Universal Inconstants

Chapter 1

Before I begin, I just want to say thank you to my lovely co-author :D I really appreciate you and you can expose yourself if you'd like but I want you to know I couldn't have finished this without you.

So feel appreciated, bitch >:D

And to everyone reading, enjoy!!

***

Their parents were fighting. Again. They were afraid. 

Things were being thrown carelessly around, and they covered their ears with their hands despite the action not doing much, dull brown hair falling slightly into their freckled face while anxiety and fear settled in. They're used to the feeling; their parents had been doing this since they were little. They fought, and fought, and although they always worked it out in the end, it seemed that they just fought again. It never seemed to stop. 

The conflict never seemed to end, and they were tired of it.

Even when their parents weren't fighting, the anxiety made them pick up every minuscule noise that they heard from the outside. Even the sound of the air conditioner turning on, sometimes, would send them into a panic, thinking that their parents were going at it again. 

They hated coming home most of the time. Family dinners were often standoffish and dead silent, uncomfortable to sit through. Their time was spent alone, in their room, away from the commotion. Their parents often asked them why they never spent time with them, right before they started fighting. 

Then, after thirty minutes of screaming and yelling, they'd come and ask them if they were hungry as if nothing had happened at all.

They hated it. It hurt. They didn't want to be in their own home. Their only relief was when they were away. 

Sure, headphones paired with music or a show were a way to block out the noise, but even then, they could hear the arguing whenever the music quieted down, or whenever the characters in the show went quiet. Still, anything that helped drown out the noise were comforts to them. Shadowhunters, Invader Zim, South Park... Whatever it was, it helped bring them out of the moment.

Sometimes, they wished they could just run away to a universe where the shows were reality. They'd thought about how it would be, suddenly ending up in a universe that was so much different from their own. They wondered, especially in South Park's case, how it would be living in their world. It was one of their favorite shows, and the characters went on so many adventures, yet they were stuck here, alone and anxiously waiting for conflict to end so they could sleep. Any of the characters, despite their misfortunes, seemed to be in higher spirits than they were. 

Even Kenny McCormick seemed to be happier than they felt now.

Their eyes, which they didn't even realize they'd closed, opened quickly as they snapped out of their thoughts. They uncovered their ears, heart pounding in fear. 

The house was dead silent once again, comforting and unnerving at the same time. They sat there, unmoving, for another five minutes. They listened intently, waiting for the fighting to start once again. It didn't. They sighed, one half full of relief and half full of exhaustion, glancing over at their phone to check the time. It was already ten thirty, and they were ready to end the day off.

They didn't bother getting ready for bed. They left their navy hoodie on despite the room being fairly warm, and they flipped off the lights and nestled into bed. They laid awake for an hour, creating different scenarios in their head where they were anywhere but here. 

Immediately, South Park came to mind as they started to get lost in their thoughts again. They played different scenarios involving the events in the show in their head as the weariness grew, until it got harder and harder to keep their eyes open. Eventually, they drifted into darkness.