Letting Go (The Stray Kids Collection: Story #1) [AMBW] ✔️

68

Felix, lightly rubbing his eyes, realized he was about to.

"I'm not going to cry, don't worry," the older boy muttered, swinging slightly.

"When I get sad, I tell my mom and dad and they go out and buy me lollipops and then we watch movies until I have to go to bed," the boy said with a toothy grin.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! What about you? Do your parents do that for you?"

Felix just hummed. "By the way, I'm Felix, what's your name?"

"I'm Henry!"

"Cute."

"I like your name too," Henry said with a smile. "I feel like I would name a cat that though."

"Hey!" Felix exclaimed, causing Henry to giggle uncontrollably.

"I'm kidding! You should've seen your face."

Before Felix can speak again, a woman, the same one from the last time he had seen Henry, appeared in front of them.

"Making a friend Henry?"

The boy nodded and then turned to Felix. "That's my mom. Mom, this is Felix."

Henry's mother smiled but her eyes watched Felix cautiously.

"I think it's time we get going honey," she said, changing the subject.

"Is Dad coming over tonight? He promised to watch Ghostbusters with me since it's my birthday!"

The woman chuckled and grabbed Henry's hand. "I'm sure he'll be coming. He promised, so don't worry."

Henry cheered and jumped off the swing to follow his mother off. He turned to Felix briefly, waving goodbye and Felix waved back, his heart heavy.

When Felix got home, his mother informed him that his father would once again not be making it home for the night and the boy's stomach squeezed. That night, he didn't have dinner. Instead, he sat in his room and tried to piece together everything he had seen. Henry looked like him when he was younger, looked like his dad and Felix was sure now that he saw Henry, Henry's mother and his own father together. They all had looked so content, acting like one cute, happy family.

The answer was there but Felix didn't want to put it together, couldn't. It had to be wrong. His family was fine. His father was just his father. He didn't have any siblings. It was just him, his mom and his dad. Just three. But as the night furthered on, Felix couldn't bring himself to believe it.

~~~

Pretend.

Pretend smile, pretend laugh, pretend happiness. Felix was getting really good at pretending. To his friends, his mother, and when he was around, his father. The boy figured, if he kept it to himself, it would go away. He'd forget about it and life would be normal. He stopped walking that way home from school so he wouldn't pass by the park and he spent more time with his mom, deflecting any thoughts he had about his father. It worked, to a point, until his dad would come back home and avoid them, and then Felix was thinking about it again.

It was so hard. He wanted to tell his mom but he was scared. How do you tell your mother that her husband, your father, has another family? And as he thought about it, he become more annoyed and angry and sad with himself. Why was this happening to them?

The night it all fell apart, Felix had been surprised to see his father home so early. It had been the third time that week and Felix was finding it hard to breathe. When it was just him and his mom, he felt okay. He didn't have to think too much about a different family because his mother didn't have one. Once his dad was home, all those dreaded thoughts came crawling back. He tried to play it off but it felt like his dad was catching on.