"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 nine; will the wise and teddy the terrific
The morning after was always the worst. Not that the night before was any better, just the physical reminders stayed. The pain ached and lingered. The blood dried up on his arms, desperate to be scrubbed away. The crick in the neck—crick in the neck? Teddy groaned in discomfort, slowly lifting his head from its upright position against the door.
Oh, he fell asleep against the door. That explains the crick and terrible night sleep. Safety mechanism, sure, but an awful place to sleep.
He slowly rubbed his neck and rose to his feet in his sleepy haze. It was still very early, around 5 AM perhaps. He couldn't be sure. It was a decent amount of sleep for someone cradled against a door for hours on end. He could flop down on his bed, roll over and go back to sleep... but he didn't want to. He didn't even want to clean himself up yet. No, the first thing Teddy did, beelined to the master bedroom in hopes to find his father.
Thomas was okay, still sleeping in his bed with Dewy curled up near him. Teddy sighed in relief, thankful nothing happened to him. The man returned home late in a rush and an absolute frenzy. Getting caught up at work was an accident, the man simply being forgetful of the passing time. He didn't mean to leave his son alone. Riddled with guilt after seeing his wife passed out on the couch, he tried to make his way into Teddy's room... which was still locked.
'Locked? Teddy never locked his door.' Thomas thought. Him fiddling with the door led to Eleanor waking up and a little confrontation there, but nothing Thomas couldn't handle. She didn't hold power over him anymore (something Teddy admired and wished to follow suit with).He slept fine after that, somewhat unaware of what went down between his ex and son before he got home. How somewhat? Well, it was in the little details... the details of what Teddy saw as he checked on his father. Teddy noticed Thomas's right cheek stung a burning red. A slap. She smacked him too.
And she did. One hard drunk slap and Thomas didn't give her the reaction she wanted. He stayed still faced, pressing his lips together. He walked away, holding himself together as it would make her stop.
Teddy softly kissed his dad's temple and scratched Dewy's ears. It made Teddy wondered how last night would've been different if Thomas was home. Would she have stayed silent? Would she hurt both of them? He supposed he'd never know the true answer... and he didn't believe he wanted to.
Eleanor's words that night still rung in his head, just like every little negative thought. He was nothing. Never be anything. Weak. Over and over again, with her drunken threats of taking Teddy away. The fear of being taken away from his father crushed him. What would Teddy do without him? What would Thomas do without Teddy? Seeing his father, there, present, calmed him. Thomas would never, ever allow that to happen... even if Teddy's mind tried to convince him otherwise.
Teddy needed to make sure Thomas didn't worry any more about him. Thomas kept his own notepad on his bedside table for easy reach and it being a place he remembered to keep it. Because Teddy had his own plans, he left a little note for the man to wake up to, also as a reassurance he was okay:
