~Author's Note~
This might actually be a 4 part story or maybe 5? But anyways I was actually going to update this story a different way but then I forgot and I was like w/e haha. It was supposed to be updated as if they were sending textx to one another, but that didn't work out because I forgot haha so this is just what I have.
What do you guys think of Diarmuid not answering? Tell me your theories!
Sincerely,
Ms. AtomicBomb
His iPod was connected to the speakers in his room. The beats of the song made the colourful water in the speakers rise and fall and Arthur laid still. His eyes on the ceiling. The lights were off and he was contemplating on everything that had happened to him.
Songs played and danced around the room and then their favourite band came on and he had to stop the melody. He had not heard them for three months now... He couldn't bring himself to hear them.
But as he looked at the song title pass over the screen on his phone, he forced himself to press play. As soon as the song played, he felt his heart sink in his chest and the odd sensation of it being heavy in his rib cage.
"I was able to listen to Mumford & Sons again... Ugh, when are you coming back?"
He knew that the response was not going to come soon, so he threw the phone onto the seat next to the bed so that he would not be tempted to look upon it.
The sound of clattering plates had snapped him out of the trance and he sat up from the bed and walked to his door. He peaked out and waited to listen to the sounds that we're going to be made.
He heard a groan and he deemed it to be his father—must have tripped or something. As a loud yell resonated through the house, Arthur quickly shut his door and began to move his dresser in front of it. He knew what happened when his father was acting like such.
Arthur backed away from the dresser whilst he heard the creaking of the stairs as his father ascended them, "Arthur!" He never liked when his father screamed his name in the late night.
He moved his chair in front of the dresser and then crawled onto his bed. He thought that would be enough to stop his father from entering his room. Morgana had already told him that she would not be home for the night, so there was no need for him to leave his room.
His door rattled as his father tried to push it open with a slur of curse words. Arthur sat on his bed and watched the door with some freight. The noise that the rattling door made and his father's screams made him very uneasy and quite frightened—they reminded him of that time. The time when his entire world crumbled to pieces.
He held his pillow to his chest and took deep breaths. The doctor had told him that he only needed to take deep breaths, and the images would go away by themselves.
The ruckus was not making it easy for him to forget and instead it cause his heart to beat faster and his breathing to shorten. He slowly backed into the corner of his room and hugged the pillow much tighter as the memories began to flood back into his mind.
"Father came home drunk again, don't worry, I hid in my room like you told me to. Plus, Morgana was sleeping over at a friend's house."
He laid on the bed with the phone in his hand, his door was still barricaded and he had heard that his father had probably fallen asleep a few hours ago. He could not fall asleep, especially after his anxiety attack.
He had never told Diarmuid about that problem, he thought he would make fun of him. But there were times that he wanted to tell his best friend. Ever since the summer, the attacks had started up again and that was around the same time that Diarmuid became distant.
He was glad he was suspended because he did not want to get up from bed that day. He simply stayed still and tried to fall asleep to make up for the lost hours—but he was not able to sleep.
"Morgie and I got into a fight today. She threw her math text book at me... Now I have a black eye. Haha try explaining that to someone else and they'll laugh at me."
He held a bag of ice as he typed it out. His face was hurting and he never knew that Morgana could throw a book so hard. She had already apologized a million times for getting so mad at him, but she said that he needed to stop being on his phone all the time.
It was all his fault for he had called her a 'bitch' because she was telling him what to do. That was when she could not take it any longer and she threw the text book at him. She swore at him before realizing how badly she had hurt him, and then she raced over to help him once she saw the blood trickling from his brow and his fastened breathing.
"Finally back at school today... The weather is nice. I think you should come out."
He sat on the school steps during lunch, tired and hopeful that he would see his friend jump over the gate and walk over to him with a triumphant smile on his lips. The leaves were starting to change colours and he wanted to see his friend before the warmth of summer stopped lingering around in early November. And as the days went by, and his friend did not turn up at school, he was starting to lose hope.
