Thorn [Farkle Minkus]

[09] Miles Away

Anna and William had Ellie, Justin and Tyler go through their clothes and things to see what they wanted to keep and what they wanted to donate. Ellie got rid of most of her closet and planned to go shopping with Peyton that weekend.

William took the stuff to a donation center to give away all of their stuff.

Ellie jumped onto her bed after William left the apartment to take the things. Ellie picked up the family picture she had of her and parents and brothers the last time they went on vacation. 

She was thirteen at the time. It was the summer before 8th grade and they went to Florida for the a few weeks. The picture was taken at the beach.

Ellie smiled at the picture and remembered all the good times of her and her family before everything went wrong. 

She took a deep breath and wished she could go back in time and relive all of those memories. If she can't go back in time, then she would've wished everything went back to normal. They were all happy and a family again, but she knew if her parents got back together, they would go back to the time before the divorce. To the time where her parents consistently got into arguments.

Those times felt millions of miles away, like her friends. She had her friends at her side, but at the same time, the past few days, everything felt so far away. 

Anthony, Aaron, Farkle, and Peyton noticed a shift in Ellie. They noticed how different she was. One moment, she was fine, she was 'normal' and now, she's different.

Farkle knew part of the reason, but not the entire reason.

Anthony and Aaron had an idea of what might be going on, but weren't a hundred percent sure.

Peyton was clueless. She has no idea of Ellie's parent's divorced. She had no idea that Ellie's parents got a divorce over the summer. To her, this change in Ellie was surprising. 

"El?" Ellie heard a familiar voice say from the door.

Ellie looked at the door to see her friends standing there.

"Oh, hey, guys," she said, faking a smile on her face.

"Ellie," Aaron said, entered the bedroom first, "are you okay?"

"What happened?" Anthony followed in. 

Peyton entered right after Anthony. Farkle stood by the door.

"What's wrong?" Peyton asked.

"It's nothing," Ellie lied.

"Does it have to do with your parents?" Anthony asked.

"Yeah," she admitted.

"What happened?" Peyton asked.

"They split up," Ellie explained.

"Oh," Peyton's face fell. "I'm sorry. I didn't -"

"It's fine," Ellie cut her off. "I don't like talking about it."

"What happened, El?" Farkle asked, slowly walking over.

"My dad came over a few days ago," Ellie said. "He and my mom got into a really bad argument."

"Oh," Farkle said. 

"Why didn't you tell us?" Aaron asked. "El, we're your friends. You don't need to bottle all of this up."

"I know, but I can't help it," Ellie said. "I don't want you guys to worry about me or deal with any of my problems."

"Ellie, we want to help you," Anthony said. "We're here for you through everything."

"I know, I know," Ellie said. 

Farkle took Ellie's hand and squeezed it. 

"It'll be okay," Farkle promised. "We're not going anywhere."

"I know. I just wish things went back to normal," Ellie said. "Things have been so messed up and I just... I don't know what to do anymore."

Peyton put her arm around in a comforting way. 

"Everything feels thousands of miles away," Ellie continued. "You guys, my brothers, everything I love... I just wish things went back to normal."

"We know," Anthony said. "We know. I know that things can't go back to the way it was before, but it'll be okay. This is your new normal. It sucks, but..."

"That's how life mis," Ellie saids sadly.

"Yeah," Anthony said. 

"Thank you, guys," Ellie said.

She felt like she could barely smile. 

Peyton smiled and hugged Ellie. The boys joined in the hug, wanting to comfort her.