Homesick | S. HARRINGTON

1

Thea Vigil moved to Hawkins, Indiana when she was seven. She was just a kid - the picture of innocence. Seven-year-old Thea Vigil was as happy as can be. She didn't know how it felt to have her heartbroken or how it felt to have her parents ripped from her. Seven-year-old Thea Vigil didn't know what true pain was (other than being pushed off of her bicycle by her asshole neighbor and her older brother).
But, when seven-years-old turns into seventeen-years-old, Thea is introduced to the world her late parents tried so desperately to shield her from and it all started with her now ex-boyfriend, Aaron Montgomery.

Thea Vigil stumbled down the stairs of her home as she rushed to slide her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. She could hear her older brother and guardian shuffling around in the kitchen, the bitter smell of coffee filling her nose. Rhys, in all his rugged glory, stood in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning casually, as he sipped his cup of coffee.
"You heading out today?" Rhys Vigil asked with a quirked brow. Thea chose not to answer, ignoring the way his stare burned into the side of her head. Rhys sighed softly when he got no answer (not that he really expected one to begin with).

"Is Aaron picking you up or are you meeting up with Eloise?" He tried again, his chocolate eyes watching as Thea checked herself in a mirror before grabbing her hand bag and the keys to her car. She paid no mind to his attempts at making a conversation. Rhys frowned as he watched his sister walk towards the door, barely acknowledging his presence.

"Honestly, Thea. You can't keep this up for long. You're gonna have to talk to me sooner or later!" Rhys exclaimed as Thea made her way to the door. Once again, Thea stayed quiet, the only sign of her acknowledging Rhys' words was her middle finger that went up and flipped him off as she walked out the door and slammed it shut behind her.

The cool air of the upcoming fall nipped at the exposed skin of Thea's neck. She hummed a tune to herself as she strolled to the beaten up car in her driveway. This was a usual occurrence in the Vigil household. Thea would wake up as early as possible and leave her home as soon as possible. Her brother would try to talk to her and she would brush off any of his comments. It was a constant - toxic, mind you - cycle that seemed to become a norm for the now two person family.

Thea didn't know why it had ended up like this, nor did she want it to be this was, but she was just so fucking angry all the time. Not at Rhys in particular, (she knew that he was doing his best to handle her fucked attitude) but at the world. She was angry that what ever twisted god who resided in the great beyond thought it would be hilarious to take her parents from her. She was angry that Rhys was no longer just her goofy big brother, but her guardian.

But, all that anger had seemingly faded away when she stepped foot into the local movie theater. Her boyfriend of nearly a year leaned against a wall not to far from the entrance, one leg resting on the wall behind him as he chatted up some blonde. The smile that graced Thea's face faded just a bit when she noticed the look in Aaron Montgomery's eyes. It was the same look that he used to look at her with.

Swallowing thickly, Thea plucked up the courage and walked towards Aaron. As she got closer to him, their gazes met. Thea smiled at him, but he didn't return it. This action set off an alarm in her mind telling her to put those walls of steel back up because there was a storm of hurt coming her way. Thea kept the smile on her face nonetheless as she shielded Aaron from seeing the worry that was beginning to grow in her mind.

"Thea, hey." Aaron said as they finally met. Thea went to greet him also, but Aaron quickly cut her off. "We need to talk."