lacuna

Chapter Fifteen

Eli's pov

"Fuck"

Everything hurt. Everywhere ached. I'd downed some aspirin and dragged on a cigarette last night till my father was asleep before heading back inside. But clearly, it hadn't worked.

Are you fucking dumb? You were almost beaten to death and you take aspirin to feel better? Dumb fuck.

I coughed, discomfort searing through my throat as I sat up in my bed, my back shooting pangs of pain throughout my entire body. I checked my phone.

11 missed calls and 54 messages from golden boy.

29 missed calls from papa bear.

And a few other notifications on my battery and storage. I didn't bother opening them as I dragged myself out of bed, my eyes nearing tears as the bruises all over my upper body and the belt marks on my back hurt. I limped over to the mirror, making a mental note to walk around a bit to get used to the pain and avoid looking so fucking weird. The bruises were red and covered my stomach. I bent slightly to wash my face and winced. Fuck, I hate this. I hate him.

It took me longer than usual to find a long-sleeved outfit and seeing the tees in my cupboard reminded me of the tee I gave Fallon. Fallon. Through all the aches and pains and the discomforts, something inside me warmed at the image of her wearing my shirt, it reaching past her hips and elbows, her cheeks flushed pink as those fucking eyes gazed at me.

Stop.

I slipped on an old white shirt I had with a pair of light blue jeans. I looked like I had a hangover and just came to school right away but who fucking cares.

"Eli?" I jumped as my door opened and Dad peeked in. There were bags under his eyes and my heart clenched at the sight of him.

Ihatehimihatehimihatehimihatehimihatehimihatehimihatehimihatehim.

"I...I, um, wanted to give this to you" he stepped inside and slipped out what looked like a small bar of chocolate from his pocket. I stared at it without making a move towards him.

"I'm sorry, Eli. You know me. I get all riled up and all" he sighed, scratching the back of his neck. It ached to see how much he looked like me. His black hair which had started greying, his face shape, now wrinkled and lost its colour. But I had my mum's eyes. The only resemblance I have to her.

I lowered my head and nodded, "Yeah, I know".

"I'm sorry, son" Then two arms wrapped around me as I tried not to flinch away and pulled me into a hug, "You know I love you, right?". I blinked and blinked, trying to stop the tears but they overflowed anyway. Before I could hold myself back, I wrapped myself around him. I nodded into his shoulder, wiping the hot tears away on his shirt which reeked of alcohol.

He loves you.

"I love you too, Dad" my voice cracked.

He broke away and gave my back a hard pat making me cough to cover the wince, "That's my boy". I smiled back as he slipped the chocolate bar into my hand and walked out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I looked at the mirror one last time, my eyes running over my messy hair, wrinkled shirt and weird stance.

See? Nothing happened. Everything's normal.

Fallon's pov

"Who was he?" I turned around, my eyes meeting Eli's.

"Um, who?" I closed the locker, and when I turned back to him, my eyes widened, "Oh". I rummaged through my bag and took out the neatly folded shirt which was washed and dried. I handed it to him, his brows furrowed in confusion before he realized what it was.