ʙᴀᴅ ʜᴀʙɪᴛꜱ| ᴍ. ᴘᴇʀᴇᴢ

twelve

Glass scattered the cool kitchen floor, and beside the damage laid Ash. His back leaned against the pale wall, and his head hung low, enough that it made him feel as though his neck was about to rip off. The vodka bottle was now nothing but an empty pile of glass on the floor, drops of alcohol that he hadn't finished off here and there.

Ash didn't know what time it was; how long it had been since he started drinking. All he knew was that the sun was beginning to set, and the day was soon to be over.

A key sound arose from the door, and Ash turned his head to inspect. The door swung open, and a shorter girl walked in, closing the door behind her nonchalantly before she laid eyes on the mess in front her. "Ash?" She stumbled over her words, standing in fear. A simple 'hm' was all he gave in response.

Ana took a step back, fear present in her eyes as she witnessed her older brother in such a vulnerable state. "I'm gonna call mum." She spoke, mainly to her self as an instruction. "No." Ash reached for the phone she pulled from her pocket, attempting to grab it. "We need to call mum." She insisted, unsure of what to do. After all, she was only a middle schooler, what could she do?

"No, don't call her." Ash mumbled, making him extremely difficult to understand. "Have you been drinking?" She ignored him, moving closer to the shattered bottle and picking up a piece, inspecting it closely. "No." He giggled, rubbing his eyes as though sleep was creeping up on him. "I thought you were sober." Disappointment echoed through her voice, as though she was ashamed that her brother had messed up so easily. "Was." He shrugged.

"Why." Ana asked. "Why did you drink?" She sounded as though she were unsure of what she was actually asking, just that she had many questions. "Because I felt like shit." Ana heard her brother's voice crack in sadness although he didn't seem to notice. "What happened?" She pushed him to answer her questions, though he only stared in response.

"Come on." She spoke softly, tugging on her brother's arm; ushering him to stand up. He followed, using the wall as help, and walking to wherever his sister planned on taking him. She dragged him up the stairs, her previously okay mood completely destroyed as she saw the reality of her brother's situation. Despite the bullying, and the hatred she showed towards her brother, he was right. Calling their mother would only result in him getting kicked out or disowned. She'd never say it out loud but deep down she loved her brother, she knew all too well that something as drastic as that would only send him into a larger spiral. Ana dragged her brother to his room, pushing him on his bed and tucking him in with the blanket their babushka had knit him when he was young.

Ash was practically passed out, laying on his stomach; his arm hanging down the side of the bed lazily. There was an unintentional frown upon Ana's face, she knew she shouldn't have to deal with something as bad as this on a day to day basis. She'd seen the effects of alcohol before: her dedushka, her father; now her brother.

The door closed quietly and Ash shuffled in his sleep.

When he woke up it was dark outside. The light from the moon shone in from the window and Ash groaned in pain. His entire body ached despite doing practically nothing all day. He turned on his side as an attempt to get comfortable, but he almost jumped out of his skin at the sight in front of him. There laid Maddy, baby hairs scattered across her face in an effortlessly pretty way, her hand beside her head and her mouth slightly agape as she slept. "Maddy?" Ash whispered to himself and her eyes began to flicker open, quickly finding his. "Mhm." She replied, sitting up on her elbows, and rubbing the tiredness from her eyes. "Sorry." She shook her head. "Your mum let me in." Her eyebrows furrowed softly as her deep brown eyes glared into his blue ones. "That's okay." He spoke quietly, unable to comprehend her presence in his bed.

With a soft smile, Maddy turned on her side, facing Ash as she slowly laid her head against the pillow. Ash mirrored her actions, almost mesmerised by her. The two of them stared at one another admiringly; Ash's hand subconsciously found his way to Maddy's face, dragging away a stray hair and tucking it behind her ear. He watched intently as her face turned into a smile, exposing her dimples. He found himself flicking his attention between her eyes and her full lips, unable to decide which he preferred. All he wanted to do was close the small gap between them.

"Are you gonna kiss me?" Maddy asked softly, and Ash's eyebrow's raised ever so slightly at the question. "Do you want me to?" He responded, his heart beat picking up abnormally fast. "I do." She nodded, her eyes glued to his lips.

He did as she pleased, his hands on either sides of her cheeks as he moved forward ever so slightly, the tips of their noses touching and he could sense Maddy's wide smile. His eyes flickered down at her pretty lips before he connected his.

Maddy kissed back, her hand wrapping around his wrist tightly, telling him to keep going. And so he did.

Ash pulled away for a second, staring at Maddy's tired face and plumped lips. This time, she held his cheek, pulling him closer as her other hand wrapped around the back of his neck. He moved on top of her, one hand beside her hair, the other reaching under her over sized band shirt; slowly moving up until his finger tips could feel the bottom of her bra. Maddy's hand ran through Ash's over grown hair, stroking back and forth until he found himself groaning at the feeling. Ash paused, pulling away from her for a moment and pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it on the floor.

He quickly moved back to Maddy, ready to connect their lips once again. "Wake up." She spoke, her eyes staring directly into his, but now, rather than it being a romantic gesture, he found himself getting creeped out. "What?" He laughed it off.

"Wake up!"

Ash's eyes flickered open, his eyelids weighed down from the lack of sleep. He choked on water; his shirt was soaked. He wasn't in his room, nor was he in bed with Maddy Perez. Instead, he found himself in the shower, fully clothed with his mother and sister in front of him. "He's awake, mum." Ana ushered her mother to stop soaking her son in shower water, but she continued. "Mum, he's awake, stop." Ana repeated again but still, no answer. "Mum!" She shouted, pulling the shower head out of her hands and turning off the water.

Ash looked beside him in the bath, puke sitting beside him and scattered across his shirt. He looked back at his family in understanding, a new sense of hatred developing in his mind.

Linda was crouched beside the bath, sleeves rolled up and in her work clothes. She rested her elbow on the bathtub, her hair in her face.. A loud sniffle came from his mother, snatching his attention. Then, she cried. Loudly. Her body moved up and down as she cried, her children only watching. Ana crouched down beside her, her arms wrapping around her as she pulled her mother in close. Ash didn't dare to question anything, he only stared in silence, ashamed that what he had done had hurt his mother this bad. He wiped the water from his hand on his soaking shirt before he reluctantly held his mother's shoulder. "I'm sorry." He muttered, and she cried even more.

The tears his mother had held in all these years had finally come flooding. She grabbed her son's hand and held it, looking up at him with a tear stained face and a frown. Ash couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows at the sight. "Come on, let's get you changed." She spoke to Ash as though he were a child, it was fitting as in that moment he felt just like a vulnerable kid; like everything he had built for himself all those years had just come crumbling down.