Starting Over

Fourteen

⚠️ There are slight hint of triggering things, message me for more detail <3 ⚠️

Third-person

Home. Home was a foreign word for Jayland. A home was a place where you felt warm and safe, where people cared for you and you could always count on someone being there.

The home was four walls, a roof and other people inside. Those people by definition were his family but were strangers to him.

"And what the fuck are you wearing?" Looking down Jayland noticed he was still dressed in a childish way, bright coloured dungarees with an even brighter t-shirt underneath. Soaked with rainwater.

"It's a long story." He replied and grimaced at the feel of the very wet and very used nappy that was sagging against his legs.

"CODY!" the boy in front of him tensed as his name was slurred out by a loud shout. He sighed and grabbed a bunch of brown bottles from a cupboard and made his way. Leaving Jayland in the middle of the dark kitchen slowly forming a puddle around him.

He needed to get out of those clothes before he caught a chill.

Slowly he made his way around the house, stepping as lightly as he could. As he made his way to the stairs he could hear loud voices. They slurred, laughed and sneered at Cody who was crumpled in the corner. Jayland swallowed hard.

When he approached the stairs he quickly raked his memory for the map of the stairs, which ones made a creek when stepped on. 2,5,7,11,13 all creaked. Looking at the yellow tinted tobacco and grime stained walls, he took a deep breath as his foot landed on the first stair.

All of a sudden he felt his breath catch in his throat and a quiver ran through his body. A hand had roughly gripped his shoulder and beats of sour breath appeared next to his ear.

"Well look who's home." A second arm wrapped around his waist. "You weren't trying to sneak past your favourite of your father's poker buddies?" The voice asked mockingly. Jayland felt tears spring to his eyes as he tried to hold back a shiver.

"No." He squeaked quietly as the arm tightened. "I-i just wanted to change first." The voice chuckled.

"Where something pretty for me pumpkin " A rough tongue guided against his cheek and he pushed back a gag. The hand and arm disappeared and Jayland ran up the stairs, no longer caring about the mental map.

He crashed into the bathroom furiously scrubbing at his face, the feeling of ants crawling over him made him want to vomit. His chest had twisted as past images danced in front of his eyes.

He felt his stomach lurch as he turned to the toilet but nothing came out.

After a few minutes of dry heaving, he slumped against the floor. Tears flowed down his cheek. "Why did I come back?" He asked himself in despair. 

A soft knock interrupted him mid-sob and a tall lanky frame slipped around the door. Their hair was jagged due to a horrible bowl cut, They had the same eyes as Jayland and Cody.  "I brought you new clothes," They said.

Jayland looked at the close then back at them. "Thank you," he said quietly.

It was silent again, the sibling's ticket back and forth on their feet. "Where did you go?" They asked after some time, tucking some of their brown hair behind their ear.

"It's a long story." The slightly younger replied after trying to figure out how to explain what happened.

"Was it better?" The sibling bit their nails, tearing at the loose piece of a hangnail.
Jayland thought for a long time. Was it better? He asked himself.

Images of the forest fae flashed in his mind. His smiles and delicious cooking. Jayland missed it already. Not to mention the warm hugs he would receive on-demand. He subconsciously hugged himself.

The Forrest Faes husband, although scary at first, always found a way to make him laugh, he held him during nightmares and always made sure that he was warm. And the TOYS! There was always.....

OSBORNE!!

Jayland felt his eyes widen and a cry left him. He had left his bear. The bear that he promised to not leave behind! A sob ripped through him at this point and all the emotions that had been suppressed came crashing out.

Tears streamed down his face as his sibling awkwardly tried to hug him, not only was it a tight squeeze On the floor but because no one really knows to hug someone within the household.

Jayland had never known the true warmth of a hug until he woke up, hungover, paralysed from the waist down in a warm pastel yellow and dark wood nursary.

"I messed up!" He sobbed "I left and I didn't want to!" He choked on his sobs.

Taylor held on to Jayland but stayed quiet, unable to offer words of comfort.

It took some time but eventually, Jayland was able to calm himself down enough to form and coherent thought.

"You could go back..." Taylor said slowly, their arms retracting from his body.

"I don't know how," Jayland replied, wiping his face With the back of his hand.

Taylor shrugged. "Go back the way you came?" Jayland paused. He could do that, couldn't he? But then the nip of guilt bit his consciousness as a smash of a glass bottle followed by leering and loud drunken laughing.

"What about you?" He asked, his big eyes searching his siblings.

Taylor cracked a smile, "Aunty M said that her son needed help on his farm up east of hillside forest. He's picking us up in two days."

Jaylands eyes lit up, Malinda or Aunty M was the town's healer, she kept to herself most days afraid she would be branded as a which, she was always kind to him and his siblings, and always offered tea when you went past her stall. She was the only one who Jayland felt unthreatened by them.

"Aunty Ms nice!" Jaylands words slurred together by accident as his head became momentarily clouded before he shook himself out.

"Yeah... So you need to get dressed and get back to wherever you left from, we all thought you would ruin our plan on escaping." Jayland suddenly became hyper-aware of the stinging wetness between his legs.

Yes. He thought. I need to go home.

....................................

Hiii. Sorry for the wait.

Things haven't been right atm. My grandpa got a bad diagnosis and my grans (his wife) just had an operation so things are kinda hectic.

I applied for uni as well so that took up a lot of my time. But anyway enough of excuses.

Thank you for reading!!!!

-Ray <3