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Naomi grabbed the back of her boyfriends tshirt and pulled him to his feet, he stumbled and it took all of her strength to keep him upright, the adrenaline pumping was the only thing keeping her going.
“Naomi!” Emmet screamed as he struggled out of her grasp. He flipped around, Naomi’s eyes wondered back to her son, her baby, panting and crying on the floor. The side of his face was bright red, his blonde and pink curls were tangled and one sided.
She could feel her teeth grind hard as she tugged harder on his collar, the door was already opened so she shoved him through the screen. The bugs on the porch flew to get out of the way of emmet as he fell into the wood.
“Naomi, what the hell?!” Emmet screamed as she brought the shotgun from under her armpit to cocked in her hands.
“Get the fuck off my property.” She hissed out. “You can take your sorry ass out of me and my sons life. And if I ever see you near this house or Will again I will blow your fucking brains out!” Apollo bless her ears because she was not bluffing. Emmets face went from scared to a scowl as he stood up and brushed his jeans.
“Your guns on safety.” He walked closer to her so the barrel was placed directly at his chest. She shoved it hard into his shirt
“You really wanna test that theory?” Naomi’s voice edged with cockiness but it wavered. Emmet looked her up and down before rolling his eyes
“I’ll come get my stuff tomorrow.” He scoffed and limped down the front porch.
Naomi lowered her gun, panting. She quickly turned back to Will. She flipped the safety switch and chucked the gun to the couch before rushing to her son. He stayed sat on the ground, his knees curled to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs. Even with his head tucked into himself Naomi could tell he was still crying. She gently crouched down next to him and tapped his knee.
He looked up shakily, his eyes still bloodshot, his lip quivered. Naomi almost burst out crying at her sons face but she opened her arms and tried to keep his gaze. He immediately chucked himself at his mom and cried into her shoulder. Naomi let a few tears slip from her eyes as she rubbed circles into her sons back.
They’d been on tours with Emmet, they’d been to Wills school shows with him, they’d celebrated Wills 8th birthday together. How had she let him get that close with her child? How had she let him get that close with herself?
She’d thought she’d be smart enough to see signs early on, she thought she’d found a good one. Gods she was so stupid! She should’ve paid more attention.
Will had already healed himself, Naomi kissed his forehead and squeezed him harder.
“Shh ssh you’re okay, he’s gone.” She cooed into his hair.
She held him till the sun came up. He’d fallen asleep eventually but she couldn’t, her mind kept racking for any sign that Emmet would be aggressive, he always seemed so perfect until a couple of weeks ago. Maybe engagement ring shopping made him think he could drop his facade, maybe he’d just started to slip around her, maybe he was always this way to Will and her baby was just too worried about making her sad to tell her. The thought made her cling to him more.
The next morning she asked him if he wanted to go out with her instead of school, he quietly nodded his head. She made breakfast and took him to the studio with her, James even let him try on his headphones without him asking. They got ice cream and she listened to every fun fact about Star Wars Will could think off, she was just happy he was talking, he’d been quiet, even to her, for weeks, maybe that was a sign.
When they got home every trace of emmet was gone. The place was a mess because he clearly couldn’t leave peacefully. She made a mental note to change the locks, in the morning. she picked Will up and placed him in bed before tucking him in and ruffling his hair, his curls pointed up in every direction from the humidity. He gave her his shining smile and she smiled back before closing his door.
She walked down the dark hallway, her bedroom seemed too empty, it hadn’t been empty in a year, she sat down on her side of the bed, which was now just a part of her bed. She cried as quietly as she could. She cried for her son, she cried for being so foolish. Eventually she tired herself and went to sleep and made a mental note
•change locks
•no more men in her house without Wills honorary approval
•check to make sure nothing of hers was taken
-
Will vividly remembered that night. His mom’s boyfriend crouching down next to him and pulling at his hair, telling him to shut his mouth before slapping him. The sound of his moms heavy footsteps down the halls and the way his head was pulled up with emmet when his mom grabbed his collar. She’d looked so angry it nearly scared Will more than Emmet did. She chucked him out the front door and pointed her gun straight to his chest, Will had covered his ears by the time she started screaming, she probably woke the neighbors. He’d never seen his mom so angry, she was the nicest and calmest person he’d ever met, she always seemed so happy with her boyfriend, sure Will never liked him but he didn’t want his mom to be unhappy because of him.
They had been having dinner, his mom had gotten up to get her clothes out of the dryer. He was still rambling about his day when he made the ‘mistake’ of mentioning a cute boy in his class. Emmet freaked and started yelling, he had grabbed Will by his hair and dragged him from his chair to the ground.
He remembered the tremble in his moms voice as she soothed him after kicking Emmet out, he remembered the pain in her eyes.
She took him out with her the next day, let him stay in the studio and listen, took him out for icecream and tucked him into bed. He thought that was one of the best days until they walked back into the house and it was a mess, all of Emmets stuff was gone but their whole house was scattered, he remembered the break in her eyes when she first looked through the door. He remembered hearing her cry through the thin walls of their old house, he knew it wasn’t because Emmet was gone but he still wished he hadn’t spoken that night, then maybe his moms fantasy could’ve lasted a little longer.