Just friends - Hannily/Hemily fanfic

12 - Breakfast and Loneliness

Spencer pov

It was dark when I got back home. Hardly any lights were on. But as I entered the kitchen, I could see my mum was sat on the sofa. She was clutching a glass of something, and had taken a big gulp as I came through the door. She looked like a wreck, and it matched how I felt. I could hear laughter from the garden, and one look out of the door showed Melissa and Wren, all cosy together. I sighed, and came to sit beside my mum.

I now recognised the drink as the strongest alcohol we had in the house. And my mum was going through the whole bottle.

"Where's dad?" As soon as she heard his name, she looked like she had awoken from a trance, and been told a family member had died. The sparkle that was usually in her eyes had disappeared, no trace of it remaining, and here she was looking like a messed up alcoholic.

"Mum?" I ushered, and she looked at me with her big eyes.

"He's not coming back. He ended it. He wants a divorce." It all kept spilling out of her mouth, like once she started she couldn't stop. But I wanted her to stop. I wanted her to laugh and tell me she was joking, or for him to jump out and shout 'gotcha' and then we'd all have a big laugh over my ridiculous reaction. But he didn't jump out, and she remained looking at the wall, as if she was lost.

And so I ran up the stairs, not even attempting to wipe away the tears rushing silently down my cheeks. I threw myself on to my bed, burying my face in the pillows. And then I cried myself to sleep.

In the morning, I woke up to the smell of toast and eggs, and the sound of laughter. I half expected my mum to run upstairs, and tell me breakfast was ready. I wanted to go downstairs and see my dad at the table before he went to work. But he wasn't going to be there. Instead, I found Wren and Melissa making their breakfast, as if nothing was wrong.

"Where's mum?" I asked no one in particular, settling on a banana for breakfast.

"She's still in bed. Looks like she had a rough night." Melissa replied, laughing at Wren who had butter on his cheek. Her laughter made me want to cry, as did the loving way Wren was looking at her. It made me want to cry, then puke.

"Where's Dad?" Melissa asked, looking at me. I shrugged, not wanting to tell her that he would probably not come home anytime soon.

"I have to get to school." I mumbled, going upstairs to get dressed. Once I was ready, I returned downstairs and grabbed a jacket.

"Did you want something to eat before you go?" Melissa asked, as Wren wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. Once upon a time, he could have been doing that to me. But instead, it was Melissa.

"No, thanks." I said, pulling on my jacket and picking up my bag. I didn't want to stay another second and see them two acting like love birds.

Like nothing had happened, or was happening.

So instead of hanging around, I went outside and left them alone. Alone like my mum. Alone like my dad. Alone like me.