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unfortunately, the sound of yelling was just common ambiance in the afton household– what wasn’t however, was yelling that came from both elizabeth and her father. william had a very clear bias to his only daughter; he favored her, spoilered her, and would never even lay a finger on her. her two brothers always got the short end of the stick– they were yelled at, blamed, abused– elizabeth was always the perfect little girl in their father’s eyes.
except today was different.
today the two brothers were in the eldest’s room, sitting in silence as they overheard the argument coming from downstairs. they never spent time with each other, but when your father snaps at the one little girl he views as perfect, they can’t help but feel worried– scared for what may rain upon them after. they weren’t even sure what it was about, but there was no denying that william would most likely take his anger out on the other two later.
evan was sat in michael’s lap on his bed, hanging onto his shirt tightly out of fear. they both knew what their father was capable of, having experienced these things themselves. they weren’t sure what they did to deserve the abuse, or why they were any different from elizabeth. michael had his arms wrapped around evan, holding him close for comfort. he could claim all he wanted was to comfort evan, but deep down he knew that hugging him and holding him close was a grounding point for him. it kept him aware of his surroundings and where he was.
“do you think lizzy will be okay?” evan’s voice was barely above a whisper– squeaky and hesitant. michael felt his heart break at his brother’s fear from someone that should’ve been their father; they shouldn’t have been scared of someone who helped bring them into the world, helped raise them, was related to them by blood– but they were, because he was anything but a father. “..i don’t know ev.” was all he could muster in response, because in all honesty, he really didn’t. what he wished and what he thought were two completely different things, and he wasn’t about to sugarcoat his words to someone who deserved to know the hurtful truth of their father’s ways.
“you little fucking brat! why don’t you fucking understand when i tell you to stay the hell away from my work? are you incapable of listening? are you deaf? stupid?” the two could hear their father yell from downstairs, followed by the sound of things crashing against the wall.
all the lights in the house were off, the only source of light being the moon peeking through the blinds of each window. the house was dead silent aside from the yelling and crashing, and every time there was a pause in the argument, it left an unsettling silence until it fired back up again.
evan flinched and began to shake in michael’s arms, soft sobs escaping from his mouth. his small figure was heaving as he tried to stifle his sobs, not wanting to be too loud and catching their father’s attention. everything was just reminding the younger boy of what he went through constantly. the abuse he faced, the screaming, and all the shouting. michael had forced himself to grow accustomed to it, for the sake of his brother. he was the oldest, and he had to be the one to comfort evan when things were inflicted on him. he had to keep himself stable, he couldn’t break down in front of evan, he had to stay strong in front of him– otherwise he couldn’t comfort him properly. all of the damage he experienced was just locked away, hidden from everyone but himself. and that’s the way he was going to keep it, no matter how painful it’d become.
michael laid down and pulled evan with him, allowing him to slot his small body into the curve of his brother’s front. not once did michael remove his hold on evan, he just continued to hold him close and allowed him to cry, allowing him to cope with the damage that the two were unfairly experienced in. evan’s sobs got more choked and hitched as he tried to stop himself. “go ahead and cry ev, it’s okay. i promise father won’t hear you.” he reassured softly, as if talking even a pitch higher would scare him away. he pulled evan impossibly closer as he allowed his tears to fall, muffling his cries in the fabric of michael’s shirt. if his heart weren’t already shattered, it would have most definitely collapsed at the current sight.
the sound of their father’s bedroom door slamming shut was always the signal that whatever argument was occurring was over. michael had expected his father to storm upstairs and barge into michael’s room, releasing all of his pent up anger onto the two of them like he usually did, but tonight was full of surprises. what wasn’t a surprise however, was the soft knock coming from the other side of michael’s door, followed by muffled sniffles. all michael could say in response was a quiet “come in,” waiting to see their sister on the other side.
the door creaked open and there stood a short girl, her ginger hair tangled and face stained with tears. michael didn’t even have to say anything before she walked in, shutting the door quietly and stumbling onto the bed, crawling into michael’s arms next to evan. he tried to get a look at the damage that was inflicted on elizabeth, but it was hard to see when her face was buried in his chest, not to mention the darkness around them.
“how bad did he hurt you liz?” he spoke in a hush, trying to lift her chin with his thumb. she shook her head in protest and forced it away from michael’s hand, embarrassed to show despite nothing being her fault. “liz, let me see. it’s okay, i need to make sure you’re not hurt.” a moment of silence passed between them until elizabeth tilted her head up, allowing michael to inspect her. evan had moved at some point to michael’s back, holding onto him and falling asleep from mental exhaustion. “jeez liz, come on, sit up for me.” michael winced at the sight of cuts scattered about her face, tears slipping into the open wounds.
she obliged, releasing her grasp on michael and sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her lap; tears still slipped from her emerald eyes, a gene she got from their mother. michael had carefully pried himself from evan and let him continue to sleep as he slipped off of the bed, reaching for his shitty first aid kit underneath.
“what happened, why was father upset?” michael whispered, not wanting to wake evan– it was the first time evan had properly slept in awhile, having had nightmares that were too bad for him to be able to fall asleep. elizabeth shook her head lightly in response, not wanting to reflect on the damage that had been done– and of course michael respected that, so instead he did everything he could to distract her as he bandaged her.
“i know you feel like you did something wrong, but you didn’t liz, i promise. knowing from experience, father does this shit. it’s awful, i know, but i want you to be aware that it’s not your fault.” michael had begun to disinfect her cuts with miniature cotton balls and alcohol, careful and slow so as to not hurt her even more. the cuts were small thankfully, so after a wipe or two on each one, they were good. “y’know, when i turn eighteen, i’m gonna get us out of here. you, me, and ev. to hell with father, we’re gonna be the best trio out there, yeah?” the small smile that had formed on elizabeth’s lips was rewarding to michael. it would be easier said than done, but he wanted to make sure it happened, he would make it happen.
he applied bandages on her face, cupping her face in his palm and bringing her gaze to his own. “i promise you things are going to be okay. now how about that hair? a bit tangled innit, let’s fix that.” he grabbed a brush from the connected bathroom, picking at the remaining hair that stuck to its bristles.
“mum used to brush my hair..” elizabeth’s voice was shaky and choked, like everything in her body was collapsing. “i know, let me be mum for a bit, pretend that she’s here.” michael began to carefully untangle the knots in her hair, apologizing each time she hissed when he pulled too hard. they didn’t have to pretend though, for their mother was right by their side, aching to hold her children once more in her spiritual form.