The Ways of Patching Up | ✓

Zero

"Why are you always blaming me?!"

"You're the head of this family! You're supposed to be responsible for everything!"

"I've been working my ass off while you're there fooling around and being so goddamn bitchy!"

Elliot fluttered his eyes open, listening to the muffled screams of his parents from downstairs. It was pitch black outside, and the time on his alarm clock showed barely past 4, but there were already disturbing noises. Hearing the commotion, he just wanted to cover his ears with his blanket and slept through it like nothing happened.

"Can Mom and Dad get along already?" Elliot whispered, while he continued staring at the ceiling above him.

This was the first time their fight escalated. The last time they had a verbal war, they reconciled the next day and acted like nothing happened. Elliot usually shrugged it off, thinking it was typical for Mom and Dad to butt heads, but this time... it worried him so much. There was no way he wanted to go back to the bed and do nothing about it.

It just felt like he had to do something or else... something he didn't want to happen... could happen to both Mom and Dad.

A few seconds had passed, Elliot eventually got the urge to rise up from his position. Facing the mirror just across his bed, he rubbed his sleepy eyes. He never woke up at this time, when a child like him was supposed to be asleep... but that still didn't stop him. Both Mom and Dad would be mad at him for staying up, but he was not afraid either. Just as he was placing his tiny legs on the floor, a loud thud rang across the house, startling the boy.

"Wha... What's that?" He asked no one in particular. It sounded like someone was slamming the main door shut... it obviously was one of his parents but who?

The curiosity that had been filling him finally drove him to see what was really going on.

Swallowing his breath and with no further questions, he swiftly hopped from his bed and headed for the door, the wood underneath his feet creaked loudly. When he made it out, he quickly headed for the stairs, his footsteps echoing across the hall. He didn't care how much noise he made; he only cared about his parents, and that was that.

When he looked down, he could see that the lights from below were on, even more suggesting to him that something's up. He gulped as he went down the stairs, quickly but cautiously minding each and every of his steps. When he arrived on the bottom, he finally noticed Dad sitting on a chair, but...

...Mom wasn't around.

Dad was acting weird as well. He had his face covered by his hands, so Elliot couldn't see his expression clearly. His tousled, light blonde hair was even messier than before, as if he had been brushing through them countless times. He was still wearing a white lab coat and his work clothes, but they were beyond wrinkled. His shoulders were shaking, which was strange... because he never saw Dad tremble that much.

What exactly happened...?

It seemed that he missed something big.

Now, with no Mom present anywhere else, all the yells and thumps subdued. Everything had grown silent except Elliot's heavy breaths. The boy had not a single clue where she had gone, probably outside, but now Dad was his ultimate concern.

"Dad... where's Mom?" He dared himself to ask a question, all tensed up and forced. His childish voice was the odd one out, cutting through the thick silence that surrounded both of them. Nevertheless, despite Elliot's efforts, Dad never answered, not until a minute later, where he glanced up at his nervous son.

His brown eyes that used to sparkle every time his experiments succeeded or his son or wife was nearby, now became dull and expressionless. Elliot noticed dark circles underneath both of them too. His lips were tightened, and his forehead scrunched up, like he did when he was angry or sad, but he didn't seem either...

He was really hard to read.

Elliot decided to inch closer, placing his hands on his thighs. Dad didn't seem to mind his child, and he could only blankly stare at him as he revealed his true intention.

"Your mom and I are going to divorce," he spoke out nonchalantly, placing a hand on his head.

"What's a divorce?" Elliot innocently tilted his head, trying to think of the new, unknown word he was unfamiliar with. Nevertheless, he knew it was something to do between him and Mom, but... what about it? Are they going to take a break from each other...?

The questions from his head quickly vanished into thin air and his heart drastically dropped when Dad gravely explained what it meant:

"It means, she's no longer with us."