worst in me | joe keery (1)

26 : tears and tension

Valoria propped the tablet up onto the table, watching the countdown slowly begin with her heart pounding in her chest. Once she saw the confirmation that she was live, the brunette waved sheepishly at the camera.

"Hello angels, how are you all? I know why you're all here and I will be explaining everything, but just in case I miss out on anything: feel free to tweet me at Val Wolfhard with the hashtag 'ask Val' and I'll check on it at the end of the stream!"

She took in a small breath, playing with her nails as she exhaled the nerves built up. "Gio, if you haven't watched her video, called me an alcoholic. To respond that allegation: Yes, I am a former alcoholic."

Valoria paused, attempting to control her breathing. Her words came out in stutters and shaky, but she knew she had to continue. Shifting her gaze back to the camera as she blinked tears back, the brunette continued.

"I wanted to explain myself and my alcohol abuse later in my life. It was never my plan to explain it through an Instagram live where I'm basically crying, but Giovanna has threw my history out there and I have no choice but to address it."

Valoria wiped at one of her eyes before the tear could escape it, letting out a nervous laugh. "I was young, dumb, and went through so much in my life. I was unstable emotionally and Disney didn't do much to help me. Instead, I found myself at parties I was too young to be at and drinking things I knew I wasn't meant to. I had a secret bar in my room too and I would get wasted till the morning."

"As you all know, I disappeared off media a few years ago. The reason I was gone was due to my admission into rehab. I sobered up and avoided media, however with Finn's inevitable rise to fame I knew I would have to step back into the limelight. That's why I'm here."

She took a pause, controlling her breathing and attempting to calm the anxiety and tears rising in her chest. She closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly. "I'm not looking for pity, I'm just showing you all my side of the story. Now, I'm going to give you all my personal opinion on the matter."

Valoria looked up at the camera, avoiding reading the comments as she let stray tears slip down her cheeks. "I was put on the spot and forced to come out and admit my past even though I did not want to. I was robbed of something I should have the say to, not someone else. I don't care what personally vendetta Gio had against me, she had absolutely no right to do what she did."

Valoria shook her head once again, placing a hand over her mouth as she shut her eyes, attempting to contain the tears that threatened to pour out. She didn't want to cry on camera, she knew it was a sign of weakness and that was the last thing she wanted to appear as.

The brunette took in a sharp breath, giving the camera a sad smile. "That's truly all I have to say."

She pulled up the Twitter app on her phone, checking the hashtag she had asked people to tweet her at. In no time, she found a boatload of questions to answer, some on topic and some a bit on the random side. Regardless, Valoria went through and answered each one, ensure that she was clearing the air between her and her fans.

Valoria let out a small laugh as she completed all the deep questions, now reading through the less serious ones.

"Finn is not my son, I was ten when he was born! I call him my son as a joke! And please, stop tweeting me about Joe and I's relationship. All I will say is that I'm grateful for him in my life."

As she said this, the door to her bedroom opened and Finn's face popped through. She took that as her signal to say bye, waving to the camera and turning off the live stream. Once Valoria was offline, Finn fully entered the room and sat himself down beside her on the bed.

She rested her head against his small shoulder, letting out a shaky, deep sigh. "That was the most stressful thing in my entire laugh."

Finn laughed, grabbing one of his sister's hands and holding it. "I watched it though, you did great. Everyone in the cast watched it and they live commented on the entire thing in the group chat."

The older Wolfhard laughed, giving Finn's hand a small squeeze. I'll read it later, when I'm not emotionally drained and wanting to cry."

The two were silent for a moment and Valoria could feel the cries she held back building up. Finn also sensed it, letting out a small sigh. "You can cry in front of me, you know that right? You just had to explain your entire history, unwillingly, to thousands of people because your friend exposed you for personal benefit."

Valoria let out a breathe as the tears welled in her eyes, her sentences coming out as loud sobs rather than proper sentences. "I hate this! I didn't want this, I never fucking wanted this! I was forced to admit my history through a shitty fucking livestream because of some fucking vendetta someone I thought was my friend had! I have no clue what to do anymore, how I'm meant to face anyone anymore. All everyone will think of me is how I'm a fucking alcoholic mess."

Valoria's sobs echoed through the room even though she had zero intention of letting it out onto Finn. Finn, however, just pulled his sister into a hug, allowing her to cry into his smaller figure. She would have laughed at the irony of it all, had she not been emotionally unstable.

"Val, you're fine." Finn mumbled to the brunette, rubbing her back soothingly, "Gio was, and I'm sorry for cursing, a bitch and we all knew it. I never liked her, nor did anyone. She was your friend and she's the one who made the mistake, not you. She was the one who wrongly outed you for something she had no right in doing."

Finn let out a small, frustrated sigh. "I'm bad at this, but you get my point. You're gonna be okay and you literally got better because of me, that says enough. You're not an alcoholic mess, you're someone who has overcome a hard time."

Finn's small speech calmed Valoria's sobs, however Finn had no intention of leaving his sister's side. Instead, the two huddled together on her bed for the remainder of the night, watching Netflix and talking about anything that wasn't Giovanna Martinez.