Klance oneshots

The bookstore (2/12)

I couldn't stop thinking about him. Not in that way. It was just the way he laughed when he read his favorite book. It had been a while since I last laughed like that.
Long story short, when I got home I found out my father had caused a scene. He was yelling at my little sister, Rachel, who was crying her eyes out.
I approached her and picked her up. She buried her face on my neck, trying to hide, and her hands were shaking when she grabbed my shirt.
"Dad!" I called him "what did you do to her?"
"WHAT DID I DO? WHAT DID I DO?" He screamed "YOU KNOW WHAT? SHE DESERVED IT, SHE WAS BOTHERING ME" my dad was very angry and he wouldn't stop yelling.
"She's your daughter. She deserves some respect" I stated.
"She's not. Neither are you, asshole"
After that, he left. He was probably gonna go have too many drinks and wouldn't be back until noon. Rachel was still crying.
"Rachel, come on, let's go to your room, okay?"
She cried louder. I took her to her room and sat her on the bed.
"Rachel, what has he done to you?"
"He... he said he didn't love me and that... and that he was gonna leave me alone..."
"Anything else?" I asked.
"He hit me"
Only then I realized her cheek was red and her left eye was swollen.
"I'm..." I sighed "I'll go get some ice for your eye"
Half an hour later, I was back in my room. After brushing my teeth, I put my pajama pants on but left the t-shirt on the chair because it was too hot. Soon after, I noticed Rachel was at the doorstep. She told me she wasn't able to sleep and I told her she could sleep in my bed that night. Honestly, I love her a lot, but I'm being a brother and a father figure at the same time and it can be exhausting. I walk her to school, I walk her back home at the end of the day, I cook for her, help her with homework, I go grocery shopping and I work to pay for the food. My father just drinks, nonstop. Him being sober can be considered a miracle. But it could be worse, we could be orphans.
At night, I keep having the same nightmare. I come home from school and I'm happy. My mom is baking cookies and the house smells delicious. But then my father starts yelling. He picks a fight with my mom and Rachel, who is only three years old at the time, cries. Then, dad hits mom and she takes off her apron and tells me she's gonna get ice cream. She leaves the house to never come back.
I woke up in shock, even if it's the same thing that happens to me every night. I looked at the clock, 6:45 am, time to get up. I woke Rachel up and told her to go to her room and get ready for school.
I got dressed, went downstairs and made some breakfast for my sister and I. As I suspected, my father wasn't home yet. When we were done, I walked her to school.
Of course, I was late to my own classes because I had to take care of my sister. The bell rang and I ran through the corridors looking for my classroom. On my way, I accidentally made a guy trip and fall over.
"I'm so sorry" I started to apologize "I didn't know you were there"
"Lance?" He asked.
I looked at him again and realized it was the guy from the library.
"It's you..." I said, astonished.
"My name is Keith" he told me.
"Keith. Well, Keith, I'm really late, but perhaps we can talk later" I said goodbye and ran to my classroom.
I spent the maths lesson thinking about it. I thought I had seen him before, and I certainly did, as I walked past him every Monday. I didn't recognize him at the library, tho.

When it was lunch time, I went to the cafeteria. I walked through the tables, but I didn't join my friends at our usual one. Instead, I kept walking over to Keith, who was alone reading.
"Hey!" I said "What are you doing here by yourself?"
"I usually sit alone so I can take a break from them" he pointed to another table, where a bunch of people that I assumed were his friends were.
"And can I sit here?" I wondered.
"Well, if you don't mind what your friends think about you, sure you can" he replied.
I looked back and saw a couple of my friends giggling in surprise.
I smiled.
"I don't mind at all" I told him.
And it was true.
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Chapter 2 done, 10 more to go. I hope you like this story, you can let me know in the comments if you do. I'm gonna start translating the rest of the chapters as soon as I can, I still have a couple of college assignments to get done before that. If you have any questions about the story you can leave those in the comment section too, I read and reply to everything you guys say
Thanks for reading!