𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 [𝟏𝟖+] ✔

40

"Aria!" A heavy fist hammers on my front door, and I nearly drop my wine glass. The sound of my mum's voice catches me off guard. After ignoring her for weeks, I should have known this was coming. "You open this door right now, young lady!"

I roll my eyes, looking around at my messy house, the basket full of clothes, the sink full. Paperwork is scattered across the living room floor from having lost my shit trying to catch up on work.

"Aria!" I hear her yell my name once more. "I know you're in there."

"What do you want?" I shout back, leaning my forehead against the door before unlocking it. My mum's deep blue eyes burn into me as soon as the door swings open, and I fear she may hit me for the first time ever.

As usual, she's dressed in a fitted suit, her hair tied back tight enough to flatten out her wrinkles, or maybe that's the heavy makeup... I'm not sure anymore.

"No calls, no messages. If it wasn't for your work contacting me then I'd have no clue you were spiralling. I should have known you weren't cut out for this field."

My eyes widen, and I clench my fists, ready to pull her expensive handbag off his wrist and smack her with it. "How dare you. I'm fine."

"Look at you," she says, reaching out and flipping my knotted, greasy hair. Her eyes trace down my slim frame, clothes hanging off me. "You look like a drunk. And what in God's name is that smell?" She covers her nose with her palm, looking around the house as she walks up the hallway, stopping at the kitchen. "What's gotten into you?"

She needs to fuck off, Toby is minutes from video calling me and I haven't even set up my laptop yet.

Silently, I stare at the floor, feeling her burning glare on me. I know Mum well enough to know that she will stand here, waiting until I dive into a deep hole of emotions and reveal myself to her, but she can ram it.

She sighs, taking off her glasses, folding them and setting them on a takeaway dish with a grimace. "I'm going to run you a bath. I'm not leaving you alone like this."

"No! Mum, you need to go now before..."

Knitting her brows together, she regards me with a confused look. "Before?"

"I just... I'm tired, I need to sleep."

"Well, you need to wash first." She looks me up and down with a tight-lipped smile. "I'll change your bedding while you're in it."

On instinct, I grab her wrist with an iron grip, spinning her with my teeth baring. "I said no! You need to get the fuck out of my house and stop acting like Mum of The Year. We both know you're only here because Dad forced you."

Frowning deeply, she looks from my hand grabbing her, to my twisted face. "Release me, Aria," she demands calmly. "I'm not a threat to you."

My brain explodes, and I let her go, stepping until my back hits the tiled wall between my counter and table, eyes wide with fear. "Ewan is the threat. Mum, I need to protect Jason!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

I shove past her, my heart racing as I quickly dig through the dirty washing for a hoodie, throwing it on and running out of my front door with my mum yelling after me.

I don't dare stop, my bare feet slapping the pavement as I sprint as fast as I can, stumbling a little from my alcohol intake. The rain should be making me shiver, at least cold in the middle of November. I feel nothing but the dread that Jason is in terrible danger.

Do anything necessary to save him. The thought keeps running through my mind as I fall to my knees numerous times, the streetlights aiding me in the darkness. I feel a painful constriction crushing my chest, and I slow down my run to catch my breath, leaning my palms on my knees.