Every choice felt like a no-win situation. If he stopped Lily from taking Noah, then he'd lose her for sure. But if he let her go, he’d lose Noah.

His parents- his mom, his dad- looked desperate, pleading with Lily. And Ash... he was too broken to do anything. What if he just let her go?

The thought made his heart ache, but he couldn’t deny it.

‘I’m tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of failing. I’m not strong enough to save anyone anymore, least of all my little brother. If Lily thought she could protect Noah from this mess, then... maybe it would be better that way.’

But as he stood there, unable to make a single move, he felt terrible - he couldn’t even save himself, let alone the ones he loved.

No one spoke. Not a word. Noah was still clinging to their mother, his face buried in her arms as he sobbed.

Lily’s gaze shifted, eyes wild, searching for something in her father’s face. "What are you gonna do?!" she spat.

The glass pressed tighter against her skin, but she didn’t seem to notice, her focus entirely on the people around her.

Ash could barely bring himself to look at her. Her words cut through him, but what could he say? He felt powerless, like a bystander in his own life.

In the corner of the room, Luke’s face was a mixture of agony and desperation. He took a step forward, then another, his legs unsteady as he slowly sank to his knees. His hands trembled as he pressed them to the floor, and his head lowered, his entire posture defeated.

“Lily…” His voice was small, broken, “I’m begging you, please don’t do this.”

The room fell silent, all eyes fixed on him. Luke’s usual strength and authority seemed to vanish in that moment, replaced by a man who had lost everything- his family, his grip on control, and now, it seemed, his daughter.

“I’m begging you,” he repeated, his voice barely a whisper, “Please, Lily… don’t…don’t test me.”

Lily seemed to be shocked, but then she hissed, “It won’t work, dad. Give me Noah, or…” She said, pressing the piece closer to her throat, close enough that it touched her neck. Tears were brimming on the corners of her eyes, but she stood tall.

“Stop…please.” Ash said, lowering her gaze.

But no one listened.

Ash felt hopeless. He felt pathetic.

“Stop, please!” Ash shouted, and everyone flinched.

“Ash…” His mom looked at him, he was now leaning besides the door.

“Lily, please! I…don’t want this. I want us to live happily as a family-” Ash was shouting, his voice raspy and hoarse, but he was cut off.

“Shut up, Ash! We can’t live as a family after everything that’s happened! We can’t pretend to be a happy family even though everyone of us here damn knows we are broken from the inside,” Lily’s voice was now low, the piece of glass getting closer to her throat every second, “There is no family for me. I’ll take Noah with me so so can all shut your crap!”

Luke’s black eyes trembled, and then he sank his head on the ground, “Lily, please! I’m begging you, okay?! I’m begging you to stop, please don’t do this!”

“It won’t work, dad. It’s too late.” With that Lily pressed the piece closer, so close that it touched her neck.

Her breath was fast, labored, and her hands shaked every now and then, her face tear-streaked. She closes her eyes and then mutters a low, “I wish it didn’t came to this.”

‘No…No, no!’

But Ash didn’t move, his whole body refused to move, refused to fall.

Lily pressed the glass to her throat, just enough for a single drop to spill. A crimson drop gushed out.

And then Luke moved.

Faster than Ash had ever seen, his father closed the distance between them, his face twisted in desperation and fury. Without hesitation, Luke’s hand raised, connecting with Lily’s cheek in a resounding slap.

The force of it sent her stumbling back, the shard of glass slipping from her hand and falling to the ground.

Lily fell to her knees, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as tears streamed down her face. She clutched her cheek, and she let out a sob.

“Lily!” Their mother was at her side in an instant, dropping down to wrap trembling arms around her daughter. “Oh my God… my princess, please, stop this, please!” Her voice was loud, her tears falling freely now as she held Lily close.

Noah sat on the floor, hugging his knees and burying his face in them, sobbing. His small, muffled cries seem to cut everyone from the inside.

But Ash stood rooted to the spot.

He couldn’t move.

His eyes fixed on the scene before him, his mind flashing back to something he couldn’t quite remember, but it was there- familiar. A memory he didn’t want to recall but couldn’t push away.

‘This… feels like I’ve seen it before. S-Somewhere…’

He could almost hear the screams and shouting of another time, another argument, another moment when something fragile had shattered- his family, their trust, their love.

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It was like history repeating itself, only worse.

Ash felt the weight of it pressing down on him, suffocating him. His legs felt like they would give out, but he stayed standing, his back against the wall.

He could hear Lily’s broken sobs, his father’s labored breathing, his mother’s murmurs of comfort.

But it all felt distant, muffled, like he was underwater.

‘N-Nothing has changed.’

Ash clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as his legs wobbled beneath him. He couldn’t do this anymore. He didn’t want to.

‘This…is the same. Nothing…has changed.’

Lily’s muffled sobs and their mother’s trembling whispers of comfort, did nothing to reassure him. Luke sat slumped on the floor, staring blankly at the shards of glass scattered across the room.

‘I’ve had enough…’

Ash’s heart pounded, his breathing shallow and uneven.

He took one step back. Then another.

No one noticed.

No one called after him.

He reached the door, his fingers curling around the handle. With a twist of his wrist, the door creaked open. He stepped outside, letting the cold night air hit him like a slap to the face.

He didn’t look back.

