"Are you fucking kidding me, Kathrine," Kevin yelled at my mother.

"Don't talk to me like that Kevin."

"How am I supposed to talk to you then? You abandoned us then showed up a year later, asking for forgiveness, as if nothing happened."

I was currently sitting in the hallway, eavesdropping in on their conversation. I was woken up at five this morning by Kevin yelling at someone, when I peeked out my door, I never expected to see my mother standing there.

"I said I'm sorry Kevin, I know I fucked up. I'm a terrible person for what I did, what kind of mother and wife just up and leaves their families like that."

There was a long pause before she continued.

"I was going through a lot, everything was overwhelming me, it was too much, everything was too much."

"You weren't the only one who was going through shit Kathrine, you weren't the only one who lost a daughter that day, you weren't the only one who was suffering. We all were and still are, you can't just up and leave cause shit gets too hard," Kevin said, venom dripping from his voice.

"I know."

I drew my knees closer to my chest, waiting for one of them to speak again. Why did she come back? After a year of us not knowing where she was and all of a sudden, she shows up. Did she want something? That had to be the only reason she was back. Maybe money?

"Where's Thomas at?" My mom asked, causing my body to tense.

I didn't want to see her, I knew one day I'd probably have to face her over what happened, but today wasn't the day. I was in a lot of pain from last night's events, I didn't want to add another type of pain to it.

"He's in bed still," Kevin said.

"You let him sleep in this late?"

This late? I was like eight in the morning right now.

"It's Sunday, I let him sleep in as long as he wants on the weekends."

Not like you have a say in the matter, I thought to myself. She left, she doesn't have a say about anything in my life anymore, she lost that right when she abandoned me.

"How's he doing?"

"Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Goddammit Katherine," Kevin yelled out, slamming his hand down on the coffee table, causing me to jump and my mom to make a surprised gasp.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I want my family back," she said.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I want to come home, I miss you two, I miss being here, I miss my family."

"No," Kevin said.

"Why?"

"Seriously? Do I have to spell everything out for you? You had us, you had all of this, but you left it all behind and you aren't welcomed back, ever."

I could hear Kevin stand from the couch, his footsteps getting closer to me, I tried getting up, so I could go back to my room so they wouldn't know I had been here, but my bruised ribs made it very hard to get into a standing position. I had just gotten into a standing position when I heard Kevin's voice behind me.

"Tommy?" Kevin said, sounding surprised to see me standing in the hallway.

I slowly turned around to see Kevin and my mother standing behind me.

"I," was all I managed to get out before my mother engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug.

I just stood there, my arms lay stiffly against my side, making no effort to hug her back. My body was stiff, it was weird, when I was little her hugs were the best feeling, they brought me comfort when I was down, but now, they made me feel uneasy.

"Please stop," I said, my voice barely a whisper as I shoved her away from me.

She looked at me, shocked that I actually pushed her away.

"I guess that is to be expected, considering," she said, sounding hurt, I made eye contact with her just as her hands grabbed hold of my face.

Did she want me to feel bad for her? Cause that definitely wasn't going to happen. It was hard for me, I had mixed feelings when it came to how I felt about my mom. It was just the two of us for years we were close, but I guess not close enough.

"What happened to your face?" my mom asked, clearly distressed by the sight of the bruises that covered my face.

I could see Kevin tense out of the corner of my eye.

"Thomas answer me! What happened to your face?"

"Kathrine, leave hi-," Kevin started before I interrupted him.

"I got in a fight at school," I said, causing Kevin to give me a surprised look.

I was feeling how Kevin was looking at me right now. Why was I making excuses for him? Why was I covering for him? I should have let this be the moment everything came out into the open, but instead, I covered for him.

If she had just let me go with her, all of this could have been avoided.

"Are you really leaving?" I asked, following her into her room as she went into the closet grabbing her suitcase.

"I am," she said as she began to fill her suitcase with her belongings.

"Why can't I go with you?"

"I need space Thomas, and I can't get that if you're with me," she said, she was getting annoyed with me.

"But I'm your son. How are you just going to leave me behind?"

"Thomas for god's sake you aren't a child anymore, so quit acting like one, you'll be just fine without me," she yelled at me, causing me to flinch.

My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes, I don't think I've ever felt so helpless as I do now.

"Thomas please don't cry."

"Please don't leave me," I said, my voice quivering as I wiped away the tears that had fallen.

"I don't want to be alone, please, please don't leave me behind."

"You have Kevin, you'll be just fine," she said, zipping up her suitcase.

Grabbing the handle of her suitcase, she picked it up off the bed as she walked past me, walking out of the room leaving me there alone with my emotions. I quickly went after her, grabbing a hold of her arm, I had to do something, anything to make her stay.

"Please don't go," I pleaded with her.

She turned her gaze towards me, with a look of pure disgust on her face.

"Let go, Thomas," she said, raising her voice at me.

"No."

"Now."

"No."

"I said let go," she yelled at me, as she slapped me across my right cheek.

I let go of her arm, cradling my sore cheek, looking at her in shock. Did she really just hit me? She's never hit me before. She gave me one last look before storming out of the house, shortly after I could hear her car engine start-up as her car pulled out of the driveway.

I walked over to the front door, opening it to see her car was gone, she was really gone. I walked out onto the porch, I made it down one step before I collapsed onto the porch, it was as if my legs couldn't support my weight anymore.

I stayed in that one spot until close to midnight, waiting for her to come back, it was like I was waiting to see a glimpse of her car or just anything of hers. That never happened though, I stayed there until Kevin came out and made me go back into the house.

"Are you listening to me?" Kevin said.

"What?"

"Kathrine asked if you could give her another chance."

I looked over to see my mom staring at me, waiting for my answer.

"No," I said.

My mom gave me a shocked expression, it was as if she was waiting for me to say yes and welcome her back into my life with open arms.

"But Thomas," my mom said, protesting my decision.

Turning around, I walked back over to the open door of my room, walking in before shutting it behind me, making sure to lock it. The last thing I needed was for my mom to come in here, guilt-tripping me and shit. I walked over to my bed, climbing in before pulling the covers over my head, Kevin and my mom started to yell at each other again.

I placed my hands over my ears, trying to drown out their voices, tears fell from my eyes as I tried to focus on anything, anything other than her voice. Her voice brought back too many memories that I have been so desperately trying to avoid over the past year.

My eyes eventually grew heavy as I let myself be swept away by the comfort of the darkness that had settled over my room.