The night was cold, yet bright. The moon hung in the sky like a lamp over the world, clouds veiling its light every so often as a light drizzle fell.
Adrian was bored—bored enough to have spent the past ten minutes staring at the sky.
"How long till we get home?" he groaned, frustration obvious in his tone.
"Best-case scenario, thirty minutes," she replied matter-of-factly.
"Fine, then wake me up when we get there. Or, you know what? Just leave me in the car. I'll come in when I'm ready," he said, closing his eyes in preparation for a long nap.
They both chuckled from the front. There was a brief silence, and Adrian was about to knock himself out when he was called again.
"Actually, Adrian, now would be a good time for a conversation we should have had a while ago," Mark said from the driver's seat, taking a turn onto a wider street.
Adrian opened one eye. "What conversation?" he asked, raising a brow.
"Care to explain those bruised knuckles?"
It was more of a statement than a question, and Adrian knew where this was leading.
How the hell did he notice?!
"I had to put a couple of pricks in their place, that's all," Adrian said bluntly, brushing the matter off nonchalantly.
Mark sighed heavily.
"Adrian, you shouldn't keep getting into fights."
"Then people should stop pissing me off."
His voice rose quickly. Outside, the rain intensified slightly, as if to match his mood.
"Now calm down, Adrian. There's no need to yell," Elizabeth said, trying to defuse the situation.
"I WAS calm until we started bringing this meaningless argument up!" he yelled.
"Meaningless? Last year, you nearly broke an arm! Six months ago? You almost pushed one of your friends off a bridge! Two years ago? You put one of your classmates in the hospital! All because of your anger issues!" Mark yelled back.
Adrian went quiet, and Mark continued.
"If you won't control yourself for your own sake, then do it for ours. When you're angry, even friends look like enemies."
He looked back over the seat and stared Adrian dead in the eyes. The rain provided a monotonous backdrop to the tense scene.
"Maybe one day I'll be the one with a broken arm, lying in a hospital bed, or falling from the edge of a cliff. The choice is yours."
Adrian gritted his teeth, his fist clenched tightly at his side, trembling with anger.
"Stop looking at me like I'm some kind of MONSTER!"
Adrian's anger reached its breaking point.
"Between a man who can't control his anger and a monster..." Mark didn't even look back at him. "I see no difference."
Simple, cold, and hitting where it hurt the most.
His vision blurred with tears. He didn't know when he moved or when he struck.
But he knew when the pain hit.
Metal tore and screeched something tearing at his chest as his body swung through the air before landing roughly.
An agonizing sting shot through his chest. It felt like someone had driven a hot knife through his ribcage. The cold asphalt beneath him created a sharp contrast.
The pain was blinding. His vision was dark and hazy, but he could hear.
Gasps. Screams. A cacophony of voices speaking with dread and pity.
Adrian struggled to focus as he stared at what he had done...
Or what the monster inside him had.
He was lying on the street. The light drizzle had become a heavy downpour.
Wasn't I in the car?
He looked down and saw the source of the pain.
A deep wound covered his chest. The rain stung against it, making the pain instantly intensify.
Fuuuuuuck, it hurts.
He wanted to lie there and let himself slip into unconsciousness, but then he remembered.
Wait... Mom. Dad.
He looked around and saw debris scattered everywhere, lying among pieces of bent metal.
A couple of metres away, the familiar family car lay.
Except now, it didn't look so familiar.
The vehicle was flipped upside down, its metal frame bent and dented, most noticeably at the front.
Adrian started crawling toward the wreckage, barely conscious but still moving.
His dad hung upside down inside the car, the seat belt holding him in place despite his seemingly unconscious state.
His mom lay right next to the passenger-side window, broken glass scattered all around her.
MOM!
Despite the glass shards cutting into his skin along the way, he made his way toward her and reached out, shaking her gently.
There were several shards of glass around her. She slowly raised her head, revealing a serious wound along her neck.
Blood stained the clear glass red.
Tears filled Adrian's eyes as he realized what he had done.
He squeezed her hand tightly.
"Please tell me I'm dreaming."
She stared at him and smiled.
"You are."
"What?"
Everything faded away.
Adrian jolted awake.
He was lying on the living room couch, his body drenched in sweat, his heart pounding against his chest.
He lifted his shirt, staring at where the wound had been as the phantom pain faded yet the scar remained.
Reality crept in, bringing sorrow and shame with it.
He curled up on the couch, his throat tightening as tears streamed down his face.
It should have been me. It should have been me. It should have been me.
He was wallowing in shame and self-pity when the upstairs hallway light flicked on.
He quickly wiped away his tears and sat up on the couch.
Natalie walked out of the hallway, still half asleep, and made her way down the stairs into the living room.
Only then did she notice Adrian sitting on the couch. She nodded at him and went straight for the kitchen.
Soon, he heard the fridge door open as Natalie started rummaging through it. She pulled out a chocolate bar and returned to the living room.
Natalie plopped down beside him, and Adrian glanced over.
"Midnight munchies, huh?" he said with a grin, his tone lacking its usual bite.
And Natalie noticed.
"Can't sleep?" she asked, unwrapping the bar and taking a bite.
Adrian's smile faded. He leaned back against the couch, turning his head away from her.
"Bad dream."
Natalie took one good look at him, and it quickly hit her.
"I can imagine," she said with a knowing look.
They both sat there in almost complete silence, save for the crunch of the chocolate bar.
She'd seen it all before: the cold sweat, the tired look, the tear tracks beneath his eyes.
He was always the one protecting and taking care of her, and sometimes she forgot that he needed someone to take care of him, too. That realization made her feel responsible for being there for him.
And now she was ready to take it up.
Adrian's mind drifted back to that fateful night of rain, rage, and blood.
He was lost in the memory when he suddenly felt Natalie grab his far shoulder and gently pull him down.
The next second, he was lying on the couch, his head resting squarely in her lap.
Instinct told him to sit up and question her behaviour, but her hand resting on his forehead silenced those thoughts.
"I can't keep pretending I don't see it," she said, her thumb trailing lightly across his forehead.
"When you wipe away the tears, when you hide the pain, when you fake that stupid grin."
She smiled lightly, not out of joy but for lack of a better expression.
"Trying to be there for others without anyone to be there for you."
She tilted her head slightly to the side.
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
A stray tear fell from his eye, which she promptly wiped away.
"It must be exhausting to stay strong for so long."
She paused, her fingers resting against his forehead.
"I'm not asking you to explain yourself or tell me all your fears," she continued, gently stroking his hair. "I just want you to be weak, just this once."
Adrian stared up at her face, his mind still reeling from the shock, anger, and pain.
Yet as he lay there, his head resting on her lap, all his other emotions faded into obscurity, leaving only a deep, heart-aching sorrow.
Didn't think you were the observant type.
He wanted to say it to lighten the mood and brush off the tension in the air.
The words died in his throat as tears welled up in his eyes, and soon they fell.
He sobbed quietly, his hand covering his eyes, tears rolling down the sides of his face and darkening her shorts.
Her voice reached him in a whisper.
"It's okay. It's okay. Let it out. I'm with you."
She comforted him gently.
She continued whispering to him, but her voice started to crack more and more as Adrian felt something wet land on his face.
He moved his hand away from his eyes and saw her, her eyes red as she tried and failed to hold back her own tears.
He raised a hand to wipe her face, but she held it, placing it against her cheek instead as she cupped his face in her palms.
"If you ever need to feel weak, I'll always be here. I promise," she said, her tears falling and mingling with his.
Neither of them said anything after that.
The room fell silent, save for the occasional sniffle, and before long, they both drifted off to sleep, still nestled close to each other.