Peterick//More Than You Bargained For

fourteen: 40 peas

I crack open the front door, confronted with nothing but darkness. I creep in and up to my bedroom without an incident, barely breathing. I only let air pass through my lungs when my bedroom door clicks shut.

I drop my backpack and undress, then crawl into bed and pass out. Today's been a long day.

Friday consists of boring schoolwork, me tripping over my shoelace in the hallway, and Brendon shoving at least 40 peas in his mouth. Ryan got a picture of it. He still needs to send it to me.

I'm just waiting for this entire day to be over by the time the last bell rings at 2:45. I want it to be Saturday so I can hang out with Pete.

When I enter my house, there are boxes and random items stacked around the house.

Pleas don't let this be what I think it is.

"Mom?" I call out.

Please.

"Yes, honey?"

I swear to God.

"Wh-what are these boxes?"

"Oh, just Travvy's stuff. He'll be settled in by the end of the weekend, so don't worry about the clutter."

My heart drops. I'm suddenly glad that my mom is in another room, unable to see the blood run out of my face. I feel myself shaking.

"Is Travis here?" I yell out to her.

"He sure is," Travis' voice calls out from the same room my mother is in.

"Mom, can we talk alone for a moment?"

My mother emerges from her room a minute later, shutting the door behind her. "What's up?" She asks.

I sit down on the couch. So does she.

"I dont think it's a good idea for Travis to move in."

"Patrick, I know you're not very fond of him, but-"

"No, mom." I cut her off, "You need to listen." I take a deep breath. I never really wanted to tell her this, but no other reasoning will get into her head. "When you were dating Travis last year, he-he would hit me. When you weren't looking, or in another room, or too drunk to remember."

My mother shakes her head. "Patrick, honey, now is not the time to make up lies-"

"Mom, you're not listening." I raise my voice. "He hit me. Remember when I had a black eye for a few days?"

"You said you fell. Your glasses hit your face in the fall. They broke on your eye," she tells me, confused.

"It wasn't the truth. Travis had hit me that day, and he threatened me. He said that if I told anyone he'd hurt you." My voice cracks. "I had to lie, mom."

Suddenly Travis bursts in to the room. "What lies are you feeding your mother?" He growls.

"Lies? Are you fucking kidding me? Who's the one really lying here?" I challenge, standing up to meet the man's glare. "I wanted to speak to my mom alone. Ill bet you were around the corner, listening to our conversation."

Travis ignores my last comment and says to my mom, "Patricia, it's obvious the boy doesn't like me. He's clearly lying to get me out of the house. And how inappropriate that is, telling stories about such a serious topic." The man crosses his arms and scowls.

My mom obviously seems very conflicted.

"Mom, when was the last time I lied to you?" I plead with her, "I never lie, mom."

Travis cuts in, "Or he's just a very skillful liar, and he never gets caught. This boy needs to know he can't get away with things like that."

My mom begins to speak, but her cuts her off. "Honey, go back to our room. I'm gonna have a talk with your son," he growls.

She silently stands up and shuts her door tightly behind her. Fear bubbles up into my stomach as Travis clears the space between us.

"What the fuck were you thinking? You know your mom would never believe the shit you say."

"She would've believed me if you weren't there to feed her more lies," I remark. "You know she values her own son more than her so-called boyfriend, who only uses her for pain pills."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Make me."

At that moment, the back of his hand collides with my face with such force that I stumble and fall on the ground. The crack noise from the slap still echoes in my ears.

I feel liquid running from my nose. I put my hand up to it, examining the fresh blood on my fingers. I look up at Travis with wide eyes.

He steps closer to me. "Please, Travis, stop!" I yelp as he pulls me up by the collar of my shirt and drags me towards the door. I glance at my mother's door before his body blocks my view. It's shut.

There's no way she didn't hear what's happening. She really doesn't care what he does to me, does she?

I'm suddenly being thrown on my porch by Travis. "Stay the fuck out."

I scream, "Rot in hell, pig!" As the man slams the door in front of me.

I sit there for a moment, processing what just happened. Then, thankful that I never took my backpack off when I first came home, I dig my phone out of my bag.

There's only one number I can think to dial.

"Hello?" Says a voice on the other line.

"Pete." I sob when I hear his voice, my voice cracking. "I need you."

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A/N
Ooh sorry for the shorter chapter but shit just went DOWN

Travis is a dick vote if you agree

Anyway I'm home alone rn and I'm so scared bc it's dark & late & we live in the middle of a forest so everything is so spooky help