Everyone's Got Problems

[Symphony]

we wait in anticipation

[MissOlivia22]

It's getting late in the UK and was wondering whether there would be point of me waiting up for an update. No pressure to update, just need to know

[wrongturntaken]

Thank you for all your comments once again! They mean the world to me!

Sorry this is so late guys, i was out most of the day and night so didn't get much chance to write. It's fairly long though so i hope that makes up for it. I've had this chapter in my head for ages but i'm still not completely sure about it, it ended up being harder to write than i thought.

I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 30.

FLASHBACK

"Hello," came the chilling voice from the centre of the room.

A ten year old Tyler continued to look at his feet, hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched over as nerves continued to control him.

"Aren't you going to look at me?" the not fully broken voice of the male spoke again.

Tyler lifted his head slowly to look into the eyes of his father's killer, he swallowed as fear made his non visible hands tremble. He saw the clothes the boy wore but flashed back to the ones stained with blood he had seen on the night of the murder. He glanced quickly to the guard stood at the side of the room, seemingly inattentive to the scene playing before him as he stood hands crossed and arms lengthened; positioned in front of him.

The teenage boy smiled, his hands were handcuffed but he was stood in front of his chair, as though in polite greeting, behind the table placed as a barrier.

"You should sit down," he said again and Tyler inwardly cringed at the sound; it reminding him of the voice that had shouted at his father the night he had been murdered. He shook his head very slightly indicating that he didn't want to but took a small step closer.

"I'm Steve," the boy introduced himself as though he was meeting Tyler at anywhere other than a psychiatric holding facility for troubled teenagers. "…and you are?" he asked even though it was quite obvious he would already know.

Tyler narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing once more at the guard who Steve didn't even appear to be acknowledging. "Tyler," he croaked quietly, shifting his feet forwards slightly more as he approached the table cautiously and went back to looking at the ground.

"I suppose you want to thank me," Steve said coldly.

"What?" Tyler's voice was louder this time and he spoke in such shock that his head jolted up to look at Steve; seeing the darkness in his eyes at the truth of which he spoke the words. "You killed my dad," he said quietly.

"…and I can tell by the way you're stood… the way you're walking… that I did you a favour…" he gave a slight chuckle. "Trust me, if I hadn't done it… you would have."

"I would never do that!" Tyler defended immediately. "I'm not… I'm not a killer… I'm not like you…" his high pitched voice made the word killer on his tongue sound anything but frightening; enhancing his case.

Steve laughed again, "Of course you're not… now. Neither was I…" he sighed eerily, "…but then I realised what it meant… and so will you someday…" he looked Tyler dead in the eyes, communicating silently what he was implying.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tyler continued to pretend his naivety with ease. He did it with such conviction that no one could have denied it was the truth.

"Yes you do… I can see it in your eyes, Tyler," Steve taunted. "…and what you feel right now… it's only going to get worse."

Tyler looked at him in disbelief as he clung to the insides of his pockets for some kind of comfort that didn't exist.

Steve only laughed again, "Your dad may not be around anymore but the memories don't go away Tyler… and one day you'll lash out at whoever the best person to blame is. Could be someone close to you… could be your mum… or it could even be you."

Tyler didn't want to be there anymore, he felt tears sting the back of his eyes at the hurt this person had caused him and the lack of remorse he showed. He refused to acknowledge any of what he had said, pushing it to the back of his mind for years, only dwelling on it at night, imagining himself in Steve's place during the nightmares… himself with that knife… killing his dad and metaphorically himself in the process.

"I want to leave now," he told the guard commandingly who came out of his statue state to guide the boy out of the cell and back to his shell of a mother.

"It doesn't ever change, Tyler… and it only gets worse," were the last words Tyler heard out of Steve's mouth before the heavy door was shut on him.

Tyler was led to his mother who was waiting in the corridor. She did nothing to comfort his pale face or look of illness, she refused to take his hand as he held it out to her and she didn't utter a single word to acknowledge he had returned. She simply walked a few paces ahead of him as though ashamed of his presence and connection to her.

END FLASHBACK

"How could you possibly know what I'm thinking, Tess!?" Tyler yelled, squaring up to her determined face.

"I connected the dots, Tyler," she explained gently as her features changed to match the tone of her voice.

He shook his head at her confusedly, "What?"

