Baby Fat

thirty-one

Everyone around Bradley is in love with infidelity. In this moment, literally.

"Bradley!" Ophelia squeals excitedly. Bradley feels like she really should be that excited to see him in a rehab center, but gives her a closed mouth smile.

Bradley has known that Ophelia has been cheating on Corrie's fathers for the longest time. Why do people cheat? What's the goddamn point?

If you don't love someone, give them up so someone else can. Not everyone seems to have the same mentality as Bradley. He's read stories where the dad cheats but the mother waves it off as "mid-life crisis". Bradley doesn't know how anyone lets a cheater back into their lives.

"Ophelia," Bradley forced a grin, "how are you?"

"I'm doing great!" She smiles happily. Bradley can see the gleam in her eyes. "Corrie will be happy to have you in there. Him and his father might end up killing each other."

"It's that bad?" Bradley mutters, rocking back and forth on his heels, hands clasped behind his back.

"Yeah," Ophelia rubs her arm. Now that Bradley looks at her harder, he starts to wonder just how old she is. She doesn't look a day over twenty—if that. "They can't seem to work past their issues. Maybe you could talk to Corrie about talking to his therapist about it," she suggests sheepishly.

"I don't think me talking to Corrie is going to salvage him and his father's relationship. I'm not sure anything will," Bradley says truthfully, with a shoulder shrug.

"Yeah," Ophelia rubs her chin with her forefinger and thumb. "Perhaps, you could talk with Corrie and I will talk to his father."

"Sure," Bradley agrees, not really meaning it. He waves her goodbye and walks to Corrie's room.

He opens the door and walks inside. He doesn't see Corrie's dad and lets out a breath of relief.

"Hey, stranger," Corrie greets Bradley from his bed. Across the room, Bradley sits down in a chair facing Corrie's bed.

Bradley rolls his eyes, and laughs. "How are you holding up?"

Corrie grimaces slightly before letting his face go blank. "There are days when the withdrawal symptoms get really bad, I just want to be able to let it all go."

"I'm sorry. Just hang it there. This is for you own good," Bradley wants to get up to comfort Corrie like the old days. This little nagging voice in the back of his mind reminds him that now isn't like it was then. They aren't those people anymore.

Corrie shrugs his shoulders, "how are you?"

Bradley doesn't know if he should tell Corrie, because he hasn't even told his sister yet. His own flesh and blood. Then again, he told Leo. But Leo doesn't have other shit surrounding him like they do. "My house is a hell-hole. You should be glad you're not living there anymore."

Corrie looks around the room, "you're fucking with me, right? What's possibly worse than being held prisoner here?"

"Being held prisoner at my house." Bradley realizes that Corrie feels stuck in the rehab center, but what Corrie doesn't realize is Bradley's suffocating at home.

"How?" Corrie says, exasperated, "please tell me how your house is worse than a fucking rehab center?"

Bradley takes a deep breath, preparing himself. "My mom, she's cheating. Has been for a long time." Corrie begins to say something but Bradley beats him to it, "and so is Graham."

Corrie's eyebrows raise and he just blinks, hand over his mouth.

"I mean, I guess I should've expected it. And you should've too, I mean, you're the expert of all things bad." Bradley rambles on for the next few minutes before looking up to see Corrie with the same expression on his face.