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-this may be a tough one to read-
*two weeks later*
Things haven't been going to plan recently, gabby had been kicked out again for getting into yet another fight, only this time it was a street fight instead of a school fight, so she spent 3 days on the streets. Those three days were some of the hardest of her life, it even resulted in her newest blanket being stolen too. Christine had another overdose from crystal meth which left Scott to look after gabby for a day whilst Christine locked herself in the bathroom; that resulted in the teenager and the fully grown man fighting like cats and dogs again...
In all honesty, gabby was done. She was so over everything, even the few meetings with Erin and jay for work hadn't brought her much joy. Usually she would be ecstatic to see them, but she hasn't found a single ounce of excitement recently. She found herself sat in her empty bathtub staring at the ceiling, "what the fuck are you doing in there? I shouted for you 10 minutes ago saying dinners ready" Scott pounded. Gabby rolled her eyes, "not hungry" she called out. She heard Scott's pissed of chuckles from behind the door, "you're driving your mother crazy with this not eating bullshit, now get yourself together and get downstairs" he pounded on the door one last time.
Gabby covered her face with her hands and shook her head, god can't they see that she's struggling? Is it really not that obvious? The not eating, the staying in her room, the oversized clothes? The lifeless eyes? Are these signs not enough to prove that she's tired? With an exasperated sigh, she got out of the bathtub and plodded down the stairs to see Scott and her mother sat at the dinner table like a normal family, "she's alive" Scott scoffed teasingly. Christine looked up at her daughter, she can see the pain behind gabbys eyes but she doesn't know how to get better for her...
The meal time seemed to drag in, and not once had gabby brought her food up to her mouth, instead she just played with it. She can't even remember the last time she ate a full meal, or anything for that matter of fact. Scott looked up impatiently to see gabby looking rather blankly at her plate, "just eat your fucking food instead of playing with it" he banged his fist down onto the table. Gabby didn't even flinch, however Christine did, "baby..." the older woman began. Scott shook his head, "no, I'm sick of this shit. She's always stirring the fucking pot, always causing trouble. Look at her, sat there looking depressed as fuck, the kid wouldn't know stress if it hit her in the fucking face" he stood up and dropped his empty plate into the sink.
"Scott!" Christine gasped. Gabby kept her head down as the tears began flowing, "stop with the pity Christine, I'm so over this. The kids ruining my life, hell she's even ruining what's left of yours. These stupid stunts she's been pulling are tipping me over the edge, now if you don't wanna be apart of this family, please yourself. You can either suck it up, or get the fuck out of this house" Scott yelled as gabby stared at him, hatred filling her eyes. Gabby dropped her fork onto her plate, it's currently 7:25pm at night and she cannot comprehend all of this yelling, "I'm done" she stood up. Scott huffed, "if you're gonna sulk about this then go do it elsewhere, I don't have sympathy for brats like you" he yelled after her. Christine got up and quickly followed her daughter up the stairs.
"Gabby honey, we need to talk..." she tried to get into gabbys room but gabby had already locked her bedroom door. Gabby laughed in disbelief, "about what, mom?" She huffed. Christine slowly knocked on the door as if it would help, "I'm trying my best to get better baby, i really am. But you're stressing me out..." she sighed heavily. Gabby stopped in her tracks, stood in the middle of her room, "I'm stressing you out?!" She yelled in disbelief. Christine nodded to herself despite knowing gabby couldn't see her, "well yeah gabs, I'm always worried about you..." she whined with a hint of distrust in her tone.
"No you're not, mom! You're never worried about me, just leave me alone!" Gabby yelled and flopped down onto her bed. Christine slowly backed away from Gabbys bedroom door and made her way down the stairs again. Christine had gabby when she was 17 and she didn't know what she was doing, so she turned to drugs to make the whole parenting ordeal easier; however it made it ten times harder for them both...
Gabby flopped onto the bed as she listened to Scott arguing with her mother about how she's ruining his life, it was starting to slowly snip away at the thin thread holding gabbys life together. After about 30 minutes of continuous arguing, it finally stopped, and the sound of the TV increased meaning the pair had settled down with a few beers to watch the game. Gabby rolled over with the minimal effort she had left, and stared at the clock on her nightstand, 8:15pm... She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, I'm done, she thought to herself. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the extremely dark thoughts running through her mind, but it was no use.
She sat up with a small groan and grabbed her phone before shoving it in her pocket, and slipped her feet into her sneakers before placing her jacket on. Already wearing a pair of joggers and an oversized t-shirt that now swamp her, she felt ready to leave the house. On her way out, she stopped to grab the things she wanted and shoved them into her second pocket before leaving the house through her window. She didn't want to face the two adults downstairs.
~
At around 10:05pm, gabby found herself still sitting in a park on her own, in the freezing cold with no one around to bother her. It felt nice to be alone, no one to say mean things, no one to hurt her, just herself and her thoughts eating away at her. Although her mind was stuck in a dark place right now, she was trying to think happy thoughts. It's just a bad day, a very bad day to be specific, but it's not a bad life, she thought to herself... However, after a few minuets of deeper thought, no no, it's definitely a bad life, she corrected herself.
She looked around at the park in front of her, the swings were moving on their own. It brought back memories from her childhood she wishes she had, the false memories of her mother pushing her back and forwards while her high pitched squeals filled the air; those are the memories she wishes she had, not the ones she really has.