"Talk to me," she urged.

He shook his head again, "No," he said adamantly and turned again, walking off.

"You did it before, why not now?"

"Go before I do something I regret!" he shouted over his shoulder, not stopping walking.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Go before I hurt you," he said; his voice had softened slightly but had lost none of its conviction as he paused a second before continuing. She understood his meaning the second the words had left his mouth.

"Stop," she commanded authoritatively as she herself did the same.

He ignored her and carried on.

"Tyler," she said a little louder so that he could hear her. "I'm telling you right now that walking away… it won't solve anything. The only way you can do this is if you face it… right here, right now. So I'm… I'm asking you to stop," she changed the command to a question, using her own vested interest in him in some sense as bribery.

His paces slowed as he came to the decision to do as she asked before coming to a complete stand still. She watched him fall to the sand and sit, knees to his chest as he looked out at the ocean.

She breathed a sigh of relief before walking faster to catch up with him. She sat down beside him but made no other effort to get him to acknowledge her to start with. They sat simply staring out at the sea, the light from the lighthouse making the silhouettes of boats in that area just about visible. The moon light reflected off the water, making it glint as though the roaring sound wasn't enough to personify its existence. They sat that way in silence for at least five minutes before Tess finally decided it could last no longer.

"Tyler, talk to me…" she pushed, "…and this time," she paused and took a deep breath, "…tell me everything."

Tyler sighed and let his voice gather the energy to speak before replying, "...It was a few days after my dad had been killed and… the police contacted us saying that they wanted to try some kind of offender/victim mediation thing, that it might help him to see what his actions had done," he explained bitterly, not looking at her as she listened intently. "So my mum agreed, and we went to this psychiatric clinic for troubled youths… only he didn't wanna see mum, he just wanted to see me," he added in an eerie anger.

"Your mum let you see a murderer on your own?" Tess asked with shock.

Tyler scoffed, "She didn't really care at that point."

"What happened?" Tess asked softly after recovering from the shock of what she'd just heard.

He sighed again before telling her the whole story.

"He was right Tess," he said, the lump in his throat clearly evident in his voice. "I am a killer, or I will be. I gradually understood what he meant as i got older… I understood the anger but I never took it out on anyone… and I thought that once I had gotten passed fifteen… I thought I would be okay… but Aden was 19 when he did it. There's still a chance that I might do something bad."

"Tyler," Tess sighed sadly. "There's one key difference here, Aden didn't go through with it… he stopped before it was too late... and look at him now..."

Tyler looked at her suddenly, "…but that's only because Belle stopped him. He had people he loved to help him, he had…"

"You have people that love you Tyler, people that can help you… Aden, Belle, you have a family with us," she told him imploringly.

He looked in to her genuine eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek, "Do you love me?" he asked softly.

She was slightly taken aback by the question, "I… I don't know… maybe." It was the best answer she could give him when she didn't know the answer herself and she couldn't fully comprehend the actual meaning of the question, given the situation he was asking it.

He looked back out to sea, seeming to ignore her answer.

"…but isn't maybe enough?" she said forcefully, this time gripping his upper arm with her hand, gaining physical contact to let him know she was there and she was real, "Doesn't it give you hope?"

He looked back at her and shrugged very slightly but it looked more like a no.

"Do you love me, Tyler?" she asked him, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him and willed him to see the reflection of his question in hers.

"I… I don't know," he answered her sadly and then hesitated before continuing. "I… I don't know what love feels like," he admitted with a relenting sigh.

"What do you mean?" she asked him concernedly.

"I know that my Dad never loved me… that was pretty obvious," he explained with an air of disdain as he went back to watching the waves crash against the shore. "…and my Mum… she never told me she loved me apart from in her suicide note and I think she only did it then out of some kind of obligation. She never showed me. I've never been loved Tess," he looked at her again. "I don't know what it means… I don't know how it feels… and I don't know if I'll ever recognise, give or know it."

"Tyler…" Tess whispered as tears brimmed in her eyes.

"All I know," he continued. "Is that when I'm with you… …I feel whole… it's the only feeling," he paused to take her in and this time looked her directly in the eyes, "…that makes me want to keep going… that makes me feel like I have a point… and it's only because of you... that I stopped tonight and didn't walk away forever."

