a couple weeks flew by in the blink of an eye. since that morning at the coffee shop, things have continued to grow between the two, blossoming into an unbreakable friendship. every since the first night adam showed up at lawrence's bedroom, they had grown accustomed to sleeping in the same bed. it meant better sleep for them both without the nightmares stalking their peaceful dreams. neither of them found anything wrong with two friends sharing a single bed.
most days, however, by the time adam wakes up lawrence has already left for work. sure it was disappointing to find him gone in the mornings, but sometimes, when lawrence had the day off he would lay in bed watching tv till adam eventually awoke. and though he didn't quite know why he enjoyed waking up next to lawrence, it just made him happy.
so, when he awoke on a sunday morning he was a bit disappointed not to hear the television's usual chatter. he then rolled over, hoping to be greeted by a sleeping doctor who just overslept, but atlas he wasn't there. "lawrence?" the tired boy grumbled. he blinked a couple times checking the alarm clock to make sure it was still morning. he rubbed his weary eyes as he lazily stumbled out from beneath the covers.
he made his way down the hallway calling out for his roommate when he entered the living room. to his surprise, the wide eyes staring back at him were not the surgeons.
on their sofa was a young girl no more the eight years old, she wore a pastel yellow school bag strapped to her back. she stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, her wondrous eyes refusing to leave him. "uh hello there." adam said, his words strung with confusion.
the girl then held onto her backpack as she hurried down the hall past adam. making a b-line to the room across from his own. now that he thought about it, he'd never seen what was in that room. still thinking that he was experiencing some sort of weird hallucination, he approached the door the girl had run through and pushed in lightly. he was met with a colorful bedroom set up with toys and other things pushed around the floor. it was too early for this.
adam then heard the familiar sound of the front door opening. he went to check it out and saw lawrence taking off his shoes. "oh hey you're up." he said casually. they've lived together for weeks and he never thought to mention that he was a father.
"what the hell man, you never told me you had a daughter." adam asked in a harsh whisper. the energetic girl ran down the hallway and into her father's arms. "daddy!" the girl giggled, clinging to her dad's shirt. "diana, this is adam." lawrence explained.
the young girl looked at him with her wondrous doe eyes. she then turned her attention towards the strange man in their living room. "he has a funny name." she whispered not so quietly. adam went to continue on his morning routine as normal. he found having a cigarette before everything else was enough to calm his nerves. he grabbed a pack before making his way to the door.
"adam, do you mind watching her for a few hours while i'm at work?" lawrence asked as he sat diana on the bouncy couch cushions. not ready to take on the responsibility of caring for a child, adam tried to find a way out. "oh gee i would love to i really would, but i got this thing later.." he lied through his teeth, but it was clear he had been caught. there was this look lawrence would give when he knew adam wasn't being truthful.
"fine." he gave in. "it's too early for this." he mumbled as the door slammed shut behind him. after a moment of adam struggling to light his cigarette with his depleted lighter, he heard the front door creak open. "you could've given me a heads up y'know." adam mutters, finally able to spark a fire with his flimsy lighter. he blew a cloud of smoke from his lips, letting it go with a sigh of relief. if he'd known ahead of time he would've found a better and more promising excuse.
"sorry, but this will only take a few hours, i'll be getting off early today so it won't be long." lawrence says, hoping that his words would somehow convince adam to take on the responsibilities of babysitting while he was away. the younger boy glanced up at him with a soft sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this.
lawrence smiled, "i promise." adam exhaled another cloud of smoke from his lips, letting the idea of caring for a child float around in his mind. if the doctor hadn't already noticed, he wasn't exactly 'child-caring material.'
but then again, lawrence did provide him with a roof over his head and food for his stomach, and he was generous enough to take him in, what harm could come from watching a kid for a couple hours? "fine, i'll do it." he answered, taking another puff of his cigarette before sticking it in the ashtray. "i knew i could count on you."
the doctor's words made his cheeks feel flushed, though adam just brushed it off as the chilly weather. the two stood by the door and wished lawrence a farewell before turning back inside, so as not to let all the heated air escape.
***
a couple hours later lawrence returned from his short visit to the hospital. by this time, the evening rays have already projected their blinding colors on the nighttime skies. lawrence walked through the door, and seeing that everything was way too quiet, he grew concerned. upon further inspection he noticed the television was on in the living room, he called out and received no response.
he hobbled over expecting the worst, when he noticed two sleeping bodies curled up on separate ends of the couch. a popular children's show barred on the tv which caused the doctor to crack a smile.
without waking his daughter, he scooped her motionless body in his arms and carried her back to her rightful bed. he noticed all the scattered pencils and papers on the messy dining room table as he passed. they had drawn together.
adam's drawings weren't much better than diana's, but the drawings could be made out. one in particular caught the doctor's eye. the picture displayed his daughter's usual stick figures of her and her father with an added guest. telling from the grey shirt and messy brunette hair it was obvious the third man was the boy fast asleep on his couch.
in the self-portrait, they were all locking arms with smiles depicted on their faces in the middle of a grassy field. once he laid diana down to sleep, lawrence returned to the creative table to doodles and the occasional scrapped papers.
he held up the paper to inspect it before making his way over to the fridge. the doctor hung the beautifully made family portrait with a magnet to make sure he would never forget it.
YOU ARE READING
𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔, chainshipping
Fanfiction𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇, lawrence is being haunted by his past mistakes. even in his dreams, he cannot escape the endless torment of his mind. will he be able to escape the pain and move on?
