Espresso Cookie/Espresseleine Oneshots

Oneshot 11 || Angst

E + L's age: 25(ish)

It had been a week since his father's funeral, and Espresso and Latte were now sorting through his belongings to see what they were going to keep.

The funeral was really awkward for Espresso. Latte had been sobbing, while Espresso barely even felt sad. Of course, he knew it was depressing. His father was now dead. He was sure he had a lot of friends who would miss him, but Espresso just wasn't that sad.

It wasn't until he walked up to the casket and stared down at his cold, dead body when he finally burst into tears. Like an idiot. He felt pathetic for crying at his abusive father's death, but it hurt to know he was fatherless.

He hadn't seen Father since he moved out and went to college. Shortly after graduating, he married Madeleine.

And now his father was dead. Espresso cried until he forced himself away from the casket, ashamed of crying. He kept his head down so nobody saw his stupid tears.

Father had gotten in a car wreck—a bad one. He was driving while drunk and crashed into another family's car, killing the mother and two children in the car too, as well as injuring the people in the cars around them. Espresso felt a looming guilt when he found out his father's carelessness had murdered another innocent family. He felt like he could have stopped it somehow.

After his sudden emotional outburst at the casket, Espresso hadn't cried since. He almost felt... Happy. He knew it was wrong, but after his father's death, he felt security like he had never felt before. He felt like he was finally safe, and like nothing could harm him anymore.

Espresso sat on the living room floor next to Latte, rummaging through a box of Father's stuff. There was nothing too special or important; just some photos of relatives he had never met and random trinkets. "Well?" Espresso asked, breaking into the unusual silence. It felt so strange to be back again in his childhood home, especially since it was so quiet. Back when he was a child and a teenager, his house was never quiet. It was always filled with TVs blaring or drunk parents shouting. Now, it was completely silent. "Is there anything you'd like to keep?"

Latte sniffled, fighting back some tears. "Yeah." She gestured towards a small box of their father's old stuff. "What about you?"

Espresso shook his head.

Latte nodded in understanding. "I get it," She whispered. After a moment of silence, she looked back up at him. "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"I'm sorry I didn't do anything to help," She responded, tears finally forcing their way out of her eyes. "When we were kids. He... He hurt you really badly, and I didn't do anything to stop it."

"It's alright." He tried to smile. "I'm okay."

She shook her head, frowning. "But you're not okay. You're really traumatized, and if I had done something, maybe it would have been better for you. But I didn't. I didn't because I was afraid Father and Mother would hate me for sticking up for you." Latte choked back sobs. "I realize now it was stupid. I was stupid, and I'm sorry."

Espresso reached over and held her hand. "It's alright. I forgive you. I'm fine now."

"You shouldn't forgive me," She sobbed. "I could have saved you from all those beatings you had to go through, all those times they would yell at you, all the trauma... But I didn't."

Espresso stayed silent.

"And I know you're getting better, but I could have done something. I was a terrible sister and I should have stuck up for you more." She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You keep saying it's okay and that you forgive me, but you shouldn't have to forgive me. I-I could have helped you..." Her voice trailed off as she burst into tears again, wrapping her arms around Espresso.