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hoodharlow · 4 years

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Drunken Showers

AN: So the idea was requested at the very start of quarantine. Anon, hopefully you're still here. If not I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. Fun fact the idea for this was the first piece I had planned for El Novio.

Requested?: Yes, "hi! your writing has been one of the only things keeping me sane during this quarentine. I love it all hehe. Could you do something about your friends not liking cal at first because he a big celebrity and they have like read bad stuff about him online. So you stand up for him and then when they meet him they love him. If you don't want to write it that's totally fine!"

Warnings: mentions of smut, mentions of past toxic relationships

Word count: 3.6k words

Calum watched Damian walk by the kitchen for the fifth time from where he was sitting at the kitchen island. He stood in the walkaway looking at the cookies Claudia had decorated, but soon ran outside again. She was too busy decorating cookies to notice the six year old.

Calum and Claudia somehow ended up watching Damian while her family ran errands. Junior had come to drop off some tables, and Damian insisted on staying because he wanted to play with Duke and Panchito, Danny's dog.

”Why isn’t Mali here?” Damian asked Calum. He pulled at the stool next to him and sat down.

“She lives in London,” Calum said. He pulled out his phone. ”I'm going to text her and see if she can talk. Yeah?”

Damian nodded excitedly. He hopped off his stool and climbed onto Calum's lap, watching Calum text Mali. She responded seconds later with a smiley face, so Calum called her.

He let Damian hold his phone while Mali connected and reached over the tray of cookies he was eyeing earlier. He looked up and locked eyes with Claudia, earning a glare from her. Still he smiled at her as she rolled her eyes and went back to decorating cupcakes. Calum split the cookie and gave half to Damian.

”Hello Damian, how are you?” Mali said seconds later.

The smile on Damian’s face grew bigger when he saw her through the phone screen. He dove into conversation with her. Summarising everything since Christmas. He told her that his lita and lito were planning babyshower for Medelyn and Danny because of the baby they were having. He went on about the brincolin Diego rented, and how he likes jumping and doing flips. He flipped the camera and showed her Claudia. She gave her a small wave and went back to the cupcakes.

About fifteen minutes passed and Damian decided he was bored and wanted to go play with Duke and Panchito. He handed the phone back to Calum and slid off his lap.

”Bye, tío Cal,” He said running to the backyard.

Claudia's eyes widened at hearing Damian call Calum tío. Never in a million years did she think she was going to ever hear 'tío Cal' come out of his mouth. Though Calum was too focused on the screenshot he took while facetiming Mali to notice what the boy said.

”Can I use your phone?” He asked Claudia.

”Sure.”

Before she could get her phone, she felt Calum's hand on her back pocket, and he pulled it out. He held the phone for her to put her passcode. She typed 0-1-2-5 and pushed it back down.

Calum wrapped an arm around her waist as he pulled up Instagram. He looked for Felix and scrolled through his profile until he found a good picture of his left arm that was covered in tattoos. Calum put his phone next to hers and compared.

”That's his arm.” He stated.

Claudia leaned over and squinted. The screenshot he had taken was a bit blurry, but Felix' tattoos were very distinguishable.

”You can't really tell,” she began, remembering what Felix had told her. Him and Mali were casually going out but if things got serious between them they were telling Calum. ”Who knows who it is.”

Calum looked up and gave her a pensive look, unsure if she knew more than she said.

”You're probably right.” He locked his phone and handed Claudia hers. His hand hovered over the cookie tray, wiggling his fingers as he decided which cookie to get.

”Grab another cookie and I'll call Ashton myself to tell him that y'all need a new bass player.” She warned him.

”Better my hand than my heart, Claudia.” He said kissing her temple.

”I hate you,” she said playfully.

”Not what you said last night after you—”

”Here,” she shoved a cookie in his hand, ”ya vete.”

Her cheeks reddened, remembering what they were doing in the back of Diego’s truck when they were at the drive-in last night.

”You’re lucky those Roger Corman films are full of actresses who scream all exaggerated because people would have heard you instead,” he whispered in her ear.

