Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.

Arthur swallowed. The private moment had been shattered, and reluctantly, he got up. As he opened the door, he saw his mother. "Dinner's almost ready," she said. There was a nervous look on her face, and Arthur smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

"Arthur-" she cast a quick glance at Ariadne, and he walked out into the hallway, carefully closing the door. "What is it?"

"What's what?"he asked, aware she looked upset. His heart gave a painful wrench. He'd never considered that he would ever feel so apart from his family. He swallowed, waiting to hear what his mother wanted to say.

"Why have you come back, all of a sudden?" He blinked, suddenly aware of the tears on her face. "You haven't been back for five years, then you re-appear with a girlfriend in tow - I mean, is it serious? Is there going to be an engagement?"

"Mom, that's something for the future," he said, gently. "I know I've been away a while, but-"

"We heard nothing from you!" She burst out. "For at least a year, we didn't know if you were still alive! This work you do, this Dominic Cobb - what is it?!"

"Mom, you know that what I do is not going to cost me my life," he lied, trying to forget the times when he and the team had been threatened, held at knife or gun point. "You need to trust me."

"Arthur." She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't think your father and I actually know you anymore. You are a different person...and you're still so thin!"

Arthur felt his heart thud, painfully and unpleasantly. "Mom, please, I'm not too thin-"

"I need to see what you weigh," she whispered, grabbing his hand. To his shock, he found himself being pulled along to the bathroom. His mother nodded at a pair of scales. Swallowing, Arthur walked forward, and stepped on them.

"Arthur! 142 lbs?!" His mother almost gasped. "How do you weigh so little?!"

"Mom. I'm small framed," he said, to his own ears it sounded like a feeble excuse. "I don't carry weight, you know that-"

She shook her head, and he felt a surge of irritation rise within him. Old battles, old wounds - he couldn't escape. His mother looked at him.

"There is no point in talking to you," she said, her voice cold. "If it was my decision, I'd be taking you to a doctor's. But, you're an adult, and you can make your own decisions."

As she finished speaking, she pressed her lips together, and began to walk away. Arthur blinked, suddenly feeling as though a deep wedge had been driven between them, and exposed. He leaned his head against the wall.

Selfish. She hadn't actually said it, but he suspected that was what she'd wanted to say. Selfish for not contacting them for five years; selfish for not accepting her help when he was a teenager. He rubbed his face. Leaving had been a way of trying to solve the problem - all it had done was push a deeper divide within the family. And his weight was an easy target - a target for all the simmering hostility within the family.

He opened the door to Ariadne. She looked at him. "Are you allright?"

"No," he muttered, closing the door, and sitting down next to her. He turned to her. "Let's leave."

"What?"

"I mean it." His face was tense, and pale. "Its difficult to explain...but my parents and I...I don't think we can -"

"Arthur."

He looked at her. "What?"

"You're not running away from this." She took his hand, squeezing it slightly. "You're going to try and make peace with them."

"We were talking about you-"

"And we're here. With your family." She shook her head. "You need to talk to them Arthur. Please?"

He swallowed. Deep in his heart, he knew she was right. Leaning over, he kissed her.

"Come on."

Calmly, hand in hand, they got up and walked to the door, to the dining room.

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