Chapter Text
For once, Gabe was up early. Too early, maybe.
Sleep wasn't important when he had to study, though. He was sitting at the kitchen island, just trying to write his papers and drink his redbull in peace. Then his mother came bounding into the room.
"Gabriel, what are you doing up? It's three thirty."
He responded by listing off all of the work he had to do, which didn't seem to phase Diana at all. He hardly registered her words until he heard "I'm going to have sex with your father!" Great. Just wonderful news to him. Which was exactly what he told her.
He thought he might try and get to school early, maybe study in the library or practice piano. He had a recital coming up, after all, which he made sure to remind his parents about, though they both seemed to be caught up in... whatever it was that they did.
The morning was going as usual, He got dressed, ate breakfast (an apple with a bite taken out of it, curtesy of his mother), finished his homework, and got ready to leave the house. But, he noticed something.
His mother was... off. She was usually a bit eccentric, or sometimes just sad. But this felt different. She was talking to herself, saying a lot of things he didn't understand. He remembered when he was very young, maybe four or five, she used to get like this sometimes. Her mood would switch constantly, one moment she was crying, the next she was laughing. He didn't question it, though. It was just their version of normal.
He often wondered what defined "normal." Did normal families have to take weekly trips to the psychiatrist? Did normal families eat dinner in silence? Did normal sons spend their time in their rooms to get away from the screaming and the breakdowns? He didn't dwell on it, but he often wondered what life would be like if his sister hadn't passed away.
He had very few memories of Natalie. Most of what he remembered with her in it also involved hospital rooms and his parents holding back tears. He'd seen pictures of them together when they were both little, pictures of himself holding a newborn natalie as a toddler, watching as she screamed her little face off. Other than that, he had hardly any memory of her. Again, he didn't like to dwell on it, but sometimes he wished she had lived. Maybe then his mother would pay more attention to him
He was so close to having a normal day, almost out the door to the bus, when his mother started having an episode. He was used to it by now, he knew he should've seen it coming. But he didn't.
She was on the floor, throwing bread and various foods all over it while Gabe and his father watched on in slight horror.
"Diana?" Seemed to be all that his father could say. She looked up from her sandwich making. "Everything's fine, just making sandwiches! On the floor!" Gabe sighed internally. He was torn between annoyance and worry. "You go on ahead, you'll miss your bus." She smiled up at him. It was strange how quickly her mood could change.
He was out the door and on the bus as soon as possible. Maybe the school day would be calmer.