She cleared her throat and went back to decorating the cupcakes. She slowly piped out little succulents with buttercream onto a small piece of wax paper before she transferred them on to the actual cupcakes. Her job was to make dozens of cookies, mini tarts, mini cheesecakes, and brownie cups. Fortunately, Marlene was making the gelatinas, arroz con leche cups and the candy goodie bags.

Duke and Panchito's growls sounded in the backyard. Calum quickly stood up and went outside. He scooped Duke in his arm and held Panchito's collar.

A guy walked in the yard holding two trays covered in aluminum foil. Calum instantly recognised him. It was Claudia's ex. He knew he was going to meet him today. Just not this soon nor alone. Well, not really alone Damian was behind him, holding the frisbee.

He reached for Panchito's leash that was on the table with other toys and clipped it to his harness. ”I'm going to put them in the garage.” Calum told Damian. ”Could you get Claudia?”

”Okay, tío.” Damian nodded. He left the frisbee on the table and went inside.

Without another word, Calum went to the garage. He was placing the dogs in their respective kennels when he heard the garage door close. Damian awkwardly stood in front of the door.

”Hi,” he said.

”Hi.”

”Can you make me a grilled cheese, please?” He asked, looking down at his untied shoes and then back up at Calum.

”Yeah. Lead the way.”

They made their way to the kitchen and Damian helped Calum get ‘the good cheese tía Claudia uses.’ He sat in front of the stool and watched Calum build his sandwich.

Calum looked over to the yard where Claudia was still talking to Paco. She had the most serious face he'd ever seen on her. Her eyes were expressionless and unreadable, the little glint she had was gone. Her ever present smile flattened into a tight line.

”I don't like him. He doesn't like playing with me and Diego and Paloma.” Damian said as he poked his straw into his juice box. He took a sip and looked over to Claudia. ”She always looks sad when he's here.”

Calum hummed and flipped their sandwiches. He grabbed two plates from the drying rack and placed their sandwiches on them. He cut them diagonally and slid a plate to Damian.

Claudia came in and slammed the sliding door shut. She walked past them to the living room where her dad stores the good alcohol and brought it back to the kitchen. Damian and Calum watched as she poured herself a tall glass of tequila.

”Everything okay?” Calum asked her.

Claudia held up her finger to him and in one huge gulp she downed the tequila.

”Just peachy.”

***

This was the most drunk Calum had seen Claudia.

He held onto Claudia so she wouldn't fall off his lap as she did her shot with her cousins. Even in her drunk state she knew to cover his face when her cousins recorded themselves taking shots. She wore one of his flannels over her dress, so the sleeves were big enough for her to shield his face.

”Mede this one's for you, mamas.” Claudia stood up and shouted across the yard where she was with Danny and their friends. She held the shot glass and tossed the vodka back. She turned to her cousins and cheered.

She reached for the bottle, but Calum was quicker and moved it out of her reach.

”No more vodka for you.”

”You're no fun.” She pouted. She poked his cheeks, “Be fun.”

”You guys would make such cute babies.” One of her cousins gasped. She pulled out her phone from her bag. ”Like fucking deadass, I have an app that morphs your faces and shows you your babies. I did it to see how my babies would look with Jaden Smith.”

With that her cousin went on talking about her love for Jaden since the Karate Kid came out. Claudia leaned against Calum's chest and listened to her. Minutes later Calum felt her breathing change, she had fallen asleep. He cursed to himself, knowing she was not going to like getting woken up.

”Claudia,” he nudged her. She huffed and nuzzled herself more into her chest. ”Let's get you to bed. Yeah?”

Claudia nodded and wobbled a bit, but Calum was quick to catch her. He motioned Diego that he was going to take her to her room, and Diego nodded, going back to talking to his compadres and brothers.

Calum guided Claudia to the kitchen. He sat her on a stool and poured her a glass of water.

”Drink this.” He said, handing her the glass.

”This is a lot of vodka.” she gasped, amazed at the large glass. She took a long sip, downing the whole thing. She set the glass next to her. ”This vodka is so good. It's so good and smooth. Where did you get it?”

”From the Brita filter.”

”From the Brita filter,” she repeated to herself.

”Let's go upstairs.”

”Cal, my whole family is here. I can't have them hear you fuck me.”

