the creak of the door closing left you sat in the empty sitting room with theo's father. you knew you shouldn't have agreed to come home with him over the summers, because from what he had told you about his father, it was no wonder he didn't want to come home. your head slowly turned back to look directly at his father, sat opposite you as you swallowed down her words, biting back the amount you had wanted to say to this man since you first got here.

"you’re a terrible father, did you know that?"

it was bold words to say to the man. it was a bad idea to begin with — but what else could you do? the way he had treated theo since you got hear spoke more volumes than anything. his father leaned back in his seat, his hands clasped together as his grey eyes bore into you, smirking and shaking his head as he unclasped his hands, tapping his leg.

"preach it to me. set me straight."

the way he had responded was enough said. this man clearly didn't care, and the anger had started to bubble, although your tone remained calm as you responded to him, no matter how difficult that seemed.

unbeknownst to either of them, theo stood on the other side of the door, his ear pressed to it as he listened to your words. he never had the courage himself to stick up to his own father, no matter how confident he tried to make himself appear. but hearing that you did — you were the one sticking up for him, it left this jittery feeling in his stomach. almost as if he could feel the lump in his throat forming by the seconds.