All The More Reason ✔

Chapter 5 - Silence

"Baby," Liam threw his arms around Senn's neck.

"You know what, I'm too tired for this," Senn chuckled, lifting Liam up with one arm, carrying his shoes with the other hand. "Let's get you to bed. You have a big day waiting tomorrow. With tons of birthday presents and friends, and cake. You love cake, don't you?"

Liam nodded his head, but the lack of an audible response, and the following yawn, told Senn that Liam would be asleep before they reached home. He walked up to his parents, handed Liam's shoes to his father, and took the car keys from him.

"He's already falling asleep," Senn's mother said, slightly walking behind Senn to look at Liam, who was apparently dozing off with his head on Senn's shoulder. "Maybe we shouldn't have taken that last wine."

"It's fine, Mom. I clearly remember you guys telling us that when Killian was just a baby, you took him to a bar and left him sleeping in his Maxi-Cosi under the table. He turned out fine, so I'm sure a late night in a ball pit won't scar Liam either."

His parents laughed, both nodding their heads.

"We had tons of things to learn back when you and Killian were little. But we're happy with how you two grew up so far. We can only hope Liam will be just like you two."

"But in his own way," his father said, waiting for Senn to unlock the car.

"I'm sure he will. You two are the best parents a kid could ever wish for." Senn placed Liam in his car seat, buckling him up, checking everything to make sure he was safe before he walked around the car and got behind the wheel. "If you two weren't so awesome, Killian wouldn't come home nearly every weekend."

"I still think he should focus on his social life in college more. Don't they have parties or something during the weekend?" Felicia asked, buckling up beside Senn while his dad took a seat next to Liam. "Isn't that what teens are supposed to do?"

"Well, Killian isn't a teen anymore, Mom," Senn joked. "But yeah, he usually attends parties Thursdays. He's going to take me to one next year when I go and visit him."

"Have you two already made plans for that?"

"No, we're waiting until we both know our schedules, and Killian will be dealing with his internship too, so we'll wait and see."

"Speaking of parties, you had one hell of a party last night too, did you?" His father leaned forwards a little. "Which is something we need to talk about—"

"I'm sorry I didn't let you guys know I was going to be home late. I should have, and I'll promise to text next time, but I fell asleep." Senn shot his mother a look to watch how she responded. He had spent hours in the treehouse with Julian, and when it had started becoming light outside, they had both hurried towards their homes.

"Good, because I was a bit worried," Felicia admitted. "I woke up in the middle of the night and your door was still open, and your phone went straight to voicemail."

"Empty battery," Senn lied, focusing on the road so he wouldn't have to look her in the eyes.

"You can make up for it," his father said, sounding a bit amused. "By telling us where you slept. Is there a new girl that you're hiding from us?"

"No, no! I just, uh, you know. I was tired and I went to lie down and I fell asleep over at Julian's."

"So? No girl?"

"No, sorry."

"Don't apologize. You're young. High school is a great first try, but things hardly get serious in high school so you should just enjoy being young and free." His mother reached out to push his hair out of his face, when Senn looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

A bright light rapidly got closer, and before he was even able to respond, a loud crash was heard, multiple screams sounded—one possibly his—and Senn closed his eyes, bracing himself. The car started spinning and rolling over and over again until it hit a tree and came to a halt on its roof.

His ears were ringing, but other than that, it felt eerily quiet.

His mother wasn't next to him, and his neck and head hurt too much to see where Liam and his father were. His seatbelt kept him in place, hanging in his seat, and his head had started to pound painfully. Blood rushed to his head, and not just inside, but it started trickling down his face too.

But the pain he could handle. It was the silence that was killing him.

Liam should cry.

His dad should be trying to comfort them and search for their mother.

Still, it remained silent besides a car horn honking endlessly, and Senn had trouble opening his eyes again each time he blinked. He forced himself to keep his eyes open and tried to call for help. But without a sound leaving his throat, he felt hopeless. He didn't even know what had exactly happened, let alone how to solve this.

He blinked one more time, losing the strength to open his eyes again, and soon, all there was was a darkness that was both soothing and frightening at the same time.