TITLE
EVERYTHING STAYS
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FANDOM
MCU
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GENRE
FLUFF/ANGST
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WARNINGS
ALCOHOLISM, DEATH MENTION
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RELATIONSHIP
DOLLEY BARNES & ELLA BARNES, ELLA BARNES & ART BARNES
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NOTES
I'm mentally unwell
~⯋~
Dolley and Ella sat in Ron's old car. They were in a strip mall parking lot.
"Okay, Ella Bella, it's nap time," Dolley told her daughter.
Ella whined, moving up to tug on Dolley's dress. "But Mama, I don't wanna go to sleep. My dreams are weird," she said.
"All dreams are weird," Dolley said with a soft smile.
Ella tugged at Dolley's dress harder. "But Mama, my dreams are weird weird!" she complained.
Dolley shook her head and pulled Ella into her lap. "Honey, something weird might just be something familiar viewed from a different angle. And that's not scary, right?" She stroked Ella's hair.
"Let's go in the garden
You'll find something waiting
Right there where you left it
Lying upside down," Dolley sang softly. She booped Ella's nose.
"When you finally find it
You'll see how it's faded
The underside is lighter
When you turn it around."
Ella leaned her head on Dolley's shoulder and joined in.
"Everything stays right where you left it
Everything stays, but it still changes
Ever so slightly, daily and nightly
In little ways, when everything stays."
~⯋~
It had been a week since Ellie died. Dolley...wasn't coping. She was spending all her time drunk. That left Ella to take care of Art and Tilly. Sure, she was pissed about it, but what could she do? She didn't want anything bad to happen to her siblings.
So Ella sat on the couch while the kids slept. She was watching some shitty reality show on TV. Fuck Dolley's "one hour of TV rule". If Dolley couldn't stay sober long enough to take care of her kids, Ella wasn't following her rules.
Art came into the living room quietly. He crawled onto the couch beside Ella. "I had a bad dream," he whispered.
Ella sighed, pulling Art close the same way Dolley did to her all those years ago. "Come here, bud," she said, cradling him against herself. "I'll sing you a lullaby, 'kay?"
"Go down to the ocean
The crystal tide is raising
Waters' gotten higher as the shore washes out
Keep your eyes wide open, even when the sun is blazin'
The moon controls the tide, it could cause you to drown," Ella sang softly, rocking Art in her arms. He joined in for the chorus.
"Everything stays, right where you left it
Everything stays, but it still changes
Ever so slightly, daily and nightly
In little ways
When everything stays."
Ella kissed the top of his head. "Goodnight, bud." She bonked her forehead to his, her favorite way of showing affection.
