Chapter Text
Link can feel his warm blood drip down his nose and over his lip, looking down at his hand hovering just under his chin, catching blood droplets as they stained the palm of his hand. He licks his lips and looks up to see Mr. McLaughlin's, his fist balled, and he can see his knuckles tinted bright red. Mrs. McLaughlin's arm is wrapped tightly around his, holding him back from doing something worse.
Link can hear his mother's voice, muffled, but he can tell how loud she was screaming from behind. Suddenly, a pair of hands wrap under his arms and struggle to pull him up from the ground where he sat dizzy and confused.
"GET OFF OF HIM!" the woman shrieks. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"
"WHERE'S RHETT?!" Mr. McLaughlin bellows, his veins starting to pop out of his head. "WHERE'S RHETT, YOU BASTARD? WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
The woman looks up at her son, her worried eyes darting from his black eye and bleeding nose to the bruise on his cheek. Link seems out of it, his eyes staring over her shoulder at nothing. She cups his face and pulls him down, his eyes now staring into hers.
"Charles," the woman whimpers, brushing her hand through his dark brown hair, something she used to do when she would comfort Link as a child. "Where's Rhett?"
Link's lips quiver. "Rhett," he moans, trying his best to not spit blood from his busted lip.
"Yes! Where's Rhett, honey?" Link doesn't answer. He starts to lose his balance, leaning on his mother's shoulder to keep him up. "Charles?"
Link can hear Rhett's voice echo in his head.
"When I start to feel homesick, I'll come back. I'll send letters. I'll try to call, too."
"He's gone," Link whispers.
"WHAT?" Rhett's father snarls under his breath.
Link turns slowly turns his head to the man with cold, dead eyes, looking one second closer to strangling Link. His vision starts to blur, the man's facial features morphing to blobs of color, and Link can feel his knees start to go weak.
"CHARLES!!" his mother screams when Link falls onto her shoulder, his weight too heavy for the woman to carry.
Mrs. McLaughlin rushes to Link. Mr. McLaughlin breathes heavily, his hand on the top of his head, knowing what was happening was 100% his fault.
Though Link was going in and out of consciousness, the question his mother and the rest of the McLaughlin's asked stuck around in his head.
Where's Rhett?
The answer: Link had no idea either.
Link would've loved to know where exactly Rhett was, but there was one thing he knew for sure: Rhett's already long gone, and there was no telling whether he'd come back or not.
If only he had stopped Rhett and talked him out of committing his plan, none of this would've happened. He wouldn't get beaten up by Rhett's father on the sidewalk while Link's mother was praying he wouldn't be put into a coma. If only he had known what would happen the day after Rhett's leave.