Title: Pillars
Rating: T
Summary: He was too small to do anything now; he needed more strength to be the right son, and the right big brother. He needed time. And a whole lot more luck.
Genre: Drama
Pairings: None.
Spoilers: Pre-canon. So not much.
Words: 1262
Disclaimer: I didn't steal anything. If you recognize the last line from somewhere then you're hallucinating because I didn't steal that either.
A/N: I took up a challenge called "Famous Last Words": instead of starting with a certain line and going off from there as I usually do, I was given an ending line, and had to figure out a way to work up to it. (I also had to work within a specific time limit, so that's why this is rather short.) I'm not spoiling what the line is, but it's from the novel "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. Enjoy.
Pillars
He had always known that his parents' relationship was not a stable one – but he never thought that his mother would actually up and leave.
"Hand me those sweatshirts, honey," she said as she rushed around the room. It was five in the morning, and there was a flight to catch.
"Mommy," Serenity, his younger sister, began. "Where are we going?"
"We're… going to Grandpa's place for a while, sweetie." She threw the sweatshirts that he had passed to her in a suitcase.
"Why isn't Joey packing too?" The young girl looked to her older brother, confused. Worried.
Their mother quickly wiped the corner of her eye with two fingers, sniffing. "Joey – Joey isn't coming with us, Serenity."
"Why not?"
This wasn't answered. The woman stood, heaving out a breath of air, and surveyed the room. Nothing that they couldn't live without wasn't in any of the bags she had packed, but it was too late to recheck – they had to go.
The taxi was waiting for them next to the sidewalk, the driver looking grumpy at being awake at such an ungodly hour. The sun could only be glanced at on the horizon; it wasn't strong enough to make you turn your eyes away, but he knew that it would be in a little while, and that meant that his father would be awake soon.
"I love you," his mom whispered in his ear as she hugged him close. He could smell the perfume she always wore, the flowery scent that he had come to remember as hers, and he wondered what life would be like without it.
Serenity's eyes were watering with tears as she was packed away into the backseat with her mother. "But we can't leave – "
"Shh, honey, it'll be all right."
The car door closed and he stood up, placing a hand to the window, as Serenity's smaller one came up to match it. She was crying outright now, and in this second he realized how much he'd miss her; how much he'd taken for granted, and how much empty space would be in the apartment to greet him when he walked back upstairs.
Serenity was still sobbing as the taxi pulled away from the curb and took off into the morning. He started to chase after it, if only to let her know that he loved her too, so much, so much that he didn't even mind when he tripped and his knee harshly scraped the sidewalk – but he stopped when the car turned onto another street, and he realized this was probably one of those life-changing moments that he'd look back on when he was older and regret not doing something that might change it. But he was young, and small, and he felt too weak and numb at that moment to even think about doing something that might tip luck in his favor – so, out of options and filled with some kind of emotion he couldn't begin to appreciate, he began to head back upstairs.
This couldn't be the end, could it? He kicked a stray stone as he entered the apartment building. This couldn't end like this. He had to see them again – at least his sister. Serenity meant too much to him to just give up.
But he was too small to do anything now. His world was crumbling; reliable, unbreakable pillars that he'd come to depend on were now gone. They hadn't even crumbled slowly – just disappeared. They'd gotten into a yellow car and were now on their way to an airplane that would take them to the sky and far, far away from him and everything he stood for.
Maybe he should've felt sad. They'd abandoned him, after all, and his mom hadn't seen him as something worth taking along. He was already a lost cause. But his sister, his sister… maybe she could be saved. With enough time and love, enough distractions and ignorance… she could be saved. She could forget.
But he didn't want Serenity to forget him. He'd see her again. Maybe not now, maybe not in the next month, or the next year, or even the next ten years – but she meant too much to him to give up indefinitely.
He was too weak now. He wasn't influential in the slightest. All he needed was a little time, a little strength. And a whole lot of luck.
He opened the door to their apartment and already, something felt wrong.
"Well, at least they didn't take you, boy." His father was awake now, on the couch opposite him in the room and staring at him with beady, lazy eyes. A kitchen knife was lying beside his hand, next to two empty beer bottles from the night before.
He took a step forward. "It wasn't my – "
"It wasn't your fault. I know, man. I know it wasn't." The older man heaved a sigh and looked around at the room. "But who can blame 'er? We both know this wasn't working. Your sister was the last attempt to save this marriage." He snorted. "That worked out well…"
He didn't say anything. When his father looked over to him after a second and mumbled, "C'mere, boy," he came forward, and a large, clammy hand reached over to stroke his messy blonde hair. "S' just you n' me, kid. It's just you and me."
Even in that moment, he knew he would forever remember these words. Just you and me. Just you and me. It's just you and me. He didn't like this thought. He didn't like it at all – but he couldn't do much about it. He could do very little. So for now, he figured, he might as well stay here until he could do more.
"I wonder," his father said suddenly, as a thought struck him. "If she'd told you about her plans before now."
He raised his head. "What are you talking about, Dad?"
His father chuckled at that last word. "I wonder… how long have you known she would go?"
"I didn't – "
"You don't seem surprised that she's gone," the man pointed out, and he had to admit that. "How long've you known?"
"Since this morning…"
"Bullshit." His father shook his head. Removed his hand from his hair. Sneered. "She must've had a grand time with this, telling her own son like some big secret to keep from his father… what'd she call me? A monster? Good-for-nothing bastard? C'mon, tell me, boy. Any nasty words? Anything you shouldn't be repeating?"
Yes. Yes, she had, actually, but he wasn't too inclined to say them now.
"That bitch." There was the anger he had been waiting for; this was the reaction that was to be expected. It was refreshing, in a way. At least his father wasn't giving him any surprises.
At least, while the rest of his pillars were crumbling, the worst of them was still standing tall.
"You've got some nerve, coming back here after that," his father told him. "You've got some nerve, kid… must've gotten it from your dear mum."
He tried not to notice the way his father's hand curled around the handle of the knife. He lifted the sole of one foot, grateful that he had never removed his sneakers.
"Well it's just you and me now, boy." A horrible chuckle, just like one of the ones a villain would make on TV – except this was real, very real. So real. "No one's saving your ass now."
The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off.
A/N: I don't reckon Joey's father was THAT horrible when his mother leaves; I imagine him getting worse as time goes on and Joey grows up. Also, this wasn't meant to be an AU – my idea is that in the end, Joey ran away, down the street, and returned later that night when he figured his dad had probably calmed down. I can imagine incidents like that happening frequently in their time together, and this could be the first… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I personally quite like this, but I'd love to hear a reader's opinion.