He entered the silent house and slowly walked up the stairs. He dragged his feet down the hall and hoped to get to his room before Morgana would call him to do something else. But as he passed by her door, he heard the strained sobs and silent cries of his sister through the door.
Arthur rested his hand on the door and took a deep breath, "Hey, Morgie, you alright?" he mumbled and then heard a small gasp from her part.
"Y-Yeah, I'm totally fine." It was rushed, and not very convincing.
"I'm coming in, alright?" He warned before entering the room and seeing her wavy dark brown hair in a big mess and her pastel green eyes red and puffy, glazed over with tears. He walked to her and sat next to her on the bed, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she shook her head, "I'm just being ridiculous."
There was definitely something wrong with her, she was wearing an oversized sweater that he knew did not belong to her and there was a picture next to her. He knew that sweater, he had a matching one that he bought to go along with Diarmuid's.
Arthur brought his sister into a tight hug and rubbed circles in her back, "He'll come back, and don't worry."
She let out a wail of pain and hugged her brother back, she could not say anything. She sobbed and sobbed, crying onto his shoulder.
"Morgie was crying today. She seems very upset. You should come over."
He had calmed her down a little bit and told her he was going to make dinner and that she need not worry about anything else for the night. He would do the dishes and he would make sure his father was alright before he let him in.
He was making soup and had finished serving it. He called for his sister to come down and she slowly made her way to the kitchen, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and her eyes still glossy.
Arthur pulled the chair out for her and set the food in front of her as she sat down. He sat across from her and they said grace before eating.
Morgana mumbled something that he did not hear and he lifted his head from his food to see her, "Hmm?" he tilted his head.
"It's good," she pointed at the soup, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he smiled and looked over at his phone to check any incoming messages.
"You should stop going on that thing a lot…" He heard her whisper and she played around with the spoon.
His brows furrowed and he shook his head, "Nope, I gotta wait till Dia texts me back."
Morgana threw the spoon into her plate and caused a small clatter and some of the soup to spill out of the bowl. "Stop that." Her voice came as a pained hiss, "Stop texting him! He's not coming back, dammit! Stop it!" She screamed and got up from her chair.
"Morgana…"
She ran her hands through her hair out of exasperation and she grunted, "Arthur, please do not do this."
He rolled his eyes and stood from the seat as well, "Do what? Talk to my friend? I can't? I'm sorry he broke up with you, but this has nothing to do with it."
When she turned to him he could see she was about to cry, "We didn't break up; he left! He's gone and he's not coming back, Arthur! Don't you get it?"
"He'll come back!"
"Keep dreaming!" She screamed one more time and threw her blanket at him before running up the stairs.
"She wants me to stop texting you. That idiot."
:~~~~~~~~:
"Got into a fight with the gang from the neighbouring school... My face hurts. I needed your back-up."
Morgana was helping him with cleaning his bloody nose and cut lip. She was very disappointed with him because this was the second time that he was in a fight, but it was a good thing that he did not have his uniform on or else he would be suspended for a second time around.
She was telling him that he was being reckless and that it was stupid of him to even start a fight with people that did not even matter. She promised that the next time he got into a fight, she would take everything from him; his phone, his Wii and Xbox.
"I ate something so spicy that my stomach twisted and I had to run to the bathroom x.x hahaha"
He did not know what else to write, so he vowed to send his friend a text of the most funniest or important thing of the day. And as the days went by, he would send a max of two texts.
"I'm so tired. Couldn't sleep last night."
It was happening to him a lot, he was unable to sleep; or when he was asleep, he'd awaken in a rush from a nightmare and with heavy breathing.
"Hey, are you ever going to come back to school? Iris keeps saying that you won't. She also says I should cheer up and not keep texting you. But they're wrong. You're coming tomorrow, right?"
He always had hope that his friend would come back to school, he always wanted to believe that he would. If he did not have that hope, then he too would have left along with him. But, he wouldn't—his friend would return. No matter what other people told him; he knew that Diarmuid would never leave him alone like that. He was coming back.
