𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆|𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐀

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

Four year old Montana Miller used to think that the world was perfect. Problems? Those didn't exist in Monty's eyes. For him, all that he ever learned to care about was sloppily coloring in a book that was slowly running out of pages and being in his mothers arms, where warmth and love were the only emotions he was capable of feeling. It was no secret that Georgia Miller sugarcoated the world to her two beautiful twins. Monty didn't know that at the time however. And when he did figure it out, well, shock wasn't even the words to describe how both his body and mind felt at the moment.

It was a Saturday. Georgia was working, Ginny was taking a nap. That only left Monty who sat at the dining table, trying but failing miserably to put legos together. They were a gift from Gil (Georgias new boyfriend, Monty still didn't really know how he felt about him yet). New toys and having three meals a day did seem like a pretty good plus though, so Monty couldn't really see himself complaining as much. Anyway, the sun was shining brightly outside, the bills had just been paid, practically everything was going well in Monty's opinion.

Until Gil arrived. As soon as the apartment door which was already on the verge of falling apart opened, the stench of rather expensive alcohol hit Monty's nostrils, forcing him to scrunch up his nose and try to shake down the nausea he felt at the moment. No child should ever be able to recognize the smell of alcohol or any other abusive substance at such a young age, but for Monty, that was the only way he could keep both himself and his family safe. He clutched his legos tighter in his hands, attempting to drown out the sound of Gil mumbling pure and utter nonsense as he paced through the living room. When it came to men like Gil, the only reasonable option was to just ignore their presence completely until they eventually backed off and left you the hell alone.

Gil's eyes landed on Monty, and for some reason the sight of him not even bothering to make eye contact with him brought him an indescribable amount of rage. Monty didn't even have a moment to process what was going on until his arm was grabbed, his small body being thrown to the ground seconds later. The wood chips dug into his skin, creating small scars that had no business making an appearance. Monty parted his lips to speak, questioning why Gil would do such a thing when he had done absolutely nothing wrong.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gil seethed, his apparent rage making Monty feel sick to his stomach at the moment. "Making noises with those legos, knowing that I'm not in the mood!"

"Gil, I—" Monty didn't know what he could say that could possibly save him from this situation. He was only four, what was he supposed to do? It wasn't like he could comprehend anything Gil was saying anything. If anything, that just made the entire situation so much worse. Monty whimpered as his arm was squeezed to the point where it was on the verge of leaving a large bruise. Gil on the other hand didn't seem to care about the toddlers pain. For some reason, it filled with him a euphoric joy that couldn't even be put into words.

"You look so much like your mother," Gil stated, Monty now beginning to cry at the pain. "And that makes me so mad. That bitch!"

Monty shot upright from the position in his bed, breathing heavily as his eyes rapidly flickered around his room, trying to find any source of comfort. When his eyes landed on Abby who slowly opened her eyes and came in tune with reality once more, a wave of guilt overwhelmed him. Of course he had to wake up his girlfriend with yet another one of his nightmares. However this one seemed so different, like an event that happened in the past. Monty couldn't understand, and he really didn't want to explore further into the problem. All he wanted was to feel Abby's warm hands wrap around his torso, letting him know that it was all going to be alright.

The universe must've heard Monty's pleads, for moments later Abby cradled Monty's trembling body as she pressed a kiss to his forehead in an attempt to calm him down. Monty hadn't even realized that he was crying until the warm tears fell from his eyes, staining Abby's shirt.