"Why would he even try to cover himself, anyways? That dumb teacher must have thought I go all day slapping him around… Which I don't, just in case you're wondering"
Hal didn't say anything. At least he was right in that aspect, he hadn't seen him slapping the boy.
"I know I already said it, but I hate it when people doesn't mind their own business."
"You can't blame people for worrying when they see a kid that's not well fed or clean..." Hal really tried to sound neutral but it seemed that Oliver wasn't even paying attention to everything he had just said.
"Are you even listening?!" Hal snapped, "This is serious, Ollie. They could take your kid away."
Oliver was about to repeat his social services line, but one look at Hal's face told him to back off.
"Look, I just don't understand what i'm doing wrong... No one's the perfect father, why do people insist in bothering precisely us?"
"Clean Roy up, get him something decent to wear, make sure he's getting enough to eat, spend some time with him, and you'll be fine," Hal added.
Oliver wanted to reply, but he really couldn't think of anything else to say. He did all of that, didn't he?
Just then, both kids came back from the backyard totally covered in dirt and dry leaves.
"Ollie, look!" Roy took his hand to pull him towards the yard, "They have a lot of threes, and they are changing leaves!" For the kid, it was amazing. I t reminded him of the reserve.
"That's great, Roy," Oliver muttered as he ruffled Roy's hair.
Hal wiped some of the dirt off Kyle's cheek before picking him up. "You need a bath."
Roy made a face.
"Do I have to take a bath?"
Oliver shot him a look. He should, but...
"Actually, we are late" he had a meeting in an hour, but he had been so mad when he left Roy's kindergarten that he had to tell someone, "We'll just buy something to eat in the way"
"He hasn't eaten?!" Hal couldn't believe it.
"I'm taking care of it now." Oliver slightly growled.
Hal shifted Kyle over in his arms before stating, "How about you let Roy spend the night with Kyle? You can pick him up in the morning."
"Why?" it's not that it didn't sound like a good idea for his schedule, but he had never let the kid spend the night out of home… Roy was still a little kid.
"You know why, Ollie."
"I thought it was because you were a good friend, but then I saw that expression on your face, so I don't really know."
Hal glanced down at the two kids before looking back at his best friend. "Let's do this later, okay? Just pack a bag for Roy."
"Are you threatening me, Hal? Don't forget that if it wasn't for me your kid would be stuck in some home somewhere. You would have never of gotten custody if it weren't for me."
Hal almost forgot that his kid was there... Now Oliver was just being a total jerk!
"It seems like the only thing your filthy money's good for."
"Yeah, well, whatever" Oliver started towards the door "Another pointless discussion is the last thing we need right now" Oliver growled, "Goodbye, Hal" signaling the end of their conversation
"But I wanna stay" Roy had gotten excited with the sleepover idea, "And I'm hungry!"
"Not now!" Oliver yelled, still glaring at Hal.
"I WANNA STAY" Before the man could reply, Roy threw himself on the floor. Kyle attached himself to his guardian's leg while both adults stared down at Roy in surprise.
Kyle tugged on Hal's jeans and whispered, "Is he dying, Daddy?"
Oliver nearly facepalmed. He didn't know which kid was worse right then.
"Stand up, Roy," his father told him sternly. The kid misbehaved, obviously, all of them did, but it was becoming a habit.
"I wanna stay! I'm bored and hungry and your office sucks!" he aimed a kick at Oliver when the man tried to reach him.
"That's enough, Roy! Get the fuck up!" But instead of getting up, he started crying, and thanks God Kyle hadn't thrown a tantrum like that to Hal.
Hal picked Kyle back up to shield him from watching what was about to happen. He knew they should leave but there was always that chance that Oliver could lose his temper.
"YOU GET THE FUCK UP" Roy yelled, and Hal couldn't help it, he almost laughed! Who knew the kid would have such a nerve
"Daddy! He said a bad word!" Kyle yelled.
"That's why I told you to watch your mouth in front of the kids!"
"Shut up, Hal!"
"Don't tell my daddy to shut up!" Kyle snapped.
Oliver ignored him, and tried to physically force his own kid to stand up, but he spend like 10 minutes and the kid kept fighting to stay there. In no time, the boy was a complete mess...
"Do you want me to call Dinah?"
"I can handle my son just fine!"
"Too late," Hal muttered taking his cell phone out of his pocket.
