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Sometimes, Connor would have these moments where he just couldn't talk.
His parents had always been put off by it, especially considering he hadn't gotten an Autism diagnosis until he was fifteen so they didn't even know why he would randomly go quiet.
Zoe had always been the only one to be kind to him about it. It made him feel a bit bad, knowing that a part of her was also scared of him. A part of her hated him.
He hated how he'd traumatized his one friend.
He came home one day after having lost his voice for the whole day. It hardly mattered at school- No one talked to him anyway and teachers weren't too surprised when they simply received a middle finger in response to calling on him for a question.
When he got home, though, his mother demanded an explanation on why he hadn't done a chore the previous day, and he just... Couldn't answer her.
Eventually, his dad got involved, criticizing him for his inability to speak, something which even his mother was mad at the man for. It hardly mattered, though. Nothing seemed to matter much anymore.
Connor went upstairs and slammed his door as hard as possible to make his feelings known and neither parent bothered him about it.
Later, Zoe would knock on his door and, when she received no response, she walked in to find him frustratedly writing something out. She didn't bother to peek at what it was- Lord knows he wouldn't take well to her spying.
She just sat in the room with him, hoping her presence showed her support in some way.
Christ, he really didn't deserve her.