Tess choked back the tears that had started to fall down her face at his words, "That's not wholly true Tyler," she told him with the smallest of smiles and he looked at her in confusion, "…you stopped, in part, for you."

"Thank you," were the only words Tyler could speak and even those were a struggle.

"…and you are not a killer," she told him firmly. "You never will be, but you do need to deal with it and I can't help you with that."

"I know," he agreed calmly, looking back down at the sand.

"I have to show you something," she told him with an edge of positivity in her voice.

"What?" he asked, his tone picking up slightly from his earlier sound of depression.

"You'll see," she said simply, standing up and holding out her hand for him to take. He took it with a small smile before joining her and being led along the beach.

*

Twenty minutes later and they were stood where Tyler hadn't dared step foot before; outside the Drop-In Centre.

"What are we doing here, Tess?" he asked her worriedly.

"I'm showing you that you have nothing to fear," she told him warmly. "I understand why you didn't want to come here but you have to see that it's not like what you think it is."

"Tess I know it's not the same… it's the concept…" Tyler tried to explain.

"I know, it's just I think you need to see it to understand…" she calmed him. "Come on," she held out her hand once more.

Taking it with a sigh he followed her in.

*

"Where have you been?" Belle asked worriedly as Tess and Tyler walked in to the living room. Aden and Belle had been waiting over an hour for them to come home and had both stood up the second they had heard the door opening.

"I had to show Tyler something," Tess explained, smiling supportively at him. "…but now I'm going to bed," she said tiredly. "I still have school in the morning."

"Tess, don't worry about school, Mr Copeland will understand you having the day off," Aden reassured her.

Tess smiled in thanks and walked towards her father. She hugged him as she said quietly, "Thank you Dad, for being honest. I understand why you waited so long."

Aden smiled at his daughter's words and thanked her as she retreated. She walked to her mother and repeated the same sentiments. Belle breathed a sigh of relief before sharing a proud smile with her husband.

"Dad," Tess said once more, "There's something Tyler needs to talk to you about, and he needs to do it now," she looked at Tyler who she could tell was nervous but she could also tell he was determined.

"Okay," Aden said softly with a small smile directed at Tyler.

Belle sensed this was something to be discussed in private, "I'm going to go to bed too now I know you're all safe," she said before disappearing with her daughter up the stairs.

"So what did you want to talk to me about Tyler?" Aden asked softly, gesturing for Tyler to take a seat which he did as Aden sat a little way away from him.

Tyler took a deep breath, "What happened to you when you were younger… it happened to me too," he started unsurely before explaining the entire story, not missing out a single detail.

"Tess has been trying to convince me to talk to you ever since I told her but…"

Aden smiled at him supportively, "I understand… I'm really glad you have though, it's a huge step and one of the hardest."

"…one of the hardest?" Tyler questioned worriedly.

Aden gave him a sympathetic smile, "I'm not going to lie to you, Tyler. It's not going to be easy… but it will be worth it."

Tyler didn't look at Aden as he repetitively nodded his head in comprehension, "So what's next?"

"I'm going to make you an appointment with one of the counsellor's at the Drop-In Centre," Aden told him.

"Won't I be talking to you?" Tyler asked.

"It wouldn't be appropriate considering you live with me…" Aden explained but continued at the look Tyler was giving him, "Trust me… it's a lot easier to talk to someone who you don't know so well…"

"…okay, I guess," Tyler agreed eventually.

"…I also run group therapy sessions which you might want to come to after you've had a few individual sessions," Aden suggested.

Tyler nodded, "Okay," he smiled as he felt some sort of relief finally spread through him that he had a place where people cared for him and he was dealing with his life. For the first time in a long time he felt there was complete hope for him and for his future.

Aden looked at Tyler's happier form, he was sat less defensively now that he'd let someone in to help him. He was proud of his daughter for the maturity she'd handled the events of the night and for the way she had treated Tyler. He realised now that Tyler and Tess shared so many traits similar to Belle and himself that he knew just like he needed Belle, Tyler would need Tess. But it didn't worry him because he knew that like everything else, Tess would handle herself with grace because he and Belle had raised her to do the right thing and that meant helping and supporting whoever came across her path.

"Thank you, Aden," Tyler's words bolted them out of the silence that neither of them had noticed; both lost in their own thoughts. "I'm gonna to go to bed now."