"Ugh, fine! You can stay" Oliver gave up "But you have no idea the spanking that waits for you at home"
Roy instantly stopped crying
"And I hope you have fun here because I don't want any call at midnight telling me that you miss home and want me to pick you up!" Oliver got into his car and then was gone without another word.
Hal sighed before taking the two boys into the house to order a pizza.
"I wanna go home" Roy said when he dared speak again.
"We'll call your dad later after his meeting," Hal replied. "But, you're getting a bath first."
"I don't want a bath, I wanna go home..."
Hal didn't reply. He merely ushered Roy and Kyle into the bathroom. He helped them out of their clothes before putting them in the tub. Kyle gleefully played with his bath toys while Roy just sat there and pouted.
"Roy, what's wrong?" he tried again "Look, this is super fun, Kyle is having the time of his life"
"I wanna go home" Hal now started to worry, he was seeing the beginning of a tear.
"Alright. Calm down," Hal replied before pulling Kyle out and wrapping a towel around him. He did the same to Roy before helping the two get dressed. He then sent Kyle to bed before turning to Roy.
"Talk to me about your dad first, Roy."
"What about him?"
"Do you eat enough? Do you have clean clothes? Is he nice to you? Stuff like that."
Roy looked at him confused.
"Well, right now he's mad... But I really wanted to stay here and play all day and have fun" which he hadn't done since Oliver left "His office is boring, I didn't want to stay there all afternoon"
"I'll bet. But, can you answer the other questions for me?"
"I have lots of clothes... Right now they are all dirty because Ollie and I went to the park on laundry day, but we can wash them another day"
"Roy, tell me the truth. Is your dad nice to you?"
"What do you mean by nice?"
"Does he... Does he hurt you?"
"Like how?" he didn't understand Kyle's dad.
"Does he hit you or yell at you?"
"Like... when he gets mad, he sometimes yells" like that afternoon.
Hal sighed before nodding. "Alright. Let's just call him."
"Do you think he'll want to come?" right then, Roy just wanted Ollie to pick him up and hold him, maybe that way he'd stop feeling so sad. When Oliver picked him up, it was the best thing ever... Dinah couldn't because, according to her, Roy was a really tall kid and it was difficult for her. So, his dad was the only one that would carry him around if he wanted... Bad luck Oliver probably wouldn't want to even go get him right then.
The man didn't know how to answer to that. He really hope Oliver would want to, because they needed to discuss Roy's situation… It didn't matter if the other man wanted or not.
.
Hal didn't live in the most expensive neighborhood, but it was nice and safe enough, so he agreed at waiting for Oliver outside with Roy. At first, he hadn't think of it as a good idea, but Roy had been really persistent about it.
He was just there, sitting at the stairs of the doorway beside the kid, who actually looked relaxed for the first time since his guardian left. He didn't really think Oliver was the worst parent ever, but he… Hal actually didn't know what to say; he knew his friend cared, it was just…
The lights of Oliver's car took him out of his thoughts.
"Dad!" Suddenly, the kid wasn't at Hal's side anymore.
Oliver, unlike Hal expected, didn't look furious at being called there so late. Instead, he caught the running kid in his arms and picked him up. Roy instantly wrapped his arms around the man's neck and leaned into his shoulder.
Oliver sighed in relief at having his kid there and held him closer. He knew it had not been a good idea letting him stay the night somewhere else, Roy was way too young for that.
A moment later, the archer started walking towards his friend, who had stood by now.
"What happened, Hal?" Oliver asked tired. He was not in the mood to yell or argue anymore. He wasn't even used to fight with Hal.
"Relax. Nothing happened, Roy just…" he wasn't sure what to say, had the boy missed him and his home or had he been too nervous with Oliver's threat to even allow himself to enjoy the afternoon?
"Look, we need to talk. Maybe Roy can go upstairs and watch TV for a little while?" he suggested more for the child to hear.
Oliver sighed tired. He gave up… whatever.
"Fine," he placed a kiss in the boy's hair before putting him down, "Roy, go."
"I wanna go home," the kid latched himself on Oliver's leg. Even if his dad did give him the spanking he had said earlier, he wanted to go. He really didn't like it when Oliver was mad at him.
"We are going home in a few minutes," he ruffled Roy's hair, "Go upstairs and I'll go get you as soon as Hal and I are done talking."
Roy reluctantly let go off Oliver and obeyed while both adults went into the living room.
"What do you want to talk about?" Oliver finally asked.
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