Ineffable Omens (Crowley x Aziraphale)

What Happened That Year (Part 2)

"I'm sick and tired of having to do everything around here," Mrs. Young shouted. "I didn't sign up for this when I married you."

"You know I'm so busy with work—"

"That's what you've said for 17 years! I took a break and went on maternity leave but I haven't been back in a stable job since because you needed me to be home with Adam. Well guess what? He's grown up, I got my degree, and I'm getting a job!"

"I never said you couldn't!"

"You're going to have to pick up your slack around here, sir or it's D-I-V-O-R-C-E for you and me!"

Adam sat on his bed upstairs, feet firmly planted on the ground as he listened to his parents argue. It would only get worse from there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Watch where you're walking, faggot," Johnson teased, shoving Adam into a locker as they passed in the halls.

It was a small action, and a younger Adam would have just moved on and kept walking, but Adam just stood there, leaning against the locker, trying to muster the will to move again. He felt like just staying there, standing there forever. The sick thing was, he knew no one would ever notice.

He hesitantly took a step forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adam sat there in class, his mind an onslaught of negative thoughts and, at the same time, this overarching numbness. They were halfway through an exam, and Adam hadn't answered a single question. That wasn't like him at all. He was a 4.0 GPA student. But he hadn't studied for this test at all. He got home and broke down, the. Proceeded to stay up all night because every time he tried to sleep, the dark thoughts kept rushing back in.

That morning, he had tried to quickly study over breakfast, but once he got there, he lost all motivation. His pencil lay neatly along the side of his desk, untouched, and he had only put his name on the top of the test.

He simply couldn't focus. He couldn't do anything. He just sat there frozen, until eventually he decided to just leave. He got up, and left the room. No one said anything. Like he was invisible. Great.

His teacher later offered him a retake, and he aced it, so no further questions were asked. No one cared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You can't continue to participate in this class in long sleeves. It is obvious you're dying of heat. Go change," hos gym teacher ordered.

"No. I can wear what I want."

"Not when it's preventing you from participating in my class."

"It's not!" Adam fought back, pulling his sleeves down. After the cutting got worse, he had started wearing long sleeves, and he wasn't going to reveal his scars and never cuts to the assholes he had gym with.

"It most certainly is. Now change, or its detention."

"Fine! I'd take detention any day!"

"Why are you so opposed to putting on a tshirt?" the gym teacher asked. "It's just a shirt."

"I don't have one with me," Adam argued, "so there. Ha."