The Halo Effect | ✓

09 | relapse

E P I G R A P H

❝You're just another chapter in the book,
I can't go on to the next page❞

☾ nine | relapse ☽

The rest of the drive was quiet. His hand was still on my thigh and I felt content for once, I didn't feel so on edge which is a rare experience around Zayden.

He was relaxed and so was I. I wasn't internally counting down the minutes before he explodes on me again with some ridiculous accusation.

He isn't always such a douche surprisingly, don't get me wrong his natural state of being is rude, but there is the occasional time when he is nice. It's usually when no one else is around us and he doesn't have to worry about his reputation or the way he looks or appears to others.

I like him, I do. Or maybe I just like the thought of him. But he is a good person, deep deep down. If he wasn't so worried about the way people perceive all the time. .maybe, just maybe, he would be a nicer human.

I try to understand him because he's had a lot of abandonment issues in his life since he was young. His dad, like my mother, cheated and left him, his little sister and his mom to fend for themselves. He was their only source of income and security, but he left because he no longer wanted the responsibility of having a family.

His mom is a recovering addict and his sister truly looks up to him, he's the only stable-normal person she's ever known. His little sister is named Kiah, I've met her a handful of times and she's a good kid, he's brought her up well. She's very polite and mature for her age.

I guess his situation is very similar to Mason's in a way.

Everyone is going through something in Moonvale, I haven't heard of one person whom lives a normal life with no problems. I guess this place is just a colony for problematic people that need to escape.

"Halo?" Zayden's voice sounded, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked around, realising we were parked outside of my house, "Sorry." I murmured, "Um, thanks for the ride."

He nodded, biting his lip, "Wait. . .Hals?"

"Yeah?" I replied as I held my bag on my lap, the door open as I awaited to get out.

"Do you think I could come in for a bit?" he said nervously.

I internally sighed, but nodded anyways. It's not that I necessarily don't want him to come over, I'm just exhausted and don't have the energy to hold company or a conversation right now.

I exited the car at the same time he did. He pressed the button on his keys to lock the car before following me to the front door.

I fetched my keys out of my bag before unlocking the door, stepping inside waiting for Zayden to enter before gently closing the door behind him, immediately spotting my brother in the exact same place he was yesterday, on the couch with a blanket whilst he watched the flat screen television in front of him with complete concentration.

As always, we greeted each other, he and Zayden pretty much ignored each others existence before we stomped up the stairs and to the first door on the left was my bedroom.

I opened the door before dropped my bag and literally sprinting over to my bed and jumping on top of it, immediately snuggling into the covers.

Zayden chuckled before kicking his shoes off and planting himself down next to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me flush against his chest as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.