Leo came home that night to he'll erupting quite literally. After telling Justin, he'd tried to find his brother but hadn't been able to so had resolved to talk with him at home, hoping Justin hadn't done something stupid before them. Except he had and Leo wasn't surprised. Justin had always wanted their dad back, no matter the consequences. What he hadn't expected was the fight that was half underway when he walked through the door. And it was all his fault.
"Allie don't do this. We can talk. Just please." Vaughan shouted as Allie moved around, packing her things into a suitcase.
"Mum we can't just leave." Tiffany yelled after her.
"This isn't fair mum. We shouldn't have to leave." Floyd shouted. "They should leave this is their fault not ours."
"Allie please, listen to me. I love you not Olga. Just stay so we can talk." Vaughan added into the shouting as Allie continued to move around.
The voices were carrying towards Leo as he stood in the doorway, watching the chaos surrounding them. Tiffany was crying as she clutched onto Justin arm. Justin looked guilty as he tried to comfort Tiffany while Floyd looked angry and Vaughan desperate. None of them seemed to notice Leo standing there as guilt poured over him. If he'd just not told Justin then none of would be happening. Everything would be fine.
Leo felt his hands going to his arms, s ranching at the raw skin there. The cuts had mostly healed so Leo couldn't break the skin easily, no matter hownhard he might want to. A sudden craving for the touch of cold metal on his skin started to become overwhelming as Justin added his voice to the shouting.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Dad I'm sorry."
"Allie please, well talk about this. Justin shouldn't have said anything to you about this. It was nothing. Nothing happened."
"I can't live like this." Allie finally shouted. "It's not fair on Floyd or Tiffany or me. I can't do this anymore Vaughan."
"That's our decision mum. We want to stay." Tiffany shouted.
"This isn't our fault mum you can't just make us leave." Floyd added as Leo felt a dizzying sensation fall over him. His feet were heading to the kitchen and no one noticed.
"Just let us talk about this. Please." Vaughan pleaded again and then the voices were muffled in Leo's ears.
The kitchen knife was bigger than the razor ever was and as Leo pressed it to his skin, he felt some of the guilt was away from him. The blood ran down his arm sickening him slightly but Leo couldn't seem to stop himself from pressing any harder. This was wrong. The way his dad and brother had reacted upon hearing about his self-harming had told him that but Leo just couldn't bring himself to care in that moment.
He needed an outlet. A way to rid himself of the guilt at telling justin. The guilt at causing his dad and Allie and Tiffany and Floyd and even Justin pain. All of this was his fault and the guilt was eating him alive.
Guilt at causing his mum to be so stressed she'd gone into that clinic. Guilt at not being enough for his dad that Vaughan had had to leave them for someone else. Guilt at doing exactly whatnot was doing now. Leo just wanted to scream. To let everything out. All the jangle up emotions inside but all he could do was keep pressing the blade deeper into his arm. A steady stream of blood was dripping onto the tiled floor now but Leo still couldn't stop.
All he could think of was how easy it would be for everyone if he just wasn't there. His dad could focus more on Allie and her family then. He could be happy. And maybe if he wasn't there getting in the way his dad would have the time to calm Justin down. and his mum would have less stress then. So she'd bet better.
Slowly, Leo pressed the blade deeper and deeper into his own skin. A certain amount of clarity fell upon the youngest Fitzgerald as his vision blurred. Doing this was what was best for everyone. No one would notice anyone. No one would care. He was the quiet one. Never having anything to say, preferring to instead sit in a corner and play on his phone. It might hurt them a little but not that much. Soon they forget about him and they'd all be happier for him having done this.
The blood trickled down on this the tiled floor as Leo felt his legs give out. He sprawled on the floor, the knife clattering out of his hand as his vision blurred into blackness. His last thought as he finally lost consciousness was that everyone could be happier now they didn't have to worry about him.
...
Justin had come home to find Vaughan shouting at him. Anger set in his dad's tone. Allie and her children weren't there when he entered so Justin had received the brunt of Vaughan's anger as his dad shouted at him, telling him how selfish he was. And then Allie had come home and started packing.
Tiffany had been in bits, crying and Justin had found himself hesitantly pulling her into a hug. He cared about her and as Allie packed and Floyd glared right at him he'd felt all the anger slide away. He felt disgusted at himself for causing this. For telling his dad.
All he'd wanted sincenhis dad had left was for him to come back home, oblivious to how his dad might feel. And now he might get that wish Justin felt sick. This wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want to cause his dad pain. He didn't even want to hurt Allie no matter how much he blamed her.
As Tiffany buried her head into his shoulder, Justin felt the ladt bit of anger fade away to be replaced with guilt. He couldn't believe he'd done this and there was no way he could fix it.
...
She knew she had to go but all Allie could feel as she put the last item of Tiffany's clothing into a suitcase was overwhelming grief. Allie didn't blame Vaughan. Not really. She knew he was telling the truth that he loved her and not Olga. But she had to think of her kids and them being here was not good for them. Vaughan might be a brilliant father but his own kids were causing her children to fall apart.
They didn't need to stress of Justin anger and Leo's depression hanging over them. Just like she didn't need the content threat of Olga because Vaughan would never be rid of the woman. They had two children. So she had to Leave. She had to leave so everyone else was fine. No matter how much it broke her.
...
Tiffany was silent as Floyd pulled her into the kitchen. The shouting had finally stopped, Vaughan and Allie having gone upstairs to talk. Justin had sat down in the living room, ignoring everyone and Tiffany knew he was feeling guilty about what he'd done.
Neither said anything as they entered the kitchen. To wrapped up in their own thoughts to make conversation. Neither wanted to leave but their mum had already made that decision. Tiffany just hoped that Vaughan could persuade their mum to stay.
As they walked into the kitchen, a spot of red caught Tiffany's eyes. Frowning, she followed the platter of red along the floor. It looked a lot like paint. Bright red paint except this was pooling on the floor. "What the..." Floyd started but Tiffany's scream cut him off.
Lying behind the counter was Leo, with a pool of bright red blood surrounding his pale lifeless form.
Well this went a little more morbid than I'd originally planned but I hope you like it anyway. Please review and hole you enjoyed either way.