The table was dead silent. No one spoke. No one looked at anyone else. No one even dared cough or sneeze in fear of what would happen when the silence fell. Harper just stared at her plate, not hungry enough to actually eat anything on it. Even though her mom's cooking was fantastic, noting looked appetizing, though she did have a very strong desire to throw her plate into her mom's face whenever she gave her her "worried" look.

"Harper, eat ." Her mom said sternly, breaking the fragile quite.

Harper shrugged, "I'm not hungry."

" Eat. "

"Mom, I'm not hungry!"

Her mom sighed, " Harper, please just eat something! "

"Mom, I just don't want to eat anything." The silence resumed as Harper sat there defiantly. Most of them kept eating, while her dad just stared at her.

Bailey leaned closer to her to whisper, " You do realize this is Day 4, right?  You need to eat something! "

"Bailey, I'm honestly not hungry!"

Bailey rolled her eyes, " Fine, but we're going to talk about this later. " Harper nodded and Bailey went back to her meal.

Harper just stared at her plate again until she felt her father watching her. She turned her head sharply and glared at him, causing him to quickly look away. She was about to looked back at her plate when her father cleared his throat.

 "Um, so, I think we need to talk about something," he started slowly.

 " No way! Really? " Harper muttered sarcastically.

 "So, your mother and I were talking," he continued, ignoring Harper's rude comment, much to her disappointment , "And we decided that it'd be okay if I stayed here for a short while before going back again."

 " You're leaving again? " Bailey asked, tears threatening to form and spill, "Just after you came back?"

 " I know it seems too soon, but if I'm here for to long it could mess up all the research I've been doing. Then, the last three years would've been wasted. "

 "But... It was so long..."

 " I know, Sunshine, but your mother agreed with me that this was what was best. "

The hidden meaning behind his words sunk in faster than what he actually said. "You're..." Harper could barely get the words out, " You're getting a divorce, aren't you? "

 "What? I never said that-"

 "But it's what you meant, isn't it?"

 Harper's mom sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just, we both agreed that it wasn't working anymore. He just wasn't around, and I couldn't stand his phone calls anymore."

 " You jerk, " Harper hissed through gritted teeth, "Dad's back for one night! One. Night! And you're already throwing him out?! He hasn't done anything to make you hate him, but you treat him like trash! Can you stop being such a cold person and be nice again?!" Her outburst left the table quiet, with even Thomas and Hayden looking at her nervously. 

Harper pushed her chair back and stood up. She opened her mouth to tell more insults at her mother, but no words came out. So she turned and ran. She ran up the stairs and into her room, locking the door behind her. She shoved her window up and crawled outside, shutting it behind her so she wouldn't hear anyone knocking. 

As she walked along the edge of the roof, she slipped, almost falling. Even though she quickly regained her balance, the fear of change left her afraid that she could fall. So, she sat down on the roof and cried until she had no more tears left. When the tears stopped, she stayed there, both enjoying the crisp air and start sky and being paralyzed in fear.

Eventually, Harper fell asleep under the night sky, and woke up back in her room. When she walked over to the window, it was locked. Her bedroom door was locked, too. What the world? Harper thought, Who got into my room? Maybe Bailey stole the spare key again...

Harper changed into a loose, white t-shirt and ripped black jeans. She pulled her hair away from her eyes with a hairpin and looked at herself in the reflection of the window, since she'd just broken her mirror. She walked down the stairs and put on her knee high black boots and her backpack, ready to go to school.

The classes went by in a blur. Harper didn't really pay attention, and she couldn't focus on her homework. Eventually, her teachers just let her read the entire time. They knew of her PTSD, and they also knew that they couldn't expect too much of her when she was stressed. Some of her classmates thought she faked it, but today they could see it was real.

As she walked out the front door to the school building with her siblings, Harper saw her dad's car pull up. She hit Bailey's arm to get her attention before she pointed. They all walked up to the car as he rolled down the window. "What do you want?" Harper asked, cold seeping out of every word.

" Well, your mom got mad at me for revealing the divorce, so she's kicking me out tonight. So, I came to say goodbye, for real this time. " 

Tears welled up in Harper's eyes against her will. Even though she was angry at her dad, she knew leaving him again could make her disorder worse. She took a deep breath before turning to face Bailey. "You've got my number, right?"

" Yes, why- oh, oh no! No! Don't leave us with dad! "

Harper sighed, "If dad takes us back to the house, I can pack my things and be ready to go quickly. I'll still be a rock for you, I just won't be there in person. Don't worry, unlike dad, I'll actually respond to your texts. "

Shimmering tears fell from Bailey's brown eyes, "Let me come with you! "

"Bailey, you need to be there for Hayden and Thomas. A and, when they get their own phones, you can give me their numbers so they can lean on me too. "

Bailey gave her a hug. "You know I'm going to spend these last few minutes never leaving your side, right?" She said with a sad laugh. Harper smiled.

" You do realize we still have the ride home, right? " Harper asked as Bailey pulled away. She nodded and motioned for the boys to get in the car with them. Harper sat in between Thomas and Hayden, who both had tears in their eyes. "Oh, boys! Doing worry! I won't wait for three years to visit you! I won't be gone for long! I'll convince dad to let me visit you whenever you want until I can drive on my own and visit you at any time! Does that sound good?" They boys nodded, a bit of their contagious happiness burning in their eyes again.

Even though they were okay with her terms, the boys still clung to Harper's arms as the car drove down the road. It wasn't too long after that they were at their house again. Quickly, Harper ran to her room and started shoving clothes and knick knacks and other things into her suitcase. Bailey either watched her from the doorway or helped her pack, but the whole time, tears streamed down her face.

As Harper zipped her suitcase shut, Bailey gave her another hug. "Please be careful, Harper," she whispered, " Someday, the boys and I will leave and never come back. We'll leave and find you, and we can be together. "

Harper nodded, "But, for now, take care of them as much  as you can here. Running away and making them leave another parent may be too much for them right now. I'm sorry, but I don't want to get worse. And I will be careful. "

Bailey nodded and they went down the stairs, where the boys were waiting. Thomas have her a hug first. "Stay safe," he whispered.

" I will. Don't worry. " She leaned on a bit closer, "Hey, can you take my place here? The others need a rock, and I know you can handle it." When she pulled away, Thomas was standing a little bit taller. 

Harper moved over to Hayden, who was wiping tears from his eyes. He didn't say anything, he just handed her a small mirror. Harper recognized the lines in glass as small pieces from her old mirror. She's hugged him before putting the gift in her suitcase. 

When she turned to her father, she took his hand and they walked outside, only to run into Harper's mother. "What are you doing here?!" She screeched , looking at her ex husband before looking at Harper's bag, "And what do you think you're doing!?"

" Isn't it obvious? I'm going to live with with dad! I don't care if you 'win custody ' over me, or try to find me, I'm living with dad. You don't deserve him. "

"Well, even if you think that, I'll always welcome you back!" Her mother called as they started walking away.

" Like that'll ever happen!! "

Harper's father looked down at her. "Ready?" He asked.

" Ready. "

She hopped into his car, and they drove away.

Welp, that was a difficult chapter to write. I'll See you tomorrow!

Story Word count: 1555