The sound of a door slamming. That's what woke me up out of my sleep. I shouldn't have been asleep anyway, it'd make waking up later that much harder. I knew who it was that slammed the door before the other person started yelling for it to be opened. It was only a matter of time before Eli blew up at Tiffany but I didn't expect it so soon. It feels wrong to think of it that way but that's just how bad things had gotten. I could hear them yelling at each other about something and quickly decided it'd be best if I just ignored them though I'll admit it was hard to with the noise.

"Naw, open this mother fucking door right now!" Eli shouted, it was followed by his loud pounding on said door. "You did this shit, you can fix it!"

"It doesn't work that way, if I try that now it'll only make things worse!" Tiffany yelled back.

Groaning I got up to close the bedroom door. It wouldn't help much but it was better than nothing. When I got back into bed my mom stirred, rolling over to grumble something at me only to fall back asleep. I wanted to get up and get myself something to drink but I was afraid to leave the room.

"You said you could fix this. So either you fix this or I find somebody else who can," Eli bellowed, I could hear the doorframe rattle as he hit it again.

That’s right, I have to get to work. I’m finally getting some hours and I don't wanna let him get in the way of it. Everything still hurt like hell though and I’m stuck walking since I don’t have my license yet. Opening the door I left out of my mother's room. Almost immediately Eli snapped his head around to glare at me from the end of the hall, his jaw working as he stood holding the doorknob.

"The fuck your want?" he said, letting go of the doorknob in favor of glaring at me.

"N-nothing, I was just about to leave," I mumbled, ducking my head as I rushed towards my room, locking the door behind me.

I needed some clean clothes so I rummaged through a drawer to grab some appropriate work attire. I didn’t have an actual uniform, just a shirt and I was told that I needed to buy my own pair of black pants to wear to work. I went on ahead and shoved the blue shirt they gave me on and threw on a pair of pants that were obviously dirty but I didn’t have time to look for more as I rushed to the front door. I didn't even make it off the porch before I broke. I took a seat on the top step, breaking out into sobs at the way I fell onto the concrete. I felt so stupid. I should have never been to the Vincent's in the first place. I never should have left mom alone on Thanksgiving. And I never should have been there when Eli showed. I can't take back what I did or how I feel but that didn't mean my life was over. Eli would get over it... eventually. He couldn't hold it over me for forever...

Even I knew that I was lying to myself but I wanna try. I wanna be able to put all of this behind me one day, to put myself and my feelings first and Toby was beginning to become my only reason for fighting him. Eli always got his way even at the exspense of others but for once I wasn't letting him.

Grabbing a fistful of my shirt I wiped my face clear and got to my feet, breathing in deeply before heading down towards the cafe. Working would get my mind off of things for just a little bit. Matt and Marcy would be likely to ask questions what with my swollen eyes and the way I winced every time I made a move. Eli had learned pretty fast how to hit my without leaving too many visible marks, even in his rage he still managed to keep from giving me any black eyes or busted lips.

When I got to the diner I didn't say anything to Marcy or Matt and to my delight they said nothing back. I was formulating a plan in my head as I washed dishes. I'm almost eighteen. I was planning to leave as soon as my birthday hit in January but with the way things are at home now with Tiffany and Carson and how things have changed between me an Eli so drastically there was no way I could stay in that house.

I have an uncle who lives in Illinois. I’ve always wanted to leave Missouri. Oh who am I kidding. What about Tobias? We didn’t end it but... I walked away from him.

“Hey Eric? Can you clean the bathrooms, Marcy’s being lazy again,” Matt asked, tapping my shoulder as he came to stand behind me, his face falling. “Hey, you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Flicking water off my hand I used the back of it to swipe at an itch on my nose. “Oh, I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Did something happen with you and Toby?” Matt frowned, it quickly deepened as the seconds passed.

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re not denying it, plus you literally always have something to say about him every time you come in. You guys didn’t break up over what happened with that fight did you?”

“We didn’t- we didn’t break up... at least I hope he doesn’t think that. Matt I,” dropping the plate I was holding I turned away from him, rubbing at my arm as I spoke, “I walked away from him when he was just trying to be there for me.”

Matt was quiet for a moment, likely trying to think of something to say. He was like that, always wanting to help and give some sort of advice even when he didn’t necessarily have to. Looking to him I wasn’t expecting his soft tone.

“Sometimes people just need space and he can’t expect you to always be open but you have to learn how to express that. I don’t know what happened between you two but I’m guessing you probably pushed him away. I hear the stories you tell Marcy and I see the way you act here at work. You have to learn to accept help. Now get that plate out of the water, it sounds like it broke.”

Blinking I nodded my head. “You’re right. You’re always right. You always give the best advice.”

“I know. Now finish up so you can clean the bathrooms, we’ve got customers to serve and you still haven’t finished washing dishes.”