”That's— Where did you get that?” He asked her as she sipped her cantarito. ”I said no more drinking.”

”Nu-uh you said 'no more vodka for you,' this is tech-weela and Squirt,” she said matter of factly. Then she burst into a fit of giggles. ”Remembered when you made me squirt on Valentine's Day. I had fun that day. Thank you for taking me to Reptile Park. I liked seeing all the koalas.”

”Your welcome. Let's get you to bed.”

”Okay.” She obliged.

Calum guided her up the steps and held onto her so she wouldn't miss a step. He reached in his pocket and unlocked her room, walking them in and closing the door behind them. He turned on the lights and sat her on the bed. He helped her out of her tall heels and set them back on the box she had on her desk chair.

Claudia reached for his belt and unbuckled it.

”No.” Calum said sternly, pushing her hands away.

”Please,” she pouted. She sat back and spread her legs open to him. ”I'm not even wearing panties. You have easy access.”

”Fucks sake,” he mumbled. He went to her underwear drawer and grabbed the first pair and slipped them on her. He rolled her onto her side. ”Get some sleep.”

”Can you stay for a little bit?”

”Fine, but no funny business.”

Claudia nodded eagerly and made some space for him. She patted the mattress, so he kicked off his shoes and laid next to her. She pressed her whole body on his and wrapped her arms around his stomach.

”Cal?”

”Yes.”

”I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast.”

”Of course you haven't.” He said to himself.

He waited a few minutes until she was fast asleep. He slowly lifted her arm off him and slid out of her bed, placing a pillow where he was. He twisted her hair as best he could into a braid and tied the ends of her hair. He set a timer on her phone to wake her up in an hour or her sleep schedule was going to go off the rails. Then he made his way back down and went to the taco line so Claudia had something to eat when she woke up.

Calum was responding to a text Michael sent him about the change of plans for an upcoming event they had when he felt someone behind him.

Claudia's ex.

”We didn't get to greet each other earlier. I'm Francisco, but everyone calls me Paco.” He said, holding his hand out to him.

Calum shook his hand.

”Calum.” he said curtly.

”This must be weird. You being Claudia's new boyfriend and me being her ex.”

”It's not awkward unless someone makes it awkward.” Calum said.

It was his turn to order and asked for five asada, five lengua and five tripa. Paco ordered some in Spanish and laughed at something the taquero made.

Calum asked the lady putting the onions and cilantro if she could put it on a separate thing. She nodded and grabbed an extra piece of aluminum foil and placed it on top of the tacos. She pointed off to the other table that there's salsa containers of guacamole, three kinds of green salsa and red salsa along with three vitroleros of agua frescas.

He was pouring himself a cup of agua de jamaica when Paco approached him.

”Can I give you some advice?” He asked Calum. Not waiting for his response, he dove in. ”Get out while you can. Claudia's great and all, but it's not worth it. You're famous. You have loads of experienced girls to choose from. Don't settle for Claudia. Because next thing you know three years pass, and all she's willing to do is suck your dick. Danny said you've been together for almost a year—”

”I'm going to stop you there.” Calum cut him off. ”I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about what happened between you and Claudia, or rather the lack of it, as you implied.”

”Look man, I'm just tryna give you advice.”

”I wasn't asking for it. But what I am going to ask you is not to disrespect her in my presence.”

Calum took the plates and made his way back to the kitchen. He stored them in the fridge and pulled out his phone, finishing his response to Michael. He sipped his drink when a group of girls sat around him. They were Claudia's friends. He sighed remembering overhearing the redhead tell Claudia she didn’t approve of him because he was famous and didn’t want her to get hurt. But Claudia quickly shut her up and told her that she wasn’t looking for approval and that she didn’t care what they thought because she was in a good place with him.

”Now that you're alone, we want to have a little talk with you,” the redhead of the group said.

There were four of them. They wore similar outfits: black jeans, black top and a denim jacket. They also carried matching Smirnoff lemonades, taking sips at the same time.

