glitter bottles in the kitchen trash and Vicky reminding him to pick up more paints and pens for Heavy at the store. Why had Heavy stopped wanting Glam's attention?

It was a question for later as Heavy walked back into a room holding a flat piece of cardboard with an old shirt covering it. He could see various raised objects and lumps under the fabric as well as some paint stains on the shirt.

Heavy set the model down on the table along with a few tubes of paint and a paintbrush. "Okay, here it is!" With a grand gesture he ripped the top off cloth and held his hands out wide, "Ta-da!! My forest!" he put his hands on his hips proudly, "Isn't it cool?"

"A forest?"

"Yeah! See, the trees are made with your little brushes. And then I used some sprinkles for the little rocks and the grey stuff from the dryer-"

"Lint."

" Lint for the big boulders! I used real rocks but it was too heavy and it broke the first model I had! So these are light and I can paint them better too. Ooh and I found toothpicks for sticks and then looked at the peanuts from the…" Heavy's smile slowly faded as he noticed Glam's expression. "...the boxes…Popsicle sticks too..."

Glam eyed it closer, "You've certainly shown a lot of ingenuity."

"What does that word mean-"

"But it certainly lacks a realistic quality to it."

Heavy frowned and pulled back a bit, "Well I just...I was…"

"It's also inaccurate scale wise. Your ratios are all over the place." Glam held up his thumb to Heavy's diagram, measuring the various objects, "The measurements are all off. You have bushes the same size as your boulders. And these popsicle sticks are as tall as the trees."

"Because they are to m-"

"There are no rocks that size here."

"There is!"

"And the ground...some of the bubbles from the bubble wrap have popped."

Heavy grimaced and began tugging at his hair in agitation, "It's to make holes in the ground because it's full of holes-"

"But it doesn't read that way."

"I know-"

"If you know, then why not fix it?"

"Well, it's not...it's a model but-"

"And the trees shouldn't be blue."

"But they are blue!" Heavy suddenly yelled, scrunching his nose as he glared at him.

"There's no such thing, Heavy. A shade of green would suffice-" he took hold of the green paint, "This isn't an accurate shade either but for now it-"

"No! They can be blue!" Heavy tried to take away the green paint from Glam's hand, "They're supposed to be blue here!"

"They're not-" Glam leaned away, "Heavy, stop."

"No! Don't touch it!"

" Heavy -" Glam moved his arm away further. 

And that was a mistake. 

The top of one of the trees got caught on his sleeve and got dragged off the edge of the table. Both scrambled to try and catch it but it was too late. The toy model fell to the ground, shattering into the different bits and pieces all over the kitchen floor. Glam and Heavy both stared at it, eyes wide as they stared at the destruction. 

Immediately a sick feeling formed in Glam's gut as he was reminded of an all too familiar sight from his childhood. Of something similar ruined by his own father and now...The sickness was soon replaced by guilt and he looked back at the other, "Heavy...I'm-"

The chair scraped against the kitchen floor loudly before Heavy jumped off and ran out of the room. Glam quickly got up to follow but stopped as he heard the bedroom door slam shut. 

The pleasant conversation had taken a drastic turn and Glam was slowly trying to piece together why. He was only trying to help. There were many ways that Heavy could improve his model of a forest. He didn't see what the issue was with simply trying to help. 

But now the house was eerily quiet again. The excitement from Heavy had left as quickly as it came and Glam was left alone with a mess on the floor and a pain in his chest. He looked back down at the model and frowned. He bent down and carefully picked up the pieces and placed them on the table. It was all inaccurate...but Heavy had worked so hard on it. And now here it was broken because of him. Glam took a seat at the table once more, looking over the remains of the model before burying his face in his hands. 

A full week had passed and nothing had changed. Heavy refused to even look at Glam aside from a few glances or forced, one word replies. Dee and Vicky had taken notice but there was little they could do to try and alleviate the situation. Heavy was as stubborn as his mother and any attempt Glam made to talk to him had led nowhere. Vicky did her best to keep an eye on Heavy and Dee seemed to try and keep the younger sibling's spirits up with more game time and play in the backyard. 

