Labyrinth | ✓

f o r t y - e i g h t h ♂️

Bleeding.

"Your knuckle's bleeding."

Once I opened the door of my home and stepped inside, I expected Myla to greet me firsthand, but instead, I came across Mother, who immediately took notice of the injury on my hand. Seeing that she found out, I quickly concealed it behind my back. Fortunately, I was fast enough to cut her off when she tried observing my wounds in detail.

"I know." It was forever my go-to phrase.

"What happened, Edward?" She interrogated, narrowing her green eyes. When she uttered out my complete name, I felt my body shrinking. "Don't tell me, you're punching things again...?"

"No. I accidentally knocked something over." I lied, but I answered right after she finished her question. It was a mistake, but in some ways, I tried covering it up. She eventually nodded, seemingly accepting my reply, though I knew she didn't completely believe me.

"... Whatever it is, that wound is really concerning, so don't just shrug it off." She chewed out, though there was a tinge of worriness on her tone. "If you leave it untreated, then it's going to get infected."

"It's just cuts and a bruise, Mom. I can treat them by my own." While I tried convincing my Mother, I used my other hand to slowly rub the scrape wounds I had caused. There, I felt the stale coldness of my blood as it trickled upon my skin. Apparently, a few had peeled off, exposing my flesh to the outside air. Everytime I touched it, I felt some sort of a searing pain. The blow I made must have affected me this bad, huh...?

"That doesn't sound like it's nothing. At least let me see what it looks like." She demanded, keeping an eye on my hidden hand as she approached me. I stepped back bit by bit, trying to prevent her from seeing the wounds directly.

"No, it's okay. I'm alright." I denied her advances. "It's not serious. The bleeding is just from the cuts."

"Then, I will help you clean it." Mother insisted, in spite all of my rejections.

I had supposedly calmed down from the fresh air I breathed and the walking I did. Heck, I almost walked all the way home just to obtain the peace I needed from earlier conflicts, especially with Rena. The immense feeling of guilt that had been devouring my insides remained, but I forced myself to cope with it. I have to keep reminding myself that there were always consequences behind every action, whether it was good or bad.

Now that I was put into another problem, my mind went ballistic again. I just wanted to focus on having a private time in my room and reflecting all my stupid actions. It was not my time to be forced to do something I disliked.

"It's fine, I can clean it myself." I huffed, nearly rolling my eye, but I kept it to myself. While so, I looked around for my pomeranian, but she didn't seem to be around. My best guess was that she was at the backyard, but I crossed the possibility out, as she always greeted me whenever I came home, no matter where she was. "Where's Myla...?"

"... Lu's taking her on a walk." Mother answered half-heartedly. She finally acknowledged my signs of refusal, throwing a defeated, loud sigh.

"Oh." I bobbed my head, deciding that it was for the best to walk away before Mother did anything. Well, she tried, but I quickly took notice. Without hesitation, I headed for the stairs, avoiding her contact. While making my way up to my room, I quietly listened to the soft, melodic footsteps I produced.

Right now, Myla was better off in my sister's hands, as she seemed to be far more responsible than me. After all, right now, I felt being pressured by a lot of problems, either they were personal or social. They were all tying me down and filling up most of my thoughts, there were no more space for other problems. I have no choice but to depend on someone else to temporarily take care of the dog.