Story Title: Mistakes
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Main Characters: Luffy, Ace
Genres: Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Tragedy
Summary: Sometimes people make mistakes; living, breathing mistakes.
Words: 1,571
Ask: Ask me anything! :) ask . fm / CherryLynnn
Luffy was born out of wedlock.
It was a birth that neither of his two parents felt anywhere near close to being ready for; neither of them felt like adults yet. They were basically two children having a child; it was a responsibility that they weren't prepared for, but it was far too late to change anything.
They didn't want to believe it but it was obvious their relationship wasn't going to work out; they never had one in the first place. The two of them had been nothing more than friends with benefits and now they were throwing a child into the mix and forcing a marriage? Things were meant to burn from the start and there was never anything either of them could do to stop it.
Two idiots had actually managed to create human life.
A one night stand was steadily becoming a permanent relationship. Though they were only eighteen and nineteen years old respectively; the two parents-to-be had to mature fairly quickly. Working multiple jobs, buying a small apartment, and playing the roles of two perfect parents to be who were happy and excited and not completely dying on the inside.
It was hard.
In a way it felt as if they were both stripped of their freedom and forced to grow up faster than they were meant to; things were a mess and later on, things would be a mess with a baby on top of it.
"I changed my mind, I want this kid aborted."
"I just want my life back."
"I never wanted a kid in the first place."
Neither one of them is happy, but they pretend to be.
His birth is nothing short of a miracle; he was a premature birth, born weighing only three pounds and unable to breathe by himself quite yet. He has to spend extra time at the hospital but when Ace holds Luffy in his arms for the first time it's a miracle; he cries out of happiness while his wife buries her face in her hands and refuses to look at them both.
It's not until they finally take the kid home that things get progressively worse.
Things had been a constant downward spiral before but now? Now they were on the elevator going to the basement level and there were no stops before it.
Babies were high maintenance; they needed diapers, baby food, clothing, blankets, a crib, and much more than they could have ever possibly imagined. Even the smallest moments of being woken up in the middle of the night to change a diaper, trying to figure out what the hell the kid wanted, or getting spit up on when they tried to feed him became hard to deal with.
The worst par had to be the fact that this little monster never stopped crying. He'd do it for hours on end; keeping them awake and killing whatever free time they found for themselves.
They felt like zombies.
Sooner or later it became a lot easier to yell at the kid than to comfort him; as they got louder and louder, Luffy got quieter and quieter. Before long the kid finally clamped his mouth shut and never let another sound leave it again. He'd been two years old when it happened.
At first it was a miracle; Ace and his wife finally got proper nights of sleep and the silence was a blessing, but it didn't stop. He was as quiet as a mouse; only ever using his mouth to eat or drink or yawn, but never to talk.
He never talked.
He never cried.
It was a bit disturbing that now even at four years old, he refused to speak. He'd never even called his parents 'mommy' or 'daddy.'
They'd given him a trauma that could last a lifetime.
It's frustrating. After years of treatments and therapy Luffy still won't talk; so they give up. It's a lot easier to give up than it is to continue; before things the delicate manor they had once used to approach the situation is gone.
"Could you just fucking talk? You know, like a normal brat."
"I told you that we should've aborted him."
"Why the hell, do you have to be so difficult!?"
Mommy liked to yell at Luffy more than anyone else; when she yelled Luffy would blink, open his mouth, and then clamp it shut again. She'd smack him across the face and send him to his room; he'd never cry until the door closed.
Luffy doesn't like his bedroom.
At the same time it's his safe place; it's excluded from the outside world, cut off by nothing more than a mere wooden door. He can see light through the cracks and occasional footsteps, but other than that he had to rely on his ears if he wanted to know what was going on.
Not that he wanted to; most of the time he didn't have a chance.
The yelling from just outside the door was impossible to block out; he bends his knees and pulls them tight into his chest, trying to hide his head beneath his tiny hands but only succeeding in messing up his hair even more. Luffy doesn't like the yelling. He's never liked the yelling.
Luffy loves his parents very much but he was smart enough to understand that they didn't care for each other very much. If anything the only thing they liked to do was fight with one another; more than anything they yelled, but sometimes they threw things too. Sometimes they broke things.
Seven year old Luffy wonders if it's always been like this. He's been living with it for his whole life and it doesn't seem to be getting better; he wonders if they ever even loved each other in the first place.
Mommy liked to tell him that he was a mistake.
She liked to tell him that everything was his fault; they wouldn't have had to get married if it weren't for him and they sure as hell wouldn't be stuck together if he would've just been aborted properly.
It was his fault; he was the mistake, their marriage was a mistake, and everything else in their lives that happened since he was born was a damned mistake.
She didn't love him at all.
Daddy wasn't home as much as she was.
It made him upset whenever he came home and found out that mommy had hit him; but for some reason that only made her hit him more. She says it's because he did something wrong but she never tells him what it is; he does his best to behave but it never seems to be enough.
His parents give up on him one day.
He's eight when it happens. Mommy shoves him onto the floor and he can only look up at her with confusion and hurt; she runs her hands through her hair, there's frustration clear on her face and bags beneath her eyes. If she's tired then maybe she should take a nap? That's always helped Luffy before.
"You're just a little shit, you know that? It's bad enough that you had to be born and now you don't even want to talk?" She raises a hand to hit him again but his father catches her hand and pushes her back, protectively standing in front of his son before she can strike him again."
"Don't you fucking hit him; he hasn't done a single thing wrong!"
She looks even more upset with the fact that Daddy wasn't on her side. "I knew I should have gotten an abortion. If I did than I wouldn't have had to marry a damned idiot."
"And I wouldn't have had to marry a messed up bitch"
"I'm pretty sure it's your genes that made this... this fucked up kid!"
Luffy staggers to his feet and reaches over to his mother as if to gather her attention; the harsh glare he receives in return makes him flinch, but it's worth it if he can get out of this situation. He points to himself and then points at the direction of his bedroom; she understands easily.
"Yeah yeah whatever, go to bed, I don't give a fuck."
Luffy stares for a long moment; his parents don't seem to spare him another glance before their fight continues, getting louder and louder by the second. The frown on his usually blank face is evident, only deepening as he turns and trudges up the stairs.
If this was his fault for living, then maybe disappearing would solve it all.
By the time they check on him the next day it's too late; he's long gone and there's not even a trace left behind for them to follow.
People make mistakes.
They just never realize it until it's too late.
It's too late for Luffy.
