𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚊 (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙾 & 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚁)

•𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦•

!!TW FOR VERY MILD VERBAL ABUSE AND ALCOHOL THIS CHAPTER!!

Once you made it back home, you were disappointed to see what you had said to Garcello was correct.  Your father was downing what looked like only his first bottle, and your mother was nowhere to be seen.  Great.  That meant that your father had no one to yell at, so it would be you.

You braced yourself, and went through the front door.  You knew that if you were to sneak in, he and your mother would be upset about it.

Your father still seemed too preoccupied with his drinks, so you tried to sneak your way past him and upstairs to your room. But you weren't quiet enough, clearly, because just as you started ascending the stairs, his bottle slammed onto the table, and he yelled a demanding,  "HEY."

You flinched, and inaudibly sighed, because he would yell at you for "sighing so disrespectfully."

You stood at the base of the stairs and awaited your fate.  What would it be today?  More-than-intrusive thoughts, or bad dreams?  Maybe today would be the day you could be tired enough to simply walk away without fear of your father.

He glared at you menacingly, as if you were the bane of his existence (which, for him, might be true), and lowly spoke,
"Where have you been, and why do you smell like cigarette smoke?  I told you, you aren't allowed to do that in this house."

"Technically, it wasn't in your house—"  his fist slammed the table and he stood up,  you flinched again and backed up.

"Are you talking back to me?  You better not be talking back to me.  For your own good.  Now,  tell me,  where have you been, and what have you been doing?  You're supposed to come right home after work. No exceptions,"  he said,  raising his voice slightly.

"I.."  you started,  thinking of what to say,  "I got caught up at work,  cleaning, and there were a few people smoking behind the store when I took the trash out.  That's probably why I smell like that, um.."  you trailed off, hoping your lie was believable enough for him.  Technically, it wasn't too far from the truth.

He stared you in the eyes, searching for a hint of lies, but he saw nothing, and sat back down.

"You better not be lying to me, kid. For your own sake, and mine." You winced.  Garcello had called you 'kid', too.

"Go to your room.  I don't want to see you until tomorrow,"  he dismissed, and you mentally cursed him, knowing well that if he heard you mumbling, no matter how quiet,  he would lash out, and who knows what he would do.  Maybe he would actually resort to physical aggression. He had never done anything to you in that sort, but you never knew when he would snap and forget laws, and whatnot.

You trudged to up to your room with mixed emotions, like anger, fear, and sadness. You were infuriated but at the same time, you couldn't do anything about it. You felt frustrated, and like throwing something across the room, but you decided, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea.

You flopped down onto your bed and gripped the pillow harshly as if it would help dissipate your anger, but it didn't do much other than hurt your fingers from how tight you were squeezing the sheets.

You sighed, calming yourself down, because you had no other choice, unfortunately. You went ahead and took a small shower, careful not to cross paths with your drunken father, and crept back to your bedroom, wishing you could just dissolve into your mattress and never come back.

You laid back down on your bed and let your head sink into the pillow, eventually flipping it around to you could have the cold side.

It took a while, but you fell asleep, and when you woke, you had no memory of any dream you had, if you had one.

You went through your same routine as always, letting the day pass by until it was finally time for work. Then the day went the same there, and you felt restless, like you couldn't wait for your shift to end.

You were eager when it came time for you to take the trash out. You pulled the bags out and stuffed them in the bin, going to peek around the corner to see if Garcello was really there, and not just someone you had made up in your mind to cope with the your repeating life.

You were relieved to see that you weren't, in fact, insane, and was pleasantly surprised to see Garcello in the same spot, smoking the same cigarettes. You felt a bit of concern, since you knew cigarettes weren't exactly good for him. Or you.

You were smiling as you came around the corner, and saw Garcello smile back to you, his eyes covered by the shadows of his hat like yesterday.

You gave a little wave as you walked towards him, with a more sure air to you, since you had already met him. "Well, nice to see you again," he said, sounding surprised, and you thought that maybe he hadn't expected you to actually return.

"Nice to see you too," you responded, stopping a few feet away from him, leaning against a chain-link fence behind you.

"How have you been?" He asked, trying to start conversation, so you answered.

"Uh, I guess I've been.. decent."

"Why's that?"

You bit your tongue. You didn't really want to pour all your life problems onto Garcello. Plus, you would feel stupid. Your situation wasn't the worst, it was just simply not very pleasant to live in. You didn't want Garcello judging you because you were complaining about something other people had worse.

"You don't have to tell me, but know I'm here to listen," he assured, and you took a small breath.

"It's just.. life doesn't.. feel like living anymore." He looked at you with confusion and intrigue.

"What I mean is," you continued, "everything is so.. predictable nowadays. Everything that happens is just a pattern that replays, and replays, and replays and replays. And I'm tired of it, and I just wish.. somethings would change, y'know?" You realized you had started venting in a way, so you stopped yourself before you started saying too much, and overwhelmed your new friend.

"Hmm.." was the only thing Garcello said. You figured he didn't really understand, and waved it off, changing the subject after a few minutes of silence.

"So, what time did you say the stars come out?" You looked to the fiery-colored sky.

"Late. Really, really late. Later than a time you should be up, so, sorry kid, but maybe another time. I'm afraid I can't keep you here for you to avoid your family for too long."

You frowned, how could he just assume you were spending time here with him just to avoid your family? Maybe he was partially right, but he was also wrong. You genuinely enjoyed talking to this interesting man, even if he was kind of basic.

You looked down and back to him, and saw him smiling sadly at you.

"You should go now. Don't want you to get in trouble, do you?"

You shook your head, and stayed staring at the darkening sky for just a few more seconds, before you turned and made your way back.

You turned and gave Garcello one last glance, who smiled at you and then turned his head back to the sky. He was mysterious, but you found him nice to be around, so you knew you would be coming back often.

You even thought that maybe, just maybe, you could stay and see the stars one day.

Maybe.

-1309 words-

(A/N) i think this has just become me— projecting basically but who knows lol I don't

anyways um, i guess that's all for now

drink water and have a nice day :]]