Superimposed

14

It had been three hours since he left Belle's house and Taron was sitting in an alley just a 10-minute walk for his house. The situation he was in would be seen as absolutely ludicrous to most people, but Taron wasn't most people and he hadn't been through what most people had.

As far as Phil was concerned, he'd fled Dulwich and was living somewhere else. Not that he would care anyway, Phil was actually quite glad Taron had left. Little did he know Lisa was going to leave too.

Alone with his thoughts, he began to think about his real dad. How he never really knew him and how we would never get to know him. He could never turn to him for advice or comfort, not that he ever had. He didn't know what it was like to have two supportive parents and if he had then he probably would be in his final year of drama school now.

That fact hurt. Taron felt as though he had been held back two years of his life because he let the opinions of others change his future and how he spent his present.

As the night went on Taron thought about his future, did he really want to go to drama school? He had his heart set on it for years now, his future was all planned out in his head. But things had changed, the future hadn't turned out quite how he wanted it to.

That's when he broke, his eyes filled with tears and he just let them fall. He was so lost, not really knowing what he wanted to do. Not if he thought about it properly, questioning every decision he made in his life up till this point. Never in a million years did he think that he would end up like this, sitting with his back against a cold wall in a dark alley with only one bag of belongings and £80 to his name, which wasn't even his money.

Taron was a bright person, someone with a lovable character with so much ahead of him, but he just couldn't see it yet. It was hard to when what he'd been through clouded his vision.

Even though he tried to, Taron couldn't sleep. He had too many unanswered questions racing through his mind.
He spent the entire night really thinking about his future and what he wanted, one thing was certain - things could only go up from here.

The sun rose at 5 am, Taron's queue to get up again and begin walking around. He decided that what he needed to do was find a job, just not in Dulwich.
The plan was to use the money his mum gave him to buy him a train ticket somewhere else and work there. Maybe somewhere nearer the drama school?

If he could just earn enough money to rent a room somewhere that he'd be off the streets and able to get his life back on track.

Being an actor was all he wanted to do and he was determined to not give up now - to keep going until he'd made it. Couldn't be too hard, right?

But Taron didn't get up, he watched the sunrise with tears still spilling down his cheeks. All the emotions he'd pushed down for months were resurfacing and he didn't try to hide it now.
He pulled his knees to his chest and let himself cry, cry everything out. Cry for his dad, cry for the uncertainty for his future, cry just because he needed to.

He wasn't okay, he tried to be every day. Put on a front so people didn't mistake him for who he really was, no one really knew just how badly he was hurting. His heart ached and his stomach did flips, he'd never felt like this before. His breathing quickened and he let out a heartbreaking cry, he was completely beside himself.
As much as he tried to breathe properly he couldn't, it felt as if there was no air for him to breath in. So he tried to stand, but his legs felt like jelly.

'Pull yourself together Taron' He told himself over and over again, but it was no use. The tears burned his cheeks and his lungs gasped for air.

"Taron?"
Belle.

"Taron, baby, what's wrong?"
Belle crouched down beside him as he whimpered, trying to cover his face with his knees. He didn't want Belle to see him like this, he didn't want anyone seeing him like this.
"W-what are you doing here?" Taron stammered in between muffled cries

"I'm going to work, I work an early shift on Saturday's" Belle explained, staring at Taron with concern. What was she supposed to do? She'd never seen someone this upset before.

"I can't breathe- I'm sorry, I-"
"Hey it's okay, I'm here now okay?" Belle said gently and pulled him onto her shoulder and just waited for him to calm down. Which he did after a few more minutes.
"Do you know I've got a banging headache, we shouldn't have drunk all that champagne" Belle laughed, trying desperately to get Taron talking. But he sat silently, wiping his face and taking quick short breaths. He pulled himself closer to Belle and rested his head on her chest.
"I don't know what I'm going to do" He finally spoke, his voice was raspy though and Belle could feel his tears through her shirt.
"I'm useless, I can't go to drama school, I can't get a job - not in this state, I don't have a home, I'm never going to see my dad again - who would want someone like me? I'm living a lie every day of my life. I'm sorry I wasn't what you thought I was, I'm a fucking loser Belle"
That last one hit Belle straight in the heart, she swallowed the lump in her throat as she held him.
"I'm nothing!" He shouts and throws his cap across the alley making Belle sigh
"Taron, you know none of that's true. You're so bright and you have so much ahead of you if you could only see what I- what everyone sees you'd realise. It's not your fault that your dad died, it's not your fault that Phil's an asshole. You're so strong, you've been through so much - are you going to throw all of that away now?"
Taron sniffed again, trying to collect his thoughts. It wasn't like him to get like that, sure he'd cried before but not like that.

"I need to get to work," Belle said and Taron got off her so she could get up. Before she left she walked over the alley to pick Taron's cap up, "You're going to do good things Taron, but not if you sulk about the things you can't change"