He was coming back, Arthur knew it.
He couldn't see properly, his eyes were much too puffed up, and everything was blurry with tears. He wanted to stop crying, but he felt the warm tears slide down his cheeks and he only felt helpless. There was nothing he could do, but he was still hopeful—he knew he would return.
He wouldn't be alone for that long.
"I cried in the shower for the first time since summer. Not that much though."
He sighed after sending the message and he looked at the small picture on the fridge. A smiling blond boy had an arm wrapped around a taller black-haired male while the other was around a happy female. He remembered the day clearly. It was the day that Diarmuid had grown the balls to ask Morgana out and she had agreed—only to be followed by Arthur so that he knew if his friend was trying to pull anything stupid.
"Wow, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"
He smiled nostalgically at the picture as he waited for a response, but a tear slid down his cheek again.
"I lied, I cried a lot. I cried for an hour, maybe more."
He wiped his tears from his eyes and shook his head, he was scared—scared he would never get to see his friend smile again. He opened the fridge slowly and pulled out the juice container. He poured himself a glass of the orange juice and shoved the white carton back into the fridge. He sat in front of the television and drank his juice as he watched whatever movie was playing in their main channel.
It was Sherlock Holmes, or something, he was not exactly sure because he was not paying much attention. He heard the loud footsteps of his sister jumping down the stairs and heard as she opened the fridge and then she walked to where he was, jumping into the couch and joining him for the movie as she dug a big spoon into the ice cream jar.
Arthur glanced at her as she shoved a spoonful of cherry ice cream into her mouth and he frowned, "Aren't you going to give me some?"
"Hahah," she let out a chuckle, "You have to get your own spoon."
Arthur growled as he rolled his eyes and stood from the couch, "Okay, be mean like that."
"Where are you off to?" The brunette furrowed her brows and tilted her head as she took another spoonful of ice cream from the container.
"Going to get a spoon; I'm not letting you eat all the ice cream—I bought that." He made a funny face and she let out a laugh before nodding. He jogged to the kitchen and ran back before falling onto the couch and inching closer to his sister so that he could shove the spoon into the ice cream.
Morgana inched away and held the tub of the dessert far away from him, "You gotta earn this. Fight for it!"
"Morgieee," Arthur whined and tried to reach for it.
"Fight!"
Arthur huffed and placed the spoon on the table; two could play that game. He gave a smirk and immediately thought of something that would make her surrender the ice cream tub; tickling! He laughed for her and began to tickle her because after living with her for seventeen years he knew she was ticklish to the point that she would do anything for her opponent to stop.
The living room was filled with the screams and laughs of his sister as she tried her best to hold on to the container. She laughed louder as he tickled her and she tried kicking him off a few times. Arthur was laughing too, and Morgana wished there were more times like this. More times that her brother was smiling—that they were both smiling.
It was the loud noise that the door made as it was closed shut that interrupted her from laughing and her brother from tickling her. They looked up in unison and watched as their father stumbled into the room. They sat up straight and watched him in silence, his hair was a mess and the smell of liquor immediately filled the room, making Morgana clear her throat.
"Welcome home, father," Arthur stood to greet him, trying to stand between Morgana and him.
Uther clenched his jaw and tilted his head, "Have you made dinner?" he coughed lightly.
The younger male blinked, "We already ate, but what would you like for me to make you?"
His father glanced down and sighed, "Anything; as long as it's warm. I'll come down in half an hour." He grumbled as he turned down on his heel and ascended the stairs.
Morgana let out a loud breath and nodded, "Alright, soup should be good." She managed before she stood and made her way to the kitchen.
Arthur followed and took the pot from her hands, "I'll make it, don't worry. Just relax."
Just as his father had promised, half an hour later, he came back down into the kitchen and sat in front of the soup that his son had prepared. He took a sip of it and he did not say anything and thus Arthur had deemed it safe to start a conversation.
