beautiful

heartbreak wears pink

song - innocent : taylor swift

TW: self-harm, sexual situations

Cady is crying. Damian is crying. Heathers was officially closed. Cady received her fourth and final standing ovation for her role of Veronica Sawyer. The curtains close for the last time. Damian pulls Cady into a large hug, the whole cast soon joining in. The whole cast is crying. They don't want to let go. Janis pulls Cady closer to her, whispering in her ear about how proud she is.

"Alright, Caddie. We have a surprise you," Damian sniffles.

"W-what do you mean?" Caddie asks, wiping away a few of her tears. And that's when she sees them.

Her parents.

Cady breaks out into a sprint, running into the open arms of her mother and father. Cady sobs, clinging onto them for dear life. She didn't realize how much she had truly missed them. Her parents were also crying. They held their daughter close and told her how proud they were and how she had truly found herself. They missed their daughter more than anything else in the world.

"How are you guys here?" Cady asks, not letting go.

"Well, Janis and Damian told us the dates of the show. They said they knew it would mean a lot to you if we came to see you so we decided to come back for a week," her mother smiled.

Cady giggled, hugging her parents once more.

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Cady and her parents went out to dinner after the show to be able to catch up. Janis had to stay at the school to strike the set and Damian's family took him out to dinner.

"How has school been, mpenzi?" her father asks.

"School has been great, Dad. My classes have been super easy and I've been pretty busy with the show," Cady smiles.

"That's great. Cady. I have to say, you seem so happy," her mother says, grabbing her daughter's hand.

Cady flushes, realizing that she truly is happy. She hadn't been happy in such a long time, she had truly forgotten how it felt.

Cady and her parents continue to talk as they eat. Cady's dad tells his infamous jokes that Cady loved so much when she was younger. Cady's mom shows her pictures of the new animals they've been studying. Cady tells her parents about school and her friends and how happy she's been.

Cady felt as though this moment could last forever and she didn't want it to end.

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It was after midnight when Cady returned home with her parents. But none of them were tired. To Cady, her world had suddenly changed. Everything felt brighter. She felt warmer. She smiled more in those few hours with her parents than she had in the past week. It was starting to dawn on her that she didn't want to be left alone again.

Cady and her parents decided to curl up on the couch and watch a movie. After a good ten minutes of arguing, they all finally agreed on watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Cady had loved that movie since she was younger. It was a movie that her and her parents used to watch together all the time.

The Heron household was filled with laughter for the next hour and a half. Cady laughed with her parents at the jokes that they had all known like the back of their hand. During the movie, Cady started to think. She started to think about how she didn't want to be left without her parents again. Sure, she loved spending all her time with Janis and Damian, but they could never replace her parents.

Once the movie finished, Cady decided to speak up. "Can I talk to you guys about something?" Cady asked.

"Of course you can, Cady," her dad replied.

"I've been thinking. I really missed you guys and I think it took you guys coming back for me to finally realize it. I love Evanston but I don't want to be alone again. I don't want to leave my friends but I don't want to be without you guys again," Cady confessed.

"Aw, mpenzi, you know you can come back to Kenya with us. But this is something you really need to think about. We're going to be here for the next week. You should really think about it, Cady. We will support you, no matter what you decide," her mother said.

Cady smiled and let out a yawn. She hugged her parents and wished them goodbye. As Cady walked upstairs, she decided to call Janis. She really wanted to talk to her about the possibility of going back with her parents. However, Janis didn't answer. Cady shrugged, assuming that Janis was either still at the theatre or asleep.

Cady walked into her room, changing out of her clothes and putting on a pair of gray sweatpants and her black Billie Eilish hoodie. She turned on her television, trying to fall asleep. She was exhausted. But for some reason, she couldn't seem to get her mind to turn off.

So she did what she always did. She sat at her window seat. She opened the curtains and stared at the stars.

Until the flick of a lightswitch caught her attention.

The light in Janis's room.

And then Cady's life crumbled right in front of her.

The familiar blonde hair was the first thing she saw. And then she saw what was unfolding in front of her very eyes. Janis was making out with Regina fucking George. Regina had Janis pinned up against her door, leaving a trail of marks down her neck. She was in the process of trying to get Janis's infamous jacket off of her when Cady's eyes clouded with tears.

She let out no noise. She was gone. She wasn't in control anymore. She had snapped. She walked into her bathroom and started to fill up her bathtub. She made sure the water was extremely hot. She opened up her demon of a cabinet and pulled out her box.

The box that she held stared at her with a mischievous grin. She grabbed the razor and threw the box on the counter. She didn't even bother taking off her clothes. She sank down into the water, the water burning her skin. But she didn't care.

She was gone.

She rolled up her sleeve, taking a look at the scars that still stared back at her. A single tear slid down her cheek and she dug the razor deep into her arm, creating a large gash.

She stared up at the white ceiling, a small smile etching itself onto her face.

And then her world went dark.