14 weeks earlier...

It has been a week since that heart-wrenching message that Micah's bloodshot, watery eyes stared at all afternoon. Since then, he had been living in his bedroom, locked himself away from the rest of his family, refusing to come out, barely eating anything, and just drinking away, all day. It was his comfort zone because the vodka washed down his sunken feelings, burying them away forever.

The empty void in his eyes focused on the ceiling, like an owl. His head felt too heavy to move since it was full of alcohol, but even if he could, he didn't want to, for he would rather rot away in the sanctuary of his disgusting room. That was the only place he could let out his tears because no one in the world cared how he felt.

Laid on his pillow, in a frozen trance and barely conscious, his skin had lost all his color, it felt damp and cold to the touch. His body made no movements, except swinging the bottle into his mouth with his good arm, but other than that, he just laid there and started thinking back to that day, like it was a fortress trapping him in its torment.

Resting his eyes on those words was probably the most painful but numbest experience he had ever received. At first, all he could do was stare at it lifelessly, feeling his energy drain away, as his chest numbed around the hollow hole which formed in place of his heart. Because it had been ripped out and thrown into the trash like the worthless little thing it is. And then, the tears came afterward.

He saw his entire world, which was her, go from pure happiness to pure darkness in a matter of seconds, even though what happened between was just blank space in his memory, which is what hurt the most. The fact that he couldn't remember what caused it. It just showed how everything can change so quickly without you ever knowing.

But all he knew was what once was so perfect was now just a broken, poisonous memory, now that he had lost his Mariana.

And that's what finally broke him.

Unlike other times, he had no idea what went wrong this time. All he did was buy her gifts in anticipation of her return. He didn't know when exactly she was going to come until his sisters told him, so he woke up extra early to make sure everything was perfect for his special girl.

He was currently twirling around a few bracelets he brought to give to her, he thought that she would appreciate his efforts and that they could talk things out because they were just fine before she left. They weren't even at the point of a breakup even though they were fighting a lot.

But now that she was gone, thinking about her brought him painful stabs to the heart instead of joyful bounces of happiness. That message was flashed repeatedly in his mind like it enjoyed torturing him.

But it seemed like nothing he did ever went right. That was his sad reality, he'd always try hard, but for whatever reason, it was never enough. It would always get thrown back in his face, so all the efforts put into it meant nothing to anyone.

It had been going through all his childhood, starting from his father, but he never thought that it would extend into his adulthood, into his relationships. He wasn't good enough for Electra or Mariana.

Sometimes, he even thought that his cooking wasn't good enough, that Carlos was pretending to like it, even though he was proud of his dishes. But for once, he just wanted something he had done to be enough, but sadly, even something like that was too much to ask.

He then rubbed the cast of his injured arm and sighed sadly, that fight was probably worthless too.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, but it sounded so far away, like an echo down a long tunnel, as he drifted further away from consciousness. There was no hope in him left to get up and open the door, he might as well die, like he was supposed to in Majorca.

"Micah, my baby, can I come in?" his mom asked.

Micah didn't respond, so his mom just came in. She immediately pinched her nose because of the smell of alcohol, mixed with body odor that hung above them like a dark cloud. Micah still laid, like a mummy in a tomb, and he didn't seem to notice his mom coming in and sitting on his bed.

She tried taking his drink away, but Micah held on to it firmly like it was a baby bottle. Since he laid down, the liquid just sat at the start of his throat, slowly rising to the top of his mouth, but his body seemed unable to spit it out, so he started choking.

Crystal quickly rolled him over to his side, so the vodka spilled out on its own. She then snatched away the bottle and threw it on the floor. She hated seeing him wasting his life away like this, and didn't want anything bad to happen because he was drinking so much.

Micah barely moved but only twitched his hands. His eyes eyed the side slower than he was able to process that he was no longer holding his bottle and now leaning over the bed as he started making inaudible noises in confusion.

"Micah, speak to me." Crystal brought him up and made him sit upright. "What's wrong? Why are you trying to kill yourself like this?" She ended up raising her voice in frustration.

He tried to answer but ended up wheezing at the sudden loss of breath. It was like his throat had cut the air off, making it harder for him to breathe. He gasped out, trying to regain his breath, but it was shallow through his airways as he wrapped his clammy hands around his neck, struggling to get air rushing down his lungs.

Crystal was alarmed, staring into his wide-shaped eyes, as he heard the raspy sounds coming out from his pleading lungs.

"Micah?" She said worriedly while getting her phone out. "I'm going to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital." She began dialing the number rapidly with her shaky fingers.

"N—n—o—w—w—wait..." he slurred and panted out. He grabbed the edge of his mom's shoulder, but his fingers could barely hang on. His eyes were disoriented, blurring everything in sight. His stomach gurgled, full of the intoxicating liquid, as he suddenly felt dangerously nauseous.

