clumsy | l.h.

fourteen

"how many stories have you told, where you made it through hell with your eyes closed?" - Eyes Closed / State Champs

---

-Luke-

Standing on my parents' doorstep, I was struggling to gather the courage to finally knock. Part of me just wanted to just leave, go home and spend the rest of Christmas Day in the apartment alone.

Before I could even make a decision, the door swung open on it's own, and my mom pulled me in for a hug. When she pulled away, she just stared at me, "Luke, it's so good to see you. Thank you for agreeing to come. We needed a normal Christmas this year."

I stepped inside, "Well this isn't a normal Christmas, Mom. We don't get to have those anymore."

Her face fell slightly, and out of the corner of my eye I saw my dad in the kitchen, with a look that suggested he was less than impressed with my comment. I gave him a small wave, "Merry Christmas, Dad."

"Welcome home, son. Your brother's in the living room." He gave me a small wave as well, although it was hard not to pick up on the lack of pleasantness in his voice. It was clearly going to be a long day.

When I walked into the living room, Ben pulled me into a hug as well. He gave me a pat on the back, shaking his head, "I couldn't believe it when they told me you were actually going to come home today. I'm glad to see you gaining some independence, though. It's good for you."

I nodded, "Yeah, it actually has been pretty nice. Don't tell Mom and Dad I said that, though. I don't need to give them the satisfaction of knowing they were right."

I placed the gifts I had brought under the tree. Next to the tree, there was a framed photo on the wall from Christmas a while ago. All five of us were in this one, the last Christmas family photo we had taken since Jack had passed away. None of us could stand to take any more knowing that he wouldn't be in them.

My mom rushed into the room, dragging my dad along behind her, "Okay, now that Luke's here we can open gifts!"

I furrowed my eyebrows, taking a seat on the couch, "Already? I just got here."

Mom shrugged, "Well, we're going to be eating dinner fairly early, your brother can't stay long tonight."

Jumping right into it, my mom started passing gifts around from under the tree. My dad and brother went first, both giving me gracious nods when they opened the gifts I had given them. Turns out Violet had done well picking for them.

I opened my own gifts, not being entirely surprised that I was slightly underwhelmed. My brother and dad both hadn't heard from me in a while, so receiving gift cards from them made sense. My mom's gift, on the other hand, was far better. It was a framed photo, the same one that I had just observed hanging on our wall. My mom gave me a sad smile, "I figured you would like to have one for your own apartment. I know how much having those pictures means to you."

I stood up and gave her a hug, starting to feel better about my decision to come back and visit. Maybe things really could be different between us all. I smiled at my mom, pushing my gift towards her, "Well, open yours now."

She unwrapped it gently, smiling widely when she saw what it was, "Well thank you, Luke. What a lovely gift." She gave me a knowing glance as we started to pick up the stray wrapping paper. I tried to ignore it, cleaning up instead. I knew that I wouldn't be able to avoid her for long, though.

Before we could make anymore conversation as a family, my dad retreated back into the kitchen, taking my brother with him to help finish cooking. My mom sat next to me on the couch, "I really am so glad to see you, Luke. I know you've been upset with us, but you know we've only been keeping your best interest at heart."