Story [Heroes] The One They Really Wanted (Lyle Bennet oneshot)

Title: The One They Really Wanted
Author: karebear
Disclaimer: Heroes does not belong to me, I'm just killing time til next season
Rating: G
Summary/Notes: I felt bad for Lyle. He doesn't get enough attention.


He's the youngest, so he's supposed to be the one that's allowed to be all whiny and a baby about things and get away with it. But also, he's the boy, so that's out. Which, fine, whatever. Claire's the drama queen in the family and it's not like they need more than one. Everything is not about him, he gets that. Good thing one of them does.

And there are certain benefits, for which he should be grateful. For instance there's the fact that his parents are so concerned about where Claire goes and who she's with and if it is or isn't okay for her to try out for cheerleading that no one notices if he sneaks out to Chickies Point with Amanda Karanowski.

But there's other things too. He stood there silently while Claire pitched a fit about how she wasn't going to move, that she had friends and a life and all that crap. He thought that was pretty shallow of her, since they'd been in California less than a year. Sure, Amanda Karanowski's pretty hot, but this place isn't home. Not like Odessa.

He'll point out that he packed up and moved without complaining then too, even though he'd lived there his whole life (Okay, yes, he was born in New York, it says so on his birth certificate. But he doesn't remember it so it doesn't count). Lyle has friends, too, you know. Lyle was starting high school, and was pretty much guaranteed a spot on the JV soccer team, since he'd played in Coach Freeman's rec league since the dawn of time.

But when he rode in the U-Haul with his father, who thanked him for his cooperation (a minor miracle), it was all too easy to return Dad's awkward smile. No big. They have soccer in Costa Verde, too. Lying isn't anything special. Neither is keeping secrets.

There's a lot of things Lyle doesn't tell anyone. No one knows what gets under his skin. He's had enough practice, he can pretend nothing does. But, let's be honest, there are the days, more often than he'd like to admit, when he holes up in his room and loses himself in some computer game or another, and for a little while it doesn't matter that he's normal in a family that completely isn't.

Or he can think the things he would never say out loud and not feel bad about it. For example, let's talk about the fact that he's the biological child. In all the stories he's ever heard of, it's the adopted kid that gets shuffled into the background when the "real" child comes into the picture. It's never worked like that in the Bennet family.

In his darker moments he just wants his parents to occasionally acknowledge that he isn't a mistake. Yeah, they didn't have to go through this whole bureaucratic mess with him, they didn't have to prove themselves to social workers or sign papers the way they did when they adopted Claire, but they did have nine whole months of getting ready, and most people are happy about having a kid. It's not like he just appeared out of the clear blue sky one day.

But Dad's in all the pictures with Claire, and not in any with him except for the posed family pictures from the photographer at the mall. By the time he was born, Dad was already doing the business trip thing all the time, and it makes sense that his mom would get along better with her daughter. They can talk about fashion design and soap operas and all the other things that make him want to gag.

It always kind of made sense that their parents gave most of their energy to Claire. She's needy in a way that he isn't. It's not her fault, necessarily. Some people are just like that. He's the quiet one, he doesn't have the personality that fights for their attention.

And then one day he found a mini-cam tape, and suddenly everything made even more sense.

Maybe he's the flip-side of adopted parent syndrome. They raise a child that does not come from them, and then they wonder what it's like to have one th

 

*winces* Ouch, poor Lyle. He never gets any love, does he? (Of course, he's a total snot, so I can see why they don't spend much time on him when we get stuff with the Bennets.)

 

Oh wow!! That's very beautiful and sad. Poor Lyle

 

he's never been the one they really wanted.

Yikes. That explains a LOT. I'd be pissed off, too.

And let's face it - Claire does get really annoying.

 

Very nicely done. I like how he's fairly accepting of the situation, and not all emo about it. Not that he wouldn't have a perfect right to be. I'd be more than a little bitter about it, if I were in his shoes.

 

I'm not sure where to start. The melancholy in the voice of the piece really speaks to how Lyle feels. He's not needy, but he's also not getting everything he needs.

I also really enjoyed your attention to detail. Therere is a lot of Lyle, here. From his homsick feelings for Odessa to his pseudo girlfriend Amanda to his soccer career, he's will to give up whatever is necessary for the family.

I was also fascinated by the explanation of his relationship with his father and the 'on end' foster vs. bio child situation the Benett family displays.

Will Lyle get more time in Season 3? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

Wow, I feel really bad for Lyle now.