“Cardo?” a small voice called a second before a little girl appeared in the doorway to the open apartment door. She held on to a small stuffed bunny, grasping it tightly to her chest, her face unsure whether she should step outside of not.
“That’s my sister,” Cardo said, his voice low. He took a step away from me, his attention fully focused on her and what I could only describe as bed hair. “Coming, Chiara.” He lifted his hand as he glanced back at me. “Bye…” He frowned, probably trying to remember what my name was, but I hadn’t told him.
“Luna,” I whispered. “My name is Luna.”
He nodded. “Bye, Luna.”
“Bye, Cardo.”
I didn’t move my gaze off him as he walked over to his apartment and took his sister's hand. Her lips pulled up into a huge grin, her eyes lighting up, and I knew he was a hero in her eyes. You didn’t have to ask to know he took care of her; you could see it clear as day.
He closed the door behind them, the click of the lock ringing out, and that was my signal to go up to my apartment too. I’d wasted enough time standing outside, now it was my turn to go inside and face whatever waited for me.
I wiggled my nose as I walked up the stairs leading up to the third floor, trying not to think about all the things that happened in this open stairwell. The stench of urine burned my nostrils, and I cursed myself for not wearing a scarf this morning. Not because it was cold, but because it would protect me from the stink invading my nose.
I shivered as I made it to my floor and looked down at where I’d been standing with Cardo. It was the perfect line of sight to see my apartment. My hand grasped on to the door handle, my chest heaving on a deep breath, and I finally opened it, walking into what was meant to be my safe haven.
Dad stood in the hallway, staring down at the few boxes of things we owned. It wasn’t much, but at least it was ours.
“That’s the last of them,” I told Dad, placing the last box on the floor. He focused on me, a giant grin on his face that seemed to be permanently stuck there.
Something rumbled low in my stomach at the sight of it, a dread that I couldn’t explain. I was trying to be hopeful, I really was, but I just couldn’t manage it. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, exactly like it always had.
My gaze tracked Dad as he moved toward Mom and wrapped his arm around her waist. I couldn’t help but stare at them as they looked at each other. Their love was clear, not just with the way they gazed at each other, but with their actions. They may have been addicts for as long as I could remember, but they’d always been together, tackling everything as a team.
They were solid as a rock, and maybe that was why I’d stayed. Maybe them still being together built hope in me that I hadn’t even realized was there.
“I’m…” I cleared my throat as the words got stuck, gaining both of their attention. Mom moved some of her dark-brown hair that was cut in line with her chin from her face as she gave me her attention. “I’m gonna go and unpack.”
“Okay.” Mom smiled, the simple gesture saying so much more than any of her words could. It told me she was sorry, but also glad she was here. It told me that she knew what she’d put me through and that she was trying harder to not do it anymore. It was an unspoken apology, one that I wouldn’t fully acknowledge, because I was afraid that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to continue on the path I was trying to create so that I became nothing like them.
I loved my parents, but I had to be the complete opposite of them. I couldn’t let myself fall down that rabbit hole, which was why I still hadn’t attended any kind of party. The kids in my senior class were always trying to get me to come to the latest blowout, but I always refused, knowing that if the temptation was there, I had the kind of genes that I wasn’t sure would be able to stop me.
Addiction was a disease, one that I’d researched and