"How was work?" He mumbled lowly, trying not to offend his father if anything.
His father dropped the spoon and flickered his gaze towards the blond male, "Why do you need to know?" His voice was stern and obviously annoyed.
Morgana grit her teeth and crossed her arms, "Can we not ask you?"
Uther shot his head to her and blinked, "What?"
"Is it a sin to ask you questions?" she asked as she tilted her head.
"Morgana," Arthur warned between clenched teeth.
"No, Arthur," her pastel eyes glanced at him then settled back on their father, "why do we always have to be afraid to ask our father questions? He should be able to answer if he has the time to drink another shot."
"Morgana!" Arthur eyed her as if she had wanted a death wish.
"Young lady!" Uther slammed his hands on the table and made both teenager jump in surprise, "You cannot speak to me like that!"
"Just because Igraine died doesn't mean that—"The spoon had come flying to hit her in the face. She sat in shock and slowly brought a hand to her face.
Uther launched at her and Arthur was able to hold him back before he landed a slap on her cheek.
Morgana stood from the seat immediately and ran to the foyer. She heard her father growl and try to break through Arthur's grip to get to her.
"Morgie, go to Iri's!" Arthur called from the kitchen and she watched her father bolt towards her before shutting the door behind herself and running down the street.
Her heart was beating fast as she turned the corner and looked back before making it to the bus stop. She had left her phone on the table and it was a good thing that she had left her buss pass in her jacket earlier because it was the only thing that she was able to grab. She waited as her breath calmed and the bus did not take that much time in coming.
"I wasn't able to make it to my room today... Had to get Morgana out of the house first. She's fine."
Arthur lay awake on his bed as he sighed loudly. His face was aching and so were his wrists; he never liked it when Morgana was sassy to their father because it always resulted in something similar to this. Morgana would always provoke him.
"I think I broke a rib when I got beaten up last time, my chest keeps hurting."
He grumbled as he sent the text and continued his way to school, he did not like rainy days because he needed to wake up earlier and walk to school. He held the umbrella closer so that his shoulder would not become drenched and sighed. His breath formed a puff of white air and closed his eyes momentarily; the days were getting much colder.
"Morgie had an asthma attack today. I couldn't calm her down... It took a while."
She had decided that it was a bright idea to race her friend across the school yard seven times and it wasn't until she was on the floor heaving that Arthur was informed and he had to run from the opposite side of school to get to her. She was really being reckless nowadays, and it wasn't making him feel any better.
The following day, Arthur stood in front of the school and watched as the birds flew by, ready to head south for the winter. The school was a scary place for him. It was frightening in his eyes.
"I don't want to go to school today. I'm scared you won't be there again and everyone will tell me to stop texting you."
He looked down at his phone and ran a hand through his hair. He decided it was best to skip class and he began to walk past the big school.
"I punched Gil again. He didn't do anything wrong."
"I don't know... I just wanted to."
They had bumped into each other and Gil had rolled his eyes, ready to say something probably very stupid and egotistical. And before Gilgamesh could let a single word slip through his mouth, Arthur threw a punch and bolted away. It was the anger he was bottling up. The anger he had held for months now. The anger that his family was falling apart and his sister was hurting. The anger that he held because he was alone.
"I want to scream..."
He was heaving as he wrote the text. He was far from the school, far from his home; far from his problems.
He calmed down and strolled through the city, looking up at the tall skyscrapers and glancing over the many shops that he passed by. He looked down at the time on his phone and sighed as he thought about what he was going to do for the entire day, and what he was going to say to the school tomorrow.
"Sushi? I have nothing else to do and we're both not at school…"
This chapter was very emotional, as all you may now know. I just want to say that if you are going through the same situation as Morgana and Arthur in this story; you are not alone and it is always best to talk to someone. Never keep anything to yourself. Tell someone that you trust. I am also always here to listen to you as well. You are never alone.