Cracks

Leave- Presley's POV

Presley's POV-

Three weeks passed. In those few weeks, I felt like just a spectator in life. I watched and dissected everything I saw around me. I was feeling more and more like an outsider everywhere I went.

I watched my mother get consumed by her relationship. I watched her lose her sense of self and everything else around her. Brad was saying everything that she wanted to hear. He spoke those pretty words so easily and fooled her completely. He was manipulating her so wildly that I hardly even recognized my mother anymore. She was becoming someone else entirely. My mom reinventing herself was nothing new, she constantly did that, but this was something else entirely. He was trying to rule her, and she was letting him. He was getting every last thing that he wanted out of her, and my life felt like it was crumbling to pieces.

Dylan was slowly reverting back to his previous self. I felt helpless as it was happening right before my eyes. It started with him spending more and more time with Lindsay. Then, much to everyone's surprise, his awful dad started visiting the house once again. In turn, that made his mom come out of hiding. It seemed like his parents' relationship was on the mend, so that meant that the Dylan that I liked was slowly being buried by their fake happy family and too high expectations.

To say that his parents did not like me was a vast understatement. His mother was a total bitch to me, and his dad wouldn't even acknowledge me. It was a bit annoying to be around them, but it was still better than being at my house.

I was worried about Dylan. With each passing day, I could see him losing the grips on who he truly was. He was letting them all tell him what to do and who he was once again. I felt like I was watching him disappear as I watched them bury him in harsh expectations and cruel words.

"Hey Pres," Dylan said tiredly as I got into his car. "You can sit up here if you want..."

"No Leslie?" I asked skeptically.

He laughed sarcastically and shook his head no. "No, she's mad at me," he sighed. "What's new?" He muttered bitterly.

"But she was doing so good! She made it almost a whole ass month," I said sarcastically. "What are you two fighting about?"

He scoffed in an annoyed tone. "There was a lot of shit going on last night..." he sighed tiredly as he got into the pickup line at Scotty's school.

"Shit?" I asked softly.

"My parents..." he answered. "They had an awful fight. It was actually worse than the one they had when he first left. I don't know if they'll come back from this..." he told me quietly.

"Oh Dyl..." I sighed quietly. There was a pause. "But what does this have to do with her?"

He scoffed again, "I was trying to keep Scotty calm last night throughout everything... I was busy with that, so I missed her nightly phone call."

My eyebrows shot up at his words. "Are you serious?!" I scoffed.

"Yup," he deadpanned.

"What a bitch!" I exclaimed. "You should be mad at her for being mad at you. Don't let her make you feel bad for taking care of your little brother Dyl," I told him firmly. "Don't let these people continue to walk all over you like they have been. I understand that you don't want to let anyone down... but they're killing you with all of their expectations."

"You're right, and I know that you're right," he breathed out.

"But..."

"But it's easier said than done, I guess. I've been taught one way to be for my whole life... it's hard to just break that," he finally said.