”Mikayla, shut up.” one of them rolled her eyes at the red head. ”Look obviously, we weren't the nicest nor the most welcoming when Claudia introduced us. Like the breakup was hard on our friend group. When Claudia told us she was seeing someone, we judged you without even knowing you. Then we saw how you were around her. You literally took care of her drunk ass and stuff. So like overall we just want to apologize.”

”Oh,” it was all Calum could say. He nodded and took a sip of his drink.

”Well, we're gonna go back out. If you wanna hang or whatever you know where to find us.”

They all got up and walked back to the rest of the group. He sighed and read some emails. A few minutes later someone else walked into the room.

”Calum,” Diego called him, making him look up. ”Can we talk?”

”Um, yeah…”

'Everyone is in a chatty mood,' he thought to himself.

”I overheard your talk with Paco, and I wanted to thank you for defending mi niña. No one wants to hear someone disrespect their daughter, especially by someone they once considered family.” Diego said. ”You're a good man, Calum.”

”Thank you, Mr. Santos.”

”Diego,” he corrected Calum.

”Right, Diego… um I'm sorry that you had to hear him talk about Claudia like that. No one deserves to hear that about their daughter, especially if she's as amazing as Claudia.”

Before Diego could say something, Paloma struggled with opening the sliding door, so he got up and opened it for her.

”Grandpa, Medelyn is opening the presents.” Paloma said excitedly. She looked over to Calum and shyly looked away.

Diego motioned him to follow. He took a seat where Claudia's family was. Damian went up to him and sat on his lap to see Medelyn and Danny. He held the present bags while she pulled out clothes, bibs, stuffed animals, everything and other accessories. After opening them, they moved onto the bog boxes. The first few were boxes of diapers and wipes.

”Don't rip the paper, I like it.” Medelyn told Danny. He carefully removed the tape and removed it from the box, revealing a stroller. It was the stroller Danny told Claudia he was saving up for.

Calum was with Claudia when she was looking at the prices. She told him how she wanted to buy it for them, but since she turned into her grad school applications, she couldn't afford it.

”Cal, we can't accept this,” Medelyn said.

”Wasn't me,” Calum quickly said.

”You forgot to cover your name.” She pointed at the shipping label.

”Claudia used my address.” He lied. ”She said something about people in her street having their packages stolen.”

”Oh, that's so sweet of her.”

***

Calum lost track of Claudia when he got back from carrying a sleeping Damian in Junior’s car. An hour later she wandered back down as if she didn’t drink a bar and a half. The last time he saw her, she was in the yard talking to some of her friends while she ate the tacos he got for her. Now he spotted an angry Medelyn entering Claudia’s room, so he followed her.

“Let me get this straight. Your best friend tried to force Claudia to do something she wasn’t comfortable nor ready for, resulting in him cheating. And your initial response to that was ‘well maybe if you put out then he wouldn't have cheated.’” Calum heard Medelyn from the doorway.

“Your best mate cheated on your sister and you’re giving your sister shit?” Calum blurted out. He was livid. Claudia had only told him about the horrific shit he said to her when they broke up. The cheating was new to him. He saw Claudia's stricken face and entered the room, closing the door behind himself.

"Cal, drop it." Claudia said softly.

"No. I've had enough of his shit." He sneered at Danny. "You let that guy drag Claudia's name through the mud. If anyone let out so much a peep about Mali, I would have shut it down because I know the kind of person my sister is. You know the kind of person Claudia is, so you know she doesn't deserve any of the shit he put her through."

Everyone stood quiet, unsure how to respond. The door opened, with Diego and Soni peaking through.

"Why are you up here? Your friends are downstairs." Soni said.

"We were just saying bye. Cal got a call, and he needs to be in LA in the morning. So we're leaving. Right?" Claudia asked Calum.

"Yeah." He nodded, following along. "I'm going to get Duke."

Diego watched Calum leave and gave the three of them a skeptical look.

"Okay. Do you want to take any leftovers?" Soni asked Claudia.

"Sure." She smiled and with that her parents left them.

"Claudia—"

"I don't wanna hear it Danny." she sighed. "Just go."

He left without another word.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have said anything about the stroller." Medelyn began to ramble. "I should have just written you a thank note y ya."

