The Fall of Forever {A MyStreet FF}

{20} Deception

TW: Talk of suicide and suicidal ideation
(This is mostly a filler I'm sorry)

"What's going on with you?" Zianna's voice said.

In the weeks that passed since the Forever Potion was administered, Michael followed through on his promise. He was going to erase the memories of Garroth's cancer from everyone.

Except, Michael had one catch: Garte, Derek, Elizabeth, Zack, and himself had to remember. He outright refused to erase the memories of the five before any of them could even ask.

In turn, Zianna's life went back to what previously was. Her memory was filled with false ones of mundane, everyday life. Garte, on the other hand, was stuck with the memory of the turmoil that his family endured.

"Hm?" Garte unintentionally said as he snapped back into the present.

"Were you listening, G?" Zianna asked, but not angrily. It was a gentle tone with genuine concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry," Garte mumbled and ran his hand over his face.

As he lied, he tried to regather in his mind what they had been talking about. They both sat in his office, the world quiet and calm as the boys were in bed.

He couldn't think of a damned thing either of them had said.

"It's alright," Zianna responded.

She knew full well he wasn't listening. She was hardly shocked by this. Mixed with her husband's attention issues, and whatever was going on in his mind, she hardly expected Garte to be fully engaged in the conversation.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Zianna asked.

"I'm good," Garte shook his head. "I need to make a call and then I'll get to bed."

"This late?"

The husband and wife simultaneously looked at the clock. It was hitting about 9:30 PM, much later than either of them would consider polite for a call.

"I know, but it's Michael. It won't be long," Garte tried to explain.

Zianna hardly bought the argument. She was already disliking Michael. Even though her memories of her son's illness were erased, she knew that Michael was manipulative and someone that they should be cautious about associating with.

"I'm sure it can wait, love," Zianna tried to convince Garte. "You should get some rest."

Ever since she had known Garte, he struggled with anxiety induced insomnia. Sleeping was something that was hard for him, be it falling asleep or staying asleep. Those past couple weeks, she would wake up to Garte just staring at the ceiling, or to the sound of him getting up and leaving the room.

"Zianna, please," Garte looked up at her. "I'll be in bed soon."

Zianna sighed. She could only do so much. But, sometimes trying to convince Garte to do something was like trying to negotiate with a brick wall.

She nodded, standing up and exiting the room. As she was leaving the room, she glanced back at her husband to find him so drowned in his own thoughts that he was barely able to think or move. She sighed again and left to go to her own room.

Garte shook his head and stood up. He shoved his hands in his pocket and stared out the window.

"Irene, I'm a shit husband," he mumbled to himself.

He took his phone out of his pocket and unlocked the screen. As he did so, the text from Michael asking him to give him a call was the first thing to pop up on the screen. Garte drew in a long breath and pressed the button to call him.