Work Text:
Louis slams his palms onto the laminate surface of his desk, the rattle of cheap metal legs echoing through the empty fourth-grade classroom. Tears track through the playground dust on his cheeks as he loops a heavy bike chain around the desk frame, snapping the padlock shut with a sharp, resonant clack. Nine years old and carrying the world’s weight, he clings to the metal, his heart hammering against his ribs. The news of Marlene’s upcoming engagement to Bob feels like an outright betrayal, a sudden tear in the fabric of his small universe.
When his mother hurries into the room, her keys jingling nervously, Louis collapses to the floor. His knees scrape the linoleum as he sinks into an anguished crawl, dragging the chained desk an inch at a time.
"I'm not going!" he wails, his voice crackling with raw, childlike grief. "You can't like Bob! You just can't!"
His mother kneels beside him, her soft hands reaching out to anchor his shaking shoulders as he buries his face into his knees, completely overwhelmed by a heartbreak too big for his nine-year-old chest.