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FLASHBACK
5 Years Ago

Rivers pov

EYES.
2:08am. It's pitch black in my bedroom aside from the digital clock on my bed side table. The numbers glow neon green causing my eyes to burn.

EARS.
Screaming battles. Mom and Dad vs. Spencer. It's been off and on for hours. The second you think it'll stay quiet, boom, the yelling starts again. Sometimes there's an occasional crash from Spencer's room but I've learned to not get too worried about that. It's just him throwing things around or punching the walls. Coping mechanisms.

BODY.
Sweating. I'm not sure if it's because I'm nervous or because It's actually hot in my room.

All I can hear is yelling. I can tell it's my Dad right now but I cant fully make out what he's saying. I look at my door debating on cracking it open so I can hear better but my eyes dart to the light at the bottom of the door. I get out of bed and lay on the cold hardwood floor, on my stomach. The side of my head is pressed up against the crack at the bottom of the door. Everything is loud and clear now.

"Spencer you can't keep doing this!" My dad yells from downstairs in the kitchen.

I hear Spencer start stomping up the stairs. "Really? Because it's working pretty good for me so far!"

"Spencer you're too young for this! It would be too much for anyone! You're 15!" He's fine. He's not doing great but he's fine, right?

"Dad! I clearly don't give a shit what it does to me! So just shut the fuck up already!" Oh god.

"Hey! You don't get to talk to me like that!" I hear my Dad starting to come up the stairs to follow him but my mom stops him.

"Hun. I know it's hard but give him some time to cool off. This is crazy. It's been going on for hours. It's exhausting and the kids are sleeping." How do they think we can sleep during this? I sit up off the floor and look up at the bunk bed. Noah's asleep. I'm glad at least one of us can. I lay back on my stomach so I can hear again. My Mom continues, "I'm going to bed. Let's be done for the night. It's late. Just leave everything the way it is and we can talk to him tomorrow."

I hear my Dad sigh, "I'm gonna stay down here for a bit but I'll come up a little later. I just need to think."

"Ok goodnight. Don't stay up too long." My mom says as she starts walking up the stairs.

"Goodnight."

I move away from the door a little bit before my mom is at the top of the stairs. I knew Spencer wouldn't notice me but maybe Mom would and I don't want her to feel worse than she already does.

After a few minutes once again I lay back on the floor in the same position as I was before. Silence. I cant tell if it's good silence or bad silence. I hear my parents start to talk again but even with my ear listening out into the hallway I can't make out anything. I lay there for a while almost falling asleep nothings happening and I'm not sure if I should get up and go back into bed or stay incase something else is going to happen soon.

Moments later I hear shuffling, loud zippers, and then footsteps coming out of Spencer's room. He has shoes on? He's walking kind of fast and doesn't slow down when he passes our room. No second thoughts about anything.

I hear my Dad start walking around downstairs again. "Spencer? Where are you going?!" No response. "Spencer!" No response again. Just footsteps. "You can't just leave!" The front door opens and closes. Silence.


//
RECAP: In this flashback it's around 2-3am and Spencer, River and Noah's older brother, is having a fight with their parents that's lasting a few hours. Noah is sleeping through it but River is listening out of the crack at the bottom of Noah and Rivers bedroom door. At the end of the chapter Spencer leaves the house without saying anything.

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