Darcy POV:

I took a deep breath and tried to think calmly. He must have gotten a new number or something.

Ally crawled over and put an arm around my shoulder. "You alright, Darcy?"

Tennyson looked confused. "It's your dad?" He said.

"Yeah, i-" I started. Then my eyes widened as I realised he would call Mum next. "Mum," I whispered, and rushed out of the room.

I went down the stairs three at a time, Tennyson and Ally following close behind.

I arrived in the lounge and saw Mum sitting on the couch, her face white and haha clutching her phone, Mr and Mrs Mitchell looking worried.

I rushed over and sat beside her, putting my arm around her and taking her phone. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded and then shook her head. "I- why would he call now?"

I quickly unlocked her phone and blocked the number. "You have to forget about it. He has no right to talk to us."

"He called me 'love'," she whispered.

I gritted my teeth and hugged her hard. "And he called me 'sweet', but we all know that's not the case."

"What's going on?" asked Mrs Mitchell, looking concerned from Mum to me.

I looked up and all four of them were staring at us with varying degrees of worry on their faces.

I looked back at Mum. "I think they should know."

Mum nodded.

I gestured for them all to sit down. "It's kind of a long story."

Mrs Mitchell sat on the other side of Mum and put an arm around her as well. Mr Mitchell and the kids sat on the other couch.

"That was my dad on the phone just now," I started. "I- look, I could go into a lot of detail, but I'll make it as short as I can. We used to be really happy and everything, but then when I think I was about ten? his dad died, and because they were really close, Dad got really depressed and he started drinking more. He'd, um, he'd always been a bit of a drinker, but he started going out and getting drunk, and then he'd come home and accuse Mum of cheating, and using their money for, like, drugs and stuff.

And then he started hitting her. Not often, at first, but, like, on weekends when he'd been out and come home drunk. Mum tried to talk to him, and reason with him, but he didn't listen when he was drunk like that. And always the next day he was so sweet and repentant, and Mum was too easy to forgive him."

I looked at Mum. "Sorry Mum, but it's true. And then he was out for a few nights, with no texting or calling, to let us know where he was, and Mum freaked out, like, she was scared he could've gotten so drunk that he just collapsed in a random street or something, but then he showed up at our house, disheveled and hungover.

This time though, Mum actually stood her ground and demanded an explanation. And when he said he was sorry and that it wouldn't happen again, she actually went off and told him that this couldn't happen anymore, and if he didn't pull himself together and let her help, she'd have to think about whether she could stay or not. That it wasn't good for me, I had gone through my young teens having to see him drunk and shouting and violent, although he'd never touched me. I was really proud of her." I patted Mum's arm.

"But then he got furious and told her that she was a nagging bitch and that if that was how it was gonna be he'd leave straight away. And he just got in his car and drove off. And I was glad." I added viciously, because I had been. That Dad wasn't the one who we used to know. "And so Mum decided we needed to move because that house had too many memories. And so now we're here. But we hadn't heard from him since then until today. And the thing is that since they didn't get a divorce, Dad could still come back and ask for custody of me."

"And if it got taken to court, he would win," added Mum, shakily. I squeezed her tight as I saw the tears in her eyes. "Because I don't have any solid evidence of his abuse, and he used to be a lawyer, anyway."

"You poor, poor thing," cried Mrs Mitchell. She laid her head on Mum's shoulder. "I'm so glad you felt you could tell us. You can always come to me if you need, Sarah, and if he tries to call again, don't hesitate to talk to me."

Mum smiled tearily and hugged her. "Thank you."

"I'm so sorry, Darcy," Tennyson said. "I- we had no idea."

I shrugged awkwardly. "It's fine. You didn't know."

"But- why did he call again now?" asked Ally.

"I don't know," I said. "I really don't know."

Mr Mitchell stood up. "I'm going to make you a coffee, Sarah. I think you need it."

Mum was still shaking slightly, and her face was white.

"Mum, if he ever texts or calls again, promise me you won't listen, and you'll block him straight away, yeah?" I said.

Mum nodded. "I know, Darcy."

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I'm alright, Darcy. I'm alright, okay?" she said.

Mrs Mitchell smiled at me. "How about you let me talk to her for a bit, hey Darcy?" she said kindly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I said. No I wasn't.

I headed back upstairs with Tennyson and Ally.

I sat on Ally's bed, and Tennyson sat beside me, Ally sitting at my feet and gathering the cards left on the ground.

"Sure you're okay, Darcy?" Tennyson said.

"Yeah I'm fine," I said again. Lying again.

"If you're ever not, you know you can talk to me." said Ally from the floor. "Or any of us, you know."

"Thanks Ally. I will."

That was another lie. I definitely wouldn't.

I wasn't okay. Hearing his voice had brought back memories I didn't want to think about. I was sure I'd have another nightmare that night. But I couldn't worry Mum. She'd been through too much. So I wasn't going to be telling anyone anything any time soon.

I'll forget soon anyway.

I hope.

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Hi again!! Can you believe I actually updated already??? I literally can't omg.

Anyway, so you got some backstory on Darcy and her mum! It's not great, and still kinda boring but hopefully you enjoyed even tho it's short :(

I feel like this is really boring idk if it's even worth keeping on writing...

Anyhoo!

Ly all tons hehe ❤️