Chapter Text
Gabe really should have known his mother was sitting right there. He really really should have. It's become a routine.
"What are you doing up? It 3:30," he says, trying to play it off.
"It's the sevenths night this week I've sat till morning,"
"Oh great," he responds, with a barely suppressed eye roll, and a sinking feeling in his gut. "Here we go."
"Imagining the ways you might have died."
Gabe turns looking longingly at the stairs. "Yeah, and tonight's winner is?"
"In a freak September ice storm with no warning," his mom responds, hands the air, as if mimicking the ice falling.
"'Cause that happens."
"There's a gang war, there's a bird flu, trains collide."
"What did we say about watching the news?"
"Now you act all sweet and surly, but you swore you'd come home early, and you lied."
Gabe goes to sit on the footrest of the chair, spins, equickly reconsiders having a longer conversation, and just kisses his mom on the head, and hugs her.
"You got to let go mom." Please let go mom, "I'm almost eighteen."
"Are you snorting coke?"
Trying not to burst out laughing, he answers, "Not at the moment." And, really it's true. After coughing what he deemed a bit too much last time, he stopped, convinced if he kept at it he would die in the next few months. It still took weeks to quiet his heartbeat.
Just when it seemed like his mom had another question his father's voice could be heard, asking who's up at this hour.
"Your father," His mom whispers, pushing him to a door, "Go up the back way."
"Why does he hate me?"
"'Cause your a total twat."
"You can't call me a twat."
The door closes, but not before his dad asked if everything is okay, he heard voices.
"Just me talking to myself," his mother responds,"y'know?" then she put on a odd voice, his cue to leave.
After a daring climb through his window that took almost thirty minutes to hype himself up for, because they had no back way, he finally arrived back in his room.
His mother believes that every night he goes out drinking, or partying with friends, which isn't that wrong, he's done it before. But, most night? He just goes out in the world to let himself know that he's alive, that he's isn't dead, that he's real and that the world is too.