The Edge of Dawn | Ben Drowned x Reader

I.

       (TW: mentions of a death/passing, symptoms of depression, alcohol)

        It's a cold fall day outside. I've been staring at my ceiling; it's dark. Not because it was nighttime, but because I haven't opened my bedroom curtains in over three months. A stack of homework is sloppily piled on my desk, some papers even scattered across the floor; along with clothes that I haven't washed in weeks. 

        The slim streams of sunlight that peaked through from behind the curtains illuminated a picture frame I had set on my nightstand. It was a picture of me and my mom from when I was seven. It had always been one of my favorite pictures of us, and she knew that which is why she got it framed for me. Her smile almost seemed brighter than the beams of light illuminating her face.

        If only I could just see it, one more time.

        There was suddenly a knock at the door. "(Y/N)? Are you awake?" It was my dad.

        I didn't answer. 

        "Um, the school called. They were wondering if you finished any of your late assignments."

        I continued to stay silent.

        There was a long pause before he added, "Listen bud, I know it's been hard. It's-- It's been hard on both of us. But I don't want you to be held back from graduating." I could hear silent sniffles behind the door. "You know she wouldn't-- you know that's not what your mother would want."

        I could hear his heavy footsteps walking away from the door.

        I could feel drops fall onto my pillow. I wiped the tears off my face and turned the other way, lifting my sheets above my head.

°°°

        It was around 4 pm when I heard my phone's notifications start going off. I turned over in bed to grab my phone and I saw that it was my friends.

        Again.

        There was one from my friend Ash. It read, "Hey dude how are you feeling today? We miss you here you know. Text me back when you can."
       Then I saw one from Gloria that said, "We missed you so much at lunch today. Just thought you should know. Also, Mr. Harris was on the phone today in class literally arguing with his ex-wife again. You could hear her screaming through the speakers it was so funny. I wish you were there to see it."
        Lastly, I saw a text from Rey, my friend since 1st grade. The message read, "I miss u so much. I hope ur taking it easy and that ur doing ok. I miss u bitch text me back or call me when ur up to it <3"

        I feel guilty as hell for not answering the dozens of texts they've been sending these past three months... but I just couldn't get myself to do it. Not right now. I've been dying to cry, to scream, to just rant about how I'm feeling right now but I can't do that with another person right now. And when I write in my journal it just feels like I'm talking to a wall. I would talk to my dad but that wouldn't go anywhere either.

        I sigh and get up from bed. My head is pounding and my eyes struggle to stay open when any form of light hits them. Despite that, I groggily walk to my bedroom door and slowly open it. The windows all have their curtains shut. Which isn't a surprise but also a relief. 

        As I reach the kitchen I can see my dad in the living room. He's laying on the couch with the TV on. It looks like he fell asleep. 

        I grab a blue plastic cup from one of the cabinets and fill it up with water. As I take a sip it coats my throat and my organs thank me, being that it was the first sip of water I had the entire day.

        I look back at my dad as he lay there all alone. He probably feels the same as I do; maybe even worse. He and my mom have been together for so long, and they were so good for each other... I miss seeing them cuddled up on the couch.  

        I take a few steps towards the living room to check on my dad. He was watching reruns of old cartoons, something he loved doing with my mom. I smiled, which is something I haven't done in a while, and walked even closer to lean against the couch. That's when I saw the bottles and glasses on the coffee table.

        My smile dropped. 

        He's drinking again.

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Hey guys! So welcome to the new and updated Ben Drowned fanfic! Sorry its short. It's kind of weird for me since I haven't even been in the creepypasta fandom in a super longggg time but I'm also kind of excited because I want to show that I've improved somewhat in my writing skills lol. Also, I just haven't written for myself in a while so it's nice to get back in the habit. 

I will hopefully be posting the second part soon but I do apologize if I take forever to update. I'm a procrastinator. Anyways, I hope everyone who enjoyed my other two Ben Drowned fics or even my Jeff the Killer fic from years ago can enjoy this as well. I can promise it will be less problematic and all over the place. (Hopefully)