🌺~BLOSSOM~🌺

Chapter 7 : Dreamcatcher

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Bonnie whined as her brother cleaned the gash on the side of her right temple with an alcohol swab. Billy had also given her an ice pack to hold on her eye while he cleaned her cut.

"Sorry," Billy said quietly. "It doesn't look like it'll need stitches, so that saves us a trip to the ER." He said. "How do you know I don't need stitches?" Bonnie questioned. "I've had my fair share of gashes like that, Bonnie. Too many to count. You don't need stitches." Billy said blatantly. Bonnie just stared absentmindedly as water dripped from the bathroom sink. Billy put a bandaid over the cut and took the ice pack away from Bonnie.

"Bonnie?"

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

Bonnie stopped and thought for a moment. Was she okay? She didn't really know. She didn't feel anything. She still felt numb. She couldn't lash out or yell. She just sat there quietly. She felt like she wanted to scream, cry, shout, collapse, anything. She felt as though she were being smothered, like every time she tried to open her mouth, the words left her and there was just emptiness that rested on her tongue.

"Bonnie, are you alright?"

Bonnie turned to face her brother and just shrugged her shoulders. "I-I'm fine." She said, but it came out as more of a whisper. Billy rolled his eyes. "That was so believable. You're a great liar." He chuckled sarcastically. Bonnie smiled weakly. Billy sighed as he leaned against the bathroom counter. "You aren't fine. I know you aren't. None of us are, Bonnie." He said quietly, looking down at his feet. "He puts all of us on edge," Billy said, referring to Neil. Bonnie nodded slowly. "Yeah." She muttered. Billy looked into his sister's deep, brown eyes with his own oceanic blue eyes. Bonnie took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess I'm just..."

"Just-what?"

"Tired."

Bonnie could feel tears well up in her eyes when the word left her mouth. That's what it was, what it always had been. She was mentally and physically exhausted. From the moment she was abandoned in California, she spent endless nights crying herself to sleep.

Sometimes she never fell asleep. It had been well over a year since the last time she got eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Every time she managed to fall asleep, she would have vivid nightmares.

She had nightmares when she was younger, and Billy and her Mother were always there. But once Neil left her, they gradually got worse. She cried all the time, it seemed like. She would cry for her mother and for Billy. She couldn't stand her father, she absolutely hated him. But most nights, she found herself shedding tears for him as well.

"I'm tired, Billy. I'm so tired." Bonnie said, her voice was shaky and her bottom lip trembled when she spoke. "Ever since I was left in California, my night terrors have gotten worse. I cried myself to sleep every single night. I still cry myself to sleep most nights. I miss mom. I miss her so much." Bonnie cried as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Billy put a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "Mom loved you, Bonnie. She loved you a lot." He said as tears pricked at his eyes. Bonnie's eyes deepened with sadness as she stopped resisting the tears. "Then why did she leave?" Bonnie whispered. Billy bit his lower lip as tears threatened to pour from his own eyes. He shook his head, unable to speak. Bonnie grabbed her brother and hugged him tightly. She cried into his shoulder, and he cried into hers. "God, we really are messed up." Bonnie whispered. Billy chuckled. "Yeah, we are." He said. "But hey," he pulled out of the hug and grabbed his sister's shoulders. "We're Hargrove's. We're unstoppable." He said with a smile. Bonnie laughed as she wiped tears from her eyes.