I'll Love You For A Lifetime [Heartstopper, Tara x Darcy]

Year 9: Family

Tara's pov

I looked at my dad's tired face. He was sitting in the living room with a photo of my mum in his hands, unaware of me standing by the doorway. He sniffed and a tear fell from his eye, but he quickly wiped it away with his calloused hand. He tried to be strong, but he felt as hurt and alone as I did, maybe even more so. We were not in touch with the rest of our extended family, so the lonliness felt even worse on days like this; it was my mom's birthday today.

I backed away from the door, took a deep breath and walked in with a smile plastered on my face, "Hey dad. Time for dinner."

"Yes, love. Coming," he said, smiling back at me. How much pain can a man hide behind that cursed smile?

Maybe...maybe that was one of the many reasons to not tell him about Darcy. I did not want to disappoint him. I was his only family- the only person he could call his own- and he was mine. Losing him over such a petty issue did not feel very feasible to my logical mind.

Also I did not want to become a burden to him...a reason he was always troubled in the back of his mind. He had enough things to worry about anyway.

I never considered the fact that he might accept me. From as long as I had known him..it didn't feel like something he would do.

Darcy's pov

I looked at the book open in front of me. I was utterly bored and fed up of trying to learn the various years in which all the stupid wars had happened. And what do you do when you are bored? You go to pester your siblings obviously.

I went into Vicky's room first and found her huddled in her blanket, trying to watch a web series I suppose. I tried to peek at the screen but she shooed me away. I huffed and went to my other sister Georgina. I have a feeling she likes being pestered because her face always lights up when I walk into the room.

"Hey Georgie," I said cheerfully and suddenly a dark cloud settled on her face. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Hey," I said sitting down on the bed, "what's up?"

"Good."

"You don't look so good."

"Why don't you just call me G instead of Georgie? How hard is that?" she spat out bitterly.

I frowned at her, "I thought you knew I just mess around with you."

"I know but..." I stared at her as a tear flowed down her eyes, "it just gets so hard sometimes..."

"What gets hard?" I said, so confused, I did not even remember I was supposed to stop her from crying.

"I don't- I just..." and then she spoke. It seemed as if a dam had broken free. She spoke for so long about how she felt. As she kept on talking, realisation struck me like a rusty key turning in its lock. It felt like I was looking at her for the first time...I noted her clothes, her hair, her face. And I felt my heart twist as I realised I had been giving her so much pain for so long without ever realising it.

I had been giving him so much pain. Without ever realising it.