"i'm out.
nothing here to care about."
NEED 2
pinegrove
Mike had left Aella right when she got situated in the tub.
He didn't want to invade her privacy, or help with what she didn't want help with. He turned on the water, got most of the blood off of her face then choked up and left just as quickly.
He knew she needed help. He wanted to help her, but he was just as closed off as she was— if not more.
Abby's up now. She's standing at the entrance of the hallway as Mike searched through Aella's closet for a towel. "Where's Aella?" She asks, crossing her arms.
"In the bath." He answers plainly. "Do you know what happened?" He asks.
Abby shakes her head, yawn big as she moves back towards the couch. Mike sighs out, stretching his arms up to pull the grey towel, closing the closet door again as he hears the water of the tub swish around.
"Ella?" He asks, knocking on the door. She hums for a second, proving she was still okay. She opens the door a slither, only enough to where Mike could see her head, but not her body.
He holds the towel in front of him, eyes gentle as she reaches through and grabs it. "Are your clothes in the drawer, or the closet?" He asks before she closes the door.
"The drawer." She mumbles, closing the door and drying herself off. Mike sighs. Her voice is so much softer than he remembers it to be, and he still hasn't found out what happened.
Those two words are the only ones she's spoken to him in the last half an hour he's been there. She was in the tub for a while— it gave him time to make her something to eat.
Her fridge was never empty. Part of the reason Abby liked her house so much was because she always had goldfish in the cabinet.
He made something simple and light, something she could eat quickly and not fill up too fast with. Soup and bread.
It almost looked like a prison meal, but Abby downed it in seconds. She finally complimented something of his and he almost wanted to jump up and down in joy, but he kept it to a simple smile.
Aella came out as Mike was dragging one of her shirts from the closet. She opens her room door and he whips his head to look at her.
She was a slight mess. Her hair was wet as she'd just washed it, her eyes and nose red as if she'd just came in from shoveling the snow-covered driveway.
She wiped her cheek and sniffled a little, hands holding onto her towel. "Uhm— I put whatever out. I don't know if.. you like it but.. I'm sure you're not going for stylish right now." He mumbles.
He makes his way past her and towards the door. "Mike?" She calls out with a stuffy voice. He stops and turns to her, licking his lips. Great. Now he was doing it too.
"Uhm.. can you stay tonight?" She asks quickly and quietly. You could tell she hadn't spoken in long sentences in a while, cause her voice was hoarse.
Mike was in deep thought. He could, he should, but Diana was planned to babysit Abby tomorrow. But Aella also needs him— she needs someone here with her.
"Okay." He nods, hands resting on his sides as he walks out of the door and closes it behind him.
Aella swallows. She couldn't believe she had to watch her father kill himself an hour ago— it made her sick to her stomach.
She slips her clothes on and brushes the knots out of her hair. She realizes how much it'd grown since she last cut it. She hates having long hair, it reminded her too much of Susie.
She pouts as she dries her hair off with the towel gently, throwing it off to the side. She's always had her mothers hair, slightly wavy. That's why having long hair is so hard to manage.
She pulls herself together and walks towards the door, pulling it open and slipping through. The TV's still on, and she can hear the scratch of crayons against paper.
"Hi Aella." Abby greets, looking up at her. Aella tries to pull off a smile, waving gently at her. "I made you something to eat." Mike stands up with a soft huff, walking towards the kitchen as Aella sits down on the couch.
He brings her the soup slowly as she gets comfortable. Malcolm in the Middle was buzzing on the TV as Abby drew in front of it.
Aella picks up the spoon and moves the soup around. Mike shifts to sit next to her, watching as she plays around with it. "Are you not, hungry?" He asks. She shakes her head.
"Ella, I need you to tell me what happened." He mumbles, eyes scanning her side profile as she stares down at the bowl.
Aella looks over at him before her eyes flick to Abby. He follows her eyes, realizing she didn't want to talk about it in front of her. "Hey, Abby. Let's go to bed huh?" He asks.
