(Reader's POV)
As I approach the end of the hallway after leaving Will's room and getting myself ready for school I stop in a moment of thought. Maybe I should just bring Michael with me. That way I can know for certain that William won't start off his day with aggression towards his son and Michael can go into school with a little bit of peace.
My decision made, I walk over to Michael's room where he's random homework papers from all across his room.
I gently knock on the door frame to get his attention and he quickly looks up at me.
"Hey bud, just wanted to know if you want me to bring you to school this morning."
He gives me a skeptical look, "Just me?"
I nod, "Yep, just you. I woke up your father for the other two."
Michael smiles a little, "Yeah, okay, I'll go with you." He puts the last paper in his bag and zips it up, "Better than sitting in the car with my dad."
With that, Michael and I exit his room and head toward the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs I see Elizabeth sitting at the table with Evan as the both eat some breakfast. Then I look over to see a very groggy William drinking a cup of coffee, I'm not quite sure how he got downstairs without me noticing. As I walk through the room, making my way toward the door with Michael trailing behind me I hear William let out an unhappy sigh causing me to turn to glance at the man.
"Really? Really, Y/N?" William says, irritated, "You wake me up to bring my kids to school, yet you're bringing Michael? Why not all of them?"
I roll my eyes, and silently motion for Michael to continue out the door without me, which he quickly does.
"I promised that I would just take him the last time and then because you," I point at him, "were still fucking drunk, I had to take all of them. And unlike most people, I keep my promises, so yes, I am bringing Michael to school and you can take Lizzy and Evan."
Without giving him the opportunity to respond I quickly leave and head to my car. Once I'm outside, I see Michael standing beside the passenger side door waiting for me. "Get in." I tell him as I climb into the driver's seat.
Once we're both in the car I pull the key out of my pocket and start the engine.
"Are you okay?" Michael asks.
I glance over at him, "Yeah, why?"
Michael shrugs, "You just seem a little... off."
Without a response I back my car out onto the road and begin driving.
"Do you want breakfast?" I ask.
Michael just looks at me confused.
I take a deep breath trying not to get irritated at him because it's not his fault that I'm tired, "Do you want like McDonald's or something? Like, before I drop you off at school?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." He responds.
I glance over at him before returning my eyes to the road, "Why are you so confused about it?"
"Well, dad doesn't usually-"
"Your dad doesn't usually do his job as a father." I snap, instantly feeling bad, "Sorry kid, I don't know where that came from, I'm just tired I guess."
Michael doesn't say anything right off.
"You're still mad at him." He says.
I blink, "What? Of course not, he apologized." I reply as I turn the car in to the McDonald's parking lot.
Michael looks at me with a skeptical look, "What he said still hurts you though. He apologized but there has to be a part of you that holds some sort of grudge."
I sigh, "Whatever you say Mikey. Now what do you want?"
///
After eating, I drop off Michael. Then I begin the short drive over to my school.
I can't help but think about what the kid said.
"He has a point" a voice beside me says.
I slam on the brakes in a panic, and quickly look at the seat beside me. Sure enough, the ghostly figure of the girl sits in the seat.
"WHAT THE FUCK?"
The girl rolls her eyes, "No need to yell. I'm right beside you."
I stare at her incredulously, "That's kinda the problem here! How the hell are you here?"
She shrugs, "Your psyche is weak right now, thought I'd use the opportunity to join you."
I laugh nervously as I continue to drive, driving slowly, "I'm going fucking mental."
The girl giggles, "Possibly. Your own fault if you are though. Bad people are bad for your mind."
"Like you know much about bad people." I say, irritated, and immediately regretted saying it.
The girl glares at me angrily, "Excuse me? I don't know bad people? You literally watched that fucking asshole murder me in cold blood."
"Language!" I point out in a sarcastic manner.
She just scoffs.
As I pull into a parking spot outside of my school, I glance over to see the girl is gone. "Fucking mental." I mutter to myself as I turn of my car and climb out to enter my school.
When I enter the first classroom that I need to be in all the chatter instantly stops.
"Ah, Y/N, welcome back," says the teacher with fake sincerity.
"I thought you died," said one of the kids, several others nodding in agreement with them.
I roll my eyes, "Oh yeah, for sure, nothing like death to kick off the year correctly," I scoff sarcastically as I take a seat at the back of the class.
///
After school I head to the pizzeria to see if Henry needs any help because I know for a fact William wasn't going to be there today.
