Set a month or so before the divorce
Tws: yelling, arguments, cussing, hitting, emotional & physical abuse
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"Well at least I'M not a mistake!"
Holly heard her father, Gabriel, yell at her mother, Juniper.
"Yeah, but you're a disgusting monster!" Juniper countered.
Holly whimpered, holding one of Noelle's pillows. They were both in Noelle's room.
The yelling got louder and louder.
Noelle held Holly close, singing softly to distract the young girl from the yelling.
At the time, Noelle was 12 and Holly was eight.
Noelle got quiet when she heard silence. Silence never meant anything good.
Then she heard the harsh slap.
Holly gasped curling into a ball, she was horrified after she heard it, she knew what it was. She'd had it happen to her before. So had Noelle, for that matter.
Noelle pulled Holly off of her lap and handed her a pair of headphones, which were plugged into her phone.
"Listen to my spotify playlist, I'll be right back." Noelle said, though she was terrified herself.
Holly put the headphones to her ears, soon being calmed a bit by the acoustic music Noelle tended to listen to.
Lots of Cavetown, Dodie, Mxmtoon, those type of singers.
Noelle opened the door and walked out, brushing off her skirt as she leaned on the wall.
Juniper was holding her cheek as tears fell from her eyes. As her hand moved so she could push Gabriel away, a bright red mark was left, in the shape of a hand. Gabriel held her close, even though Juniper was squirming and trying to push him away.
"Stop, stop, leave me alone,"
Juniper mumbled as Gabriel frowned. He looked almost disappointed.
"No. Forgive me, sweetheart, please. You know I didn't mean it."
Juniper shook her head, finally getting away from him.
"No. You meant it. If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't have done it!" Juniper argued, her voice getting louder as she took a step back from him.
"Juniper, I--"
"Leave her alone!" Noelle finally yelled, not too far from tears, herself. She stepped out from behind the wall where she was watching.
"Noelle, you don't understand." Gabriel told her condescendingly.
"Just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't get it!" Noelle said, backing away.
Juniper managed a small smile. Noelle could tell it was fake. "Sweetie, Noelle, go to your room. I'll be right there and I'll read to you and Holly."
Noelle stood her ground for a moment, before nodding and blinking her tears away. She turned and walked back into her room and sat next to Holly.
Holly crawled back into Noelle's lap.
"Is Mom okay?" She asked, taking her headphones off.
Noelle plastered a bright smile on her face. She had to be okay, just for the sake of her sister.
"Yeah, she's great. Everything's okay." Noelle lied, and Holly believed it.
As a few moments passed, Juniper walked in, holding an ice pack on her cheek.
Holly's eyes widened as she sat up, she'd been slowly falling asleep.
"Mom, are you okay? What happened?"
Juniper nodded. "I'm alright. Don't worry about it." She sat on the rocking chair next to Noelle's bed, holding a book in her other hand.
Juniper took out a book. "Want me to read?"
Noelle and Holly nodded, Noelle pulling a blanket over them, and Holly holding a pillow to her chest.
Juniper smiled. "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street," Juniper read, "By Dr. Suess."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
It's been a month, and Holly and Noelle live in different houses.
Holly with their father.
Noelle with their mom.
They divorced. of course Gabriel put up a fight, but Juniper wasn't having any of it.
Holly turned herself mostly off, other than her sarcasticness and childish personality, and of course her shyness.
Noelle never wanted to talk about her feelings, and plastered on a 100% happy persona.
Holly was emotionally (and sometimes physically) abused by Gabriel. Many times, it was because Holly reminded him of Juniper. Gabriel always apologized, but his actions were already far from apologies.
Meanwhile, no matter how hard anyone tried, no one could get Noelle to talk about her dad or how her home life affected her when her father was around. Also, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. No matter how hard she tried.
Holly, on the other hand, is very open about how much she hates him.
And Juniper? She has trouble trusting people.
However...
Juniper would make damn sure that Holly would live away from her father.
No matter what happened.