"I'm really glad you told me, Tyler, and you should be proud of yourself," Aden smiled warmly before adding, "Goodnight." He watched his foster son walk out of the room before going around the house, making sure all the doors were locked and the lights were off before going up to bed to see his wife.

He expected her to already be asleep after the eventful night they had had but she was sat up reading. She glanced at him as he walked in the room, taking off her glasses and placing them and her book on the bed side table as she smiled at him lovingly.

"Tyler okay?" she asked, knowing that Aden wouldn't tell her what Tyler had told him. She knew it was in confidence and Aden would never betray that and she would never expect him to.

"Yeah, I think so," he said; almost proudly as he gave her a small smile before stripping down to his boxers and getting under the covers with her. "Are you okay?" he asked and this time his voice was filled with worry and concern.

She smiled at him weakly, "It's a bit more painful now the anaesthetic's wearing off but it'll be alright."

"What about the other stuff?" Aden asked her softly and knew she'd understand.

She hesitated before replying honestly in a hushed whisper, "I don't know."

Please comment! x

[saraz]

that chapter was brilliantly written and was very powerful

keep on writing the fic

please update soon

[Inactive User]

Great chapter. Glad Tyler told Aden everything and hope Tyler will all get the help he needs. Update soon

[LAURZY!]

Oh i absolutely loved it!!

Tess was so good with Tyler

Really glad he finally talked to Aden and can get the help he needs!

That was so well written, really emotional

[Taniya_K]

Wow! That flashback and the bit with Tess and Tyler was so powerful! I loved Tyler's reasoning for trying to walk away, and how he compares himself to Aden [about the turning into a killer bit]. But I'm so glad that Tess got through to him and took him to the Drop In Centre.

Yay that Tyler FINALLY told Aden and is gonna get help now! I hope this is the beginning of something positive...

That ending with Aden and Belle was Poor Belle!!

Cannot wait for more!

xoxo

[xknomex]

Once again a FANTASTIC chapter!

the flashback was brilliant!!!!! It was sooo powerfull!!!

The Tyler/Tess scene was brilliant. I feel so sorry For Tyler... I'm so glad he told Aden and is getting help. it looks like everything is on the up [i hope]

the adelle ending was so I hope Belle will be okay

update soon

xxxx

[Jody]

I haven't been reviewing any fics for the last few days. So it's time to catch up. I have been really enjoying the last few chapters. I'm kinda glad it came out this way. It made the whole thing so much more dramatic. But I still feel for Mark, Tess, and Tyler, having to hear about Aden's past like that. And still hate Angelo as well. I'm glad he was caught.

You write these intense situations so well. It's really amazing.

I have to say the way Aden explained what happened to him was done really good, but I wasn't to keen about the scenes afterwards. It made sense for it to affect Tyler, but I felt like the scene of Aden telling them ended up being overshadowed by Tyler and Tess, for me. I don't know but none of their reactions really did anything for me as well. I would have rather we saw Tyler deal with everything he heard on the inside, and maybe later on had the scene with Tess. I'm also going to choose to believe that Mark is still in shock and left because he didn't know what to say, and that few words he offered wasn't his whole reaction, and Tess was preoccupied with making sure Tyler was okay to really have a proper reaction. I don't know I just didn't feel the emotion in the scene. It's just like Tess and Mark said the standard lines you're supposed to in that situation. Which is weird since you're usually amazing at making me feel whatever emotions your characters are feeling in this fic and your others. It didn't feel like they just found out about what Aden went through or the fact that Belle was raped, and what just happened with Angelo. I don't know I would have rather the chapters focused on the whole five of them in the room, coming to terms with everything. But finding out about the past came out more like a plot device to further Tess and Tyler's storyline then anything. And I would have especially expected Tess to be more taken aback since she seems to have this idea of Aden and Belle being this perfect couple when they were younger. Don't get me wrong I like Tess and Tyler, and I like how Tyler's issues haven't disappeared but sometimes it feels, to me, like it's been constantly shoved down our throats, and there just no downtime from him and his issues. And I hate that I now find myself thinking 'oh god not another Tyler scene' when in the beginning I loved his scenes. I wanted to be happy that he's getting help from Aden but instead by then all I could think was ' finally maybe I can get a little break from him'. It's what I liked about Aden's storyline on the show. The pace of it was brilliant. That I didn't want it to end.

