POV: Milo
10:15 AM — Alone at the Table Again
Breakfast for one.
Again.
Dad didn’t co down. Again.
Aaron’s room still looked like a ghost town — bed half-made, guitar leaning in the corner like it was waiting to be picked up by soone who wasn’t coming back.
And ?
I poured milk into cereal and pretended the silence didn’t taste like regret.
10:45 AM — What No One Asked
Nobody ever asked how I felt when everything fell apart.
Aaron disappeared. Elena got kicked out. Dad shut down. The family imploded.
But ?
I was still here.
Still setting the table. Still pretending howork mattered. Still looking through the front window hoping sobody would walk back through the door like it was all a dream.
Spoiler: it wasn’t.
11:10 AM — Flashback: The Night I Found the Letter
Elena was crying in her room.
Aaron’s door was open. His closet was empty.
I found the note he left on his desk, folded into the shape of a crane.
He always did that when he was nervous.
Inside, it said:
I love her. I wish I didn’t. I don’t know who I am anymore.
Please don’t hate her.
Or .
I read it ten tis.
Then I burned it in the bathroom sink.
Because I knew if Dad read it, he’d never forgive either of them.
And because I didn’t know if I could forgive them either.
12:30 PM — The Talk That Never Happened
Dad and I sat in the living room in silence.
The TV was on. But we weren’t watching.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked finally.
He didn’t look up. "About what?"
"Elena."
"She made her choice."
"That’s not what I ant."
He turned the volu up.
And that was the end of it.
Again.
1:45 PM — I Texted Aaron
Milo (1:44 PM):
I know you’re probably not coming back.
But I need to say this.
Milo (1:45 PM):
You’re still my brother.
Even if you’re ssed up.
Even if you broke everything.
I still love you.
Milo (1:46 PM):
But I wish you’d stayed and fought for us, too.
I hit send.
Then tossed my phone across the couch.
2:15 PM — What I Missed
I missed movie nights. Elena always picked sothing awful and cried during the credits.
I missed Aaron yelling at the Xbox like it owed him money.
I even missed the dumb family dinners where soone always forgot the salad.
What I didn’t miss?
The lies.
The side glances.
The quiet tension between Aaron and Elena that none of us wanted to see — until it burned everything down.
3:00 PM — The Mirror Mont
I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and realized sothing awful.
I wasn’t a kid anymore.
This whole ss aged in ways I didn’t ask for.
I wasn’t angry all the ti now.
Just... tired.
I wanted my family back.
Even if it would never be the sa.
Even if we all had to co back with scars.
4:15 PM — The Doorbell Rings
I froze.
Nobody rings the doorbell on a Monday. Nobody visits us anymore.
I opened the door slowly.
And there she was.
Elena.
Hair damp from the rain. Holding a plastic bag with groceries.
"I don’t know why I ca here," she said.
"I think you do," I replied.
And then I let her in.
📘 End of Chapter 31
💬 YOUR TURN!
Milo finally spoke.
Elena finally returned.
And now the boy in the middle has to decide what kind of family he wants to rebuild.
👇 Drop a comnt: Should Milo forgive Elena?
❤️ Like this Chapter if that text to Aaron broke your heart just a little.
🔔 Follow now — because Chapter 32 is Father and Son, and it might be the most emotional one yet.
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