"Hey Mum," Nick said, the door swinging shut behind him as he limped into the house. His greeting echoed down the hallway, however seemed to fall deaf on his mother's ears, the only acknowledgement of his presence a flick of her ear and a flicker of her eyes. The fox kit felt a flash of despair, as if he had actually hoped today would be any different from before. Nick adjusted the grip on his bag, making his way to his room.

"I'm just going to work on homework!" he called over his shoulder, feebly trying to act normal. His mother didn't answer, as if she had also drowned into her thoughts and forgotten to come back up for air.

And for her son.

The fox shook his head, swinging his door shut and throwing his bag down on the floor against his bed. Nick threw on some clothes, aimlessly walking back to his secluded bed and backpack. Crawling through the bed sheets, he squeezed his eyes shut, the pile of homework leaving a sour feeling of despair. Maybe today, he would just not for once. Bothering had been draining his energy until he felt numb to the core, and honestly, he needed the break.

But he had to be bothered with his mother.

Without him, she really wouldn't have anything to live for.

As if you give her much of a reason. Great. Absolutely great. As if things weren't that bad, the voice had slithered back into his head. Nick gritted his teeth against it, shifting his head to rest on its side, trying to brush off the thought. It wasn't hard, he had gotten so used to doing it that-

Stop! Just, stop thinking, Nick, you're making this worse! The fox scolded himself, taking a deep breath.

"Don't think, and it'll stop," he growled, swallowing some bile that clutched at his throat.

"You can't lose it now," Nick murmured to himself, pushing himself up out of his bed, looking around his room, as if trying to find a distraction in the familiar setting. His gaze finally rested on a picture of him and Judy, which had slid and fluttered down to the ground from his desk, their happy faces visible. If only he could consume the happiness that had been implemented on that piece of paper. Nick felt his ears sink as he remembered what he had down to her, looking down at his hanging toes, which twitched and kicked at the air.

I should apologise, he said to himself.

For being such a jerk. Your feelings don't matter, you shouldn't let them hurt anyone else! The voice answered back, making Nick inhale. For once, he didn't have the strength to deny it, and just sunk back down into the covers.

"Nick?" the fox blinked after a couple of seconds, the echo confirming the voice wasn't in his head this time.

"Nick, are you home?"

It was the carer. Why wasn't she already here? Wait what… Nick shook his head in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to ask. He threw his confusion to the side, shooting out of his bed and walking out into the hall.

"Yeah, I'm here Stacey," he replied weakly, looking up at the gazelle, who was dressed in a delicate gown.

"Ah, good. I was just out on an errand,"

"B-but you're not allowed to leave my mum unsupervised!" Nick stuttered in shock, following after Stacey who purposefully navigated through the house to the kitchen.

"Oh, come now, I knew you would be home," Stacey brushed off Nick's worry. "Besides, we needed more food,"

"St-still! I can't look after her, or lift her if she falls," Nick persisted as Stacey rested the bags of groceries on the counter, sighing as she stooped down to meet Nick's gaze at eye level.

"You can hit triple zero, can't you? Well then you can look after her," Stacey said firmly, yet gently. She stood up, walking past Nick, ruffling the fur on the top of his head. "Now, I need to go and get her ready for dinner. Can you prepare yourself? I expect you to be ready by six fifteen sharp, and no late because I need sleep as well," the gazelle demanded, leaving the room and a dismal Nick behind her. The kitchen felt monstrous to him, the bench towering above him forebodingly.

The fox sighed, dropping his gaze to the floor as he crept back to his room. Stacey was nice enough, but sometimes he felt like she didn't see him any more than his mother did.

Nick grabbed his books and tablet out of his backpack, determined to occupy his mind with his studies, hoping it would provide an emotional wall to keep the voice out. The fox sat at his desk, working silently, not even bothering to grab his music as the silence kept him on task. The minutes stretched on as the words on the page increased, and slowly Nick's energy evaporated, leaving him yawning in his seat. The fox decided to put the essay he was working on to rest, reaching into his backpack to pull out a booklet. He froze as he saw it, gulping then sighing in one movement.

