Through the Screen

Chapter 84

the grey patterned wall of their room was staring harshly at abel, silently rattling at him for making

everything go wrong. the frame of the bed which was made out of golden timber-wood was the one

who was willing to hold the weight of all of abel 's mistakes once—today it just digs unforgivingly into

his back as he leans against it. the carpet underneath him was no longer feeling velvety against his

skin, the thin hair pricking into his skin uncomfortably and hesitantly soaking the drops of salt falling

constantly from abel 's eyes.

he had been sitting here since the past twenty minutes, every muscle in his body refusing to move

away from noah and from this place he calls home. he is aware that noah can hear him sobbing

through the thin walls, and although he knows that he isn't worthy of noah's comfort, he still selfishly

hopes for noah to give him another chance.

his eyes are focused on a chocolate stain on their carpet from last year, the small smudge of brown

bringing back a tonne of memories of noah's birthday last year when abel had woken him up with a kiss

on the forehead at midnight and a home-made cake that was probably undercooked.

eyes travelling further to the scar embedded in the door of their closet, the wood chipped off because

adrian had accidentally scraped his metal ruler against it. up to the old digital clock sitting on the

nightstand that has witnessed every kiss and every hug and every smile and every petty argument, and

down to the inflated dinosaur noah bought as a joke, his vision was blurring constantly at the reminder

of leaving this all behind.

"papa?" abel 's eyes went wide when the sleep laced voice cut through the eerie silence and he quickly

wiped his eyes and blotted his cheeks with the back of his sleeve so it doesn't look like he's been

crying. it was a lost cause though, anyone would be able to tell how broken he was with his bloodshot

eyes and pink, blotchy cheeks.

"are you okay? where's dad?" adrian walked further into the room, sitting on the edge of his parents'

bed and staring at abel with eyes laced with sleep and a worried expression on his soft features.

"i'm fine, noah must be outside," abel managed to give him a small smile, hoping that noah wouldn't Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

break the news of how horrible of a father abel was to adrian. he wouldn't be able to live with himself if

he saw the betrayed expression on adrian's face, his lips parting in disbelief and his bright eyes

watering.

abel pushed the image out of his mind and picked out a luggage from the top shelf, trying to hold back

the tears as he messily shoved the minimal amount of clothes he owned into the bag. he still hadn't

unpacked when he came back home last morning, so a majority of his belongings were already

packed, and his fingers skimmed over a few sweatshirts that noah owned, discreetly pulling a single

one off the hanger and placing it in his bag.

when he zipped the bag shut he was breaking down all over again, his knees giving in as he sunk into

the mattress and buried his face in his hands, quietly letting the tears soak the palm of his hands. the

lump in his throat was spiked with regrets, all the mistakes that he has made, and no matter how hard

he tries, he can't will himself to stop crying. his breathing is restricted, lungs collapsing inside his chest

and his heart that was beginning to place pieces together out of hope was broken again, the freshly

wounded muscle hurting worse than ever before.

"abel?" when he heard noah's voice he had lost all control, heaving helplessly and letting out choked

sobs, his mouth dry and throat filling up with bile.

"please don't make me leave," his words were barely strung together, falling apart as they escaped his

mouth, his voice strained and heavy.

"abel—"

"please noah, i will do anything, just please don't make me leave i can't live without you," abel was

yelling now, his emotions out of control as he got off the bed, wiping his cheeks and looking at noah

who refused to meet his eyes.

"please don't make this any harder," noah's voice wasn't above a whisper and even though abel had

just wiped his cheeks, they were streaked with tears again, his lips cracked and his entire body

shaking.

"i-i love you," abel choked, cupping a hand around his mouth so his sobs can't be heard by adrian and

noah just shakes his head, rubbing his hands along his face, his face drained of colour and his eyes

dull and watery and just by looking at noah, abel 's heart was breaking all over again.

"y-you can get the rest of your stuff later, just leave now i can't bear to have you in the same house,"

noah's voice was quiet, his tone no longer angry or hurt or betrayed. his tone was devoid of any

emotion, as if he was just speaking for the sake of speaking and abel just bit his lip, grabbing both his

bags and dragging them across the room as fast as he could, stray tears dripping down his chin and

leaving a dotted trail of his departure on the worn out carpet.

"what will i say to adrian?"

"i don't know,"