However at the end of the day Heavy still turned away when Glam tried to tuck him in at night and the pain of the other's rejection often kept him awake at night. Since he couldn't sleep, he worked on the model instead. He knew it wouldn't immediately fix everything but hopefully Glam could try and make things a little better by restoring the model to how it was before. Inaccuracies and all. 

Glam had moved to his study and was carefully working hard to get the model as close to how it originally was. A few things had been lost, like most of the sprinkles and the lint, but he had tried his best to replace them with new objects. Doing this reminded him of the model he had made ages ago but he was quick to push that aside in favor of focusing on the task at hand. 

His concentration is broken by a knock at the door. He glances at the clock and notices it's already midnight. He sighs and pushes his glasses up to rub his eyes, "Yes?"

Vicky opens the door and peeks her head in, "Glam? Are you ever going to come to bed?"

"I will, I will...I just…" he sighs and looks back at the model. "I'm almost done."

Vicky presses her tongue against her cheek before sighing and stepping into the office. She closes the door behind her and walks over to the desk, "Heavy's model again?"

"Yes."

"...You know it was just an accident right? It's not like you broke it on purpose."

"I may as well have. He was really excited to show me and…" he sighed, "Now he doesn't talk to me anymore."

"Well, he is...upset. I tried to talk to him about it but he just goes quiet. Stubborn little shit." She says with far too much affection to be condescending. "Dee says Heavy won't talk to him about it either."

There was a strong possibility that Heavy has talked to Dee about it but just refused to share anything with their parents. Which he would just have to respect if that was the case. He's burned enough bridges between his kids already, he didn't want to burn anymore by trying to force Dee to tell him. "I really fucked up, Vicky." he closed his eyes, "He hates me." 

"He doesn't hate you-"

"Yes-!" He stops and lowers his voice down, "Yes he does. It's not like we were very close to begin with...this past year it just feels like we're growing more and more apart. It's the opposite with Dee...I don't understand why Heavy is pulling away."

"Well Heavy is a completely new thing. Ever since he was born he's been throwing shit at us left and right." She puts a hand on the desk and picks up one of the eyebrow brushes, "He's keeping all of us on our feet, or whatever."

"Toes." Glam looks down, "I still failed him."

"He'll get over it eventually, Glam. Kids bounce back like that...and Heavy's Heavy, y'know?"

That was the thing, Glam didn't know. He didn't know his son as much as he wanted; or as much as he should . He's also painfully aware of the fact that he probably ruined his chances of ever knowing his son more. That he had ruined any progress he made. All because of his mistake…

"Glam." Vicky takes off his glasses and cups his face. She looks at him with those rare, soft expressions and feels some of that tension melt away, "...It'll be okay."

"How could you know that?"

"Because you're smart and because Heavy loves you and you love Heavy, right?" When he nods she huffs, "So you two will fix it. You're a great Dad Glam, and Heavy's a good kid. It'll fix itself."

Doubt lingers in his mind but when she smiles at him he feels it fade away. Like he could trust his wife and her words. He leans into her hands and shuts his eyes, "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I am. Now come on, you need sleep." She kisses him before she straightens up and puts her hands on her hips, "Tomorrow's Friday. Maybe...I don't know, you guys can do something tomorrow? I'll take Dee with me out to eat and give you guys some privacy. You pick him up from school and I'll pick up Dee?"

"...Okay."

"Good." She watches him get up and smiles, "You can finish the model tomorrow too. He'd probably like the surprise after school."

"Maybe." 

Vicky snorts as she looks at the model, "Blue trees, huh?"

"It's how he made them."

She chuckles as they walk out, "They look really cool."

With one last wave goodbye Vicky and Dee left the school grounds, driving off toward the city. Glam still wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do with Heavy. A part of him would let the other decide but he had a feeling that Heavy wouldn't be the most responsive today. Another part of him just wanted to bring Ches in to try and alleviate the tension, but his friend was out of town for a few more days and Glam knew that he couldn't run to Ches for every life lesson he needed. Heavy was his child and he needed to start doing things on his own. With a sigh he pushes his hair back and leans against the motorcycle as he waits for Heavy. Dee pointed out the other was usually a couple minutes late since he either had to go to the bathroom, talk to friends or get reprimanded by a teacher. So when a few minutes had passed Glam didn't think much of it. 

