From the moment Savannah left, Rocco wished she hadn’t. Her leaving wasn’t his intention. He would rather it have been him to go. Danny was off around the world, and he could have gone there to cool off. As a second choice, he could have gone to the Starks, though given the current state of things, that was a distant second. What Piper had done had left him too embarrassed to even face David and Lindsey beyond what was necessary. That had definitely contributed to his crippling loneliness. But she had gone. She had left him there alone, with only ghosts for company.
It would have been easier if Piper or Caesar were there. Neither were anywhere to be seen. For Caesar, this was normal. Their mom had once joked that he was part feral tomcat, roaming through the city at his leisure and only returning home once hunger kicked in. Without Mom there to feed him, and provide the small amounts of love and affection he needed, there was even less reason for him to return home. For Piper, the radio silence was strange. Rocco had called and text her so many times, but now, the phone didn’t even ring anymore. The notifications on his texts showed that they hadn’t been delivered. Her phone was off. He couldn’t even leave her messages - the automated robot on the other end of the line informed him, time and time again, that her inbox was full. He still called sometimes, just to hear her chirpy voice explaining that she couldn’t come to the phone right now. It seemed like a relic from a time where things were better. Maybe that’s why he liked to hear it so much. That, and the fact nobody else seemed to be worried. Hearing her voicemail made it feel like things were okay again, if only for a few seconds before Miss Robot denied him of the option of leaving her a message to let him know he was thinking of her.
Time almost seemed to stand still once Savannah had left. The sun outside had set and rose again, but he hadn’t slept. He had barely even rested, drifting aimlessly from room to room looking for something, anything, to occupy his time. But Piper’s room was empty. Caesar’s room was empty. The beds were neatly made and totally untouched, everything in them still. He knew his mom’s room would likely be the same. It took a long time for him to build up the courage to even open the door. Once he did, he was hit with a wave of nausea. The room, like his siblings, was untouched. However, nobody had been in to clean up. The door had been shut for the day she died, and if not for the slightly dusty smell, he could have sworn she had only just left. The sheets had been kicked to the bottom of the bed, as she always did, never bothering to take the time to actually make it. The pyjamas she had taken off that morning had been tossed carelessly onto the chair by her desk, and a book sat on the bedside table, open and facing downwards to save her place.
Rocco kicked off his shoes, padding cautiously into the room. A part of him didn’t want to disturb the world inside of it, a place where his mom was still here, running errands or singing loudly in the shower or filling the apartment with laughter. It was a world that was far better than the one he found himself in now. It was a time that he could never go back to, and it hit him in that moment how little he had appreciated it at the time. Frankie Stone was always so unshakably present that he assumed that would always be the case.
He bent to pick up the pyjamas on the chair, raising the top to his face, rubbing the fabric against his cheek. Immediately, he recognised his mom in the smell. It was the most comforting thing in the world. He almost wanted to drop them again, leave them unsullied by him, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he let himself fall onto the bed, clutching the pyjamas close, and pulled the cover over his head. Cocooned in the scent of his mother, Rocco finally slept.
He wasn’t sure how long he was there for. When he awoke, it was still light outside. It could have been the same day, or a week later. Rocco couldn’t tell. For a moment, he forgot everything. Frankie’s smell was still strong around him, and it took a moment for everything to hit him again. In that exact moment, he realised what it was that had woke him up. Somebody was at the door, knocking to be let it. It was probably Savannah, and he wasn’t sure he had it in him to speak to her right now, but he got up anyway. Painstakingly, he rearranged the covers at the bottom of the bed, wanting to make sure the room was exactly as his mom had left it. Leaving the room, he shut the door. That was a place just for him, now, and if Savannah was at the door, he didn’t want her in there. He held on to her pyjama top, though, gripping it tightly in his fist like a comfort blanket. He couldn’t bring himself to let go of that just yet. Bracing himself for what was to come, he opened the door. It wasn’t Savannah at the other side, though. He blinked a little, unable to register that it was Casey who had come to see him, and cleared his throat.
“Um, hi.” His voice sounded like it belonged to someone else, so hoarse and distant the he didn’t recognise himself in it. “Uh... is everything okay?”
