"Squ-Squ… Can you come home already…?"
Squalo sighed loudly as he adjusted his hold on his phone. He rolled his eyes at the soft whimper on the other end of the line. "It's three in the morning; why aren't you in bed?"
"…"
"Belphegor. Why the fuck aren't you in bed?" He had been on the phone for not even twenty seconds and already Squalo was starting to lose his temper.
"…I'm scared…" It was clear the other was telling the truth, but judging how the boy had whispered those words, it seemed he was rather embarrassed to say them. "You've been gone for three weeks now… I'm hungry, and I'm scared…"
The long-haired male reached out to the ground from the bed he was sitting on so he could grab his jeans from the hardwood floor. He fumbled with them until he had found his carton of cigarettes. "You're sixteen; go cook something and then get to bed."
"I don't want to sleep; someone was wandering around the house before… I'm scared…" If the sniffling was anything to go by, it seemed that the other was on the verge of tears.
Squalo let out another sigh. He looked at the sleeping body next to him before he cradled his phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could light the end of his cigarette. He took a puff before he said, "Well, call the police. How do you expect me to help you when I'm hours away?"
"…"
In a softer tone, Squalo said, "Go to bed, Bel. I'm coming home."
"…"
"Goodnight, brat. Call me if you need me." With that said, Squalo ended the call so he could throw his phone onto the nightstand and get to his feet. Perhaps it had been wrong of him to ditch his kid for three weeks while he had been out sleeping around several towns over, but at the time, he hadn't been able to help himself; he didn't know what had come over him; just that, all of a sudden, the urge to have a spree of one-night stands had overwhelmed him so greatly, he had taken time off even work just to do so in a town where he knew no one.
Squalo didn't look back at the woman in the bed behind him as he finished getting ready; there was so much going through his mind, he couldn't focus on any one thing. He finished his cigarette as he grabbed the last of his belongings and let himself out of the house, and out of all the thoughts clashing in his head, just one stood out the most; why had he come so far out, left everything behind, just to sleep with a few women? Was he running from something in Syracuse, or had he just been spontaneous?
Squalo wasn't sure, but the more it crossed his mind, deep down, he was sure part of the issue lay within himself and had nothing to do with his hometown.
~~XX~~
When Squalo returned home at five-forty-five, he found himself almost knee-deep in takeaway containers. He sighed as he waded through what felt like a sea of empty food wrappers, but he couldn't blame his kid; whatever had gone through his mind had had him straight-up abandoning the younger without so much as a goodbye and leaving him to fend for himself at just sixteen-years-old.
The first thing Squalo did now that he was back in his own home was stop by his kid's bedroom to check on the other. He was relieved to see that the blond was fast asleep in his bed, and with that, Squalo returned to his own bedroom. He shut the door behind him and moved to sit on the edge of his bed so he could kick his boots off, and now that he was in the comfort of his room, he finally unlocked his phone and read through the countless unread messages sitting in his mailbox. Most of them were from his kid, asking where he was and when he was coming home, but some of them were from several other people, namely his best friend, Dino, and his work friend, Lussuria.
What's going on with you, Squalo? You've been acting so weird lately.
Squalo couldn't help but snort at Dino's message. He deleted it and moved to the next one, a more dramatic message from Lussuria.
Where are you, hon? Bel's freaking out and doesn't know where you are.
Most of the following messages from the two had become increasingly panicked at the long-haired male's lack of communication, but Squalo didn't care at the minute; he would message them back in the day and tell them he had just been out of town.
With that, the man threw his phone to the side so he could slide beneath his blankets and call it a night. But even in his sleep, there was still no reprieve from all the thoughts in his mind.