Can We Try That?

A Bonding Session With Mom

TW: Mentions of self-harm
(I guess depression too? Is that a trigger? I'd rather be safe than sorry.)

Evan's POV

I groaned as I slid off my bed. I was bored out of my mind. Leo was out at work. All my friends had classes or jobs or were just too busy to hang (Sayori. I love you if you get the reference) out.

One part of me felt like cutting. It would make me forget about being lonely. It would make me forget about everything. Plus I was all alone. No one would interrupt me. I wouldn't be at risk of getting caught.

But I couldn't. I had to stay strong for Connor. Cutting myself wouldn't solve anything. It would only make everything worse.

So that's how I wound up singing and dancing to Falsettos all around the apartment. Almost every other song made me think of Connor. Especially You Gotta Die Sometime. (Sorry for metioning this all the time! Falsettos is just SO GOOD!) That's how I also wound up in tears. The song just made me think about Connor dying. I hoped that he would live and get out of his coma. But a part of me knew he might never wake up again. He might flatline, and the nurses won't be able to revive him. His parents might take him off of life support.

I sat down on the hardwood floor. The only sounds were my sniffles and the soft plinks of my tears falling on the floor. I tried wiping away my waterfall of tears. My efforts only smeared the tears across my face. I sighed and curled up in a ball. I couldn't help but feel helpless and alone. It was true though. I never ate anything. I had to be forced to eat. It took so much energy to get out of bed in the morning, let alone get dressed and go out. I shivered and curled up tighter.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. I jumped up. Wiping my eyes with my sleeve, I got off the floor. I shuffled over to the door. Peering outside the peep hole, I was greeted by the smiling face of Mom. I dried my eyes one last time and opened the door.

"H-Hi Mom." I said as she came inside.

"Evan!" She squealed as she hugged me. When Mom pulled away, she studied my face.

"Have you been crying?" She asked, worry creeping into her voice. I felt like I couldn't hold up my facade anymore. I nodded as I crumbled into her arms. I sobbed and shook as she rubbed my back.

"It's okay Evan. I'm here." Mom told me as she led me over to my couch. We both sat down. I held onto her tightly, as if she were my lifeline.

After crying for what seemed like years, my tears finally dried up. I felt exhausted and couldn't stop shaking.

"M-Mom I-I-I..."

"It's okay Evan. You don't have to explain." She said.

"N-No I want t-to. I n-need to talk to s-someone who will h-hear me a-and help. I-I thought t-talking to C-Connor would be enough. It's n-not. Everyday gets w-worse for m-me. I-I barely e-eat anything anymore. It's hard j-just for m-me t-to get out of b-bed in the m-morning. Almost every day I-I cut m-myself. I c-can't stop. I can't g-go on like t-this." I admitted. The whole apartment was silent. All of a sudden Mom pulled me close and wrapped me in a hug.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry Evan." She whispered. Tears rolled down her face. Now we were both crying.

"What do you want to do? Do you want more therapy? Go to rehab?" She asked me when she started to calm down.

"Maybe a r-retreat? Just something f-for a-a few weeks. I d-don't want something that's too l-long." I told her. Mom nodded. The silence settled over us once again. Though it wasn't as tense as last time.

"I-I love you Mom." I whispered as I hugged her.

"I love you too Evan. I want you to talk to me whenever you need to. I'm going to help you through this. No matter what, I'll be here." Mom whispered back.

Zoe's POV

My phone rang, waking me up from my nap. It trilled on and on until I found it.

"Hello?" I asked sleepily as I yawned.

"Hi Zoe. It's Mom. I know you're probably busy, but I was wondering if you wanted to go get lunch? I'll pay." She said. I looked around the dark room. I had finished all my homework and had no classes today. Piper was out with her boyfriend and Alana was at one of her many clubs.

"Sure." I told her with a shrug. I had nothing better to do than mope. 

"Oh okay!" Mom exclaimed, sounding shocked. "There's this really nice cafe. It's called The Beanery. (This is an actual place close to where I live. It had an AMAZING turkey sandwich on warm pretzel bread. Trust me, this place is amazing.) Do you want to meet there at 2:30?"

I looked at the clock on the wall. I had around 30 minutes to get ready.

"Sound good. I'll see you there." I said.

"Love you sweetie!" Mom told me before hanging up. I got off of my bed and looked in the mirror. My hair was full of knots. My clothes were crooked and wrinkled.

With a sigh I dragged a brush through my hair, making it silky smooth. I changed my clothes and grabbed my purple Converse. I tied up the pristine laces and grabbed my set of keys. I stopped in the bathroom and applied some make-up. I was ready to go with minutes to spare. I picked up my phone, locked the door behind me, and walked down the building's hall. I emerged outside and shivered as I was hit with a wave of cold air. I was stupid enough to only wear a thin sweater. I marched down the sidewalk and searched for The Beanery.

I managed to find it just as it turned 2:30. I stepped inside and was relieved to feel a wall of heat welcome me. I looked around the small area and spotted Mom.

"Zoe!" She exclaimed as she rushed over to me. She smiled and pulled me into a hug. In her warm embrace I couldn't help but smile. No matter what, I would always love my mom.

"I have something important to tell you when we get a table." She said as she led me over to a hostess stand. Mom checked us in and we stood off to the side.

To pass the time we talked about normal things. Like college and crushes and friends. After a while, we were finally led to our table. The two of us ordered drinks and browsed the menu.
"You said you had something important to tell me?" I asked as I picked up my iced tea and took a sip.

"I finally asked Larry for a divorce. I kicked him out of the house." Mom admitted with a smile. I choked and almost spit out my drink.

"You what!" I exclaimed.

"I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like asking for a divorce was the best thing to do. So I did. And then I gave him his things and kicked him out." She explained with a grin.

I scooted back my chair and ran over to her. I hugged her and held on tight.

"Just tell me if you need anything, okay? I love you." I whispered in her ear. As I pulled away, I could see tears glistening in her eyes.

"I love you too."

Sup my peeps. Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I wasn't in the mood to write. But I have a little bit of a longer chapter for you today! I finally got the app for Wattpad so now I'm testing it out. Its actually pretty cool. Anywho, I hope you guys liked the chapter! Thank you so much for reading! My first fic is at 1.53k! I never would've gotten this far if it wasn't for you guys! I really do mean it when I say I love all of you. Thanks again!

-Cronch