Faith in Us

1.

The first night Robert was back home, he spent the night cleaning his room with the much appreciated help from his mother. Robert avoided his father though, he thought that his dad would have nothing better to say other than 'what are you doing with your life Robert- you're nothing but a drunken loser- blah blah blah'. Robert wasn't particularly interested in that sort of conversation at the moment, and even though Rita knew that Alex cared, Robert still believed that his father hated him.

After they finished cleaning though, Rita made Robert some tea and sent him to bed; telling him to rest for as long as he needed and that she would need to talk to him in the morning. Robert loved his mother dearly, and so he obeyed; he was too tired to do anything else and as Robert slowly sipped the tea in his bed he found himself slowly relaxing.

Robert managed to fall into a very light slumber that night; simply due to how exhausted his body was. It felt wonderful to sleep in his bed once more, where he knew he was safe and that no one could possibly come bother him. Robert was happy to simply exist inside his bed, and with those comforting thoughts filtering around in Robert's brain he was able to get the proper rest he so desperately needed.

In the morning, Rita allowed Robert to sleep in until he naturally woke up- which was about 3 in the afternoon. Robert fell asleep around 4 in the morning, and slept for a good 11 hours. When Robert woke up, he dragged his sore body out of bed and slowly made his way down to the kitchen, looking a little better than he did the night before. Robert still looked worn out, but he had a bit more color to his face since he got a bit of sleep.

"Good morning Robert, here have some coffee," Rita said, approaching Robert with a nice big cup of coffee since she knew how much Robert liked his coffee whenever he woke up. "Did you sleep alright?" Rita asked gently, gazing up at Robert with tender eyes. Robert gazed at Rita, his blue eyes showing a glimmer of appreciation before he took the coffee. "Thank you mum, and i... I slept well, for the first time in months," Robert said with a fleeting smile, shyly sipping his coffee before walking past his mother and sitting down at the table.

Robert took in a deep breath before sighing and drinking his coffee, appreciating the calm of the afternoon. Robert could hear the telly on in the sitting room, where he guessed his father sat watching the sports channel; he even heard Janet upstairs talking on the phone with one of her girl friends. Robert closed his eyes, taking one last sip of his coffee before looking at his mother.

"Are you ready to talk now, or do you still need some time for love?" Rita asked, placing a plate of food down in front of Robert. "You were hysterical last night... I'm just glad to have you home," Rita said, sitting across from Robert. Robert glanced down at the food, feeling a bit intimidated from how much food that was presented in front of him. He had gotten into the habit of eating small amounts of food to sustain his drug addiction.

Robert flashed a weak smile, looking away from the plate and gazing at his mother. "I-i can talk... i'd rather it be in private though" Robert said, briefly glancing over to the entrance of the sitting room; feeling a pang of anxiety rise in his chest.

Rita frowned, following where Robert was looking before feeling her heart ache. She knew how men could be, but for Robert to not open up in his own home? "Robert.." Rita said, gazing back at her son who cast his eyes down in shame. "Are you afraid of that..." Rita started, reaching out to touch Robert's hand; however, Robert was quick to pull away. "I am.'' Robert said, biting his bottom lip.

"Deathly afraid... i don't... want him to know, h-he'll just think i'm a disappointment..'' Robert whispered, gripping his mug tightly. Robert swallowed thickly before looking back to his mother's face, a pleading look resting in his eyes. "Please mum.." Robert asked quietly, hoping that she would understand.