"He's not here, he left."
"He left, he left us Teo, and it's all your fault."
"You were too much for him. He hates us now."
"No! no that's not true!"
"He hates us, and I hate you. I don't want you here. They say you're bad. They say you're the one that's done this to us. It's always your fault. Always your fault."
"It's-It's not my fault! I never asked for this. I never-"
Teo's eyes opened, his body suddenly upright and shaking, his eyes stinging with the tears that had been threatening to fall in the dream. The nightmare of the old house and the old bitch that didn't even deserve to be graced with a name.
Letting out a shaky breath, Teo wiped his eyes and laid back down, determined not to let this effect him. He was beyond this, beyond her. Both of them had a better life now. There was no reason for his mind to torture him with the memories of someone who was as good as dead.
But as he tossed and turned that's all his traitorous mind would let him think about. Playing back the words that she had said over and over, hitting him in the one place that it would truly hurt until he was ready to bury his head in his pillow and sob. Because in the end she was right on at least one account, Teo had been too much for him to handle. Raising a boy was hard for anyone who was just a boy himself.
By the time the clock hit three am Teo had given up on sleep, taking refuge in the kitchen where he was opening and closing cabinets until he managed to locate where Torin had hidden the tequila bottle. Twisting the cap off so he could take a nice long emotion numbing drink. He usually didn't like the taste of alcohol, but sometimes the horrors of his childhood was enough to drive to him towards it.
Alcohol wasn't enough for him tonight. A third of the way down the bottle and the pain was only getting worse. His guilt crushing him under its weight until he couldn't take it anymore. His feet moving on his own as they carried him past the door of his own bedroom to the one that would lead to Torin's instead. His brother wasn't a night owl like him, he'd be asleep by now and Teo knew that. It wasn't enough to stop him from letting himself in though, wasn't enough to stop him from padding across the room and climbing into bed next to him. Not even bothering to get under the covers or say anything. He just sat there, his red ringed eyes staring down at the bottle he had carried into the room with him.
He needed to be here. He need to know that Torin was close and safe and not going to leave him, not in the sense that she had meant. He needed his brother right now and wanted to hate himself for it.
