Claustrophobic (Teddy Duchamp)

23

It was just past midnight, and Teddy lie awake, not in his fairly untidy bed but rather, on the rug that lay on his wood floor.

It wasn't that he didn't like his bed, he just found it was easier to think on the solid floor.

He thought about his dad and all of his problems, and his mom and the problems she was left with, and he thought of Cecelia and the problems she had to face. Then he thought of himself and how he had made all of their problems his along with the problems he already had.

For a second, just a split second, he felt lonely, vulnerable, but then he was washed over with a sudden feeling of warm security. He realized that they had shared in his issues too and that was because they loved each other. He loved his parents and he lived Cecelia, and his parents loved him and Cecelia loved him. He had never been so sure of anything, not since he was 12 when he was certain he would have his three best friends for the rest of his life, who was now just Vern and those two guys he talked to every now and then.

This was different. He knew this was different.

Teddy was startled from his thoughts as his door squeaked open just slightly. His mom poked her head in.

She gave him that fond smile that was reserved for him. "Hey, Teddy-baby (Apt Pupil anyone?). I just got in. You alright?" She opened the door a little more so that she was standing just in the room.

Teddy sat up, squinting trough the blurry darkness to make out his mother's figure, catching the glint of the moonlight in her earrings. "I'm good, Mom." He thought for a second before speaking up again. "Hey, Ma?"

"Yes," she replied.

"What'd you think of Cecelia? I mean, she's kinda shy, but she was real excited to meet you, and I think she was just nervous..." Teddy looked up at his mom.

She gave a light laugh. "Cecelia is such a nice girl, Teddy. I think she's sweet, and as long as you like her, I like her."

He breathed in relief. "Oh good. She'll be happy. And one more thing: is it too early to love her?"

Mrs. Duchamp was internally shocked at the statement but didn't show it in case it put him off. "It's never too early to love someone, sweetheart. I loved you the second I knew you were swimming around in my stomach, but be careful about being in love. That can be tricky."

Teddy nodded. "Right... Thanks, Mom. Night."

"Goodnight, Teddy."
_____

Cecelia was figured she was the only person in her house still awake, as it was around 12 in the morning. She was still thinking about her time with Teddy.

She was looking out her window at the stars and the sheer vastness of the night sky, as she played with the dog tags still hanging around her neck. She noticed a movement in her peripheral vision.

When she glanced down to where she saw the movement and saw her father getting into their family car and backing out of the driveway.

Cecelia didn't even hesitate. She pulled off her pajama bottoms and slipped on a pair of overalls she found on the floor. She slipped on a pair of shoes as she tiptoed down the stairs and out of the house. Luckily, their road  was long and straight, so she could still see the car when she got outside.

She hid in the nearest bush until he turned the corner, when she took off running after the car. She repeated this pattern until she noticed him pull into a house a four or five blocks away.

Cecelia quickly found somewhere to hide until he went in the house. When he did, she stealthily, well, as much as she could manage, ran over to the bushes in front of the mystery house.

Cecelia already had an inkling about who's house it was, but when she looked up into the window, her fears were confirmed.

There was her father sucking face with her science teacher.

She didn't cry, like she probably should have, and she didn't scream out. She was far too angry. She crawled out from the bushes and made her way to nearest corner to check which street she was on.

She knew exactly who she was going to see, and she knew that Teddy would know just what ti say.

Ayyyee! I update again. I'll be writing as much as I find time for bc apparently my time visiting my mom entails only seeing her for a few hours at a time and having to keep my brothers and cousins entertained while doing other random crap. 😒Sorry. I'm just kinda done w family rn.

Love y'all! M'kay.

~Mariah