Broken Words

Chapter 3- 29/12/10

*Warning- This chapter does deal with the topic of abuse. If that is something that you feel uncomfortable reading about or have been affected by it then please move to the next chapter for your own sake.*

His sister was lost. She rarely spoke anymore, most conversations ending in broken words and fragments of sound.

She stood there, tears rolling down her cheeks, though no sounds left her mouth. Her hands shook violently.

"It'll be ok Tegan," Ty said quietly as they stood by the door. "I promise that it will all be fine."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and held tight. Maybe if he didn't move his hand he'd be able to keep a grip on her shoulder and steer her away from all the bad things that faced them in the future.

But one question remained, who'd look after him when everything went wrong? Who would be the light at the end of his dark tunnel?

A dark car pulled up in front of their house and the siblings heard their auntie appear behind them.

"Here he is," She said, Ty could tell that she'd pursed her lips and furrowed her brow.

That was what usually used to happen when she saw him, though it had been along time, years in fact.

The car door opened and Ty's dad stepped out. He looked exactly the same, well, exactly how Ty could remember him. It was difficult without a dad, no one to teach him to ride a bike, no one to play football with. His mom had done a pretty good job but it just wasn't the same.

"Hey Bailey," His Dad leaned over Ty and Tegan's head to kiss his aunt on the cheek.

She jerked her head back and their dad moved back awkwardly. He glanced down at his kids and smiled, though neither smiled back. It'd been five years since they'd seen him, Ty had been three and Tegan two.

"Hey kids, look at how tall you're getting," Their dad smiled awkwardly, reaching out to ruffle their hair.

Ty dodged backwards while Tegan allowed their father to touch her hair. Her hands began to shake again. Noticing this, Ty tightened his grip on her shoulder and pulled her back towards him.

"You two need to get dressed, go on. I need to talk to your dad," Their ain't ushered them inside. "Ty, stop lingering. Go and get changed. We need to leave in forty five minutes."

Tegan raised up the stairs while Ty made his way up slowly, sitting back down when he was out of sight. His aunt turned to his dad, a stony expression settling on her face.

"Why are you here? You haven't been in this families lives for five years, you weren't even coming to this funeral. And suddenly you call me and say that you're coming, that you're in the airport about to catch the next flight to New York."

"I wanted to support my kids," His dad's voice was quiet.

"If you wanted to support your kids, you wouldn't have been gone for so long. Hell, if you wanted to support your kids then you wouldn't have organised this funeral for two days before Ty's birthday!"

"I just..."

"You just didn't like the idea of being tied down? What a load of crap! You spent that last five years in the Bahamas, sleeping with anyone who bought you a drink!"

"Hayley was happier without me."

"She would have been happier if you were there! She needed you! She was dying!"

Ty felt the stair that he was perched on sink a little more and Tegan slipped her cold hand into his. They were shaking again.