𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔, 𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒎.

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Salt Meets Wound

the horrid weekend from hell was almost over, today would be the last day that olivia's mother would be in town. by the end of the day it would be over and she could finally go back to her regular life.

"maybe you can stay out of school today, we can spend the day together." diana suggested over breakfast, she was eating boiled eggs and a salad while olivia skipped the meal and put the first thing she found into her bag, an orange.

"doesn't sound like a good idea, my english teacher will notice if im absent." and spending a day with her mother sounded like some kind of punishment that she'd get if she went to hell.

"im sure he can make an exception, right ezra?" diana asked him the second he walked out of his room, still straightening his tie. "we're actually supposed to get out term paper assignments today." diana scoffed at her daughter.

"your brother will explain it when he gets home but if you leave now and you come back, i won't be here and i want to spend as much time with you as i can." diana reached a hand out and took a hold of olivia's hand.

"we can buy you new clothes and even get your nails done." she looked olivia up and down, "what's wrong with my clothes?" olivia's question prompted ezra to clear his throat, "i have to leave and never come back." he doesn't say much else when he leaves the room.

"you look like you're about to go on an adventure in the jungle with a monkey and a talking map." diana attempt at humour actually worked, olivia smiled, just a little but that was just her trying to be nice. she wanted the day to be over and it had just started.

"why are you doing this? you hate my face, why would you want to spend the day with me?" now that ezra was gone, olivia could say whatever she liked, not that he was stopping her, she just didn't want him to defend their mother like he always did.

"i just realised that i don't really know you, and my therapist said that your poetry might be you trying to tell me that." she actually read olivia's poetry. shocking.

"you had time to get to know me, my entire life actually. you can't just suddenly care about me," what was she working at? was this all just to sell more copies of olivia's book? was this so she could gain more money from her daughter's trauma? olivia had so many questions, would she hire someone to take pictures of them to make her look better.

"i have always cared about you, let me prove that to you." diana's eyes softened and olivia knew she couldn't say no, not because she knew her mother had grown a heart but because saying no would only lead to a fight so she sucked up all her courage, she strengthened herself, "just until you have to go so for the next four hours, after that you're leaving and im seeing you again at christmas."

"of course, olivia."

✩°｡⋆⸜ 🎧✮

the day went by rather fast, olivia suffered in silence in clothing stores and cafes and she suffered through meaningless conversation.

she didn't complain for four hours, she didn't speak out of her turn for four hours. her mind had started becoming numb to her mother's random quips about how much she ate or what she wore and even worse, what size she was and what size she was supposed to be.

"when i was your age, i wore a size two and that was still too big." olivia just smiled and nodded, she was four sizes above what her mother was but that wasn't what it felt like in that moment. she never really cared about how much she weighed or how small her waist was, she always cared about taking care of her body but now she felt like she was going out of her mind. she was too big, she felt like a giant, not only because of her height.

diana always had this way of making olivia feel worthless and for some strange reason, when it came to her mother, olivia let it happen. she let someone walk all over her.

during lunch she didn't eat much, she didn't talk much either, diana had a way of going on and on about random bullshit that only she could care about.

"your brother told me he was bisexual yesterday, i swear he loves to pull my leg." diana's current topic seemed to gain olivia's attention. "you know that's why i can't have you around him, first he's queer and next he's going to get a nose piercing and a back tattoo and then he'll end up in a cult." she shook her head, her words leaving an awful taste in her mouth.

"oh, ive heard about the bisexual to cult pipeline." she kept her voice small, sipping her tea. her mother had got her a brand new wardrobe and made her wear a suit like she was going to run into a closet and end up in the eighteenth century.

"exactly!" diana clearly missed the sarcasm in her daughter's tone. "i love wesley and you know i try to keep him close," olivia nodded along, she always knew wes was their mother's favourite. now that she admitted it, olivia could tell ezra.

"the reason i do is because he's much too impressionable but you, my olivia, you have the world laying ahead of you. you do not need to be coddled." suddenly everything was starting to make sense to olivia, diana believed that her distancing herself from her daughter was going to make her into a better person, a stronger person. she loved wes because he needed her, he was her baby, he needed to be coddled.

"mom, can i ask you something?" olivia spoke up for the first time since that morning, her voice no longer a small whisper.

"anything,"

"do you like me?" olivia had been wanting to ask that question for as long as she has been alive. today felt like a day of honesty and maybe if her mother finally admitted it, then olivia could have some kind of peace for her soul.

"i love you." diana spoke factually, like it was something that was true because it was meant to be true. a woman gives birth to a daughter and she just has to love her, she has no other choice. "but do you like me? as a person?"

"i don't know." diana didn't seem saddened by what she had said, again, she was just stating a fact. "it doesn't matter if i like you, i love you and in the grand scheme of things, that is more important." diana's smile was welcoming, it was a rare sight.

"i don't think i like you." olivia didn't mean for her voice to come out like that, like she had been choking on her words, like she had to force them out of her lips.

"that is because you don't know me." as diana spoke, olivia got up, taking the napkin off her lap and throwing it onto the table.

"yeah, i think that's for the better." she grabbed her school bag, the bag she had stuffed all her clothes in after her mother made her get changed and then she just left.