Crystal removed his hands and kept him still as she began talking on the phone. Micah then started breathing normally and threw up on himself. He wiped his mouth and stared sheepishly at his mom, who was still seated on the edge of the bed.

Suddenly, they heard the door open slowly, and Electra's head popped out.

"Aw, how's little Micah doing? Is he sad his little girlfriend doesn't want him anymore?" She giggled in a taunting voice.

Crystal brought Micah to her side, patting his back, as she sent a death glare towards Electra, who smirked at her. Her voice unexpectedly came out low and dangerous as she said:

"If somebody doesn't come and remove her from my sight, I will—"

"Come on, Electra, time to throw you out!" Makayla quickly came and pulled Electra down the hall so she can throw her in the pool again.

"Oh alright, he deserves it anyway!" Electra said, happily compliant as her work was done.

Micah began shivering, his teeth clattered uncomfortably, as his mom's arm was slung around him, trying to keep him warm and calm him down. He felt his breathing slow down again, which sent him into a panic.

"Crystal, what's going in here? Why were you shouting at Electra?" Aidan asked, coming round from their room.

"Because all she does put Micah through misery!" She exclaimed while looking over at Micah to make sure he was still breathing, which he was sort of, so she turned her attention back to Aidan. "I'm so sick of her she has to go, Aidan."

"Not yet, please Crystal, can't she could stay for a little while longer? For Mason's sake? What did she say anyway?"

"Making fun that Mariana left him, but that annoying and high-pitched voice of hers just makes it even worse," she scowled.

"I don't see any problem with that. Micah probably deserved it so..." He shrugged.

Micah groaned and picked his heavy head up a little. His father's words pierced through his soul, making his eyes water. "Dad, d—d—did y—you j—j—just say I deserved it?" he managed to finish his sentence before violently throwing up again. He shook his head and blinked, trying to keep himself awake.

"Yes. You have been such a nuisance lately towards your brother."

"I've n—not e—even done any—!" he couldn't finish it off as he vomited again. His stomach became weaker and pained more with every forced push. He started to cry, unable to get his words out, so his mom patted him for comfort. It broke his heart, even more, to think that his own father would wish him his downfall.

"What's going on here?" Mason said, in a happy mood as he came over, leaning on his crutches.

Crystal ignored him and continued talking. "Aidan, either Electra leaves now with her own two feet, or I'm going to make her leave in a body bag."

Aidan sighed. He didn't want to make her upset again or cause a bigger argument so he complied. "Okay, I will ask her to leave, but Mason will not be happy."

"I mean, I think Mason will be more sad if Electra was suddenly reported dead..."

Mason glanced between them, feeling the awkward tension. "So... is Micah still sad that Mariana broke up with him? Aww, and I never got to have my way with her." He pouted sarcastically.

"That is it... I've had enough." Crystal got up, made sure Micah was steady and went over to Mason. She took off her slipper, and with one swipe, She slapped him hard across the cheek, earning a cry from him as he clutched his cheek in pain. His knees shook as he slipped off the clutches and stumbled to the floor.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he cried out. His tears began flowing out uncontrollably. His cheek burned like fire as if he got slapped a thousand times by a rock.

"For that disgusting, vile mouth of yours!" She shouted at him, emphasizing each word with the anger that flamed out.

She began shouting at him even more, paying close attention to his broken legs."Si vuelves a habla', te voá rompel más hueso' que las dos pielna!" (If you speak again, I'm going to break more bones than both your legs).

Mason shook, even more, not daring to even whisper another word, as he stared at the glowing brown eyes of his mom. This was the first time he was told off because his dad didn't noticed what he said or behaved.

She kissed her teeth, withdrawing her slipper as she looked upon him. "I blame your father for your behavior because I never raised you to be like this!" She continued to yell at him, but there was a hint of pain in her voice for how her son acted.

Suddenly, Micah finally collapsed onto the ground, vomiting once more as he lost consciousness.

Crystal noticed this and ran to his side. She crouched and cradled his head in her palms. "Micah?" She tried shaking him to wake him up, but when he didn't respond, she started crying as sirens could be faintly heard from outside.

"Micah? Wake up!" She tried shaking him more violently, holding onto the hope that he will open those eyes, but he didn't.

"No... no... no..." she sobbed heavily while panicking with a rapidly beating heart.

"Please don't die, Micah, please my baby, I don't want to lose you," she said before the ambulance finally came.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I was waiting for the time Mason was gonna get slapped by his own mom.😂😂. Imagine, big 25 and ur getting slapped by ur own momma🤣🤣

I missed writing Micah 🥰but I'm not happy that so many ppl want him to suffer🥺🥺especially those close to him when he hasn't even done anything wrong, he's just trying to live.

What I find cute in is that Mariana and Micah genuinely both had the idea of talking it out with each other once that opportunity came, but things didn't go as planned😢.

Btw when Micah was a lil drunk on whiskey in the 'Overnight Stay' chap, that was foreshadowing whats happening in this on heh.