However more and more time passed and fewer kids remained to where only a handful of children were left. Glam began to get more and more anxious and he began to wring his hands together. He didn't want to be pushy but…Glam left his helmet on his bike before quickly walking inside of the school building. It was nearly empty minus the janitor and a couple of children sitting near their lockers and seemingly studying. He walked toward the oh so familiar Office and stepped inside. 

The secretary glanced up before sputtering and spitting out some of her tea, "M-Mr. Seb-Glam-Shva-G-"

"Where is my son Heavy? I'm picking him up today and he hasn't come out."

"Ah, Heavy, right? Um…" she looked down at her computer, "He might have deten-oh, no. No he isn't marked for detention today. Or any school activities..let me call his teacher."

"Please do." he frowned, glaring as she typed in the number. 

"Mrs. Annika. Yes this is Cheryl. I was wondering if Heavy is still in your classroom...ah....Well, Mr. Shva-His father is here looking for him...oh...oh dear, I see. Um." she glanced nervously at Glam, "Thank you, I'll let him know."

"Well?"

She clasps her hands together, "Well...his teacher said she hasn't seen him all day." 

"What??"

She winces, "I-She said she didn't have time to mark the roster so...so we didn't know about it at the front desk and we didn't call-"

"So he's been missing all day?? " The other ladies in the office turn to look at him but he doesn't care. He feels anger and fear bubble up in his chest, "My seven year old son has been missing since this morning and no one bothered to say anything??"

"I'm sorry,...we can call the police or-sir, sir!"

Glam had quickly turned and walked out of the building, nearly running back to the motorcycle. But once there he stops, feeling his panic begin to rise. All day? He's been gone all day? Surely Dee would have said something if he knew but...Where could he be? Had he run off or was he taken? Has something happened to him?? Glam clenched his teeth and put a hand on his forehead as he shut his eyes and tried to think. What should he do? Call the police? As if they'd do anything to help till it was too late. Ches? No! He wasn't here! Heavy….should he check the places he liked to go to? But there were so many and who's to say that Glam even knew of every place Heavy liked?

He reaches for his phone. Vicky! He should call her and let her know. Maybe she can help, maybe Dee knows something or-

Glam stops and turns his gaze to the box tied to the back of his motorcycle. It was Heavy's diagram, all safely boxed up. He was going to give it to him after school, he had finished this morning...morning…

My forest!

That's what Heavy had called it...

Glam stares at it before something in his mind clicks. Glam puts his phone away. He untied the box and moved it to rest on the seat before quickly opening it up. It was exactly as it was before and while he had seen everything as inaccuracies at first, he slowly began to piece together all the things Heavy had purposely put on the model. The trees looked like the ones behind the house, the ground was uneven in the same way the ground in the backyard was; hidden holes and mounds of dirt covered by grass...the wall of popsicle sticks that lined one end of the model seemed so unnecessary at first glance but Glam now realized what they were. It was a fence.

A forest... the forest behind the house. Behind the fence.

He gasped. 

He knew where Heavy was. 

Sort of.

The sound of thunder up above caught his attention and he looked up toward the sky. The clouds had gotten heavier and darker with the impending downpour. Heavy was out there, somewhere, in the forest and would soon be caught up in the rain. 

Glam quickly put the box back where it was, hopped on his bike and drove off. He needed to find him before it got dark. Whether Heavy wanted him to find him or not.

The mud is thick and makes each step harder and harder as he wanders deep into the forest. Glam never really liked nature. At least, not enough to see it worth being out in the rain. However this was hardly a walk for pleasure. He holds the umbrella high over his head as he continuously keeps looking down at the model and the forest around him. He understands what Heavy was making now. It wasn't just a fantasy world or something out of a video game...it was the forest behind the house. Not only that, but it was the path that he usually followed, so it seemed. 

Starting from the fence, he could see now the landmarks Heavy had marked onto the handmade landscape that corresponded to something in real life. A twisted birch tree, a log split in two and rocks painted with moss. Everything that Glam had seen as foolish were actually true. There were boulders out here the size of the dried out bushes and the ground really was deceivingly uneven like the bubble wrap. 

