𝚂𝚊𝚏𝚎

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １６

Stuart was crying.

His eyes stung.

His head pounded.

It all started when he was sleeping.

Then his dad dragged him out of bed.

He stumbled.

Confused.

But once he got shoved into the car.

With only the clothes on his back.

The cold seat making him shiver.

His eyes started to water.

He wasn't quiet with his sobs.

Maybe his dad would get tired of it and turn around.

But he didn't.

They walked into the same doors.

The same floor.

The same reception desk.

He didn't stop crying.

But he kept his face in his hands.

The voices were muffled.

He felt a hand on his back.

He was being led to his room.

Again.

The cinnamon and bubblegum smell sent chills down his arms.

The door closed behind him.

He fell to the ground.

Choking out his tears.

(-~-)

Murdoc woke up, instinctively checking his phone first.

There were no texts from Stuart.

He furrowed his brows, squinting at his phone to double-check.

The only notifications were from YouTube and the News app.

He hummed, guessing that maybe he hadn't woken up yet.

Even though it was almost noon, there was still a huge possibility.

Murdoc got up, keeping his phone by him just in case.

He didn't necessarily get dressed, he just grabbed some pants and put them on, keeping the shirt on that he slept with.

Hannibal wasn't anywhere around, probably out looking for a job.

Murdoc didn't feel hungry this morning.

He looked at his phone again, still seeing nothing from Stuart.

Even though it had been less than ten minutes, he started to get a little... irked.

He started to think of all of the possibilities.

Trying his best to rule out the worst ones.

Maybe his phone got taken away?

He forgot to charge it?

Maybe he woke up thirty minutes ago and he's still running around in his house trying to find his phone that he clumsily lost.

Murdoc smiled at that thought, trying to stick with that.

He grabbed a toaster waffle from the freezer, popping it into the toaster.

Only one.

Then he grabbed the peanut butter that was on the counter.

He randomly remembered about his gang.