I Hate Apples

279 10 6
                                    

TW: Blood, Needles, Abuse

Barnaby POV:

We've been locked out of Home for 10 minutes, and they won't respond to us.

"Home open the door!" Leslie says again, as if she were going to cry.

No answer.

"Home we need to go in there!" Frank says, his usually angry eyebrow now an upside arrow.

No answer.

"Home we're worried about Wally." I say, knowing I might not get a response.

I suddenly feel one of his tiles push me forward, having me stumbling into the house, and slamming the door behind me. On the couch I see a drowsy Wally, as though he's asleep. I was happy at first when it hit me.

 Wally doesn't sleep.

Wally POV:

I [wake up?] to some sort of bright light, squinting more than I already was. I adjust to the light, only to see Home's lights at full brightness. I want to tell him to turn it off, but my voice doesn't seem to be working right now. I feel as though my insides are knotting. I slowly get up, feeling soft bedding under me, and make my way downstairs. I see Ms. Beagle sitting in the kitchen, Barnaby making oat cereal while their chatting.

"Oh my, Wally!" Ms. Beagle said. "We were so worried!"

Why would she be worried?

Barnaby seemed to answer my thoughts "You, um, fell asleep. I think."

Fell asleep?

Ms. Beagle starts talking after a moment of silence. "Here honey, take some cereal. Food can relieve anything that might be wrong."

I try to decline, but the words get stuck in my throat. What was I expecting?

"Take the cereal or I know somethin'!"

I quickly take the cereal from her claw, and scarf it. My insides still feel terrible. I won't be able to hold this down.

There is suddenly more silence as I finish the cereal. Instead of Ms. Beagle speaking up, Barnaby takes the stand.

"Do you need anything?" he asks, handing me a paper and pencil.

The glass moves when I go to grab the pencil. It's probably infected and bleeding. again.

I rush through writing, well, assuming one who would be writing the word 'light' would want it to be legible. When I hand it to him, he seems a little embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry Wally, guess I should've remembered about your sensory problem, huh." It sounded more like a statement than a question. "You should sit down, okay? I'll get the lights."

Barnaby continues to ramble while I take a seat on my couch. "I'm also sorry for letting my mom in, I just wanted to make her breakfast, and check up on you, so I did combined it and did both." I decide to simply reply with a nod. He takes a seat next to me, slightly lifting my side of the cushion with his weight. His face becomes that of a serious one.

"They aren't mad at you. At least, not anymore." I knew who he was talking about, but with their messed up point of view, why wouldn't they be mad?

Barnaby seemed to catch onto my facial expression, because he continued. "I told them the truth about what happened."

Don't get me wrong I was relieved, but he didn't even know what happened. Did he?

It was getting really quiet, as though he was expecting an answer, and I would respond, if only I could.

"Leslie stayed up all night looking for you."

If sentences could hit, that sentence would have sucker-punched my already throbbing stomach. She shouldn't have to worry about me. It should be me protecting her. I don't even need protecting. I don't even- (you see where I'm going with this right?)

I was so lost in thought, I almost couldn't feel Barnaby' soft fur on my skin as he pulls me in for a side hug. "And do you know why?" he said almost smugly.

"it's because we care about you."

They care about me. They care about me. Those words made me feel the absolute most I've felt in what feels like forever. Not as good as before, now a bittersweet memory, but not bad either.

It's still hard to express how you feel after a sentence such as, but I was feeling well enough to make noise.

"mhmm" I vocalize, no part of me wanting to have a conversation except for the deepest part of my subconscious.

It wants to laugh again. desperately.

Barnaby's smile seemed to widen.

"I need to use the bathroom" I say, seeing as our conversation was over.

He waves me goodbye, as I head toward the bedroom instead. I search through my drawers, finding a needle and thread. I slowly unwrap the bandages, thank rainbows it's not infected, it is bleeding again however. I take a trip to the bathroom. I almost forgot it was destroyed. I search through the rubble, finding the tweezers. I leave after making sure there's no blood on the floor, like it matters anyway. The tweezers still seem to have a bit of dust on it.

"Shoot" I mumble, realizing I would need to rinse it in the kitchen sink, you know because the bathroom sink might be (definitely is) out of order.

I sneak past Barnaby into the kitchen, which was easier than expected. When I get there, i take a sigh of relief, and hear a gasp.

"Honey what the cluck happened to your hand!" Ms. Beagle said. I am just so glad she didn't say it loudly.

She runs up to me, taking my hand into her wing. "There is glass all over your wrist hon, I got it for you, com'ere. She drags me over to the sink, placing my hand over the cold water.

"Can we, um, keep this a secret?" I asked, as she lets go of my arm and starts rinsing off the tweezers.

"Well of course hon. It's not my job to run ya' business."

I was relieved of course, Barnaby always said that she'd keep to her word. She continued, now taking the glass out of my arm, sewing it, and rinsing when needed."Now what happened for the glass to get stuck in your arm?"

This is the question I was worried about. I didn't have enough time to think up a lie, so I sat quietly.

"*sigh* you don't need to tell me, but I hope you're alright. If you need help, we're not gonna abandon you m'kay?" she said, holding up her wings right after."Do you want a hug?"

I slowly scoot forward, letting myself into her feathered embrace. Her hug didn't last long,and when it finished, she wrapped up my hand in new bandages, humming the same song Barnaby taught me.

When she finishes, Barnaby conveniently comes into my kitchen. Hey mom- oh Wally! How did you get here?"

"I kinda just walked in here." I said. It was a complete lie, but believable nonetheless. "I thought you would have seen me."

Barnaby seemed a little embarrassed. "Oh, sorry I didn't see you, but this is good!" I was very confused, but tried not to let it be seen as he spoke. "We were wondering if you wanted to head to Poppy's barn. I need to pick up an apple pie." 

"I'm not completely sure Barnaby- HEY" I said, being cut off by home almost flinging me out the kitchen.

Clearly Home wants me out. "Alright. I'll go." I say, defeated.

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I am SO SORRY for the long wait everyone, the wifi went out, then responsibilities and such. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I tried to make it a bit longer, but had to split it between two chapters. Have an amazing day or night.

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