Abby turns to look at him and pouts. "Why? I jus' woke up." She mumbles. "I know but we have a lot to do tomorrow. Come on." He waves her over. She sighs and stands up, picking up her stuff.
"The spare bedroom's on the right." Aella mumbles as Mike walks to Abby. He nods with a sigh and leads Abby away.
Abby jumps up on the bed, shuffling the comforter out of the way and laying the blanket she brought along over her. Mike tucks her in as she settles onto the pillow, looking up at her brother.
"Is Aella okay?" She asks, hands playing with her stuffy. He nods with a hum. He didn't want her to worry. "She's gonna be okay." He sighs.
He leaves only when Abby closes her eyes and her breathing regulates. Shutting the door quietly and dragging his feet towards the living room, Aella's still in the same spot as before, but she's put the bowl down on the coffee table.
"So, what happened?" He mutters, sitting back down. Aella's eyes trail back over to him, eyes crowding with tears. Mike frowns.
"I went to go see my dad," she quivers. Mike's eyebrows furrow. "I thought you said he was gone." "I know. At least, I thought he was," she shrugs. Mike stays silent.
"And.. he was talking about how— Susie wasn't an accident, how he gave her up to keep me." She sighs. She didn't want to keep talking. Her throat was closing up, but he deserved an explanation.
"What did he do, Ella? Did he kill someone?" Mike asks, shifting to turn to her completely. Her eyes close and her lips go down into a frown, fingers wiping her tears away. "Yeah." She mumbles.
"Who?" He asks, hand on her shoulder as an attempt to get her to look at him. She pressed her lips together, shaking her head. "Who was it, Aella?" He asks again.
She was starting to shut down again. Mike pulls his hand away, shifting his body away from her. She grabs his wrist again and stops him, eyes scanning every bit of his face. "I can't do it, Mike." She mumbles a soft apology. Mike can almost feel his heart break.
She lets his wrist go, looking forward again. They sit in silence for a moment as Aella regains her thoughts and her control. She looks back over to him. "I just need you here with me. That's it." She sighs.
Her breathing was starting to speed up again as Mike scans her face. "I'm here, Ella. I promise." He whispers softly with a shake of his head. Her tears start to fall again as her mouth opens, trying to suck in as much air as she could.
"No, no no no," he whispers, arms coming up and pulling her down towards him so fast she almost didn't even realize. She cried against his shoulder— and she felt so embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He mutters.
"Come on." He grunts, pushing himself off of the couch. He helps Aella stand up as well, reaching for the remote and turning the TV off.
He leads her to her room quietly, hand on her upper back as she pushes the door open and trails to her bed. She pushes her face into the pillow and cries.
Mike bites his lip while closing the door, sneaking to the side of her bed and sitting down. "Do you want me to stay here?" He asks, referring to her room.
She's still for a moment before turning her head towards him and nodding. "Okay." He nods, pulling his feet over to lay on the bed as Aella moves.
She lays on her side for a second, and they stare at each other. She typically hates eye contact for longer than three seconds, it makes her feel so awkward. But it was okay when it was Mike. Everything was okay with Mike.
His arm reaches up slowly, wrapping around her shoulder as she crawls further into his body. He's almost as stiff as a board. Sure, she's fallen asleep on him before, but it feels so much more intimate. So much more sacred.
Her tears haven't stopped. She's still silently crying as she tries to regulate her breathing, head flat against Mike's chest. She comes up to rub her eye and Mike looks down at her.
"I'm sorry." He mumbles again, chin resting on her head as she sniffles. She stays quiet, and opts to gripping at his shirt. That's his sign that it was okay, and she was gonna be okay.
hi guys anoda lil note !! thx for reading my book i actually love u guys and ur comments so much. youre the most sweetest and non judgmental people ive ever had reading my stories, and it make me so happy because i'm super insecure about my writing! im so glad you guys like it.
updates have been often because im writing a lot during school and also taking time at home as well, because i just love to see you guys comment so much 😭 thank you for reading !! <3