"It's not your fault." Claudia reassured her. "This was bound to happen. I just didn't think it was going to happen now, you know. But it did. I'm sorry for ruining your babyshower."

"It was ruined the minute my parents came and plucked Melina without even saying hi to me."

Claudia nodded, remembering how Medelyn's younger sister had come to the baby shower. She was the only member of Medelyn's family that came. Soni told Claudia that she called their mom and invited her. But the woman had declined it, saying that she only has one daughter. Then they showed up and didn't even acknowledge Medelyn. They just grabbed Melina and left.

"Are you ready?" Calum asked Claudia from the doorway.

"Yeah."

Calum took their bags and he went back to the car. Claudia and Medelyn made their way back down. They were in the kitchen, waiting for the leftovers Soni was packing. Calum and Claudia bid goodbye to her parents.

Claudia turned to Medelyn. "Take care of him— well, not really… you know what I mean."

"I know. I'll text you so we can get lunch."

"Y Danny?" Soni asked.

"We already said what we needed to say to each other." Claudia told her.

She gave her parents one last hug before joining Calum in the car.

The car ride was silent. Claudia covered herself with Calum's jacket and curled up in a ball. She rested her head on the center console. Occasionally, Calum would run his fingers over her hair, making her sleepy.

She woke up almost two hours later as Calum ordered In-N-Out at the drive thru a few miles from his house. He handed her their boxes and her vanilla shake, parking the car under a tree.

Uncapping the lid, Claudia dunked a fry in her shake and handed it to Duke.

"Thank you," Claudia told Calum, once she was halfway through her cheeseburger.

"I knew you were gonna get hungry since you didn't eat much." He shrugged sipping his lemonade.

"I meant to say thank you for defending me. I didn't expect it."

"You're my girlfriend, of course I'm going to defend you. I know you, and that's why I won't tolerate anyone saying shit."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He leaned in and captured her lips. Claudia pushed herself up and pressed her hand on his thigh, as they deepened their kiss.

Calum pulled away and looked down at her hand. "Claudia, you just smashed your burger on my leg."

Taglist: @calpops @5-secondsofcolor @findingliam-o @cherryxwildflower @calumscalm @sexgodashton @another-lonely-heart @idontneedanyone @karajaynetoday @myloverboyash @spicycal

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milomeepit · 5 years

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Diamond In The Rough: Chapter Twelve

Roman has always wanted better. Has always believed that there’s a better life, a better world, just out of reach. Just beyond the veil of shitty teachers who don’t care, angry classmates that scream insults and slurs at each other all day, and drug-hazed parents who are more concerned with their next hit than looking after their ten year old son.

When he runs away after a particularly bad night at home and finds a quiet little cafe/bookstore tucked away in a back alley of the city, the sweet couple who run the joint (an odd pair; a quiet, gloomy man with a wry sense of humour and a cynical gleam in his eye, and a bouncy man who smiles like sunshine and laughs like a storybook king) help show him that maybe- just maybe- he really can have the life he always dreamed of.

Masterpost (to be added soon!)

Word Count: 1877

Chapter Warnings: HOO BOY OK- crying, yelling, abusive parents, neglectful parents, cursing, arguing, fighting, broken glass, terrible living conditions, implied drug use, needle mention, alcohol, daydreams, heartbreak

Roman wanted to cry again as soon as Logan turned onto his street. This had to be a nightmare. He’d open his eyes and Patton would be there, and he could crawl into his arms and Patton would sing softly as he stroked his hair. Virgil would appear next to them with a glass of water and crack jokes to make Roman smile. Everything would be okay.

Unfortunately, the car pulled to a stop outside of his house, and he was forced to face reality as Logan gently urged him out of the car. The pair of them walked silently up the cracked concrete path towards the front door.

Logan reached for the doorbell, but Roman shook his head. “It doesn’t work,” He explained. “It hasn’t ever since Dad hit it with a wrench when he was working out in the front yard when I was little.”

“I see.” Logan nodded and instead rapped lightly on the door.

They stood there for a few seconds before footsteps thumped on the other side of the door, followed by locks clicking open, and the door creaked open. Roman’s heart thumped in his chest as his father poked his head suspiciously around the door and met Logan’s eyes. “What?” He grumbled.

