Chapter 270 - The Reason Behind

Ashton tried once more to link Caleb and see if he could be there, but all he did was disturb him causing him to delay further. Ashton tried to talk to Connor as well, but it turned out to be hopeless as well. Instead Connor was now dead set on not going to the school party at all.

Ashton groaned, unsure of what to do, so he called another person who might actually know how to help him. He explained his situation properly before groaning, "What should I do"?

"What do you want to do"? His mum, Mrs Parker, asked.

"I want to go with him. I don't want him to miss out on an important school event like this" Ashton sighed.

"Then take him." Mrs Parker said as a matter of factly. "Talk to him, ask him why can't you go with him". Mrs Parker urged.

"Because he hates me," Ashton declared.

"He doesn't!" Mrs Parker huffed, offended by his assumption. "Stop assuming how he feels and talk to him. He is a brilliant kid. Maybe he is upset because he was looking forward to spending quality time with his Dad, rather than halloween. Just go talk to him". Ashton could feel the eye roll from the other side of the line.

"I'll… I'll try" Exasperated, Ashton replied. 

He headed back to Connor's room, once more, only to find it locked from the inside. "Connor! Come on open the door" He urged.

"Is my Dad coming"? Connor asked from the inside.

"No, but…" Ashton began but he was soon cut off.

"Then Go away! Stop bothering me"! Connor huffed. Ashton could tell from the sound of Connor's voice that he was feeling hurt. And as much as Ashton hated that Connor felt that way he had no idea what to do about it. 

"Connor, please talk to me. Why don't you want me at your halloween party"? Ashton asked softly.

"Because we are supposed to take our parents. You are not my Parent"! Connor screamed.

"I know… but I can be" Ashton tried.

"I don't want you to be! Ever since you came my Dad only spends time with you"! Connor shouted in anger. Wait, is that why he didn't like Ashton, because Caleb spends so much time with him. They had lost eight years, so they tried to make up for some lost time… but he never realized that Connor felt so left out. 

Now Ashton felt like an idiot. In retrospect, Connor did hate him. He hated Ashton for keeping his Dad away from him, "It's not like that Connor." Ashton tried to explain.

"You guys went for a trip last week! Don't try to fool me" Connor huffed.

"We didn't go for a trip, it was important" Ashton countered.

"Stop lying"! Connor shrieked from the other side of the door.

"I am not. Do you wanna know what we did? We adopted those girls… and I adopted you, officially" Ashton declared. He waited for Connor's response, in regards to this big revelation, but he was starting to worry when he received no response.

"Connor"! Ashton knocked again. Maybe he did it. The final strike which only increased Connor's anger towards him. Ashton couldn't help but cuss at himself at this moment.

After a whole minute, which felt like a lot more by the way, the door opened as Connor stared at him suspiciously. "You.. adopted me"? He questioned.

"Yes. I am going to marry your Dad. I would like to be your family as well" Ashton declared.

"You didn't have to adopt me just because you're marrying him" Connor mumbled.

Ashton crouched down so that they were talking face to face. "I know I didn't, but I wanted to".

"Why"? Connor asked in a whisper. 

"Because I know how you feel. At least a part of it. When I lost my parents I was completely alone in the world until the Parkers adopted me. I don't want you to feel like that ever" Ashton declared.

"So you pity me"! Connor pouted.

Ashton shook his head, "No Connor. I like you. You helped me stay in control when I felt I was done for. I would love to be your family. I know legally, I am your Dad as well, but if you'll let me… I'd really like to be your family" Ashton said.

"You would look like a teenage Dad," Connor commented.

Ashton chuckled at that comment before asking, "Is that a yes"?

Connor nodded at him lightly before saying, "I'll go get my costume ready".

Ashton helped Connor fit into the costume before driving him to his school. Most of the people, including their principal, stared at Ashton thanks to him keeping his mask off. Turns out, even in that ridiculous outfit, Ashton still looked quite hot.

At the school, they had a few events planned including many games related or even non related to halloween. Most of them had the parents teacher duo as a team and therefore it was like a mini competition, and whoever won that particular round would get a halloween themed prize. Some got a gutted pumpkin, some got scary horror masks. One person even got a skeleton costume. While Connor and Ashton got Vampire fangs. The prize was coincidentally appropriate as it went well with Connor's other half.

"You can have it" Connor gave those tiny fangs to Ashton, even those that won't fit Ashton.

"I don't think these would fit me," Ashton chuckled.

"These are useless to me. I like the real ones more" Connor shrugged. Ashton, with a smile, took those fangs as a token of the time they spent here. It was really fun, and for the first time he actually felt like Connor's Dad. That Connor accepted him as his Dad. 

Ashton was on the brink of happiness when the teacher announced the final activity. 'The haunted house'. Basically, they have transformed the common hall into a series of scary stuff. There are a bunch of clues hidden in the room that would help them solve a puzzle to escape the room. Yes, it was more of an escape room.

Ashton was skeptical, but he decided to give it a try. The room, even though made artificially scary, was still kept PG rated for the little kids. So much so that Connor was bored. He had seen much horrible stuff in real life. They looked for clues, and found them within five minutes. 

However, the clues were still complicated for them to crack the ultimate puzzle. Feeling that they would eventually run out of time, both of them sighed.. Until, they heard a familiar voice say, "Maybe I can help."