Once I arrive I notice that there are only a few cars parked in front of the building when usually the parking lot is full. I just shrug it off and head inside. I'm immediately greeted with the sight of some hysterical woman sobbing and yelling at Henry. Henry looks worried and frustrated.
"What's going on?" I ask.
The woman rushes over to me and roughly grabs my shoulders, "PLEASE, YOU NEED TO FIND MY BABY!" the woman sobs.
I gently remove her hands from my shoulders, "Hey, it's okay ma'am, would you like to sit with me? Maybe you can tell me what your child looks like?" I suggest, gesturing to the tables a few feet away.
The woman nods and slowly makes her way to one of the tables. Before joining the woman I quickly glanced over at Henry who looked almost relieved.
Sitting beside the distraught woman I do my best to comfort her, "Hey, it's going to be alright ma'am. Can you tell me what your child's name is?"
///
When the woman leaves I help Henry with just random odd jobs from around the restaurant.
"It has to be William."
I glance at the man, "What do you mean?"
Henry explains, "The missing kids. He would be the only one who would know how to avoid the cameras. But I literally have no proof."
I blink, "How-"
Henry looks at me intently, "You're staying with him, do you know anything? Seen anything? Has he said anything?"
"No, nothing." I lie casually.
The man sighs, "You know, I had a daughter too. I know how that woman feels, losing her kid."
"What happened to your daughter? If you don't mind me asking. If you don't want to answer me that's alright."
"She was killed, some kids locked her outside and she was killed in a 'random act of violence'"
I watch as tears begin to form in the man's eyes. Unsure of what to do, I gently pat his shoulder, "I'm sorry. I can't even imagine what it's like to lose a child like that. But I guess we all have some sort of tragic story that involves the murder of someone we love."
Henry looks at me curiously, "What do you mean by that Y/N?"
I shrug, "This was a long time ago, but I used to have a sister. Then my father killed her in front of me. I hardly remember either of them now."
Henry takes a moment to think. Then he looks at the clock, "It's getting late, maybe you should head out now. Thank you for your help today Y/N."
I glance at the clock myself to see that he's right, it's almost 8:00 p.m.
"Uh, yeah, of course. Bye." I say quietly, then I leave.
///
I shut my car off in William's driveway and take a deep breath. Based on the amount of lights on, the kids are in bed. Surprisingly.
I slowly make my way to the door and quietly enter the house. Not seeing anybody.
"Where were you?" William asks, leaning on the wall around the corner.
I jump in surprise, "Jesus! Will! I didn't expect to see you, like, right there."
William frowns, "Okay, okay, but where were you? Y/N? For all I knew you had died."
I scoff, "I can take care of myself."
"Y/N." William says sternly.
"Oh my God, Will, relax. I was at the pizzeria." I say, moderately irritated.
This is when I notice that there are no bottles of alcohol on the counter, and he didn't smell like booze for once.
I narrow my eyes, "You're not drunk? Who are you and what did you do to William?"
He rolls his eyes, "Very funny Love. Just thought I'd change it up a little. Do you want anything to eat?"
I just stare at him.
"Oh, c'mon Love, I'm trying to do something nice for you. Can't you respond?" He says, walking away from me and towards the kitchen.
"Did you kill Henry's daughter?" I ask
He stops in his tracks, not even looking back at me, "So he told you about Charlie?"
I frown, "So you did. You did kill her. Kinda seems counterproductive."
William shrugs, "We all start somewhere."
"I also had to console the mother of one of the other kids you killed."
He looks over his shoulder at me, "Okay?"
I shrug, "I just thought I would let you know."
He smirks, "Are you trying to say that you have stuff to blackmail me with?"
I blink, "What? No. I would never. I'm not that much of a hypocrite."
William turns around and gets really close to me, "So what are your reasons to tell me?" He asks in a whisper.
Looking into his eyes I reply, "I'm just trying to tell you that no matter how pissed off you make me, I have your back."
He smirks, then he kisses me, "Good to know, Love"
I stand there flustered as William heads back towards the kitchen.
"You never did tell me what you would like to eat, Dear."
•Wow, would you look at that, another chapter! I have a few ideas about where I'm going with this story but if any of you reading this have ideas let me know! (Also, if your suggestion involves smut, there is a strong possibility that I won't write it, I might, but probably not. I'm just putting this because I have already had someone ask me to write that kind of stuff in this story.) anywhosies, more soon - Nova <3•