SUCKER_PUNCH // bastille_fic

prologue: JUST KIDS

I clench my little rucksack to my chest as my grandpa drives me home from the airport. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I yawn and look out of the window, an unfamiliar place appearing before my eyes. It had been a while since I'd been here in England with my grandparents, but now I would be staying for a while. I still couldn't believe mommy and daddy don't want to be together anymore...

Tears immediately appeared in the corners of my already red eyes just when I thought about it. My grandpa noticed in an instant and looked at me with pity in his eyes. He sighed and patted my shoulder to comfort me. "A nine-year old shouldn't have to go through this", he quietly mumbled to himself.

Biting back the rest of my tears, I pulled up my knees onto the passenger seat and laid my head against the window. Not only was I tired and worn out from the flight from Ireland, I also had a terrible aching in my chest, longing to be home again.

We need some space, honey. You'll be fine with your grandparents! Daddy and I just need time to figure some things out, okay?

The last words my mom told me kept spinning in my head until they started to make me drowsy. I closed my eyes slowly and lost myself in my thoughts as I couldn't seem to fall asleep albeit being so sleepy.

Seeing the circumstances, it was quite understandable. The last few weeks I had seen nothing but my parents picking fights and yelling at each other. There wasn't even one place in the house that was safe from their bickering where I could go and hide in the quietness. None.

Eventually my parents had decided they couldn't go on like this anymore and that's when my mom had told me that one thing that kept occupying my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about it and it made tears appear in my eyes every time. I just wished they would stay together. That they actually would figure things out.

And just while I was thinking about that and imagining the fun times I had with my parents, I slowly sunk into a deep, deep slumber...

---

"-rcha. Sorcha? Sorcha!" I heard my name being called out several times and eventually opened my eyes. The car seemed to have stopped moving and my grandpa was looking at me expectantly while I still tried to make sense of the blurry world. I sat up straight, stretched a little bit and looked in his direction. "We're here."

Nodding to him, I patiently waited for him to open my door because of the child lock, but surprisingly my grandma had already appeared and opened it. When I got out of the car, she gave me a big hug and took over my bag from me. In the meantime my grandpa had quickly gotten my suitcase out of the trunk and was about to take it inside. I wanted to follow them, but my grandma stopped me.

"Why don't you go play at the playground for a while?" she said, pointing at the playground just across the street. "That way we can prepare everything for you. I still need to make dinner and I don't want you to be bored, little Sorcha. Now go, enjoy yourself!"

Kissing me on my forehead and smiling kindly, she send me off and disappeared in the house herself. Sighing deeply myself, I cautiously crossed the street and headed over to the swings, lined up at the backside of the playground, but when I got closer I already saw someone sitting on one. A tall, lanky boy with crazy, dark hair is looking down at the ground while swinging softly. I tilted my head in confusion and decided to walk up to him. He seemed kind of sad. Like I was.

"Dia dhuit", I said quietly, maybe a bit shy, forgetting the fact I wasn't in Ireland anymore. Quickly, I recovered myself. "Oh... sorry. I mean... Hello!"

The boy immediately looked up with a surprised look on his face, clearly taken aback by my sudden greeting and tumbled backwards off of the swing, landing hard on his back with a deep cough escaping his lips. I opened my eyes wide in surprise and walked up to him, leaning over him to see if he was okay, my long red hair slipping from behind my ears. "Sorry", I excused myself. "I didn't mean to scare you."