TIFFIN

77

Hey everyone. I thought this song was perfect for the chapter. Hope you're all having a wonderful day. (: remember to stay safe
_________________________________________

I couldn't believe what I'd just seen. As their contact continued on for the next few minutes, it was disturbing, to say the least. Deidre held Hero's gaze like she was speaking to him mentally.
Almost like he'd been trained to act meek. I had never seen him this way. 

I now saw the small brown-haired boy, who suffered such a terrible fate. 

Maybe I was overthinking this. His grandmother had to be at least eighty. This woman looked much younger. Maybe they weren't related. Perhaps she had been adopted into the family. She had seemed harmless only ten minutes ago.

Then again, I didn't think Hero would lie about this. 

As Deidre and Hero took their seats next to each other, she didn't refrain from wrapping an arm around his neck. The effort of her brushing his hair out of his face should have been a normal exchange between a grandchild, but it made me uneasy.

Knowing what I did, I wanted to tell her to get the fuck off of him. I wanted to protect him from any pain that she could inflict on him. 

But what could I do?

"Mom," 

I turned to see Dorinda eyeing her mother with disdain. She was resting her elbows on the table, gripping the cloth with both of her fists. I could tell she was a bit put off and it was obvious. 

Deidre, however, ignored her plea. She went on tending to Hero.

"What has my grandson been up to lately?" She asked strictly.

I caught Hero attempting to shove her hand away slightly, though this had no effect. "I don't want to talk about it."

What was going on here? Where was the boy that wasn't afraid to tell the wrong person to fuck off? I knew him well enough to know that by now, he'd be pushing her away from him entirely. 

"Come on, mom," Dorinda continued begging, "Can you please just leave it be?"

"I think," Diedre went on with a hard edge to her voice, "I'd like to get to know my grandson for more than a minute."

As she continued berating Hero with her meaningless questions, I could see the worry in Dorinda's eyes. She wanted to say something, but she became tight-lipped, sitting back in her chair. It was like her mother had just whipped her into submission. 

Hero went on, sitting idly by as he put up with what his grandmother was forcing upon him. I eyed Niall's parents across the way hoping for them to send a silent signal about the situation, but they didn't. They seemed oblivious to the inappropriate display, poking at their food. 

"Hero, sweety?" Dorinda interrupted, making me do a double-take. "I have an empty chair next to me you can sit in."

I saw Diedre send her daggers, keeping a more firm grip on Hero's shoulder. 

Hero shook his head. "No, I'm f-fine." His voice shook. 

Deidre grinned in satisfaction. "You heard the boy."

"Come on," Dorinda tried again, "I just want to talk about something-"

"I SAID NO!" Hero screamed, jumping to his feet. "Why can't you just stay the fuck out of my life?"

Without another word, he ran across the ballroom, with many pairs of eyes on his back. Seeing him disappear through the set of doors, I felt eyes running dry. God, I had to pull myself together.