How hard could it be? • LM / SS

Chapter 106

TRIGGER WARNING: verbal abuse, small mention of physical abuse, panic attack. please read with caution <33

"Oh I miss when we
first met.
He didn't know me yet."

It was a freezing evening in Florida, almost cold enough for snow. The atmosphere in the Pierce residence was quiet and still, almost as if no one was home. Stepping a foot inside still meant you could sense the tension waiting to be broken.

Elizabeth ran a hand through her ebony ringlets, finally kicking her feet up onto the coffee table. Who knew trying to get hyperactive children into their beds would take a full hour and a half? She couldn't remember them being that hyper a few weeks ago!

She pinched the bridge of her nose, pursing her lips together when the front door slammed closed with a bang. One of these days she was going to rip the stupid thing of its hinges and bury it in the back garden.

Sean made an appearance into the kitchen, his bag landing noisily on a counter top, knocking down the spices hanging in a rack in the process. He could feel his wife's burning gaze on him, turning his back to her and cracking open a can of beer.

"Where have you been?" Elizabeth hissed quietly, arms folded across her chest in defiance as she tried to control her fiery temper. The last thing she wanted to do was set the whole house up in flames... again. "You were meant to be home six hours ago."

Sean rolled his eyes, lounging back against the kitchen table. "Out," he replied shortly, dark circles underneath his chestnut coloured eyes silently speaking for the fact that he wasn't in the mood for a conversation.

"Out?" she repeated, tapping her fingers against the silver watch on her wrist. She was trying to keep her patience, but Sean really did push her buttons. "Is that the best excuse I get? I've been here all day, having to cancel my interview at the hairdressers because you couldn't be on time for once in your life, all while trying to handle the twins. Then when I finally set them down to sleep, you show up and slam the door in a temper!"

Sean exaggerated a sigh, his hands digging deeply into the pockets of his jeans. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Liz, I forgot. You have such a hard life. Maybe I wouldn't have been out so long if I wasn't trying to clean up your mess!" he yelled, pointing an accusing finger and ignoring the scoffs from the woman who was starting to pacing the room.

He knew he should have stopped there; went to bed and slept on it. But he could just feel himself itching for an argument, especially after the hell of a day he had. And he gathered that if he went looking for a fight, Elizabeth would happily oblige.

"I can handle my own messes, thank you very much. I told you I was going to deal with that tomorrow," she snapped, her voice thick with fury as she clenched her jaw.

"Yeah, well maybe if you hadn't killed the stupid kanima in the first place, we would be in the clear!" he slammed his fist against the table, the contents of his drink spilling onto the floor. This was her fault, yet again. God, why couldn't she just learn to stop killing people and creatures and everything else in between.

"It was an accident. Lower your voice or you'll wake the kids." Her hands clenched into fists as she tried to get a grasp on her magic. If she didn't, all hell would break loose and that was something that wouldn't benefit anyone.

"What, the kids that are trainwrecks, just like you? One who would burn the house down if we didn't keep an eye on her and one who likes to paint his nails and dress in your clothes," he scoffed, brows creasing in frustration. He could never just leave it alone, always having to keep going and going until one of them was pushed beyond their limits. "Come on, Liz, face it. You set them up for failure the second you took that deal with the sorcerer. You knew what you were getting yourself into— what you were getting your family into."