Atelophobia || Graser10 // discontinued

9

It's been 3 days since we found out.

3 days since Zach has last cut.

3 days since Zach took a break from YouTube.

And 3 days since we made the appointment.

The day we decided to make it? Today.

It was brisk, still slightly snowing from the night before, and the feeling of Christmas was in the air. People had their lights up, and wreaths were hanging from their doors. Christmas was always a great time for me, as I grew up with a loving family who was in the upper middle class. For Zach, it was a completely different story. During the holiday season he was always bounced around from foster home to foster home. There were so many kids being abandoned, abused, or orphaned at that time, no one had any room. Not to mention that Zach was 14, which was an undesirable age to be in the system, as no one wanted to adopt nor house a kid who was older than 6.

The meeting place was a coffee shop, I made it required to be a public place, he hadn't seen them in over 7 years, and we had no idea what type of people these were.

The door jingled, signaling that we had walked in, and I scanned the room, looking for anyone who had the slightest resemblance to Zach. I just assumed that they weren't here her yet, but as I walked over to the counter to get a drink, his face went pale.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, holding onto his hand. His eyes directed to a table in the corner, one which I haven't seen. A older couple sat there, they couldn't have been older than 50, despite the obvious bags under their eyes. I gave Zach a quick glance and a peck on the cheek, "It's gonna be fine. I love you." I told him, although I was quite afraid too. How would they act? Like nothing ever happened? Apologetic?

I didn't want to go on, but for the sake of Zach, I knew I had to stay strong for the both of us. I was used to it, I did it every day.

As we reluctantly made it over to the table, I saw them up close, they were extremely skinny, probably from malnutrition and it seemed like they were shaking. This was one of the reasons why I decided at a young age to never drink alcohol. It's a dangerous thing and I'm not about to take that risk.

Their faces lit up when they saw us, recognizing Zach, it wasn't that difficult to know it was him, I've seen pictures of him when he was young, and he didn't look much different.

As we sat down and nodded them a hello, the woman, who I assumed was his mother began talking.

"Zachary? Is... Is that really you?" She started, her voice quiet. She looked as if she was about to cry and her husband held her hand, comforting her. It was a disturbing thought really, how could these people, soft spoken and so gentle, hurt their child like that? I couldn't imagine this being the same people who caused Zach so much pain and suffering all these years.

"Y-yes mom. I-it's me." he stuttered, suddenly putting one arm around my waist and pulling me closer. "A-and this is Sage, my girlfriend."

"Well hello there Sage, I would say that I've heard a lot about you, but I would be lying." his dad chuckles.

"I can't say the same for you two. It seems as though I've heard a little too much about you guys." I replied, making the tension levels rise dramatically. I watched his parents shift awkwardly in their seats, the didn't expect me to say that, and neither did I to be honest.

"Babe please, calm down." Zach said a moment after my snide comment. "Please, just calm down." He looked at me with pleading eyes.

"No! No I will not 'just calm down' are you crazy? These are the people who hurt you, they're the reason you're like this! They're the reason why we have to go to a therapist every week, they're the reason why you have nightmares, they're the reason why you can't be alone for a few hours. They're. The. Reason. Why." I turned to his parents. "You two." I growled. "Do you have any idea what type of emotional damage you've caused him? Do you?!" I yelled.

"I- " his mother started.

"No. You didn't." I scoffed. "Of course you didn't. Do you know why? It's because you were so busy drinking your fucking feelings away instead if paying attention to your own child. He was depressed for God's sake! He hated himself so much
Because of you two. Are you not at least the tiniest bit guilty?!"

"Sage." Zach said. "Please, people are starting to stare."

"Yes, please let me tell you why we're here. We just wanted to apologize-" his mother tried to say.

"Bullshit!" I exclaimed. "I know why you're really here. I did my fucking research. I know you two have been out of jail for months."

Zach gasped. "Is that true? Have you really been out all this time and not has the decency to at least try and contact me?" Anger flashed through his eyes.

"Well technically yes, but-" his father replied.

"But what?" He asked, starting to tear up. "Did you really not want to see me that bad? Your only child?"

"No! Honey, we did want to see you! We just wanted to get over our alcoholism, that's all." his mom insisted.

"You're still lying, you were in maximum security, meaning you would've already gotten treated there and you probably weren't allowed to have even a drop of alcohol. Tell him the real reason you're here." I commanded.

"Fine! You want the real answer?" He dad replied. "After getting into prison, my reputation was ruined. I used to be a highly respected lawyer. Now I have no money. We hear that you two have quite a bit of it. Is that true?"

"Are you kidding me?" Zach loudly exclaimed. "You came to us... for money?" His voice broke. "You didn't really want to see me. That's why you called... I should've known, I'm so fucking stupid." He grabbed my hand along with his jacket. "C'mon, we're leaving." he turned to his parents one last time and added coldly, "oh, and if you didn't want a restraining order, I suggest you lose my number and find a different source of income."

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