~~~~~

"And you wonder why I don't talk them," you mom said, staring across the table to you aunt, who sat beside you. "They don't do anything around the house. I have to do everything. They are so rude. I only have two more years with this one and I'm done."

You stared across the table and looked at you brother. His head was down, looking at his plate of pasta. You let the fork drop from you hand and looked at you plate as well. Your aunt didn't say anything.

You looked up as your mom just went back to talking to your aunt as if she didn't say anything bad. Your body started shaking as you thought about what she said. Being a disappointment to your mom wasn't anything new. You knew you were already one once you said you didn't want to be a lawyer.

She didn't have to say what you already knew.

Your eyes stung and vision became more blurry as small tears formed in your eyes. You looked away from everyone else because you didn't want to start crying in front of them. In your family, you were definitely the one who didn't cry at all, but sometimes you couldn't take it and would end up crying while you slept.

Your brother was still looking down at his food, slowly picking at it. A knot formed in your chest and your back started to become tense. You had to show to your mom that her words didn't and won't get to you. They couldn't.

You looked at your mom again, still talking to your aunt. Your aunt, who hasn't said anything yet, looked distant from the situation at hand. It looked like she didn't want to take any sides, and you understood that.

It was hard. Of course it was hard. Words always got to you. Even subconsciously, when one of your friends of family made comments about your behavior, you made sure to do those things less. Your mom, the one who was support you, made you feel like dying.

You felt the tears coming. You quickly excused yourself to go to the bathroom and lef the table at a slowly pace. Once you were out of sight, you left the restaurant and stood outside of it, your tearing slowly falling down your face.

Your breathing became harder, thinking about all of the times you heard you mom say those things in front of you, and then you thought about of all of the times she must of said it behind your back.

As fast as the tears came, you wiped the off with you selve, preparing for the time when you had to ge back to the table and pretend that nothing happened.

"Are you okay?"

You jumped from your spot and wiped your eyes again.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't really seem like it," he said. "You can tell me, you know. It's not like a can judge you."

"Actually, you can judge me," you said.

"Yeah," he said, "but I won't. That's still leaves the question if your okay or not."

"Not really," you admitted, "but I will be. I'll give it sometime."

He nodded and smiled at you. "It's kind of weird crying outside of a restaurant. You should at least go to the bathroom."

You laughed. "It was actually my first plan, but the person I'm trying to get away from might find me in there."

"Have you tried talking to them?" He suggested, standing beside you now. You wiped the last few tears from you face. "Maybe you could work things out?"

"We've had this fight before and I don't know how many times I can forgive the same thing." You shook your head. "Sorry, I'm bearing all of this on you. I just met you, like two minutes ago. I'm (Y/N) by the way, so when you tell your friends about that one time where you met a person having a mental breakdown, you'll have a name to the face."

He clucked. "And I'm Nishinoya, so when you tell people about the time you had a mental breakdown outside of a restaurant, you can put a name to the face of the person who made you laugh right after."

You laughed again.

"Just so you know, I'm not leaving until you say that you're okay, and I believe you."

Smiling, you glanced at him sideways. "Where have you been all of my life? I think I need someone like you to be my best friend."

"You don't need to find someone like me," Nishinoya said confidently. "I'm right here."

"(Y/N)? Are you okay? You ran out." You heard you brother say from around the corner. You waited for a little bit for him to find you and smiled once you saw him.

He ran up to you and gave you a quick side hug. "Are you okay? I was worried. You know that I'm the crybaby in the family and I won't let you take my place." He looked at Nishinoya and pouted. "Tis who?"

"I'm okay," you said to the both of them smiling. "This is Nishinoya, my best friend."

Nishinoya smiled back at you. "I believe you."

You brother stood up straight and began to shake Nishinoya's hand aggressively. "Welcome to the family!"

. 😘😴😊😴😘