Looking back on it now, he didn't know why he ever doubted that those things were true or why he thought Heavy wouldn't be competent to know these things. Heavy had most likely spent hours in these woods; Glam had never even spent a second. And yet he acted as if he knew more. Why did he do that? Why not just listen ?

The rain suddenly begins to let up and Glam looks up into the trees to see the sky breaking up just a fraction. It would pick up again soon but for now Glam slowly lowered the umbrella, feeling only a few stray water droplets from the leaves above hit his head. He had been wandering for about ten minutes and was barely containing the panic in his chest. He moves forward once more, glancing ahead of him, around him, and then back at the diagram.

If Heavy had been here for a long time then there was the possibility of him getting hurt in such cold weather. Even with the right jacket and shoes, he was still so young. It wasn't good for him to be out here. Not to mention other dangers aside from just the elements. If someone followed him, man or animal...

The sound of coughing suddenly catches his attention. Glam looks up and more than a few yards out he sees the outline of something obviously not natural. He looks back down at the diagram and notices there is a spot in the middle that he had thought was just nonsensical items. Even when building it, he didn't know what it could possibly be. But now, he assumes that's where he is going to find Heavy. 

Glam picks up the pace and heads toward the sound. He hears more noise and another round of coughs before he finally steps through the trees. 

It's here, in this small clearing, that he finds out what was on that diagram. Another creation of Heavy's. He had made his own playground crafted from the Earth and various items from the house that had gone missing these past few months. Most noticeably was Vicky's tarp that had been strung up to make a small tent between two trees. There are crates that are either full of food and supplies or stacked up to make a sort of watch tower. There are painted pebbles on the ground forming a half finished mural in the middle of this 'campground' along with other small items and creations that obviously had a purpose but he isn't exactly sure what they were yet.

Heavy sits inside of his makeshift tent on top of a stack of old pallets with a few old towels laid on top. He keeps his gaze down, digging a twig into the dirt as he pointedly ignores Glam approaching. Glam stops near the edge of the clearing, "Heavy?"

There's a long pause of silence before the redhead sighs, "You found me."

"I followed the model...I fixed it."

Heavy looks upward, glancing at it before looking back down, "Why? It's just trash anyways."

"It's not- I didn't realize what you were doing." 

“Still wrong.”

"...You weren't at school today."

"No."

"Why?"

"...Dee told me you wanted to hang out after. And I didn't want to." he frowned, "So I never went."

"But the school never called-" he paused, "Dee wrote you a fake note again, didn't he?"

"No, Mrs. Annika hates me, so she never says anything when I'm not there. She likes when I'm gone."

"Heavy-" He hesitates. This wasn't important right. They could talk about the school thing later. "Can we talk?"

Heavy scrunches up his face in irritation but he scoots over to the edge of the pallet, keeping his gaze down at the mud. 

Glam sets the model down on one of the flatter rocks and hands the umbrella off a low branch before moving to take a seat next to Heavy. He doesn't really fit in the tent and he has to duck his head a little to avoid touching the tarp, but he doesn't comment on it. Instead he rests his hands on his lap as he extends his legs out a bit, "...So...this is where you've been coming every time you leave the house?"

"...Sometimes. Or I go to the river, or the store…" he shrugs, "But I like this place the most."

"It is very well made. I also see you've taken some things from the house."

"Just trash and stuff.."

He pauses before sighing, "Heavy, I'm sorry for breaking your model."

"Mhm."

"I...never wanted to hurt you. I fixed it, just as you made it." he motions to it, "No changes." Glam knows that it wouldn't fix everything, but he hoped it would be a start. 

Heavy looks at the model before sticking the twig in the mud and slouching further away, "...I wasn't really mad about the model."

"You weren't?"

"I mean...a little but…" he frowns and looks at the ground before looking up at Glam, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"...When we were in the kitchen, you kept trying to change my stuff. I didn't ask you to and it wasn't like it was a project for school or something...I just wanted to show it to you. Maybe we could work on it together...but you just...kept doing that thing."

"That thing?"

"Trying to make it 'right'."

"Right...?"

Heavy gave an agitated sigh, "It's nothing, nevermind-"

"No, no, no" he leans forward a little to look at him, "Heavy...what are you trying to say? Please, be direct. I...I want to know exactly what the issue is; what it is I'm doing that's hurting you these past few months. I want to understand so I can fix it."