His feet carried him forward aimlessly, but his mind was still trapped inside that house.

‘I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t stop her. I couldn’t save anyone.’

He clenched his jaw, his throat burning as he tried to keep his composure. His leg throbbed, but he kept on walking.

‘I thought…I could make a difference. I thought…I did something…good.’

The image of Noah’s tear-streaked face flashed in his mind, then Lily’s trembling hands, Luke’s broken plea, and his mother’s terrified sobs.

He stopped in the middle of the street, his fists trembling at his sides.

‘I’m pathetic.’

The word echoed in his head, over and over. It wasn’t the first time he’d thought of it, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

‘Is this what it means to be…family?’

He swallowed hard, his throat raw.

And then, his feet began moving again. He didn’t know where he was going, but he didn’t care.

All he knew was that if he stayed in that house a bit longer, he’d lose his mind.

Ash found himself wandering without purpose, his legs moving as if they had a mind of their own. The streets blurred into one another until he reached a familiar place- near the railway tracks.

It was quiet here, except for the distant voice of crickets and the rustle of the wind against the grass. He stepped down a small slope, the grass felt cool, and he dropped down, his body heavy with exhaustion.

Ash leaned back, resting on his palms, his gaze locked on the sky.

‘This is better,’ he thought bitterly. ‘At least here, there’s no shouting. No tears. Just…silence.’

He closed his eyes for a moment, but all he could see was Lily’s face, her trembling hand holding that shard of glass, her tear-streaked cheeks, he heard Noah’s sobs, their mother’s desperate pleas, and Luke’s broken voice.

Ash clenched his fists against the grass, his nails digging into the dirt.

He closed his eyes, remembering something, his past, gnawing at him. He didn’t want to recall it, but it had been more like a core memory for him. He grew up with that familiar shouting, and screams, always echoing in his mind. Always telling him, reminding him where he belongs.

He was five.

Tiny, curious, clutching his favorite stuffed toy in one hand. The house had been quiet, but he heard little voices emerging from the lounge. His small feet padded softly across the hallway as he made his way toward the source of the sound.

He had wanted to ask Lily to sleep with him that night. She was 15 then, his big sister, his protector. But when he reached the doorway, the scene before him made him freeze.

Lily was standing in the center of the lounge, her shoulders trembling as she cried.

“Mom, please!” she begged, her voice breaking. “Stop… stop expecting so much from me! I can’t do it! I can’t be what you want!”

Her mother stood a few steps away, her expression torn between concern and confusion.

“I just… I just want what’s best for you, Lily, We had no idea you didn’t like it- ” her mother said softly, reaching out a hand, only for Lily to back away.

“What’s best for me?” Lily repeated bitterly. “You don’t care about what’s best for me! You only care about what makes you look good!”

Before their mother could respond, Luke entered the room, his face stern and tired.

“Lily,” he said firmly, his tone softer than usual. “What’s wrong?”

Lily turned to him, her face red and tear-streaked. “Stop expecting me to be your best child, dad! I hate when you do that!”

Luke looked confused, “Huh? Uh-Okay. I won’t ever ask you to do that. I’m sorry, my princess.”

Lily seemed shocked at first, but then she spat, “You are pretending it, aren’t you? I’m leaving. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t stay in this house.”

The words hit the room. And Ash stood confused, tears already brimming at the corner of his eyes.

Luke’s face darkened, his jaw tightening. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Lily.”

“I do mean it!” Lily shouted. “I’ve had enough! I hate this house, I hate this family! I hate-”

The sharp sound of the slap echoed. While Ash let out a choked scream.

Lily stumbled and fell to the ground, her hand clutching her cheek, her sobs turning into gasps of shock.

Their mother dropped to her knees beside her, pulling Lily into her arms. “I’m so sorry, Lily… I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her own tears falling as she cradled her daughter.

Ash stood in the doorway, his tiny heart pounding in his chest. The room seemed to close in around him, the air too heavy, the voices too loud. He wanted to run to Lily, to tell her it would be okay. But he was rooted in place, because he was…scared.

Luke stood still, his hand trembling as he stared down at Lily and their mother. His face was unreadable, but his voice was low, almost broken. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”

But Ash didn’t wait to hear the rest.

He turned and ran, his small feet carrying him as fast as they could back to his room. He threw himself onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow as tears streamed down his face. His chest hurt, his head hurt, and his heart hurt most of all.

That night, he cried himself to sleep, clutching his stuffed toy tightly.

Ash jolted at the memory.

‘The same thing happened before, the same thing happened now. I’m tired. I’m tired of looking at the same scene unfolding, when it’s always replying in my damn mind.’

He thought back to all the times he told himself he didn’t need anyone- friends, even his own family. He believed it was safer that way, that the fewer people he relied on, the less likely he’d get hurt.

But then Noah came. He was so optimistic, so bright. When he came along, family became something he couldn’t ignore. They were a part of him, for better or worse.

‘Even when they mess up, even when they hurt you, they’re still human,’ he reminded himself.

He thought of his mom. She wasn’t perfect. She had made mistakes.

His dad too- more than Ash could count. And Lily…

She had made so, so many mistakes, testing him, his family. Always the odd one, always the one who wants to be protected so much, but doesn’t even get appreciated.

His head throbbed, his legs ached, but his mind spinned way faster.