What They Don't Know | Short Story | Complete

1# Behind Closed Doors

2/23/19: ya'll this fic was made years back so it's pretty awful, apologizes for errors and such.
strong topics.
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A lot of people don't know what happens behind closed doors, because once you leave and the door closes...

There is a madhouse you can't escape.

People can put up a mask or a bright face but they can't keep up the act for long, once the door closes it all comes tumbling down. You may have met people who seem nice, kind, innocent, caring or just plain air headed, But you don't know what happened when they go up to their room or what happens at home.

Just beyond the closed doors lies a truth, a truth of just how horrible people can really be, a truth of what really happens behind the closed doors.

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Ever since I was young my mother always told me that I should keep my chin up and smile.

Things changed since then.

Mama started acting up when I reached second grade, she started drinking more, doing less and less of the things she used to do. She would call me a bad girl if I tripped or fell when she was around.

And soon enough, I found myself believing that I was indeed a bad girl. Mama would make me face the big mirror in her bedroom, she made me stare at myself, she would tell me, "Tsuna, you're being a bad girl." She would then tell me to repeat what she had said, as a child I had thought that Mama was just going through a stage that she would get over soon enough. I told myself that Mama would go back to her normal self, the one that would hold me and kiss me when I tripped or fell.

The one that told me to always smile.

But some part of me, told me that nothing will be the same, that Mama will just get worse. I just ignored it, I didn't want to believe that Mama would change.

I didn't want her to change

A middle through the second grade I made my first friend, He had a weird name and he seemed to like to tease me a lot, but he still listened to what I had to say.

His name was Reborn.

I don't know how we started to actually be friends, I just knew it started when I crashed into him, making him drop his lunch. I had promised to make him a new one.

It was nice to have a friend, It was very hard for me to make a friend with the title I'd had, everyone called me 'Dame-Tsuna.'

Things started to go downhill from there.

Mama was sad that the blonde man wasn't there, I thought he was just a friend. Mama had told me that Daddy became a star.

To me, It meant that he had died.

I didn't know why I felt happy when I heard that, I felt bad afterwards.

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I watched as Mama poured herself another glass of sake, I made sure to keep my face perfectly blank so that Mama didn't know what I was thinking. I did not want to sit in the corner again.

It was around 12:30 at night when I came down, only to see my mother drinking. Mama had ordered me to sit down on the floor with my hands under my legs. Mama wasn't acting normal.

Mama swirled her glass, red water dripped out some. "You.....Your just l-like your....S....Stupid....Idiot...Father!" I flinched as Mama yelled at me, I was scared. Mama never acted like this.

I felt fear swirl inside me, like thunder striking It came so suddenly that I could only look at Mama in shock.

I felt a stinging sensation on my cheek, did I do something wrong again? I didn't know, I was scared. Mama looked at me with her bloodshot honey brown eyes. Her breath didn't smell like her usual cinnamon, It smelt like the icky drink she just had.

Mama leaned down towards me, satisfaction clear in her eyes, a weird looking grin was on her face. I felt tears well up in my eyes, I was so so scared. All I wanted to do was run away and hide somewhere.

Mama sneered, "Aww Tsu-chan~" Mama teased, "I was just kidding~" I felt glad that Mama returned to her old self, I wasn't scared anymore as mama brought me up into her embrace.

I didn't notice how Mama's eyes showed no love towards me.

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I walked into class happily, last night mama was really nice to me. Maybe something good happened?

This morning mama had that weird grin on her face again, It scared me a little bit. Mama only told me to cover the place where she hit me with a bandage.

When I asked why Mama told me that mean people would take her away and never let her see me again. So I covered it up.

I knew Reborn would notice so Mama told me what to tell him if he asked.

I hated lying to my only friend but I had to protect Mama.

So I walked to my seat, Nervousness bubbled up inside me as Reborn frowned at my cheek. I hope he didn't ask, I really didn't want to lie to him.

Reborn stared at my cheek, "What happened to you?"

My hands trembled a little bit, but I held strong. "When I was playing outside with Mama yesterday I ran into a tree branch."

Reborn looked at me for a second with narrowed eyes before shrugging his shoulders and turning back to face the chalkboard. I mentally sighed in relief, Reborn could always tell that when I was lying before.

Maybe he just didn't care.

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"Your such a bad girl!" Mama screeched at me as she ripped apart my report card. "I guess the mirror isn't working anymore~!" I felt tears rush to my eyes, I was scared when Mama did this sometimes. It happened more now.

"Tsu-chan will be a good girl! Tsu-chan promises!" I promised desperately, sometimes I reverted back to 3rd person.

Mama grabbed me by the ear and yanked me towards the basement. "No! You're not learning your lesson..." I tried to get away, Mama just yanked me back towards her. "Stop moving!"

I let my feet guide me, I didn't want to anger Mama anymore. I let a few tears slip down my cheeks. I was scared, I was terrified. I didn't know what to do. At this point, I wish Daddy was here. He would have been able to calm Mama down, even If i'd never met the man, Mama talked about him all the time. Sometimes for good reasons and sometimes for bad reasons.

Mama threw me into the cold stone basement, she smiled bitterly at me. "I'm not going to let you out until I think you learned your lesson!"

The door closed as I sat there In the dark, On cold hard stone.

I pulled my knees to my chest, hands underneath them. And I waited.

I waited for the day my Mama would come back

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