I Was Hoping For A Quiet Life, But You Gave Me So Much More

New Beginnings

Isaac watched the road carefully. This was finally fucking happening, after so many years. Isaac and Liam couldn't believe it when their father said he was going on a trip for a week. He'd never done it before, at least not since their mom died. They think he knew leaving would make them a flight risk, but both of them noticed a shift over the last few months. He was just slightly less angry than before, still absolutely terrible, but now it felt more like a hint of indifference was cast their way. Especially with Isaac. He turned 18 in 6 months, February 14, Valentines day. The day of his 18th birthday he could easily pick up and leave, but his father also knew he wouldn't do that.

If there was one even marginally good thing that came from all of the shit his father put them through, it was that Liam and him could not have been closer. They spent every possible waking minute together since their mother's passing, and the abuse started. They would celebrate each other's birthdays when their father would inevitably forget or just not care. Obviously they didn't really have money, especially when they were younger, so they would make each other gifts out of random crap they stole from school, or could use around the house without their father noticing. Last year Liam made Isaac his present in shop class after stealing wood scraps no one was using. He carved a little wolf statue out of the wood. It was small, easily fitting in the palm of his hand, or the jacket pocket which it had made a home of, after Isaac refused to leave the house without it. It wasn't perfect, and before Liam had told him it was a wolf he hadn't known specifically what four legged animal it was, but it was from Liam, and that was all that mattered.

Isaac always thought back to when Liam was 11. His father had just locked him in a freezer overnight. When he went up to Isaac the next morning, he'd sobbed and asked what he did to deserve it all. Isaac's heart broke at the insinuation. He grabbed Liam by the shoulders and made him look at him in the eyes. "You did nothing." He insisted, his face serious, "You did absolutely nothing to deserve this, neither of us have. Dad is not a good person, okay? I swear if I could get us out of here I fucking would, but we can't. Not yet. I'm so sorry." Tears streamed down Isaac's face as he pulled Liam close to him. Isaac was 13.

Isaac saw Liam shift out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, you up?"

"Yeah. How far out are we?" Liam rubbed his eyes. They'd already been driving for 4 hours. Most of it was highway. They'd stopped once to get food and use the bathroom, but besides that, it had been four hours since they'd gotten in the car. All their earthly possessions shoved in the back and trunk, which, in the end, didn't amount to a whole lot.

"Half hour, 45 minutes maybe. Do you wanna stop somewhere?"

"No, I'm alright, just curious." They fell into a nervous silence. Liam's leg bouncing while he continuously tried to crack his knuckles. Over the years they'd learned to read each other like books. They knew all of each other's tells. The way Liam's shoulders would stiffen just slightly when he was angry, and how the anger really just meant he was stressed, overwhelmed, or didn't know what he was feeling. Plus his eyes gave away every emotion he was feeling. Isaac was just slightly more subtle. He got quiet, very very quiet. Usually when he was angry or sad, but really anything could set it off. They'd learned to understand each other. They knew when the other needed space, or when they wanted to be held, the latter was rare for both of them.

"Hey, listen, " Isaac said, trying to distract Liam from his thoughts, 'I figured out the school thing, while you were asleep."

"Really? How did you get around the registering thing? Didn't they say our parents would have to sign something in person?"

"Surprisingly I just deepened my voice on the phone and complained about how I worked out of state. They bought that very quickly. The background checks and registering at this school seem to be pretty weak."

"Well that bodes well for their reputation doesn't it," Liam laughed, but Isaac saw the same nervousness in his eyes, even if his leg had stopped bouncing, he saw worry, anxiety.

"Hey," Isaac glanced over at him, "listen I no this is really weird, and it's gonna be really fuckin' difficult, but we can do this, alright? We've been through far worse, a new town, and high school isn't gonna tear us down. Plus we'll be in the same building everyday, we can share class schedules, just in case something happens and we need one another alight? I talked to my boss, he said if an opening came up he'd be happy to hire you, but in the meantime he said he'd help us look. Also said you could chill at work with me if you didn't wanna be home by yourself." Isaac smiled, genuinely, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous too.

Liam smiled, "Yeah, that'll be nice, thanks Issy." He rested his head back against the door and closed his eyes.

New school, new job, new house, new life. It was going to be hard, but they knew they were ready for anything.