Logan cleared his throat. “Hello, sir. My name is Logan Kennard. May I ask yours?”

“Max Gorgon. Whaddaya want?” Dad said gruffly.

Logan didn’t miss a beat. “I work with Child Protective Services,” He announced firmly. “We found your son on the streets in the city. Care to explain how he may have got there?”

At that, Roman’s head shot up. “Hey, I wasn’t on the-!” He started to argue, but Logan put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. He snapped his mouth shut, looking up at the man with wide eyes.

Why didn’t he want to mention Virgil and Patton?

“Hell! We’ve been trying to figure out where he’d got to!” Dad finally looked down as Roman spoke. “Thought he’d nicked off with his aunt or somethin’.”

Roman tried not to shudder at the thought of Aunt Nikki. She was loud, but not in a fun way like Patton. She yelled about everything, and she always smelled sickly sweet, like you were drowning in maraschino cherries. Her nails were always long and sharp, digging into Roman’s arm as he went past to catch him and send him off on some errand she couldn’t be bothered fulfilling herself.

“No.” Logan’s mouth was a thin line, and Roman wondered briefly if he disliked Dad as much as Roman did. “He was lost on the streets until I found him.”

“Well, shit! Bri! Brianne! Come here!” Roman flinched a little as Dad turned and hollered over his shoulder. “Roman’s come home!”

There was a flurry of movement before the door was thrown open and Mom appeared in the doorway. She gasped and dropped to her knees, yanking Roman into a tight embrace that almost choked him. “My baby! Oh, darling, you’re back! Where were you, my sweet? I’ve been worried sick about you, but your daddy said you’d be home soon, and- oh, my goodness! I’m so happy to see you!”

Roman forced a smile onto his face. “I-I’m sorry, Mom,” He whispered in her ear. It was bittersweet, the attention she was showering on him, but he wanted it to last nonetheless. “I didn’t mean to worry you.” Technically, not a lie.

“Oh, sweetheart, I forgive you!” Mom crooned, her brightly coloured fake nails gently scratching the base of his neck as she ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s all okay now, you’re home safe and sound!”

She looked up to Logan, flashing him a sweet smile. “How can I ever thank you for this, mister?” She asked, her voice trembling with emotion.

“Oh, no thanks necessary. Just doing my job,” Logan replied gently.

Roman twisted to look at him, biting back a groan at the soft expression on his face. He’d clearly fallen hook, line, and sinker for the saccharine words that fell from his mother’s mouth as easily as the lies and abuse she snapped at other times. He ached to point it out, to scream that it was all an act, to beg Logan to take him back, it didn’t even have to be Patton and Virgil, just anywhere, please, anywhere but here!

... But what would be the point? Logan would probably just shrug it off as Roman throwing a hissy fit about being caught and sent home, and then he’d have to deal with the consequences from his parents. He let out a soft, resigned sigh, sagging against Mom. Better to just live with it, for now at least. Maybe he’d have another chance to get away someday.

As if reading his mind, Logan added, ��I’ll be back in a few days to check up on you all and see how Roman is settling back in. It’s school holidays at the moment, so he should have plenty of time at home to get back into the swing of things.”

“Thank you so much, Mr Kennard,” Dad reached over and shook Logan’s hand. “We should get inside, it’s pretty chilly out here, and we wouldn’t want to get sick.” He laughed, a short, rough, barking sound that made Roman want to cover his ears.

Logan bobbed down to Roman, smiling at him warmly. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” He said, touching Roman’s shoulder lightly.

No. Not okay. Not even a little okay. Everything in Roman was screaming to rip away, to go anywhere but here, to be anywhere, to run or fly or fall or die, just so long as it got him away.

“Okay,” He heard himself say. “Bye, Logan.”

Logan stood, straightened his jacket, and winked at Roman as he said, “See you later.”

Roman blinked, but before he could speak, Logan was in his car and zipping away. He felt large hands grab him by the arm and tug him inside before the door slammed closed, officially trapping him back in the creaky old house.

