MENDED

twenty-one

saylor

a few days later, it's alex's birthday. it's about seven in the morning when i wake up. alex's arms were wrapped around my waist as they slept soundly. as i laid there, i couldn't help but stare at their face in thought.

i wonder why they don't celebrate their birthday. they told me last year and this year that they "just don't care to celebrate it," but for some reason, i feel like there's something more to it than that. i mean, seriously, why wouldn't they want to celebrate it or even acknowledge it?

i'm glad that they're at least accepting a birthday cupcake again. i remember last year, being so proud of the fact that they accepted it. they told me that them eating it wasn't them celebrating their birthday, but it definitely is!

eventually, i carefully moved out of alex's arms. i pouted as they gave a sleepy whine and a frown, but they soon after went back to sleeping peacefully, so i walked towards the bathroom to do my morning routine.

after i was done, i walked out of my bedroom. i glanced at the time. knowing alex, they wouldn't be up for another hour and a half or so. while i waited for them to wake up, i played my guitar, though i didn't plug it into my amp, so that i didn't wake alex up. after about an hour or so, i started to bake a batch of cupcakes.

after i had put the cupcakes in the oven, i got a message from my mom, saying that her and my dad wanted to facetime me. i decided to call them from my macbook, so i sat at the kitchen counter and called them. soon enough, both of their faces were on my macbook.

"hi, momma. hi, dad," i greeted softly with a small smile on my face.

"hi, sweetie," my mom smiled, while my dad gave a small "hey, saylor."

as i looked at their faces through the screen, i couldn't help but to think about arlo. it's been two weeks since the night i saw him, and i've yet to tell my parents. it's not that i haven't thought about it or that i am purposefully keeping the fact that i saw him away from them... but i don't know how they would take it.

i don't know how they would react to it. i don't know how they would handle the fact that he's gotten worse and is still clearly on drugs. i don't know how they would handle the fact that he never planned to come home. i don't know how they react to me giving him money, when it was clear that the money would be used to buy more drugs.

it would seriously break them.

but at the same time, he's their son. they have a right to know... don't they?

i just don't know what to do.

i talked to them for a while. i told them about alex. it was nice to be able to talk to someone besides jessie and miguel (and, admittedly, amari a little as well, since i told him that night that i called him) about alex and how great they are. they were really happy for me and supportive as well.

after ten or so minutes, i heard my bedroom door open, so i turned around to see alex walking out of my bedroom. their hair was messy from them sleeping, and they were rubbing at their face as they shuffled out of the room. they were still in just a pair of boxer-briefs.

"good morning, baby," i greeted softly.

"g'morning, darling," they mumbled, obviously still very sleepy. they looked over at me, then my macbook, and their eyes widened. "who are you facetiming?"

"my parents."

immediately, their face paled. "your p-parents?" they stuttered.

my eyes widened as theirs rolled to the back of their head before they fainted and fell to the ground. "shit," i cussed as i quickly stood up. i briefly turned to look at my macbook. "i'll, uh, call you back later."