𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚊 (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙾 & 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚁)

•𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘪𝘹•

!!  TW AGAIN FOR ATTEMPTED MANIPULATION AND SELF-DOUBTING !!

not actually sure if these are tw but better safe than sorry idk

You gulped nervously as you tried to pass your father, hoping that was just his resting face and he just happened to be facing the door when you walked in.  But, of course, you couldn't really make yourself believe that, and it was proven when you heard his voice rumble menacingly,  "Where have you been?"

You slowed turned and faced him, and saw your mom walking out from behind the wall.

"With.. my friends.. I told you this morning—"

"LIES," His voice boomed, cutting your sentence short.  He stood up abruptly and your mom quickly placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I told you that you'd better not lie to me for your own good. And here you are, SNEAKING OFF TO SEE AN OLDER MAN?" You flinched, backing up instinctively.

"What.. I—, it's not.. what you do mean?" You stammered, trying to conceal the shake in your voice. Your mother shook her head and you focused on her.

"Sweetie, what your father means is.. we followed you." Your heart dropped, and you felt increasingly fearful, and anxious. You couldn't speak, even if you did try to muster up some kind of response. The most you could utter was a weak, "When..?"

"We have been suspicious for a while, and we're so disappointed in you. We raised you better than to follow strangers to their home. I'm afraid that he's tricked you," she said softly, and it really hit you. Your mother was always so gentle with you, so you felt like you could trust her.  Even if she did seem crazy for staying with your aggressive father.

"Garcello is my friend, he's not a bad person.." you nervously glanced back-and-forth to your parents.

"Oh honey, that's what they all want you to think. They lure you in and that's when they catch you. I was so worried when he took you into his house, and I wanted to get you.."

"But you needed to learn. The hard way. Apparently, we haven't taught you hard enough," your father interjected, and he started advancing towards you slowly.

"People can be horrible, (Y/N). They'll always have ulterior motives..." your mother said from behind him, and you felt your heartbeat increasing. You slid away towards the door.

"Garcello isn't bad! He's like.. a father to me. More of a father than you've ever been!" You shouted at your dad, and felt shock towards yourself for having the courage to say that. You started to regret it quickly, when you saw he was seething. He advanced towards you faster and you rushed out the door, tripping over furniture and kicking it into his way.

You knocked over a few chairs on the way before you escaped, and he stumbled into them, shouting.

"Fine then, GET OUT. AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL THAT ATTITUDE OF YOURS IS FIXED!"

You heard your mother screaming after you, and ran as fast as you could, as far as your legs could carry

Eventually, all sounds from your parents died out, and you felt exhausted. You didn't know how far you ran, but you managed to find an alleyway, and sat down out of breath. You felt your heart's pumping all the way up in your head and panted for air, holding your hand over your heart.

It was always this and that, about how horrible people on the outside were, like you would die if you tried to do anything without their knowing and 'advice.' You knew everything they said was all a lie,  so why did it affect you?  You knew they were just trying to manipulate you, but somehow, it worked. And that's what frightened you, because you didn't know who to trust or what to believe.

You were a runaway now, so where would you go? The only things you had on you were your wallet, your phone, and the clothes on your back.  Where were you supposed to live?  Because you surely were not going back to suffocate in your parent's house.

Could you go to Garcello? Was your mother right, about him? You didn't know who's judgement to trust and eventually you fell asleep against the brick wall out of exhaustion, light tears of shock rolling down your face.

You woke to a stray dog licking your face, and you weakly smiled. You tried to pet it, but it startled, and let you pet it once before running off. You sighed, getting up and popping your back. You looked around, and pulled your phone out. It was late now, exactly 12:28 AM. You weren't sure about going to Garcello right now, but you didn't think you had any other choice.

Your mother's voice constantly nagged at you in your mind, threatening you with all the dangers of the outside world, and you would hesitate, but you kept on. You hoped your memory would serve you well enough to find his house, even in this dark.

The atmosphere was eerie, what with the dim streetlights and occasional scuttling of stray cats. You felt paranoid, like your parents were watching and following you, so that didn't help with much either.

You managed to find a familiar building, and after some wrong turns and circles, you found his house.  You felt bad for going to his house so late, when he must've been asleep.  You weren't even sure if he would answer the door, but you decided to try your luck, and advanced towards his house tiredly.

His house wasn't exactly near yours, so you were weary from the walk to get here.  You made it to the door and squinted at it, just making sure you really got the right house.

You slowly brought your hand up to the door and knocked on it gently,  then a bit harder a second time.  You didn't get a response, so you tried the doorbell,  and could hear it ring throughout the house from outside.

You tried once more, and was about to leave before the door finally opened.

"(Y/N).?"  A tired voice said behind you, and you turned.

"What are you doing here? It's late."  Garcello was standing there with messy hair and tired eyes, and you didn't think you'd seen a more comforting sight in a while.

"I'm sorry, it's kind of.. complicated.  I'm sorry about waking you up but I didn't know where else to go and I don't think I can or should go back home right now,"  you explained sadly,  feeling guilty.

He stepped aside so you could enter, and you gratefully nodded to him, feeling exhaustion catch up to you quickly.

"Do you need anything to eat?  Or a shower?  Are you alright?"  He started bombarding you with a bunch more questions concerning your health and state, and you shook your head.

"I'm fine, just tired.. I hope it's alright if I just crash on the couch for now.  I'll explain what happened in the morning."

He took one more once-over of you and pat your shoulder.

"If you say so.  If you need anything, don't be afraid to wake me, alright?  Take it easy, kid.  Get some rest."    He retreated to his bedroom and you walked over to the couch that you had fallen asleep on earlier in the day.  You stood over it and let yourself collapse into the squishy comfort of the couch,  sinking in and wishing you'd keep sinking, into the earth and away from all your troubles.

You fell asleep with a feeling of temporary comfort and dread for the next day, and for the many more to come.

-1289 words-

(A/N)im starting to lose motivation to write sksjjsnskss

life's just gonna go downhill from here— sorry guys

i feel like an average of 1000 words is kind of short for the chapters but oh well.

anyways, good day to you