He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered as his father lumbered back into the living room, the TV flashing with the bright colours of some mind-numbing action movie. It was as cold as ever in here, the heating system haven broken years ago and never been fixed. He crept into the kitchen to see Mom making coffee, staring intently at the small, stained mug as she stirred its contents.

“... Hi,” He said softly from the doorway. He figured he had a fifty-fifty chance of her mood either being fantastic, or abysmal. Worth a shot, more so than Dad at least.

She glanced up at him, brightening as she saw him. “Hey, baby! Did you want a drink, too?” She offered the mug to him.

Roman tried not to grimace. Coffee always made him feel sick and hot, but it was the only hot drink Mom ever made. “Um, no, thank you,” He replied. “I just... I was curious what you were up to.”

Mom shrugged, leaning back against the counter and drinking from the mug in her hand. “Nothing, really. Tryna decide what to get for dinner. You have any bright ideas, sweetheart?”

“Not really.” All he wanted was a pot of Virgil’s spaghetti. Hot and cheesy, with thick noodles and meatballs speckled with herbs and spices. Rich sauce with real tomatoes that Virgil cut and cooked down, with spinach stirred into the pot.

Mom shrugged again. “I’ll ask your daddy later, he sounds like he’s busy.”

As if on cue, a loud explosion rang out from the TV and Dad cursed loudly, shouting curses at the movie’s characters. Oh, well, Roman thought. As long as he was yelling at the TV and not him, that was a win.

Roman left the kitchen as Mom rustled around in the drawer under the microwave. He knew what she was looking for, and he didn’t want to watch. Needles always made him feel itchy and sick and jumpy, especially seeing them disappear into her arms.

He slipped upstairs, carrying his bags with him, and into his room. He softly closed the door, wincing as it creaked quietly, then sat on his bed and peered out the grimy window at the street below. It was snowing again. Patton and Virgil would probably be getting rugged up and going out to the park to build a snowman, or make snow angels, or throw snowballs at each other.

It ached to think about, like a cold, sharp icicle driving into his chest. He shivered again, then grabbed the worn out blanket draped across his bed, still tangled from where he had last thrown it, and wrapped it around his shoulders. The warmth it offered was meager at best, but it was better than nothing.

Roman covered his face with the blanket as the frustration and grief of the afternoon rose inside him, burning and solid and heavy as a rock, and burst into tears for the fifth time that day. It just wasn’t fair! He’d finally had it. Something warm and real and comforting and safe and wonderful. Jokes and hugs and kisses and soft pillows and love. So much love.

He pulled the blanket away from his face to breath, short gasps of frigid air that felt like swallowing razor blades. Every breath he took, every second that ticked past, weighed on him, heavier than anything he’d ever felt in his life. Every moment carried him further away from the only place he’d truly felt happy in his whole life.

He reached down into his backpack, pulling out the small stuffed monkey, and hugged it tightly. It still smelled like Patton and Virgil’s apartment, like cinnamon and sugar and fresh laundry. He pressed it to his cheek and closed his eyes.

It was almost like he was back in the cafe, just for a moment. He could feel the warmth of the heating system, hear the twinkling notes of the piano music drifting through the speakers, could see customers wandering through the shelves. A small smile tugged at his lips as he relaxed, burrowing his face into the monkey’s soft stomach. Maybe everything would be okay.

A door slammed downstairs, making him jump, and the vision was gone. He bit back a frustrated scream as Dad’s voice boomed from the living room, arguing furiously with one of his friends. He faintly heard a shattering noise, and Mom shrieked angrily. He couldn’t make out what she was saying through all the voices, but he guessed Dad had probably thrown something.

Roman sighed, flopping back on his bed and staring up at the cracked ceiling. His eyes traced over the familiar stains and marks, picking out shapes against the old, yellowed plaster. Back to real life, he told himself. Everything he’d been counting on in the past few weeks, it was just a dream. Every hope and feeling. All of the love and trust and happiness was just... done. Gone. And he was left. Alone again, cold and anxious and tired and trapped.

He rolled onto his side and curled up, cuddling the monkey to his chest. He should have known it wouldn’t last, he thought bitterly. Nothing good ever did.

#TS-Storytime 2019 Submission #milo writes #ditr #gemstone tales #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #sanders sides

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