Disturbed

Chapter Twenty-Five :

Asher sighs and rolls his eyes, as he walks back to the couch with O'Shay. Toby looks over at Brantley as he grabs some water bottles and notices his parents arguing outside. Coming back to the living room, Toby hands everyone their water bottles. Asher turns to O'Shay and whispers,

Asher : Please talk some sense to him.
O'Shay : Hon, it's not my place. I'm happy that you're my boyfriend, but I also made a promise that I would be there for him. It's complicated.
Asher : How so?
O'Shay : He's your brother, he's my ex, he doesn't want nothing to do with your dad.
Asher : Our dad.
O'Shay : Just give him time.

Brantley comes towards the living room as they all sit back and watch television. Mia and Dylan suddenly come back inside, quietly. Toby looks at them and sighs softly.

Toby : Guys, let's go to the mall.
Piper : For what?
Toby : There's an arcade I want to go to.
Asher : Sounds like fun.
Tyler : Who's car are we taking?
Ruby : Mine.

As they all leave the house, Mia and Dylan sigh looking at each other. Dylan locks the door and walks to Mia,

Dylan : It's not that I'm mad that you cheated.
Mia : It was just once, I swear it me-
Dylan : Meant nothing? Yeah I know. I'm just mad, that you slept with him.
Mia : I only did it so you could get your career started. I did it for-
Dylan : Don't you even fucking dare to say that you did it for us!
Mia : If you didn't get this opportunity, I would've known what would've happened to you.
Dylan : Yeah? Well, what's that?
Mia : You would go back to shooting up heroin! Even worse, you would've gone back to that crazy alcoholic bitch!

Dylan steps back turns his back to her. He looks at an old family portrait of himself, Mia, and Toby back in 2008. His eyes start to run softly with tears and responds as his voice breaks,

Dylan : I am five years clean. I am sober now. That bitch, her name is Valerie.
Mia : Whatever-
Dylan : Shut up, don't interrupt me. Not whatever. I'm five years clean. That's 1,825 days. Half a decade, and I hate you with a passion when you bring up my past. You don't see me bringing up the time about your attempt murder?
Mia : Stop, whatever. I was the one that helped you get clean, and get your act together.
Dylan : I got my act together because Toby needed a father, and I wasn't going to let him suffer.

Mia scoffs and rolls her eyes. She grabs her purse and keys, as she sighs heavily. Dylan grabs her arm and asks her with a stern look on his face,

Dylan : Where the hell are you going?
Mia : I, I just need some time to cool off. I can't, this is too much.
Dylan : You're going to cool off, or service another one of your customers? I'm your husband, let's just work this out.
Mia : I... I already have someone waiting for me.
Dylan : What a fucking whore.

Mia stops herself from leaving the house, turns back around, and walks back to Dylan. Her face heats up and points at his chest as she complains,

Mia : It's not my fault you have a low sex drive and can't keep your shit up, more than three minutes! Stop worrying about me being a "whore", worry about yourself because don't forget how much of a horrible father you were.
Dylan : I am a lot of things, but a horrible father is not one of them. I got clean for my son and that's all I care about. You know what? Go ahead and leave. I'm sure everyone at that fucking diner you work at, would love to hear this.

Mia scoffs and spits in Dylan's face, as she storms out of the house. Slamming the door, Dylan sighs and sits down on the couch. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he slowly searches for Valerie's contact information and taps onto the messages. He looks back at the old messages from 2013, when he first tried getting clean. He stares at the blank television and rethinks of the past, as he cries to himself alone.

[ In the year 2013, Mia and Dylan had just moved into the area for a fresh start. Dylan had started having experience with cocaine, methamphetamine, and now heroin. Toby was living with his grandparents back up north, when Dylan's addiction progressed worse. Mia wanted to leave him so bad, various times, but she felt that she was chosen to help him get clean.
Mia spent most of her time helping out at the church, she devoted her life by spreading scriptures from the Bible to people in need. She often asked for prayers for Dylan at her church, but Dylan was a very difficult person at the time. He would not allow anyone from the church to visit him, beside the exception of his wife.
Mia slowly started to give up on him and was seeing this other man from the church. He would tell her that he had a ex girlfriend who suffered from alcoholism, so he knew the struggle. Mia was ready to go home and ask for a divorce, however she had came home to find Dylan overdosed in the living room floor.
She had called an ambulance and arranged him a room at a rehab facility. While what she thought he was getting help, Mia had traveled back home to her parents to go see Toby. She would lie and say he would be on business trips. On the day of his release, Mia and Dylan were thinking it would be best to keep Toby living with his grandparents for the meantime.
At the time, it was the summer and Dylan was working as a constructor. He was making progress, which made Mia realize she was wrong about considering a divorce. She decided it was time for Toby to move down with his parents. They were all so happy and feeling golden. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last forever. Dylan was told that there will be some cuts and four people will be laid off. Dylan was one of the four people and fell into some depression. Mia began to get worried about him, after being laid off. No one was hiring, he began to lose hope, and started to sneak out at night to go to the bar.
Dylan would visit the underground bar three times a week. At first, he would drink alone and play darts. He was ready to leave the bar completely, until one day he had laid his eyes on a woman. He had smiled at her and buy her drinks. They had both introduced themselves, which created a strong bond between them off. It wasn't love, yet it was an extraordinary friendship like no other.
As time went on, he would meet her for drinks and a friendly competition of darts. They were the best of friends and it wasn't weird for any of them. Dylan was curious to see if she was a user, just like he was.

Dylan : Hey Val?
Valerie : Yeah?
Dylan : I know this might sound weird, but do you use?
Valerie : Do I use?
Dylan : Yeah. You know.

Dylan points at his arm and raises an eyebrow as she gasps and drinks her drink. Dylan laughs at her reaction, and calls the bartender for another drink.

Valerie : Sorry, and I actually never tried it. Do you?
Dylan : If you'd like to, I can show you.
Valerie : Sounds great.

Months went on as Valerie's drinking progressed worse, and Dylan relapsed once again that had put Mia on edge. As time went on, Mia left the church and began to work at the local diner downtown. She would suspect Dylan for cheating on her with Valerie. Dylan had came clean and told her about Valerie and their friendship. Mia tried her best to stop them from seeing each other again, even if that meant for her to attempt murder. ]

Dylan gets up from the couch and pulls out his phone again, as he dials the number and hears a familiar voice. Goosebumps run down his spine, feeling paralyzed, he softly speaks,

Dylan : Hey, it's me. Can we meet at our old spot? I need to speak to you, Valerie.