Cinders

~62~ Break Up

Taylor goes to bed at the same time that mom does tonight. He waited for her to get in bed, and then he follows. "Night bud," he says over his shoulder.

I'm staying with dad tomorrow night, and I'll be there for several nights. Taylor hates it when it's my last night here, so we always eat junk food and play video games after mom goes to bed—This is the first night since they started dating that we didn't do that.

I'm completely bummed.

~*~

The next morning my stuff is ready and I'm about to leave to catch the bus—I still haven't gotten my car back. Mom is getting ready for shift and Taylor is ready, just waiting on her.

"Ellie, I...uh," he starts to say, and then shakes his head quickly and simply looks at her.

"What's up, babe?"

"Nothing." He says quietly.

"Alright, I gotta go. See ya guys on Thursday." I say, going over to give mom a kiss. Then I look at Taylor, and his expression is horrible—He's fighting tears right now. He silently comes over to me and pulls me into the strongest, saddest hug I've ever had. He kisses my cheek and cradles the back of my head in his hand. "I love you, Liam," he says as he breaks the hug and stares hard into my eyes.

I look at him surprised for a minute. "I love you too, Taylor." I give him another quick hug, and swallow the bile rising in my mouth. This feels like a goodbye.

~*~

I have a horrible feeling in my gut all day long. By the time I get to dad's car after practice, I'm wanting to call mom; Something just doesn't feel right. I REALLY wanna see mom and Taylor.

"Hey Champ!" Dad says, clapping my thigh as I get into the car.

"Hi," I say, feeling like I'm gonna cry.

"What's wrong, Liam?"

"Have you talked to mom or Taylor lately?" I ask.

Dad thinks for a minute and then shakes his head. "No, I talked to Taylor several days ago about the specifics of the proposal this weekend, but I haven't talked to him since....What's the matter?"

"I don't know. They both acted really weird this weekend—I think Taylor cheated on mom, and she doesn't know it yet."

Dad laughs loudly, until he realizes that I'm not kidding. "This is Taylor, Liam."

"Yeah, I know—But he got drunk the other night at the bar, and he's acted weird ever since. There's this girl at the station who's in love with him, and she texted him all weekend."

I'm probably wrong—I feel so stupid.

Dad is quiet for a minute. "Did he text her back?"

"No—Not once."

"I'm sure there's another explanation; He's insane about mom." He says, squeezing my thigh in reassurance.

"Something bad is going on—I can feel it." I say, my cries bubbling out of my chest before I can stop them.

Dad pulls over and stops the car, and he turns to look at me hard. "You're being serious, aren't you?"

I just nod, letting the tears fall. Dad pulls me into a hug and gives me a kiss.

"Come on, let's go to the arcade for a bit," he finally says as he pulls back onto the road.

~*~

Going to the arcade takes my mind off of things for a while, but as soon as we get home the feeling just comes back—More intense. Almost crippling.