Lavender

What A Bad Day Looks Like

That night, Adam held me while I fell asleep. Well, first I stayed up on my phone while Max fucked the daylight out of Luther as a reward for unlocking his shackles, then we all fell asleep in the bed.

When I woke up, Luther was the only one with me. I sat up and stretched my arms. Then I heard mutters from Luther. Holy shit, does he sleep talk? He was talking to someone named Marissa, telling her he loved her. Oh. Who the fuck was Marissa?! Was Luther cheating on the others. On me? Of course. Why would I be in a stable relationship. Why did I think I would be welcomed in a good relationship. Jesus Christ, I trusted him! I was right all along. I shouldn't trust-

"We're back!"

"We have breakfast!"

My head snapped up. I guess I should tell them. "Luther's telling some girl he loves her."

Both of their faces dropped. Adam quickly put down the plates he was holding and climbed onto the bed. I threw out one last olive branch. "Luther wouldn't cheat, right?"

They ignored me. Max was putting a glass of milk in the microwave. Adam was shaking Luther. Max walked away from the microwave and locked the door. Luther finally woke up. He just... layed there. Adam started talking to him. "I'm here.

We're all here. She's not here, remember?"

Luther didn't sit up. He didn't even look at Adam. "She's coming."

"No, Luther, she's not coming."

No movement. No reaction. "Shh, she'll be coming back soon."

The microwave beeped and Max got the milk. Max looked at Adam with a sad face and asked, "How deep is he?"

"Too far."

"Adam if you don't have the heart for tough love right now, I can do it."

"No, I can."

I was starting to freak out. "What's going on?"

Max started stirring the milk with a metal straw. "Luther has PTSD, he... he thinks he's back with his abuser. PTSD can be strong enough to cause hallucinations, and some days are just... worse than the others. This is what a bad day looks like."

Luther shushed us. Adam opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. "I can't."

Max walked to him. "That's okay."

He directed his attention to Luther.

"Luther, sit up."

Nothing. "Luther, sit up now."

Nothing. Max looked at Adam, sighed, and looked back at Luther. "Michael, sit up."

Luther pulled himself into a seated position. Adam sighed and smiled a little. "Michael, drink this"

Luther grabbed the warm Milk and drank. He blinked a few times. "Max always makes me warm milk."

"Yes I do, baby, and I'm right here."

"Is Adam here?"

"Look around and see, Luther."

Luther slowly moved his neck and made eye contact with Adam. "She's not coming, is she?"

"No, baby. Marissa's not coming."

"I need to watch TV."

Adam got up and handed the remote to Luther from off of his night stand. Luther started scrolling on Netflix. Max sat down next to me. He didn't look me in the eye. "This is going to happen occasionally. It gets worse in the summer. We don't ask questions, and we listen if he wants to talk about it."

I fidgeted with my hands. "Does the same go for me?"

He pulled me onto his lap. "Of course, princess."