F O U R
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TW ⚠️: Mental abuse

My mom officially went to a clinic. I had brought her there the morning after I was told to sell the house. For once, she sobered up a little bit. Had kissed me. Hugged me, and cried. I shedded a tear too, but promised myself this was better. That she would be fine.

And now I stood behind the bar again, taking up orders with circles under my eyes. The friend group had the map in front of them again, not seeming to bother my presence. I would have money to pay for a trip to Europe soon, but didn't want to bug them to let me come with them, since they clearly didn't seem very interested anymore.

"Hey." I shook out of my thoughts, finding a smiling Sonya in front of me. "You okay?"

I forced a fake smile. "Yeah, fine. What about you? How's the planning going?"

"Great." She smiled even brighter. They must've succeeded. "I got money from my parents and from my own piggy bank. Newt too. Minho already had money, Fry told us he would do anything to go to Europe, and Thomas promised he had money too."

"That's awesome." My smile turned a bit realer. I was happy for them, and that they could go and visit different countries in Europe.

"We were wondering if you managed to gather some money, too." She added, her eyes filling with a curiosity I didn't really enjoy at first, but then my stomach made a happy jump.

I shrugged a bit. Laughed. "Yeah. I, uh, got money now. Enough money."

She didn't question anything else. "That's amazing! Guess I'll see you in Spain." A wink, and she left.

I looked down again, focusing on decorating cupcakes, and not the fact that I didn't have a house anymore. One disadvantage, if I spent the money on the holidays, I wouldn't have a place to stay when I came back.

"Excuse me?" A male voice asked. In the corner of my eye, I could see him standing in front of the bar. "Can I get a coffee? Black, please."

"Yeah. Sure." I turned around, hurrying to make the coffee.

"I heard you scraped some money together."

Then I recognized the voice. Minho. A good, yet weird shiver went down my spine, which made me frown. "Yeah, uh, I got it."

"How?"

"Oh, well. Your money made it just enough to... have enough." I let my teeth sink into my bottom lip again.

I wouldn't tell anyone about the house. They would think I was some weak thing. With a weird mother and no father. As if I was asking them to stay at their houses, without using any words.

"It was thirty dollars. That's not a ticket for a plane, Quinn." He told me. And god, the way he said my name was just... amazing. Or normal. Probably normal. Hopefully. Definitely very normal.

I spun back around and handed him the coffee. "That'll be three dollars, sir." I said, as if he was a normal customer. Well, he was, actually.

A smile that looked more like a grin formed on his face. "Thank you, ma'am."

I rubbed my cheek, chuckling a bit. "You're welcome. Enjoy."

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The Gladers

*Quinn has been added to the group chat*

Newttt
QUINN!!!

Fry <3
Hey!!

Winnie Winston The Pooh
Aloha

Teresa x
Hi! x

Aris
Hey

Quinn
Hey, everyone :)

Newttt
Welcome to the gc

Well, that was dry. I was sitting on the couch again, happy they added me to their WhatsApp group. I didn't recognize some of the names, and figured out that someone named Harriet wasn't online. And Minho wasn't, either. Not that I cared.

Being home without my mother felt weird. Even a bit unsafe. I stayed on the couch, because I was used to it. The bed was my mom's, not mine.

I ended my day by cleaning all the empty bottles up, made the bed, and got ready to go to sleep myself. This was probably the last night I would stay in the apartment, after that, I was... well, homeless.

I grabbed the thin blanket and covered my body with it, shivering until I got used to the cold. Soon, I fell asleep.

~

He stood there, waiting for me in the corner of his dark room. I put my stuff down on his bed, groaning at my aching feet from the heels I had been wearing that night out.

His arms were crossed, breaths heavy, and face raging. I backed up immediately. After three months in our relationship, I was able to recognize his emotions.

"What made you think you could wear that?" He spat out, his eyes watching my clothes. I wore a black dress, which covered my thighs and nearly came to my knees. The straps were thin, though.

My face slowly fell. "It's not very revealing, Aiden. Please, I- nothing happened."

"It's not very revealing?" He repeated, still spitting his words out as he moved closer. My eyes widened. Slowly I took steps back, away from him. "Not revealing? Look at you! Fucking look!"

I closed my eyes, purely hating it when he yelled. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "I'm sorry."

He scoffed. "Sorry won't fix anything, Quinn. And now you're gonna promise me you'll come and let me check your outfits before you go out, yeah? Do you understand?"

I nodded. Held my breath and tilted my head up as he spoke, tears forming in my closed eyes.

"I asked, do you understand?" He raised his voice again.

"I understand." It came out as barely a whisper. "I won't do it again."

"Good." Satisfaction was filling his voice. I could feel him taking a step back. "Come on, Darling." He took my hand, letting me change into my pajamas as he watched.

He was gentle now. Careful as he got under the sheets of his bed. I followed. His arms wrapped around me. Burying myself in his chest, I smiled.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I really am."

A kiss on my forehead. "It's okay. Just don't do it again, Darling." A pause. "I love you."

I closed my eyes. "I love you, too."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

I woke up that morning, bathed in sweat from the flashback. Don't think about it, I told myself as I got up.

These things were usual for me, as I mentioned. This one wasn't as bad. He hadn't touched or physically hurt me. But sometimes I had flashbacks that left me screaming. And I was afraid the Gladers would hear on our trip.

"Morning." I greeted a customer. I tried to hide how unhappy I felt that day. My mind constantly went back to Aiden.

I hadn't seen him since our breakup. I moved to my mother after it and never told him the location since the things he did had gotten out of hand a few times. But sometimes it had to be like that. It wasn't too bad, in my opinion.

"Quinnnnn." Newt said dramatically. I finally looked up from the cash register. "We're leaving tomorrow. Pack your stuff and meet us in front of this cafe at five thirty a.m. The flight leaves early." He explained. "We want to have as much time in Europe as we can, so that's why we leave the third day of summer. We'll see how long we stay."

And then he left again. I hurried to tell my boss I wouldn't be working for the next few weeks. After a little bit of grumbling, he allowed me to be free of work for a while.

Then, I rushed to go to the apartment manager, telling him I would sell the house with most furniture in it.

That was very impulsive to do, but hey, yolo.

I was excited to pack my bag. My last vacation was about two years ago, with Aiden. It wasn't the happiest one, so now I was glad I got to be with some real friends, and not a stupid boyfriend.

I packed all my clothes, bathroom products, chargers, and anything else I would need.

The suitcase wasn't even full.

That proofed how poor I was. I sighed, knowing I would have to buy new clothes on the holidays. I stuffed an envelope the manager gave me in front of the suitcase. In there was the money for selling the house, plus my own money that I added later.

I sighed, all ready to leave. Just had to get through one last night in the apartment.

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A/N: Ah, it's beginning!! The road trip through Europe :)

Stay safe again!! x Vera