Clouds As Witnesses (RUBY DA CHERRY/$UICIDEBOY$)

Chapter 55

Author's Note: This chapter was originally supposed to be included in the previous one so it's not super exciting, but I figured two shorter chapters would be better. Hope you still enjoy! The next chapter should be more interesting. 😏

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Because Shay had been admitted to the hospital closest to City Park, the drive to the Petrowski house lasted about as long as the call with Scott. That should have been a good thing, but she found herself dreading it. As excited as she was to see her mother, the reason for their visit lingered in the back of her mind and spoiled her mood.

The neighborhood remained just the same as she remembered it: quiet and unostentatious, yet full of a warm sense of community. The weathered houses lining the road, once moderate and respectable in stature, passed in a blur as Ari drove by. In the dark, everything seemed so unfamiliar. It left a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Time had appeared to accelerate beyond sense once she left for college, as if ages had gone by since the last time she had been there. That chapter of her life had drawn to a close and faded away without much of a warning.

After all of this time away, would her house still feel like a home? When the now-bloodied soles of her Vans met the stained gray concrete of the porch, would she feel the same comfort that she had when she was waiting for Ari to walk her to school every morning? Would it welcome her with open arms, all of the memories flooding back and making her feel whole again?

Duh. It had only been two months, and she'd lived there for almost half of her life.

Her vapid questions were answered as soon as the tan vinyl siding of her childhood home came into view. The old house, now adorned with décor appropriate for the season, was inviting and warm against the chill of the dreary autumn night. Adorably, Diane had decorated the small stoop out front with modestly carved pumpkins and a harvest-themed doormat. The large front window was surrounded in subtle blips of orange; a small glow emanating from the same string lights that had been stored away in the attic for years, only to see the light of day for the duration of the season.

A stillness washed over her then, reminding her exactly what and who would be waiting for them when they pulled open the screen door. That flimsy thing would probably still be swinging wildly on its hinges and squeaking like it was in dire need of a replacement, just like it did for the last three years. Despite the unfavorable occasion, she was home.

Without speaking, Ari pulled the Sunfire into the driveway and left Shay wondering if going to see Diane was actually a good idea in the first place. The wound was still extremely fresh; they hadn't any time to recover from it before getting yet another person involved.

But that person was her mother, the one who knew her best aside from Aristos; and she supposed it would be better to rip it off like a Band-Aid rather than wait and reopen a closed wound later on. Let it bleed for what it was worth now, suture it closed, then move on and rub her fingertips over the scar every once in awhile just to remind herself that it actually happened.

Ari, on the other hand, had just told Scott he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Like, ever? That seemed like a classic Ari move. Crying it out was already rare enough for him, so maybe it had served as a system reset. Grief worked differently from person to person. By tomorrow, would he be numb to it all and ready to pretend like the pregnancy had never happened?

Maybe that would be for the best, but it hurt to think about.

"Are you ready?" She asked hesitantly when the car came to a stop, desperately searching for any sort of emotion in Ari's body language. A familiar reticence had taken over his face, only adding fuel to her fear that he would be numb by morning. Even now, his expression was blank like his blood had been replaced with Novocain, unwilling to feel the emotions undoubtedly still coursing through his veins or the thoughts still swimming around in his brain.