"I'm sorry my heart's too big for my own good! I just want to be a good person!"
~
Theodore Chambers moves from his home in London to Hawkins and realizes this town isn't what it seems
Or
In which the new kid in town is thrown into all sorts of insa...
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chapter eight; the private and intimate life of the house
(Trigger warning—abuse: physical, emotional and substance; swearing, blood) This chapter is a woosey... Big Eleanor chapter. We truly get to see her behavior, she's not hiding. I tried to convey how I imagine Eleanor to be with Teddy when no one is around. This chapter is important in a way, but if you're sensitive to these topics, it will be explained later if you are unable to read it.)
Besides the hours during which the Chambers were out, they were stuck with Eleanor in their home. Coexisting as if the past never occurred. Thomas and Teddy did their very best to keep interactions at a limit, but sometimes, it was impossible. She was there, back in their lives... which meant the private and intimate life of the house continued. The life they thought to have left behind in London.
It was a terrible secret the Chambers kept buried deep inside, what Eleanor Wright did to them. They didn't speak of it to anyone outside their little circle. Hell, Thomas still kept a few secrets from his own son about it. Truthfully, it was no one else's business. "Let the past stay past." Thomas said anytime someone asked about his divorce. Teddy agreed in a manner. Troubled and slightly traumatized men tried to fix and piece themselves back together with a little therapy and moving away. They refused to be victims despite Eleanor desperately claiming they behaved as such.
Letting the past remain was tough when a huge reminder sat in the living room pretending everything was normal again. Thomas hated it and as his nightly panic attacks returned, he thought of kicking her out in a few days time. Till that day though, the man told his son to try not to be alone with Eleanor at night. He heavily emphasized the night part. He didn't want that to happen... he knew how she changed at night.
She liked to drink. A lot. Especially at night. Eleanor was an alcoholic, always had been since Thomas met her. She masked herself well, always spoke eloquently and proper, drunk or not. She rarely slurred her words and didn't stumble over herself. The one change, her aggressiveness worsened. She behaved terribly when sober... only imagine what her drunk actions are. She rose to anger much quicker, screamed more, became even more combative and argumentative. Her drunk behavior only worsened in recent years as her bitterness and anger mixed together about how her life turned out... she was a monster. A monster Thomas didn't want to attack his son, which is why he warned him to stay away.
However, this situation was impossible for Teddy to avoid. He was stuck alone with his mother in the house. Thomas did tell Teddy if he found himself alone with Eleanor to hide himself in his room. The boy did exactly that.
Teddy paced around his room, nervously biting at his knuckle as his anxious thoughts overtook him. Pacing... god he hated pacing! Why was he doing this to himself? It was stressing him out more. He just wanted his dad. Thomas... where was he? He didn't have a clue where his father was... the sun started to set already! His father was never this late... not during the summer. What was taking him so long? He didn't want to worry about his father, as the man promised he'd always come home, but with Eleanor in town, little things such as this scared him more than normal.