It was the group project they had been assigned in Geography. He had completely forgotten about it, and had yet to set up a date to work on it with his partner.

A warm memory flickered in Nick's mind, and the brief moment where he let the feeling flow through him, he remembered. Remembered Judy standing up to take him as her partner, despite the cruel things he had said to her before. It provided him with some comfort, with him expecting her to go with one of her friends, someone who wouldn't shoot mean comments when she tried to help them.

Nick brushed off the feeling, savouring a little of the warmth before he shut that book completely. He glanced at the miniature round clock he had on his desk, which read six eleven.

It was time for dinner.

Nick picked at the fish on his plate with his fork, blinking at it absentmindedly. The table felt like it had fallen into a sound proof bubble, the air thick with silence.

Stacey had tried and failed to feed his mother, and then tried and failed to get Nick to eat, so had taken residence in the seat between them in the rectangular table, eyeing both of them. She sighed, swallowing her bite and then shoving her chair back to stand up.

"You two both need to eat! Nick, you need to swallow your pride and food, because your mother needs a lot more attention than you do. She hasn't eaten for a day now, and it is a struggle just to get her to eat. I am not here as your babysitter, I am here as her carer," Stacey ordered in exasperation.

Nick's eyes slid to stare at her through their corners, blinking in shock. He dropped his fork and went to speak, but was cut off.

"Needless to say, I have more news to tell and no other time seems any more appropriate than now. I have been ordered to inform my company that if you cannot live under the roof of your mother, then this is not a fit place to live. By law, if your mother doesn't get any better than they will have to charge neglect, and you will have to be moved to a foster home. For your sake, I have tried to make the truth as light as possible, but sooner or later they will find out, and if you're starving, then they will not hesitate to move you!" surprise and shock radiated from Nick, as Stacey stood stoic beside him.

"I'm sorry, Nick. If I come back and you haven't eaten, then I will have no choice but to inform Child Safety," the gazelle swiftly grabbed her dish and sailed out of the room, leaving a quivering fox kit and his mother alone.

Nick shook his head, shaking in dismay. Tears pricked at his eyes, the sudden lecture opening his tear ducts and all the emotions he had locked up.

A sob escaped his muzzle, his whole world feeling like it was being shaken and ruined as the truth sunk in, his fears being transformed, his nightmares released into reality. The fox kit squeezed his eyes shut, his heart throbbing painfully in his chest, trying desperately to get everything under control. He had maintained control reasonably well given the situation, but now the safety pins and locks he had installed had disappeared, leaving the raw truth throbbing.

"Fine,"

The single word floated through the crumbling ruins in Nick's mind, returning him to his present self, blinking in confusion.

"It's…. fine," the airy assurance was coming from his mother's muzzle. She seemed to be staring at him, and yet not quite, as if he was a ghost, or she could only see one layer of him. "Fine, fine," the vixen muttered absently, starting to look around, not really focussing on anything. "Fine,"

Nick's heart quivered in its place, as he stared openly at his mother. The fox rubbed his cheek and eyes, clearing his vision to see a clearer version of his mother, who had returned to staring out at space.

The fox returned his stare to his plate after several moments of silence, and then slowly reached out to his fork, cutting off a little piece, nibbling on it thoughtfully. He turned over what had just happened, trying to see what had just happened. That's when he remembered. The first time his mother had started to lose sight of him, Nick had continuously murmured 'It's going to be fine, Mum' and 'It's fine'.

Maybe, maybe she had remembered. He blinked, his tail swaying as he took another bite of his food, swallowing it down.

"It's fine," Nick tested the words on his tongue, their meaning feeling foreign from the time he had banished them from his mind. He nodded at their resonance radiated through him, closing his eyes briefly, letting out a shuddering breath.

It's fine.

HA! I told you I wouldn't be ded, and I'm not. Here is the more longer chapter, set in Nick's point of view. So I needed to highlight how he was feeling again, but then I also needed to remember he is still relatively young.

I hope this didn't feel rushed or anything, I feel it might be but I'll leave you guys to decide that.

Anyway, now that I am on summer holidays, I will try to update more often. Hope you enjoyed fam!

Until next time, Floof Out!