The Monsters Inside and Out (Scott Howl x Depressed Reader)

165. Taking What's Yours

You open up the door and step out of the van, staring at the house. Scott gets out as well, standing next to you to put his hand on your shoulder. He asks, "You okay?" You nod your head, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's... Go." You step forward. Your footsteps feel heavy and there's a lump in your throat. You place your hand on the doorknob, stopping suddenly. You turn around and see your friends behind you, approaching your house as well. You smile and nod, turning the knob.

The door creaks open, and your mother is quick to jump up from the couch. She hops up to her feet, a shocked expression. "Honey! There you are! Oh my gosh, I was so worried!" She doesn't move to you. Instead, she darts her eyes from looking at you to Scott and your friends. She takes a deep breath and calmly asks, "What's going on?" You do the same and say, "I'm just here to collect the rest of my things. I already have a few of my things at my place, but I wanted the rest too." She smiles with a look of confusion, "Your place? The rest of your things? What do you mean by that?" "I moved out. I can't live here anymore." Your mom is about to say something, but your aunt puts her hand up to stop her. She stands up from the couch and turns to you. She says, "Seriously, (Y/N)? How could you do this to your mother? She has done nothing but care for you and raise you. She's loved you for years, and now you're ripping yourself away from her. Not to mention it's random and unannounced." You clench your fists, "It's been a long time coming. I've wanted to leave for years but didn't have the balls to do it. Until now." You turn away from them and start walking to your old bedroom. Your aunt speaks up, "What do you mean it's been a long time coming? What has she ever done to make you feel this way?" Instead of addressing your aunt, you turn your focus on your mom. She looks at you with a mixture of fear and sadness in her eyes. Keeping direct eye contact, you say, "You have done nothing for me. You've made me suppress who I am for years. Anytime I do something you don't like, you act like it's the end of the world. You've never given me the proper care I require when it comes to my mental health. All of my shortcomings are nothing but failures in your eyes. You would do anything to stop me from having any healthy relationships in my life. And you've let our loved ones die without any signs of remorse for your actions."

The anger in your aunt's eyes grows and she stepped forward, raising a hand to hit you, but Scott stops her. He stares daggers at her, "Don't touch them." Disgusted, she pulls her hand away from him. She says, "What's a beast like you doing in this household? Get out now before I call the police." She reaches into her pocket for her phone, surprised to see it's not there. "What the- Where is my phone?" Valerie laughs, "What? Looking for these?" She waves two phones up in the air, one belonging to your aunt and the other belonging to your mom. Your aunt lunges at her to take the phones, but Valerie just throws them behind her. Your aunt shouts, "Give those back!" You look over at Scott, and he smiles and nods. You both walk to your room together.

You enter the room. It barely looks any different than it did before. You say, "I can't believe I was ready to leave all this behind." You step over to your bookshelf, tracing your hand along the spines of books nestled inside it. Scott says, "Ooh! Wait here, I think I have some boxes in the van." Scott runs away to grab them, leaving you alone for a moment. You turn to your dresser and you open it, grabbing the clothes you left behind. You lay them neatly on the bed, continuing the process for all of your drawers. On the bottom drawer, you pull out the last pair of pants you have in there, and you see Scott's wristband he gave you a while ago. You put it on and your heart skips a beat, Suddenly, Scott comes back. "Hey! I have a few, so we're in the clear!" You smile, "Great! And look at what I found!" You hold your arm out for him to see, and his tail wags, "Aww, I haven't seen this in forever! Where was it?" You chuckle, "It was underneath my pants on the bottom drawer. I think I hid it there when I got it back from my aunt. I didn't want my mom to find it, so I hid it away and forgot about it. I'm sorry." Scott pets your head, "You don't need to apologize." He kisses your head and you both get back to it.

You continue putting the things you want to keep in your boxes, barely listening to the sound of the argument throughout the rest of the house. You're almost finished when you hear your mom behind you, asking, "Why?" You turn to her, "Why what?" She swallows nervously. "Why... Are you doing this to me? To us?" You groan, "I've told you why. The other night, before I went to prom. And I even repeated myself here. I'm done explaining. I'm too exhausted to deal with this right now." You turn back to continue, but your mom, like always, has another comment to add. "You're tearing this family apart." You scoff, "I am not. That was your doing. All those years ago..." She looks into your soul, "What do you mean?" You sigh, "You know what? Since I'm here, I might as well ask." You stare into her soul as well. "Why did you kill Acasius?" She gasps and puts her hand on her chest, "What are you talking about?" She takes a step back and bumps into Stan, who just turned the corner along with Lucien and Damien. She turns around and looks up at Stan. He places a hand on her shoulder and pushes her into the room. The three demons enter and shut the door. All eyes are on her now.