poison & wine, mgc

seven

     I wake up with more energy than I'm used to. Probably because I'm excited that mom should be here. Her weekends start on Friday mornings so she should be here. I hop out of bed and rush to the kitchen. Niall's there, talking on the phone. He seems pretty upset at whatever he's hearing.

     "Okay, thanks for leaving me to be the bearer of bad news again," He spits out, hanging up on whoever he was talking to.

     "Everything alright Niall?" I ask, carefully making my way into the kitchen.

     "Uh, yeah. That was mom," Niall sighs, "She said that she wants to say with her boyfriend this weekend since she hasn't been there."

     My excitement drops. My throat starts to sting from the feeling of holding back from crying. I rub my eyes to try and get the tears out of them.

I love my mom. I really do. But damn, she can break my heart sometimes. This isn't the first time that she's broken her promise to come see us. It happens more often than not actually. It's hard when you miss someone who's alive. It's like I miss the mom that would bring me to the park and make ice cream sundays with me and Niall. But that isn't her anymore.

     "She hasn't been here either. Niall, she promised," I say.

     Niall walks over to me, pulling me into a hug. I sink into his arms and allow myself to be held by my brother. I hate being vulnerable like this. I try not to be emotional but this always happens. She promises, I get my hopes up, and then it's shattered.

     "I know she did," Niall says softly. He kisses the top of my head.

     I pull away from Naill's chest and wipe my eyes again. Niall looks so sorry even though he didn't do anything to me.

     "How about we skip school today? I'll get us breakfast and we can just hangout today. How does that sound?" Niall offers.

I think about his offer. It doesn't seem bad at all. I shouldn't be missing a whole day during the same week that I skipped my afternoon classes but I honestly don't think I could make it through this one.

"I'd like that a lot," I hug my brother.

"Alright then, the plan is set. I'll call and let them know that you're "sick." You go get ready while I call," Niall says.

I nod and head upstairs. I'm surprised at Niall's ability to act unbothered. I know he gets angry at her when she does this but he hides it so well.

I put on some corduroy pants, a white top, and some vans. I come back downstairs to see Niall waiting by the door for me. I go ahead and text Calum that I won't be coming in today.

     We drive to the nearest iHop. Niall plays some music from when he was a kid that I've never heard before. Watching Niall dance around while driving was quite the sight. He really knows how to cheer me up.

     Once we're inside, we get sat at a booth. I order some strawberry banana pancakes and Niall gets some french toast. The two of us eat together. It feels comforting. Niall used to do this when I was younger when mom first started leaving for the weekends. We got so used to it that I didn't need a comfort breakfast to feel better.

     "I'm getting cold. I'm gonna run to the car and grab that hoodie I keep in there," I say to Niall. I grab the keys off the table and make my way out.

    I make it out the building and I spot Michael, leaving on the car right next to ours. I roll my eyes. I'm going to have to make him get out of my way to get the jacket.

     "Well, hello there Dawn. I missed you yesterday," Michael laughs.

      I roll my eyes and try to ignore him but it's hard when he's completely in my way.