WitW: Please read in 3/4 view
He makes it out of the restaurant in time to see the cloud of purple smoke just around the corner and from there he runs home. The house is lit up and the key is still under the mat. Running his way from the diner to here seemed to take forever and his breath, gasping out of him, quietens almost immediately as he ascends the stairs. Slowly. Quietly.
This is a moment of silence and fragility. In this house that was once a monument of power.
Even Henry knows not to break it.
He finds her on the far side of the bed, curled up with her back to the door. "Do you want to talk about it yet?"
"No." It's the barest sound to match his whisper, filled with tears and pain and all the things his Mom was never – should never be – reduced to.
"Do you feel like being alone?"
"No."
Henry gets on the bed, not even bothering to remove his boots, just staring at the ceiling feeling useless. They stay like that. Silent all throughout the night. He hopes he can be enough to comfort her. That he's doing it right. On this night when everyone seems to be getting their happy ending and his mom is being left out in the cold he wants that more than anything.
Points for reviewers/people who get the reference