NOT EXACTLY ⇢ FILLIE

1.2

finn
"hi mom," i greeted as we walked through the wooden door. "what's for lunch?"

"that's always the first thing you ask when you come home, finn. jesus christ." she said, mixing the final ingredients of pasta in a pan.

"millie," i said, snapping her out of the fantasy world she was in at the current moment. "we can watch tv while we're waiting."

she nodded, following me into the living room with the cherry red couch. "we should watch pretty little liars."

i sighed. "okay, whatever you want." i said, handing her the grey remote. she clicked the channel that was labeled free form.

she was engaged in the show, and i waited for the bell to ring, indicating the food would be ready.

the bell made a ding sound, and i was the first to stand. of course, i let millie go first though.

my mom stood there smiling so cheesily, which she never does. it came as a surprise to me, because she was never usually so cheery. probably just wanting to set good impressions for everyone.

even though we both know that she's broken on the inside. we're both broken on the inside, because my dad is dead.

he died when i was three, and i suppose there's no fixing to a soul that's already broken.

but millie can't know that, though. she's too soft. as she went through the little line, i cleared my thoughts from the message that kept coming back.

i sat next to millie on the couch, and i tried not to say anything. i tried to keep to myself. it was easy to tell she heard me though.

"finn, you're humming something." she said, tapping my shoulder with her small hands. "it's a tune to something, i can tell."

"oh," i paused. it was my dad's all time favorite song. "it was just don't stop believing."

"does that song have a special meaning?" millie asked, pushing her plate with the small amount of leftovers to the side.

"no..." i lied, looking down. "not particularly."