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

This is Going to be Good

The sign came up around the corner, small and seemingly insignificant.

Now Entering Beacon Hills

"Hey Li." Isaac pushed Liam's sleeping shoulder lightly. He shot up quickly.

"Woah, hey, yeah, what, is something wrong, everything okay?" He was frantic, seemingly forgetting where they were.

"Hey relax, Li were good, we just passed the town sign. The GPS says we'll be at the house in 10 minutes. How you feelin', I didn't mean to freak you out, sorry."

Liam visibly relaxed, leaning back against the seat, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, don't worry about it. And don't worry, I know saying 'Don't worry' doesn't make you worry any less. But really I'm fine, it was just a dream. But it ended before the worst part." Liam said the last part in a whisper.

"Same one as usual I'm guessing?" Liam nodded.

Since the first time it happened, Liam had been getting nightmares. A recurring dream where their dad would lock him in the freezer overnight, except he wouldn't let him out, instead something else would happen. Once when Liam was 13, the freezer had filled with water and he drowned. 14, he scratched the sides so hard, his fingernails ripped off and he bled to death. 15, the house burned down around him. He survived that time, but he saw Isaac's dead body in the aftermath. That one kept him up for 3 days straight. Never wanting to leave Isaac's side, and trying even harder than usual to make sure he didn't piss off his father.

Not that it would matter. He would beat the shit out of them if they so much as breathed too load. Neither of them ever wanted to find out what would happen if they actually did something wrong. Sadly the day Liam accidentally broke the front window with a baseball, they found out. The thought of it still made Isaac want to cry. It was the cause of the majority of Liam's panic attacks. Thankfully it had been a while since either of them had had one. Isaac didn't want to jinx it by bringing it up.

"Your destination is on your right." the GPS rang over the speakers.

Isaac looked over to his right pulling into the driveway, number 23, he saw, written next to the door. He glanced over the house, taking in as much as he could. A sense of relief passed over him in a wave he wasn't expecting. Up until now this had all been hypothetical, more or less. For all they knew their dad wasn't really leaving, and they were going to wake up this morning and find him back in the living room, sipping a bear. But now they are here. Packed in the driveway of their new home, in their new neighborhood, in a new town, in a new state, almost 5 hours from their previous home. If you could even call it that.

"Wow," Liam's jaw was just slightly slack, "It's a lot nicer than I thought it would be."

The house wasn't big by any means, simple, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a living room, but it was two stories, which neither of them were expecting. It was a little run down, the fence in the back falling heavily on one side, moss growing on the roof, and vines covering one side. The paint was chipped in some places, but they didn't care.

When Isaac had called the landlord about renting the place last week, he was incredibly grateful that he allowed him to pay him in cash every month, and it was surprisingly cheap. After setting aside money for food and basic necessities, like the beds they'll eventually have to buy, Isaac and Liam would be able to pay up front for at least till Christmas. Plus, once Isaac starts work, and Liam finds a job, they'll be able to carry that over until, hopefully, at least the end of the school year.

Isaac and Liam made their way out of the car, Isaac heading around the side to where an empty plant pot rested against the side of the shingles. The landlord had called earlier telling them he would be late picking up the money, but that he left the key under the pot. Sure enough when Isaac lifted it, the key was resting in the dirt.