Heavy stares up at his Dad with a complicated expression, eyes flickering all over his face before finally the redhead relents. “I know you love me; you have to because you're my Dad but...but sometimes I don’t think you really like me…”

“...What?”

Heavy frowns and folds his arms, looking away, “You don’t like doing things I like to do. And if you do them then you just keep being mean and pointing out everything wrong. Like all my TV shows and the books I read and the games I play, the stuff I draw...I just…” his lower lip quivers, “I know I’m not smart like Dee. And I know it probably annoys you.”

“Heavy-“

“But I don't know why things need to be perfect! I know you want me to try hard in school and be the best I can...but with stuff I like-just things I like to do like make my models or draw-why does it matter? Why can't I just enjoy the things I like? Why does it need to be something 'right' or 'correct'??" He points to the diagram, "I made that the way I see things; why is that wrong?? Am I seeing things wrong?"

Glam opens his mouth but doesn't know how to respond. In his mind it was wrong ….but why? Why was it wrong? Glam couldn't think of a single reason at the moment.

"When you say things like that it makes me feel...stupid. Or not good enough. And then...then...Sometimes I just...I feel like I’m too...too stupid for you…” he holds himself tighter, “Like I’m not good enough for you.”

Glam’s eyes widen as the words sink into his heart. He wanted to argue that it wasn’t true...but he thought of all the time they did spend together that at the time seemed fine but slowly began to see the issues. Slowly he begins to see what he had been doing wrong these past few years. Small criticisms and corrections laced throughout their time together...frowns and dismissive waves at childish and imaginary ideas...But Glam was just trying to make him better, to improve his work and-...

He was doing what his father did. 

Not with the same coldness or resentment...but he was doing it. Holding Heavy to high standards, critiquing everything he did and refusing to give him praise...and for what? What would Heavy gain by being told his shows were terrible, that his imagination was flawed...what good did Glam do by making Heavy feel like he wasn’t enough ?

A sob from Heavy snaps Glam out of his despair somewhat and he focuses back on the redhead that’s turned away from. “No.” He quickly pulls the child closer to him, “No, no, no. Heavy, that’s not true.” 

He pushes away a little, “But you’re never happy with me! You-“

“I-I don’t mean to...I never meant or wanted to hurt you, Heavy. I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

“But you do it all the time !” he sobs, looking at him with a teary eyed glare, "Every time I try to show you something you just...just keep telling me how it's not good! Why?"

He grimaced and shut his eyes for a moment. He can’t immediately find the words to try and make things better. To try and apologize. How could he undo the past few months of pain he had caused Heavy? Glam could see now how he had messed up. He could see why Heavy had slowly pulled away from him after repeated rejections. Glam had made Heavy feel like his Dad didn't think he was good enough and he wanted to fix it so bad. He just had no idea where to start -

After a moment Glam opens eyes and looks down at him, "...I....I don't know." Glam's admission of his ignorance makes Heavy pause a little and he looks at him intently, waiting for more of an explanation, "I...Everything you've ever showed me, every art piece and book and show…none of it was bad , Heavy. Nothing that you've ever liked is bad. I never thought it was. I liked when you showed me but...I guess sometimes I get so preoccupied-so caught up in how things can be 'better' or more 'accurate' that I don't appreciate or acknowledge the good things. And that's my problem that unfortunately you had to suffer through." He sighs, "I like when you draw things and I like your shows; they're interesting and fun to watch even if they aren't always logically correct. I suppose that's what a show is supposed to do." He smiled briefly before frowning once more, "I never, ever wanted to make you feel like you couldn't show me things. I didn't want to be the type of Father that made their kids feel distant or afraid...but I did. I did and I didn't even realize it till now."

Glam's honesty melts away some of the anger from Heavy's expression and fresh tears come to his eyes, "I just wanted to make you happy. I just wanted you to like the things I made-"

"And I do! I really, really do!" Glam felt his own eyes begin to water, "I loved seeing all the things you'd bring to me; it's my fault for not appreciating it or voicing how much I loved it to you. I'll start being better at doing that." He takes a deep breath, "But if I'm ever treating you like that again...please tell me." he takes a deep breath before sighing, "It's...being critical is something I'm used to doing. That I was...used to hearing as a child...but I don't want it to be that way to you- I don't want you to ever get used to that. Not at all, because you are more than enough and you are perfect-more than perfect, even. And I'm sorry for making you feel like you weren't. I'm so, so sorry."

