Chapter Text
For the first five years of his life, Puff was with both his biological parents. This was not an arrangement meant to last. Anyone could see that neither of them wanted to be together, Puff was the only reason they stayed together for so long, and even then, his dad, Roburts, wasn't the best father in the world, and his mother, Allie, was mentally absent even before she took up drugs, alcohol and anything else that made her feel less present. So it was as clear as glass that sooner or later, one of them would leave.
Two weeks before Puff's sixth birthday, his father decided he had had enough. Enough of Allie's absent mind, enough of Puff's childlike annoyingness, enough of the broken and dirty flat they lived in. So he left them. Luckily, for Allie, a new man, Craig, came along, bringing money and anything Allie could want to forgo her existence. Puff was left to mostly fend for himself. Roburts would send him 2 dollars on his birthday and Christmas, which meant $4 every year, which meant he only got a total of $24 before his mom and step-dad were taken to jail for drug abuse and child neglect and Puff was sent to live with Grandma.
Twelve years have passed since then. Puff has survived middle school and high school. His mom got out of jail when he was 18 when he was no longer her problem. Yet, for some reason, she has decided to seek him down. Or at least that is what the text from an unknown number told him.
Tracking the number had told him nothing, texting the number back got him nowhere so now Puff and Axel (DeeJay is with his girlfriend and Benatar is shopping for the band) are going to visit Puff's Grandma to see if she knows anything more.
"Well, deary, I'm afraid I can't tell you much. I know that you have no obligation to see your mother but if the internet hasn't given you an answer, well, there is no way of stopping her." The old well-meaning Grandma wasn't as knowledgeable on texting as she is on other things, and her answer wasn't particularly helpful, but she did give something important.
Puff was never his mom's priority or even her second thought. Why would she want him now? Why would he want her to find him? If she found him (which she could and probably will), then why would he allow her to speak to him?
"Why don't you just hide somewhere?" Fortunately, Puff still has Axel with him. Unfortunately, Axel is not a genius.
"It would be a good idea if I knew somewhere I could go or, or someone to go to. The only person I can think of is Wax, but I don't want to tell him about this." Puff was fortunate enough to have a good friend in Wax, but he isn't sure about how Wax would respond to his fears of talking with his mom.
"I can't use the bus either before you suggest it, 'cause this thing ain't subtle so she'll find it, and if I hid it with me, DeeJay and Benatar would go ballistic about being left behind." Realistically, he knew both would understand his reasoning for leaving with the bus, but that would leave them homeless, which would piss both of them off despite their calm nature.
The only option Puff has is to wait for her to arrive, then deny her any conversations or answers. Not that she would need many, as Puff and his band were famous for being infamous. Their hometown was really only well known due to their antics, so most fans would be able to find where they lived, and judging by the ominous, anonymous text he had received, somehow, he still wasn't too sure how that had happened, his mom likely knew where she was looking.
So he knows that a confrontation – but not a conversation – will happen with his mother, who hasn't seen physically in twelve, seen mentally in about another five or six, who he has every right to be angry, to be upset with, to shout and rage at. Yet, the only thing Puff can feel when knowing what will happen is fear. The same unrelating, pulsating fear that four-year-old Puff would get when his bio dad would walk into the house after a long day of work and find a plate broken by his mom's clumsy and erratic nature. He had, has no reason to fear his mom. After all, it was his biological dad who beat him for no clear reason. His mom and stepdad were just not there. So his fear is illogical, but still very much there.
Another key factor Puff forgot to take into consideration is that he hasn't told DeeJay and Benatar what is going on, hence why they aren't with him and Axel. They aren't going to show up at the underpass where the bus usually lives because they know Puff and Axel went to Grandma's retirement home, which helped Puff decide to not drive off to the next town, at least not before picking them up. The reason he hasn't told them is almost the same as why he isn't going to tell Wax.
He knows how DeeJay will react,
"Why ain't you leaving, we can just go to the next town over until she's gone." That won't work unless she has brain damage, unfortunately.
He can make potential Benatar reactions,
"What if she just wants to talk to you after so long." She has been out of jail for six years. She has had plenty of time to do that.
" 'Ow do you know that she is actually going to come? What if the text was lying?" Huh, he hadn't thought about that. It would explain how they got his number and why there weren't any answers to his questions. It was a scammer who just so happened to find the nail to hit the head of. Problem solved, he doesn't even need to tell the rest of the band. He does need to tell his grandma of this new revelation, though.
