fires and floods. | dominic fike

08

Dominic didn't know why he was so upset, but he was.

He couldn't help but feel small. Like some sort of charity work, his vision began to blur. With his breathing falling short, he couldn't ignore the feeling like his head was going to explode. Dominic couldn't understand why he was reacting so aggressively.

"So Celeste's mom got us the lawyer?" Alex asked, now that it was just the two of them. The younger brothers voice brought the boy back to reality, knocking him out of his angry trance.

"I guess. I don't know. This is the first i'm hearing of this." Dominic sighed, his jaw tensing up. Alex could sense his brothers irritation, understanding right away why he was reacting the way he was. "Don't take it out on her. She's just trying to help, it probably didn't even cost her anything. Think about how much worse this shit could be, Dom." Alex reasoned with his big brother, he didn't want this to cause a drift between Dom and Celeste. In the short amount of time that they have known each other, Alex noticed how much good Celeste had done for Dominic just by being in his life.

"I'll see. I don't know man. You know how it is." It was all Dominic could say with his frustration bubbling in his stomach. Dominic left the center and skated home. He felt conflicted, unsure of his feelings towards the situation.

When he arrived home, he dropped his board off at the front, walking past the crumbled mess of the wooden grandfather clock. Walking into his room, he went straight for his closet to grab the big suitcase he owned.

Dominic spent the next few hours packing up as much shit as he could into the three suitcases his family had. One for Jess, another for Alex, and another for Dom. He figured that since he was bound to get kicked out soon, he would leave to make things easier. He packed the most valuable things, and memorable, as well as a few clothes pieces that he knew were the favorites of his mom and brother.

Hoping he got everything he could possibly fit, Dominic put the cases in the car, giving the house one good final look before pulling out of the driveway with no destination in mind.

He didn't know what to do. Alex would be out tomorrow, and where would they stay? He knew tonight he could stay with his friend Maxwell, but he would have to find someone willing to accommodate for him and Alex. He also had to figure out to keep this under wraps from anyone, and for some reason Celeste stood prominent as the one person who couldn't know his struggles.

Almost as if he spoke her into existence, Dominic's phone went off. A text from Celeste, asking him if he wanted to come over to talk about what happened with Alex's case. He sighed to himself, ultimately not answering at all as he thought of a response.

Dominic parked a few houses down from Maxwell's house, he already got the OK from his parents for the "sleepover." It was a sleepover to everyone else but Dominic, and he could feel his hair turning gray at the fact. He left the suitcases in the car, only bringing a night bag to the house. Dominic said his hellos to Maxwell's mom, which prompted her to ask about his mom and brother. Dominic made up a white lie, chit chatting a bit before heading down to the basement where Maxwells room was.

The basement was a typical teenagers room, a little messy but clean enough. Whenever Dominic would stay the night, he would just sleep on the mattress from Max's older brothers old bed. It was a frequent event to have Dom over, thankfully it wouldn't be questioned by the family.

For tonight, Dominic would not have to worry about where he was going to sleep or how he was going to eat. One night was all he needed to figure out his next crashing spot, just for him to do it again the next night. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Dominic announced to Max who was on his phone, earning a nod from his best friend but his eyes still on his screen.