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

Merry Fucking Christmas

Over the course of a few days, the small sprinkle of snow had turned into a sizable storm. By Friday, two days before Christmas, there were roughly 10 inches of snow on the ground, the first layer simply being a thin sheet of ice. It happened gradually. The first few days the snow had only added up to about 3 inches, but on Thursday, the storm surged and knocked the power out all over the state. There had been road advisories throughout, urging people to leave their homes as little as possible. Of course, seeing as Christmas Eve was just a day away, and people had family coming in from all over the country, no one really took to the rule.

This was how Liam and Isaac had ended up stuck in a weird amount of traffic given the size of Beacon Hills. They assumed some of it had to be from people passing through heading to neighboring towns, or the city. A car had, apparently, hit a patch of ice and skid into the adjacent lane causing a pile up. Isaac's car was trapped between two others waiting in line and there was no other road he could think of that would take them to Scott's house. They knew they were going to be late, that was inevitable.

The house, and the car, had been eerily quiet as they started heading out. It was around 5pm now, and since waking up around 10am neither of them had spoken a word. They'd eaten breakfast in silence. Liam had gone up to his room, Isaac had stayed downstairs. Neither knew what the other was doing, and neither wanted to ask. Around 4, Liam had packed a backpack, silently, prepared to stay the night. Isaac had done the same. After about 45 minutes they silently met by the front door and went outside to the car, Isaac locking it behind them. They got in the car, and still, neither said a word.

It wasn't uncomfortable per say. It wasn't like this hadn't happened before. Generally speaking they could go days not outright having a conversation with the other, just sitting comfortable in silence. They weren't much for small talk, especially when it came to each other. However, today there was a tension in the air. Like a thin piece of string that could snap at any moment. With every minute of silence that continued the string was pulled tighter and tighter between them.

They were both, individually, fairly certain of the cause. It was currently Christmas Eve, the 24th of December. Christmas was tomorrow, and the anniversary of their mothers death was the day after. In all honesty they both just felt lost and uncomfortable. It wasn't like they liked living with their father. They had been dying to get out of there for years. Wishing on every star and tossing a discarded penny into every fountain. Yet, there was still an issue that they both possessed. A crippling fear of change and unfamiliarity.

It's part of why they believed their collective nightmares got so bad after they finally left. For years every single day, birthday, holiday, or snow day played out in a pattern. It had taken a while to get there but eventually most things were to be expected. Every Monday Isaac would get home at the same time, 8:45. So when Liam heard the door open at 8:45 on a Monday, he wasn't scared. And if he wasn't going to be home then, he would text Liam to let him know. Every year on Liam's birthday they would get up early and go for a walk down to the beach. It was expected, and if it was expected then it wasn't something to fear. If it was expected the worst case scenario could be predicted, analyzed, and prepared for.

When it came to their father, everything was unexpected.

His unpredictability made him even more terrifying. He could show up right after work at 5, or be gone for the whole weekend and show up after work on Monday afternoon like everything had been normal. He could show up sober, neatly dressed, an unsettlingly normal smile on his face. Or he could show up drunk. Clothing in disarray. An inanimate object clutched tightly in his hand, one that he would soon turn into a weapon of violence. An eerily stoic expression on his face.

The unpredictable was something to be feared. Something you couldn't plan for. And when they got out of traffic, when they got to Scott's house, they had no idea what to expect.