Another little problem. I'm shocked that Mark doesn't have an inferiority complex being Tess' brother. Aden and Belle, from the small moments where we get their thoughts, seem to percieve her as this perfect child. She can do no wrong. And Mark as the one they need to constantly explain things to. The way the see each child becomes so obvious sometimes that I'm surprised that Mark as never brought it up. I'm sure that it's not your intention to write Aden and Belle like that but it does stand out alot, for me.

Sorry about the critisizing. I just can't help pointing these stuff out. I still think of this as one of my few favourite fics on this site, there just happens to be somethings I don't quite enjoy. I hope I haven't you insulted or anything. That was definitely not my intention.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[wrongturntaken]

I haven't been reviewing any fics for the last few days. So it's time to catch up. I have been really enjoying the last few chapters. I'm kinda glad it came out this way. It made the whole thing so much more dramatic. But I still feel for Mark, Tess, and Tyler, having to hear about Aden's past like that. And still hate Angelo as well. I'm glad he was caught.

You write these intense situations so well. It's really amazing.

I have to say the way Aden explained what happened to him was done really good, but I wasn't to keen about the scenes afterwards. It made sense for it to affect Tyler, but I felt like the scene of Aden telling them ended up being overshadowed by Tyler and Tess, for me. I don't know but none of their reactions really did anything for me as well. I would have rather we saw Tyler deal with everything he heard on the inside, and maybe later on had the scene with Tess. I'm also going to choose to believe that Mark is still in shock and left because he didn't know what to say, and that few words he offered wasn't his whole reaction, and Tess was preoccupied with making sure Tyler was okay to really have a proper reaction. I don't know I just didn't feel the emotion in the scene. It's just like Tess and Mark said the standard lines you're supposed to in that situation. Which is weird since you're usually amazing at making me feel whatever emotions your characters are feeling in this fic and your others. It didn't feel like they just found out about what Aden went through or the fact that Belle was raped, and what just happened with Angelo. I don't know I would have rather the chapters focused on the whole five of them in the room, coming to terms with everything. But finding out about the past came out more like a plot device to further Tess and Tyler's storyline then anything. And I would have especially expected Tess to be more taken aback since she seems to have this idea of Aden and Belle being this perfect couple when they were younger. Don't get me wrong I like Tess and Tyler, and I like how Tyler's issues haven't disappeared but sometimes it feels, to me, like it's been constantly shoved down our throats, and there just no downtime from him and his issues. And I hate that I now find myself thinking 'oh god not another Tyler scene' when in the beginning I loved his scenes. I wanted to be happy that he's getting help from Aden but instead by then all I could think was ' finally maybe I can get a little break from him'. It's what I liked about Aden's storyline on the show. The pace of it was brilliant. That I didn't want it to end.

Another little problem. I'm shocked that Mark doesn't have an inferiority complex being Tess' brother. Aden and Belle, from the small moments where we get their thoughts, seem to percieve her as this perfect child. She can do no wrong. And Mark as the one they need to constantly explain things to. The way the see each child becomes so obvious sometimes that I'm surprised that Mark as never brought it up. I'm sure that it's not your intention to write Aden and Belle like that but it does stand out alot, for me.

Sorry about the critisizing. I just can't help pointing these stuff out. I still think of this as one of my few favourite fics on this site, there just happens to be somethings I don't quite enjoy. I hope I haven't you insulted or anything. That was definitely not my intention.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

I think over the next few chapters you'll see that i have actually made you feel what the characters are feeling in regards to Tess and Mark's reaction to Aden. Everything you said, i'm planning on dealing with, your opinions are pretty much the same as mine.

Mark's 'inferiority complex' as you put it, i'm also hoping to deal with as the story continues to progress. It was just this point that i wanted to reach with Tyler's storyline so i found a lot of the story focused on him so i'm sorry for that if you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd have liked to.

I really appreciate the criticism, if you're thinking along the same lines as me then i means i'm conveying it the right way, even if it doesn't always come out as good as it could.

The reason it took me so long to update with this chapter is because i was getting a bit bored of the Tyler scenes myself and found i just wanted to write aden/belle scenes. So i had to start the chapter after this one before i could write it. So i completely understand where you're coming from with that.

Thank you for the review, i really do appreciate it!