fallout - r.b.

eight

broken home - 5 seconds of summer

"Can I walk you home?" Reece asked, he was rocking on his heels slightly. "It's getting late." He added, as if that explained the completely random offer.

"It's only 5:00..." I pointed out, and he looked at me awkwardly.

"Right... but, it's getting dark." It was nearly dark to be fair, late Autumn in England was something else.

"You really don't have t-"

"Please? I want to..." I'd never seen Reece act like this before. It was kind of off-putting.

"Okay." I agreed, trying not to sound as hesitant as I was. He fell into step beside me. Neither of us said anything else for a moment, and the silence was loud.

"So, what were you and Shay talking about earlier?" He asked finally. My eyes widened but thankfully he couldn't see. I was praying he didn't overhear us.

"What? Nothing. She was just showing me the makeup she got."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?" I glanced over at him to see him staring at the ground before he looked up and met my eyes.

"Well, you know what happened yesterday? Outside the restaurant...?" I frowned.

"Yeah..."

"I just wanted to ask you to please not tell Shayla. She'd literally kill Aydan."

"And that would be a bad thing because...?" Reece laughed lightly.

"She's not that bad," he added seriously. I turned my head to look at him.

"She's hurting you, Reece. Like, physically hurting you." He got quiet. "You deserve better than that." He was looking at me thoughtfully.

"It's not that deep, okay? Just don't tell Shay. Or the boys, or anyone." I sighed. "That's also kinda why I asked you to stay and film the cover with us... I didn't want you to go out with Shayla because I thought you might mention it to her." I nodded, thinking that made sense.

"I won't tell anyone." I said. Before he could thank me, I added "But if I see Aydan slap you again, I might just kill her myself." Reece chuckled.

"Yeah right," he mocked.

"I'm serious! And I think you should break up with her before that happens." I looked at him.

"Why do you care so much?" He asked me.

"Because you're a decent guy, and no one should treat you like that."

"I'm surprised you think so, I haven't always acted like one around you."

"True," I joked, and we both laughed. "But I know you are." He smiled. "I want you to be happy, and I can tell you aren't with her."

"Are you sure that's all you want?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" He stopped walking and turned to look at me. I paused my stride as well, looking at him expectantly, but all I got was him staring intently at me.

"I don't know." He finally answered and started to walk again. I was going to press on what he meant, but I decided to drop it. We were nearly to my house now. "For the record, I'm glad you did the cover with us, even though the reason I asked was a bit selfish. I liked singing with you."

"Me too," I smiled. "I'm surprised you had that much confidence in my singing after just hearing mine and Shay's tragic karaoke." He laughed.

"Oh, it wasn't because of that." I gave him an inquisitive look. "I've actually overheard you in the music rooms before." I felt my cheeks going red, and I remembered how I'd overheard him today too. "I never wanted to mention it 'cause I thought it might be a bit awkward... but you do have a beautiful voice." That was two compliments from Reece in one day, I don't even know what to do with that. "It suits you," he finished, and I lingered on what he meant by that.

"Thanks," I smiled, trying not to read into things. "And thank you for walking me home." I said as we rounded the corner of my front garden.

"S'alright." He grinned. I stopped in my tracks as we approached my house. Our car was missing from the driveway, and our front door was wide open. I felt the colour drain from my face. Reece glanced at me, confusion written in his expression.

"Ren?" I was frozen. I spun on my heels to face him and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.

"Right, thanks again for the walk... you should get going!" Reece could easily sense the panic in my voice. I kept glancing at the open door. It felt ominous, the lights were on inside, illuminating the front porch, but other than that there were no signs of life.

"Ren, what's wrong?" Reece was clearly concerned now.

"Nothing," I answered, plastering on a smile.

"Why are you freaking out?"

"Who me? I'm not freaking, cool as a cucumber here."

"Ren..." Reece grabbed my hand, stopping it from making whatever frantic gestures it was doing. I looked up at him, suddenly aware of the feeling of his hand on mine and the way he was looking at me. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, really." I was able to compose myself this time. "My parents were expecting me home earlier, that's probably why the door is open. I'm sure they left it unlocked, and it wasn't shut properly." I couldn't tell if he was buying it. The expression on his face said most likely not. "So, yeah. I gotta get going now." I went to drop his hand, but he held on tighter.

"Okay, I'll come in with you. Say hi to your parents, I haven't seen them in a while." Probably not in a year, I thought. Reece used to come over to pick up Shayla when we were younger, but just like her, he obviously didn't know anything about what was going on lately.

"I don't think that's a good idea." I admitted.

"Why?"

"Um... 'cause.. boy walking me home at night... they'll assume you're my boyfriend or something." I lied.

"Ren, they know me. I don't think it's a big deal."

"Reece, please just let me go."

"No. You're acting weird. Your front door is wide open, and it doesn't even seem like anyone's home. What if someone broke in or something?" He pressed. "I am not letting you go in there alone."

His eyes were locked on mine, and I could just make out the green in them in the low lighting. He squeezed my hand slightly.

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." Recce dragged me by the hand, heading towards my front door. I gave up on fighting him and just hoped the scene inside wasn't too horrible. I followed him through the door, both of us looking around the entrance way.

"Hello?" Reece shouted, "Anybody home?" He finally dropped my hand and let me wander around a bit. We both snapped our heads towards the sitting room when we heard a soft grunt, followed by a rustling sound. Reece gave me a look as I rounded the corner into the room.

There was the familiar sight--the one I'd been dreading. My dad was once again passed out the couch, liquor bottles tipped over and spread across the floor. The table lamp was knocked over, shattered into pieces. Fragments of glass scattered the room.

I felt tears welling in my eyes. My mind was caught between a mix of emotions. I was embarrassed that Reece, of all people, was the first to find out what's been going on. I was scared to know what happened and what was going to happen with my family, but mainly I was just really, really sad.

I turned to look at Reece who was standing with his mouth agape as he took in the scene in front of him. His eyes softened as they met mine.

"Let's go." I said numbly, before he could say anything. It was my turn to take his hand and lead him back outside. I dropped his hand to pull the door shut behind me, and I motioned him down the steps.