Affinity (RDJ)

Chapter 30 - Flying the Nest

A/N - Hey, guys! As I'm writing this, Affinity just hit 300 reads! I can't believe it - thank you all so much for loving this story as much as I'm loving writing it - lots of exciting things coming up that I can't wait for you to read!

————————————————————————

You lie awake that night, your emotions a matted blur. You're happy, sad, angry, relieved, terrified and a hundred other things all at the same time.

You'd stayed at the beach until you couldn't bear the cold any more, just sitting on the sand looking out at the waves. The L word still lingered in the air, but you couldn't quite feel content; not with the knowledge of what is to come. Jen is going to fight, and as the saying goes: if you can't beat 'em...

You must fall asleep because the next thing you know, your alarm is beeping and it's time to get up for school. You roll over and notice that your phone is lit up with a text from Robert. 'Caffeine at the bus stop, 7.45?' it reads. A grin spreads across your face as you reply with a simple, 'Sounds perfect' and you start to dress yourself for the day.

You're ready by 7 and time is passing slowly so you decide to make breakfast for everyone. You settle on jam toast (your mom's way) and it sits bubbling in the grill as your dad emerges from his room, wheeling your mom out with him. 'Morning, dad. Mom,' you say as he enters the kitchen. He smiles at you. Your mom doesn't react. Figures.

'Morning, sweetie. What's all this?' he asks, gesturing to the stove.

'Oh I thought I'd make you guys some jam toast. The good old way,' you say, attempting a smile.

You wish you didn't care. You really do. But a small piece of you just wants your mom to notice you. To thank you. Hell, just to look at you. But she doesn't. She stares through you as if you're invisible. It hurts, but you push through. You have to be strong.

'Oh, thank you Rem. Isn't that nice, honey? Remy has made us jam toast, Laura style,' he grins, budging her playfully but to no avail. You scoop the toast onto two plates and set them in front of your parents at the dinner table as your dad wheels your mom's chair into position 'Smells good, honey. Thanks for breakfast,' he smiles. You give a quick nod and take your seat as he takes his first bite. You both sit eating but your mom doesn't touch her plate. Instead, she just stares at it as it goes cold in front of her.

After a couple of minutes, your dad speaks. 'Do you need me to cut it up for you, Laura? I can-'

'No,' she cuts him off. 'I won't be having any, thank you,' she snaps. You feel the anger rising and grasp your knife and fork tightly in your fists.

'Okay...' your dad mumbles, clearly feeling the tension between the two of you.

Just then, Rex emerges from his room. 'Mmm, smells good in here. What's for breakfast?' he smiles, rubbing his hands together as he swaggers over to the table. 'Oh, jam toast! Did you make this mom?' he asks enthusiastically.

'No,' she says coldly. 'She did.' You watch as your brother's face falls and his eyes flicker across to look at you.

She.

She can't even use your name. You feel the fury bubbling away and you know you need to get out of there before you boil over. 'Just eat mom's, Rex. It's not like she gives a shit,' you spit as you clatter your cutlery onto your plate of half eaten toast and stand up from the table. 'I'm going to school. See you later,' you say sharply, grabbing your bag and walking out.

Nobody says anything. You're not sure how long you can go on living like this.

Storming across the street, you look for Robert's car but don't see it anywhere so you wait in the bus stop, taking deep breaths to calm yourself down. Robert is the priority right now. You can deal with your shit later.