Foreword

Chapter 10

I've been meaning to post this for awhile but I never got to finish it. Without further ado, here is the final and unfinished chapter of the fanfic.

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Monday mornings were always the most stressful. Phoenix rubbed his forehead drowsily and took a sip of his black coffee. His comfort "food" took him for a trip down memory lane when he was much younger, when his father used to brew the coffee right into kitchen and he invited him to sit and talk with him. Father-son time that both of them now treasured but couldn't afford to have anymore, now that Daddy Farrell had been hospitalized for a few months already.

While feeling his newfound admirer's chocolate eyes gazing upon him and stealing glances at him when the guy thought he wasn't looking, Phoenix found himself sucking in his breath and letting it hiss out between his teeth, a tic of his that was more than just an indication that he was a little irritated. Now he had to deal with his own adult life, and he had a family relying on him; 3 beautiful children and his loving wife. As spiffily dressed, intelligent, and mature as he could be, the man wished he could go back to the past. It didn't even have to be when he was 11 or 12- he wanted to do something creative. More creative and exciting than taking to the gym once in awhile and working a job at the Electronix appliance store to keep up a decent income. He used to be a runner and a weightlifter for God's sake. The ding dang happened?!

He flipped open a leatherbound songbook, a pencil dangling from his teeth. A feeble attempt to impress, if not make him up to appear nonchalant. It wasn't that he minded the attention, it was just that Phi had never encountered anyone like Chester before and the sneaky behavior made him a little uneasy.

The pencil suddenly slipped from between his teeth and bounced to the ground, landing at the edge of a discarded muffin wrapper.

Sighing, he hunched over slowly, feeling a crick in his back.

Two hands touched the utensil at nearly the same instant when Phoenix slouched down to retrieve the writing utensil. A pair of glossy brown eyes looked at him cautiously, shy smirk flickering across his face. His appearance was most shocking, but the bassist tried not to show it: Chester's eyes had shriveled into grey caves and they were slightly bloodshot. His. breath was tinged with the scent of tobacco and alcohol and had almost a metallic smell to it.

"You dropped your pe- I mean... It slid... Here." Chester sputtered. Normally, Phoenix would've chuckled and patted him on the back, but unfortunately, curiosity killed the cat.

"Hey... Uh..." he stammered, tipping his nose at Chester's face. For a moment, he didn't get it. Then his reaction came.

"Have a nice breakfast." His lip curled.

The pencil fell back and footsteps clattered back to the counter, leaving Phoenix a little bewildered.

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"Hey, babe." Chester managed a faint smile, tossing his messenger bag onto the doormat. "You're back." Why did you leave.

Though it was fairly dark, as he had arrived home from work just then, he could still make out the silhouette of a woman hunched over at their kitchen table, and his heart nearly broke to see the love of his life in such a state. The tension in the atmosphere was present in immense amounts.

She cast a sharp look at him, glowering in a blend of pain and something else.

"I..." His fuse sputtered out and he smartly shut himself up.

The couple looked at each other, and both individuals appeared to resign. Fights were too stressful. And much too common in this household.

"The kids already had dinner, and I was about to go to bed anyway. Good night." Talinda whispered, The quiet shifting of the floorboards. Closing of a door. Bedsprings creaking.