In Our Heads

Chapter 27

*****

Theodore let out a sigh, pushing himself off his back so he was sitting on the bed, his eyes still shut as he listened to the increasingly loud yelling that had jerked him out of his sleep.

He hunched his back slightly as he rubbed his tired eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers in exhausted frustration, trying to calm his head of the pounding that had ensued in his sudden awakening. His hands dropped as a smash sounded through the house.

They were getting louder with each passing second, and breaking things was always a horrible idea considering that there was not much to break. He figured he should probably get out of bed and stop their fight before the neighbours did something about it. After getting out of bed, he threw on a shirt before heading over to unlock the door but stopped as he heard a tired mumble.

"Theo?"

Looking over his shoulder, he smiled at Zion who had also sat up and was staring toward the door through barely opened eyes.

"It's okay, I'll speak to them. Just go back to sleep."

"No –"

"Zion, sleep," he cut his brother off as he unlocked the door and then stepped into the house, pulling it shut behind him.

He made his way to the kitchen, where the noise had been coming from and realised he should have put shoes on when he stepped on some glass, but he did not have time to go back.

Without bothering to verbally try to reason with the very intoxicated people who were currently covered in little cuts and slight bruises from their fight and objects that had been thrown at each other, he grabbed William's arm and dragged him into the hallway, ignoring as the man shouted to be let go of while also still shouting at the woman who was following from the kitchen.

He was trying to separate them, hoping it would make them shut up, but she had followed so he shoved William into their bedroom and pulled the door shut immediately, ignoring his mother as she yelled at him to open the door so she could deal with his stepfather.

He could only barely understand what either of them were saying through their slurring, most of it was just cursing and calling each other and him derogatory names so he opted to tune out of it, forcefully holding the door shut as William tried to pry it open from the inside while his mother scratched at him, trying to get him to would move. He considered shoving her away, but she was already stumbling over her own feet, and he did not want to hurt her by causing her to fall over possibly smashing her head into something.

Holding the door shut like that until they both tired out would have sufficed if blue and red lights did not suddenly flood into the living room just as the bedroom door down the hall pried open. Theodore felt his heart stop as he realised that the neighbours had already called the police, and they were outside.

He needed the pair to calm down immediately, so he grabbed his mother's wrists, twisting her in his arms so her back was to his chest. He glanced over at Zion remembering that the door had opened and nodded signalling that the boy should get back into the room before he turned back to the woman who was still trying to fight out of his grasp.

"Stop – stop screaming." He was not sure what to do to make her stop, because his asking only made her louder. "Ma –" he was panicking, and didn't know what to say to get her to calm down as William finally managed to open the door and stumble out of the room.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" his speech had somewhat cleared.

"The police are outside." The words seemed to sober the man instantly.