IN MY DREAMS [ krii7y ]

ᥴhᥲρtᥱr sιx

jaren hummed, his smile bright as he walked into his house, furrowing his eyebrows at his mom. the woman was on the couch, head in her hands, her body shaking with sobs. "mom?" jaren whispered, slowly walking over to her.

a sniffle came from his mother as she wiped her eyes, shaking her head and standing quickly. "grab whatever you're gonna need for the night, jaren." she whispered, her voice weak from her crying.

"wh-" jaren started to speak, stopping at his mother's hand.

"get what you need and get in the car, please." she whispered, rushing out of the house. the back door slammed, shaking the weak walls and scaring jaren. 

jaren stared t the door for a moment before walking into his room, noticing the doorknob that had been ripped off and thrown into the hallway. "what the hell happened here?" he wondered aloud, not seeing his father around to answer any questions he had as he grabbed a spare bag, throwing clothes into it.

he huffed, throwing it over his shoulder with his backpack before walking towards the kitchen, ignoring his vibrating backpack and grabbing a granola bar before walking outside to the car. "mom, where are we-" he started to ask, his mother shaking her head.

"just- just get in the car, baby." she sighed, rubbing her forehead as jaren slowly nodded, putting his backpack and bag in the backseat and getting in the front.

his mother was quick to turn the car on, pulling out of the driveway. jaren wondered what had shaken her up so bad that she couldn't wait to leave, but he figured she didn't want to talk about it, "can i turn the radio on?" he questioned, looking up at his mom.

she nodded, seeming to not be paying attention to anything except for getting away from the house that she called home.

and they drove like that for three hours, the car completely silent other than the radio playing and their breathing, the occasional vibration of jaren's backpack with his phone in it making a noise that scared both jaren and his mother.

but when they pulled into the parking lot of a motel that was nowhere near jaren's house, he slowly turned the volume of the radio down and stared at his mom, "why're we here, mom? why can't we stay home?"

jaren's mom smiled sadly, sniffling and brushing jaren's hair out of his eyes. "i wish we could stay home, baby, but i'm scared you're gonna get hurt too."

jaren's face fell at her words, furrowing his eyebrows, "what d'you mean too?" he asked quickly, looking at his mom. "who hurt you?"

jaren's mom shook her head, "later," she whispered. "grab your bags, i'll get us checked in and i'll explain once we get to the room."

jaren was sick of hearing that people would explain later, so he huffed and got out of the car, slamming the door and earning a flinch from his mother. this made him immediately feel bad for getting an attitude, and he decided that he'd be a lot more careful with the next car door.

🌻

jaren sighed, setting the bags down as his mother sat on the motel bed. "i can sleep in the chair, baby, so you can have the bed." she murmured, picking at her nails.

jaren shook his head quickly, "you can have the bed, mom. i'll take the chair, i'll be fine."

his mother looked like she wanted to protest, but jaren's look made her close her mouth. jaren slowly sat next to her, biting his lip. "mom?" he whispered.

"yeah, jaren?"

jaren didn't want to ask again, because he didn't want to pester his mom, but he just..he wanted to know. "what happened?"

his mom bit her lip, sighing and resting her head on jaren's shoulder, closing her eyes slowly. "he hurt me, jaren. i didn't want him hurting you too."

"who hurt you?" jaren asked, looking at his mom. he dreaded the answer, because he already knew.

"your father." she whispered, jaren frowning slowly as she relaxed against him.

he gently laid her on the bed, biting his lip and grabbing his phone, rushing outside and clicking john's contact as he sat on the sidewalk.

"milk boy?" john asked, looking up as he answered the facetime.

"john, i'm scared." jaren whispered, running a hand through his hair. "'m scared for my mama, and 'm scared of my papa, and 'm scared of myself."

john frowned the entire time, laying on his bed. he knew this was going to be a long conversation. "well, let's start off with the first one, why are you scared for your mama, jaren?"

jaren sniffled, looking down at his phone. "my mama got hurt, john. she can't go home, she's scared."

john pursed his lips, he didn't understand the slight sick feeling he got as a tear rolled down jaren's cheek, but he ignored that. "well, who hurt her?"

"my papa." jaren whispered, looking at john. he just wanted john to hold him, make him feel like he and his mama were safe. but john wouldn't be holding jaren, jaren wouldn't let him. john had made it very clear that he wasn't ready for that, so jaren wouldn't let john make him think he was ready. not this time.

john sat up immediately, "your papa hurt your mama?"

"i dunno how bad..i couldn't ask her, she fell asleep. b-but he hurt her, john." jaren whispered, his breath hitching slightly. he couldn't protect his mom, he wasn't even there but the image of his father striking his mother just kept replaying in his mind.

john frowned, "is that why you're afraid of your papa?"

"mhm," jaren sniffled, wiping his eyes. "i'm scared of my papa, john, and i dunno what to do. i have to go back tomorrow to get more clothes a-and i'm scared he's gonna be there-" jaren paused, realizing he was rambling and closing his mouth.

john smiled slightly, he loved when jaren rambled. he kept smiling for a moment before frowning as he realized what they were talking about, "i'll take you, jaren. don't let that asshole dictate your life. and don't let him dictate your mama's life either.." 

jaren nodded slowly, biting his nail anxiously.

"jaren?" john whispered, looking at the brunette.

"hm?"

"why're you scared of yourself?" john questioned, jaren frowning slowly.

"my mama said my breath smelled like flowers on the way over here." jaren whispered, "and that scares me, john. i-i've been coughing them up, a-and now my breath smells like 'em?"

john frowned, a heavy feeling settling itself in his gut. he wanted to apologize, to plead for jaren to forgive him. but john keyes was didn't want to hurt jaren more than he already had, john keyes was selfish.

"where are you, jaren?"

"a-at the-" jaren paused, glancing at the sign behind him. "east riverside motel, why?"

"i'm on my way."

~ s o n g ; i l o m i l o -
a r t i s t ;  b i l l i e  e i l i s h ~

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--A/N--

lol hi

so i didn't make the lui and david moment, that's coming chapter 7 or 8uh but it's okbc we got some jaren and johnand also uhsome sad moments with jaren and his momand some sad moments with jaren and his exya know it's gr8more krii7y next chaptersome daithi de calibre next chaptersome h20vanoss at some point (maybe can't decide yet)so yeahthat's a wrapbYE