Her hands trembled in her lap, between the freezing air blowing through her jacket and the anxious feeling she has grumbling in her tummy, she doesn't know which one to focus on. Her breathing began to increase again as a lump formed in her throat, I need it all to end, she thought to herself, I need a break, her mind slowly began to work in a continuous loop. A few painful sobs escaped her lips as she brought her phone out, not knowing what else to do, she called one of the only person she really trusts...
~
The Blackhawks game was nearing to an end as the last few minutes of the match dragged out, jay let out a harsh hiss as a player from the losing team scored a goal. Erin let out a small chuckle at his response, he takes these games far too seriously. She was snapped out of her thoughts when her phone ran from the coffee table, jay wasn't even phased by the ringing as his eyes remained glued onto the screen. Erin's face dropped slightly as she read the caller ID, but answered the call right away.
Erin: "hey, everything alright?"
Gabby: "I want it to stop"
Erin's face dropped completely at the sound of gabbys distressed tone, she sat up fully so she could focus on what was really going on. The sudden change in his girlfriends mood made jay pause the game in confusion.
Erin: "gabs? Nice deep breaths honey, what's going on?"
Gabby: "I need it all to stop..."
Erin: "you need what to stop babes?"
Jay nodded curiously as Erin made no sense to him, he couldn't hear gabby on the other side of the call so he was clueless. Erin looked over at jays lost expression before clicking the speaker button. A sad sob came from the other side of the line, instantly making jay sit up too, they pair had no idea as to what gabby was going on about.
Gabby: "everything, I need everything to stop"
Erin: "gabs, you're gonna have to be a little more specific for me. Okay? Take your time..."
Gabby: "I just can't do this anymore"
Erin: "gabby? What's going on babes? Where are you?"
Erin had dealt with this before, she knew exactly what kind of call this was, so as she held the phone close enough so both herself and jay could still hear, she quickly slipped her shoes on. Jay didn't really follow along with Erins train of thought, but he followed suit and put his shoes on too.
Gabby: "it's all too much, I don't wanna do this anymore Erin..."
Erin: "you don't wanna do what babes? You don't wanna by a CI anymore?"
Gabby: "no... life"
Jays face dropped as he finally realised what gabby was talking about, "Erin..." he shook his head as the pair began leaving their apartment. Erin wiped her own tears away as jay took the keys from her hands.
Erin: "it's okay babe... it's gonna be okay, where are you gabby?"
Gabby: "I'm so sorry..."
Erin: "n-n-no, c'mon gabs. It'll be okay, I promise. We're gonna work this out okay? I just need you to tell me exactly where you are"
Gabby: "you can't help me Erin, I don't want help"
Erin: "it's okay gabby, I promise we're gonna be okay. But can you please tell me where you are?"
Gabby: "I-uh, west village park..."
Erin: "alright. That's good honey, you're doing amazing okay? I'm really proud of you, we're 10 minutes away. Can you hang in there for us?"
Gabby: "mmhmm"
Erin: "good girl"
-
Erin pulled the phone up to her face as the line went dead, "no connection" she ran her hand through her hair. Jay nodded, "we're nearly there" he continued dodging the traffic by swerving his way in and out of it without a care in the world. The pair remained silent as jay drove rapidly to the park gabby mentioned, only praying they're not too late...
~
Gabby let out a muffled scream as the line went dead randomly, her emotions were too much and she was sobbing uncontrollably, her vision was no longer clear as tears streamed down her cheeks violently. She bounced her leg up and down to fight the dark thoughts she was having, but it wasn't really helping. She couldn't comprehend her surroundings anymore, it was all just one big blur.
Jay had barely even parked the truck up, just as the pair dropped everything in their seats and got out. Instantly running over to the small figure they could see sitting on a bench, all alone. As they got closer they could here cries mixed with painful screams, it's a type of scream no one could forget. Erin quickly knelt down in front of gabby, "hey hey hey, look at me babe, look at me. Shhh, it's okay. You're okay" she grabbed ahold of gabbys shaking hands. Gabby looked up and let out a sob as she felt the need to be sick, although she knew it was just a feeling in her stomach.
Jay stood a few feet away in complete sadness, seeing a kid in this much distress is something that'll never sit right with him. Erin squeezed gabbys hand, "I'm right here, see. It's okay..." she knelt up and pulled gabby into a hug where the teenager sobbed into her shoulder. The pair said nothing other than Erin rocking the teenager ever so slightly. After a few minutes, Erin pulled away, "I need you to be completely honest with me right now, okay?" She held onto gabbys hands. Gabby nodded and took a deep breath, "did you do anything? Or take anything?" Erin enquired with a shaky tone, nervous almost.
Gabby shook her head, letting it fall in shame, "it's alright gabs, we're not judging..." Erin cupped gabbys face. Gabby slowly looked up and turned her face to see jay stood at the end of the bench, his face looked to be full of pity and shock, she nodded weakly before looking back over at Erin in front of her. Erin smiled sadly, "do you have anything on you?" She ran her thumb along gabbys cheek, collecting the stray tears. Gabby sniffled and sat up straight, before reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a full 100 capsule bottle of Tylenol.
Erin nodded before taking them from her hands, and threw them into the bin next to them, no one needs them right now and they're safer in the bin than in gabbys pocket. Gabby sniffled, "I'm sorry" she wiped her tears away. Erin frowned, "hey it's okay, you're struggling gabby and it's okay to admit that. But you have nothing to be sorry for, okay?" She rested her head against gabbys, even Erin was only starting to take all of this in. Gabby kept her head down, "let's go back to mine and jays place, then we'll take it from there. That soundokay?" Erin squeezed gabbys hand. Gabby nodded almost immediately, and sighed softly as Erin stood up.
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