CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31: THE ONE WHO STAYED

POV: Milo

10:15 AM — Alone at the Table Again

Breakfast for one.

Again.

Dad didn’t come 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 someone who wasn’t coming back.

And me?

I poured milk into cereal and pretended the silence didn’t taste like regret.

10:45 AM — What No One Asked Me

Nobody ever asked how I felt when everything fell apart.

Aaron disappeared. Elena got kicked out. Dad shut down. The family imploded.

But me?

I was still here.

Still setting the table. Still pretending homework mattered. Still looking through the front window hoping somebody 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 me.

I read it ten times.

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 meant."

He turned the volume 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 messed 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 something 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 someone 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 Moment

I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and realized something awful.

I wasn’t a kid anymore.

This whole mess aged me in ways I didn’t ask for.

I wasn’t angry all the time now.

Just... tired.

I wanted my family back.

Even if it would never be the same.

Even if we all had to come 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 came 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 comment: Should Milo forgive Elena?

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