HIGH AND DRY 🕷️ ─── 0.
KIDS WITH GUNS

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

𝓝EW YORK CITY, 2001.

The house was cold. Liv noticed it as soon as she stepped inside — that strange, hollow chill, like the warmth had been sucked right out of the walls. She'd just gotten home from school, her backpack heavy with textbooks she'd promised her mother she'd study hard. She was only nine, but her mother always said she was brilliant, that she had a mind for science, just like her.

Liv set her backpack down and waited for her mother's voice to call out to her from the kitchen, or maybe the study where she often worked late into the night. But the house was silent. That cold silence seemed to hang, thick and suffocating, in every room.

"David?" she called, her voice sounding small as it echoed through the empty hall. Her older brother was usually home by now, and he'd never left her waiting. She started toward the living room, hoping he'd be there to explain why everything felt so wrong.

She didn't get far before the front door creaked open behind her. She spun around, heart lifting in hope that maybe it was her mother — that she'd just been caught up in work and lost track of time, as usual. But the man standing there was a stranger, or at least close enough to one.

Homelander was towering, blonde and terrifyingly familiar from the news, his red, white, and blue suit a sharp contrast to the gray, dreary atmosphere of the house. His smile was fixed in place, that eerie, perfect grin that never quite reached his eyes.

She froze, a sense of unease settling in her stomach as he stepped inside, his presence overwhelming in the cramped entryway. Behind him, David appeared, his face pale, his eyes swollen and red-rimmed. She'd never seen her older brother look so devastated, so lost.

"Hey there, kiddo," Homelander greeted her, his voice too chipper, too warm for the way her brother looked. He walked over, his boots heavy on the wooden floor, and crouched down to her level, that unsettling smile never faltering. "You must be Liv, right?"

Liv nodded, instinctively clutching her hands together, her gaze darting nervously between Homelander and her brother. David stayed silent, but his jaw was clenched tight, and he didn't meet her eyes. She didn't know why, but that scared her even more than Homelander's presence.

"Where's my mom?" she asked quietly, looking up at Homelander with wide, innocent eyes. Her voice trembled, as if she already sensed the answer.

Homelander's smile softened — a calculated softening, the kind he probably practiced in front of a mirror. "That's actually why I'm here, kiddo," he said, his voice full of forced sympathy. He reached out, patting her shoulder in a way that made her skin crawl. "I'm... afraid I've got some bad news. Your mom had an... accident today."

Liv's heart plummeted, her chest tightening as she tried to process his words. Her mother never had accidents. She was careful, precise, always telling Liv and David to be cautious, to stay safe. "What... what do you mean?" she whispered, her small voice barely audible.

Homelander's smile faltered, but only slightly. He placed a hand on his heart, as if he was genuinely pained. "I'm so sorry, kiddo," he said, his voice syrupy and soft. "Your mom... well, she's gone to a better place now."

"Gone?" Liv's voice cracked, and she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Her gaze flew to David, hoping for some reassurance, some explanation that made sense. But David's face was hard, his eyes burning with something dark and fierce as he looked at Homelander.

"An accident?" David echoed, his voice rough and laced with barely suppressed rage. He took a step forward, fists clenched, his entire body shaking. "You... you killed her. Don't pretend this was an accident."

Homelander's expression didn't change, but there was a cold, dangerous flicker in his eyes as he looked at David. "That's a big accusation there, champ," he said, his voice still unnervingly calm. "I'd be careful throwing around words like that, especially with your little sister here."

David's hand tightened around Liv's shoulder, pulling her slightly behind him, as if he could shield her from the man in front of them. She clung to him, her tears spilling over as the weight of Homelander's words sank in. Gone. Her mother was gone. Forever.

Liv looked up at Homelander, her lip trembling as her mind struggled to make sense of the nightmare unfolding in front of her. "But... but why?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Homelander's gaze softened, though it was more patronizing than kind. "Sometimes, kiddo, people... they make choices," he said, his tone almost mocking in its gentleness. "Choices that aren't very smart. And, well, they face the consequences of those choices."

David's grip on her shoulder tightened, and she could feel the anger radiating off him in waves. He was breathing heavily, his jaw clenched, and Liv could sense that he wanted to lash out, to scream, to make Homelander pay. But he stayed silent, his gaze locked on the man before them.

Homelander straightened, brushing off an imaginary speck of dust from his shoulder as he looked down at them with an air of detached superiority. "I know this is hard, but you'll both be fine," he said, his smile returning, as if their grief was nothing more than a minor inconvenience to him. "You're strong kids. And your mom... she'd want you to be strong, wouldn't she?"

The cruelty of his words made Liv's stomach churn. She wanted to scream, to tell him he was lying, that her mom was coming home, that this was all some horrible mistake. But the look in his eyes — that cold, unfeeling emptiness — told her it was all too real.

Homelander leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a low, almost conspiratorial tone. "And hey, if either of you ever need anything... don't hesitate to reach out. I'll be around." His grin widened, the smile of a predator who knew he'd won.

With that, he turned and walked out of the house, leaving Liv and David standing alone in the hollow silence. The door clicked shut behind him, and the sound echoed through the empty halls.

For a long moment, they stood there, the weight of the moment crashing down on them. Liv looked up at David, her small hands clutching his arm, desperate for any comfort, any reassurance that could make sense of what had just happened.

But David's face was ashen, his eyes glassy as he stared at the door, his breathing ragged. Finally, he knelt down, pulling Liv into his arms, holding her tightly as she started to sob against his chest. He didn't speak, didn't try to soothe her with empty words — he just held her, his own silent tears soaking into her hair.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, clinging to each other as their world shattered around them, the pieces scattering like fragments of broken glass.

━━━━━ author's note !
here we are with another crazy ride with me! as you probably have guessed, this chapter is a flashback that explains a little bit of liv's backstory.
and I just HAD to make homelander an adorable bastard because he's our favourite diva 💜
let me know what you think and give a little star if you like! take care of yourself and see you in a few days !!! love ya 💗