Before they arrived back in the retirement home after the pointless spinning they had done that had made Axel laugh and, by extension, cheered up Puff, they spotted a car pulled up outside the retirement home. The car was nothing of interest, smaller than the average, unassuming in colour, and a little beat up around the sides. Not one Puff recognised during his visits to Grandma Puff, but that doesn't really matter, especially as a lot of the elderly's families would rarely visit, according to the girl at the front desk Puff was the exception, so it wouldn't be out of the question to assume that it was just another visitor of their mother or father or grandparent. Yet as Puff drove the bus with his face painted on the side closer to the home and this car, his heart beat painfully in his chest.
Mind Benatar had lied to him. Out of the car came Allie, thinner and healthier than when he saw her getting dragged into a police car all those years ago, but still his mom. There was no possible way she hadn't seen him - or the bus, rather. All his nerves felt like they were on fire, bones melting under his boiling flesh; he had no idea what to do, or where to go from here. He couldn't drive. He couldn't move.
Axel could, though, and he managed to stop the bus right before it hit Puff's mom, which might have been okay but considering Puff's lack of reaction, Axel knew that it wouldn't have been his intention to run her over.
The door to the bus was still locked, and Allie could knock but not enter, so Puff's only concern is that she knew he was in there. She knew that he knew about her. So what should, could he do now? There aren't many answers. For starters, his body feels like he is in club convulsion again, and his head is following it, but even if he could move, his options are still very limited. He can't let her in. He can't speak to her. He also knows that driving off, when his body cooperates again, is illogical and not a solid plan, so he can't do that either.
"Puff, please continue breathing!" Axel's almost uncomfortably close to him made Puff realise that he was very much not continuing to breathe. Much like the rest of his body, including his eyes but wouldn't admit that openly, his lungs felt like they were roasting above a dumpster fire because none of his brain cells were focused on breathing at the moment.
Taking a moment to stop thinking and start breathing, Puff looked at Axel. He could feel his eyes burning, and he was hoping that Axel wasn't going to start laughing because that would push him over the edge and start crying. To his surprise, the tone of Axel's voice hadn't just been his imagination. Instead, Axel was looking at him fear and concern written all over his face.
Puff knew that he wasn't able to speak, but he could feel his lungs hurt less as he started to breathe again. Unfortunately, as soon as he felt the cool air occupy his lungs, there came a knock at the door of the bus. It was his mom, and his lungs started to burn once more. Even worse, his grandma could be seen just at the door of the home. If he started screaming at her, he didn't want his grandma to see that or Axel, for that matter. Sure, both of them have seen Puff's outbursts but he knows that once he starts thinking in anger rather than fear, there will be no stopping it unless DeeJay himself comes and holds him in a chokehold. Actually, Benatar would probably be the one to have to hold him, DeeJay would start yelling at his mom.
Puff did not get a chance to start yelling. DeeJay did not get a chance to appear out of nowhere and start yelling. Grandma Puff's voice, unused in this way for so many years, echoed through the street as her grandson's neglectful mother stood trapped between the raging grandma and the bus.
Puff managed to move his legs and approached the door slowly and quietly with Axel following cautiously behind, unsure as to whether or not he should get involved too much. Cracking the door open, Puff was able to see the back of his mom as she stood in the middle of the street in shock.
"You best get outta here and leave my grandbaby alone!" Puff felt his heart swell with pride and love for the women who raised him.
Allie was not the only one standing in the street in shock, to Puff's surprise. DeeJay and Benatar were at the end of the street, having met up before going to find the rest of the band. That does mean that if Meemaw Puff hadn't reached his mom, DeeJay would have, for someone of his size, he could move fast if he felt like it. This meant the fear Puff had felt when he had gotten that text, when he had seen his mom get out of the beat-up car, would have been extinguished no matter what.
A few hours later, his mom had left and driven off with tears in her eyes and a sorrow-filled face, Puff sat with each member of his band, each of his friends, within his eyesight. DeeJay was sat next to him on the couch, holding his hand, Axel was standing holding his hawk Vincent in the fridge, no doubt questioning whether to eat the mouldy ham left in there, and Benatar was up next to the sink with a glass of water for Puff in his hand.
Tomorrow, none of this will be ever spoken about. Never will he be sat on this couch with a wet face, smiling despite the bad day. Today, though, he does. Puff looks at all his friends and realises that he will never need either of his parents to come back for him; his family is right here.
Tomorrow, Puff will go back to calling DeeJay 'fatass', pranking Benatar every waking hour, and laughing at Axel doing the simplest things abhorrently incorrectly; right now, he doesn't. Right now, Puff just enjoys the company of all his friends.