The last words come out as a slight sob and Heavy's eyes widen as he looks up at him. He notices the tears on Glam's face and he frowns. "Dad…" Heavy sobs before he suddenly wraps his arms around Glam and clings onto him, burying his face in his shirt as he cries, “I'm sorry, I-I didn't wanna make you sad-"

"It's okay, Heavy. You didn't do anything wrong. Not at all. It's just..." he shakes his head and just holds him closer, rocking him a little, stroking his hair and feeling his own eyes water with shame and bitterness. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his kids...and he failed. Maybe some would say he was overreacting but Glam had seen far too many terrible parents. He had seen the effects of what that type of parenting could do. Sure, Heavy was young and this was nowhere near what he had seen or experienced himself...but what if he never noticed? What if he had never bothered to change? If it weren't for Heavy, maybe he never would have. That thought brought a conflicting pain to his chest.

Was he a good father? Glam almost wants to ask, but he wouldn't put that kind of weight or burden on Heavy. No parent had the right to ask for validation from their kid that way. The parents were supposed to take care and be attentive to the kid, not the other way around.

Instead, Glam would do better. He'd be a better Father than his own, a better parent than the ones he's seen...even better than what he had been just a few days ago. That way he wouldn't even have the desire to ask that question. He'd already know. 

But those were thoughts for later. Instead he just focused on holding Heavy close and shushing away all those tears.

By the time both of them had calmed down, it was getting dark and Glam could feel the chill of the wind beginning to pick up. Above the clouds have formed together once more, almost ready to rain again.

"...We should start heading home." Glam said, breaking the long stretch of silence. He looks down at Heavy, "You must be freezing."

"A little." He sniffles and wipes his eyes on his sleeve.

"Have you been here since morning?"

"I went to the store first and got some candy. But yeah."

"So you must be hungry too."

"Yeah…" Heavy pauses and looks up at him, "Am I in trouble?"

Glam presses his lips together before sighing and shaking his head, "No. Just this once, no." he smiles and brushes some hair away from Heavy's face, "It's been a long day. Let's just get you some food." Glam stands up, ignoring the twinge of pain in his lower back, before helping Heavy up as well, "We can order some pizza for dinner."

"Really?"

Glam nods, "Let's gather your things."

The two quickly put away Heavy's stuff and Glam puts the model back in it's box and uses a spare bag to hold it in for now. Just as Heavy is stuffing the last few things in his box Glam looks up at the trees. The way the sun is setting behind the clouds makes him realize something, "...The trees do look blue."

A wide and satisfied grin spreads across his face and Heavy sniffles before he smirks proudly and looks up at the trees. "I told you!" he smiles, "When it's dark they look really blue. That's when they're my favorite."

Glam chuckles before shrugging off his jacket and putting it around Heavy, "I see…" He picked him up, "Come on, I think it's time we head home." 

"Okay." Heavy settles against Glam; tired by today's events, "Aren't you cold?"

"I'll be okay. I don't want you to get sick."

"Thanks Dad." he smiles, "I love you."

Glam can't help the wide smile that goes across his face. "No problem." he kisses the top of his head, "I love you too, Heavy."

Heavy hums and closes his eyes as Glam begins to make his way back to the house. For a while he just let's himself focus on the rushing of the wind, the distant thunder in the clouds and Heavy's steady breathing as he sleeps in Glam's hold. Just the little things that he was now going to take the time to appreciate more.

Things would be different. Glam would make sure of it. As much as his mistakes pained him, he wouldn't tet the guilt hold him back. Heavy deserved more than that. His whole family did. It would be a process, but Glam was more than ready to start working toward being a better father.

Because even if he didn't understand Heavy, or agree with his actions or viewpoints, he was his son and he'd love him without any stipulations. Besides, he must admit that he admires the other's view of the world. It might not be 'right', but...

The trees do look better blue.