Free Falling

I woke up and turned around to see that Landon had also fallen asleep. I guess today had exhausted all of us. I slowly pushed myself off of the couch trying to not to wake him up. I walked to the window to see if my dad's car was in the driveway. Nope. He still wasn't home. I groaned and looked at the clock. 7 pm, that meant dinner time.

I turned the stove on and filled a pot with water and waited for it to boil. Once it had boiled threw in some noodles and walked back over to Landon. I shook his shoulder trying to wake him up.

“Landon, wake up, it's 7 o'clock. We're gonna have dinner soon. Can you tell Evelyn and Wyatt?” He groaned and tried to kick me away.

“Okay, okay. Gimme a minute.”

I laughed and continued to prepare dinner. It wasn't anything special but it would do. Soon it was done and we all sat down to eat. I could tell we were all starving because we dug right in without saying a word. I looked over at Wyatt and he had sauce all over his mouth. I laughed and continued eating. All of a sudden our peaceful dinner was broken with the slam of the backdoor. Great, dad was home. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Landon roll his eyes. I gave him a look saying, don't freak out. Let him explain.

“Wow, you guys started without me? Great, thanks,” my dad slurred as he walked into the kitchen. He was drunk, of course.

Evelyn looked at me with frightened eyes. I gave her a weak smile trying to reassure her. Landon stood up out of his chair and crossed his arms. I saw him clenching his fists. I looked at Wyatt, and he grabbed Landon's arm in attempt to pull him back into his seat. He slowly sat back down.

“Oh, think your in charge now buddy? Yeah, just cuz I was gone for an hour doesn't mean that your the head of this family, that's my job.” He walked over to me and looked down at the food, “Yeah, and you trying to be just like your mother. Well stop trying! It isn't worth it! This is worthless! You'll never be anything like her.” I looked down trying not to give him the power he was looking for. The chair across the table screeched as it flew backwards. Landon jumped out of his chair and pushed my dad back, away from me.

“Can I talk to you?” he spat. Before my dad could answer he pushed him outside. Evelyn, Wyatt, and I sat in silence as we waited for them to return. We heard yelling, most of it coming from Landon.

“You think your so great, that your taking control of our family? Well you forgot to pick up Evelyn. And what about Wyatt, he cries himself to sleep every night. Addison or I always end picking up the pieces you leave behind. You're not the only one struggling. We all lost mom. So pull it together.”

They both stormed back in. Landon took his place back at the table and continued to eat. We all followed his lead. My dad went into his office and slammed the door. We all ate silently, without our dad. What was new?

*Evelyn's POV*

I hated it when everyone fought, why couldn't we just have our normal family back. I remembered how dad used to be, before mom died. He used to throw me over his shoulder and carry me around the house. We all used to go to concerts, and games, and we used to enjoy hanging out with each other. Now it felt like we were alone, left without any parents. I felt like I had lost both of my parents this year. After mom died, dad disappeared more often. He came home drunk at least 3 nights of the week. And that scared me. He wasn't himself, he yelled and swore. He said he needed his time and so we gave it to him. But it hasn't stopped. What about us, did he forget about us? I pushed my food around on my plate as I remembered our old family. I felt a hand on mine, it was Wyatt. He squeezed my hand and gave me a little smile. I smiled, trying not to cry. I know that it has been hard for all of us.

I had gotten a lot closer to Landon, Addison, and Wyatt over the last little bit. They ended up being like my parents over the last few months. They pick me up from school, friends house, well they did just about everything for me. Even though they did their best I still missed mom, and dad, and the family that we used to be.

*Landon's POV*
Someone had to break the ice. We couldn't just sit at the table for the rest of night. I stood up and started clearing the plates. Addison knew what I was trying to do, so she stood up and did the same. We waited for the younger two to go upstairs so that we could talk. They soon knew what we were waiting for and they both headed up the stairs.

“Ok, this is getting to be ridiculous. We are sup post to enjoy Senior year. Instead we are parenting our younger siblings.” I said quickly. It felt good to get what I was feeling off of my chest. I know that she felt the same way.

“Yeah, I know. But really, what can we do? Dad doesn't seem like he's going to step up anytime soon. We barely see him anymore.” Addison replied. I heard her voice break. That was the last thing that I wanted to happen. I didn't want this to be a daily occurrence.

“It's ok, things will work themselves out.” I walked over to her and hugged her until she pulled away. She gave me a faint smile and walked up stairs. I finished the dishes and looked to the clock, 10:00 pm. It was a long day so I decided I was ready for bed.

I flicked of the lights and began to slowly walk up the stairs. I looked at the pictures on the wall, tracing my finger along our faces. All smiling, happy, laughing. That was the Williams family before we heard the news. Before the news of my mom's cancer. I peeked in Evelyn's room to see her already tucked in, the same was the case in Wyatt's room. I walked past Addison's room and saw her in her chair, she had fallen asleep doing homework. I turned back her sheets and scooped her up in my arms and placed her in her bed. She moved a little bit to get comfortable and settled back into bed.

I then went into my own room and laid down. Next to me was a picture of my mother and I when I was three. She looked at me with utter joy as a smiled up at her.

Notes

Hope you guys liked this one. I had a hard time figuring out where to go from the last chapter:) The next chapter will be a few weeks later so keep that in mind. Thanks so much!
I will update 2 pre-written chapters tomorrow and hopefully one more on christmas day. :)