It was late at night when Tobias entered his house. Once inside, he carefully closed the door behind him to avoid waking anyone.
"I'm parched..."
Tobias mumbled. Although it was his doing, dumping his stuff on Carmila had made him thirsty.
As he stepped into the kitchen, Tobias saw his mother, Sophia, asleep at the table. Her head rested on her folded arms, and there was a plate of food set out, probably for him.
Tobias quietly poured himself a glass of water, taking a sip as he watched his mother sleep. He couldn't shake the feeling of regret. Although he didn't remember what kind of relationship they shared, he still felt bad for making her wait.
Just as he was deep in thought, Sophia stirred. She lifted her head slowly, blinking sleepily as her eyes adjusted to the dim light.
"Tobias?" she asked, concerned. "Where have you been?"
Tobias hesitated for a moment, not wanting to tell her the truth.
"I was out with some friends," he mumbled, putting the glass down.
Sophia studied his face. She knew he was lying. The only two friends he had had betrayed him and ever since then he was closed off. But she chose not to call him out. After all, he had just started talking to her, and she didn't want to strain their relationship.
"I see," she whispered. "I'm glad you're home safe. Sit, I'll reheat the food."
Tobias nodded. He sat down and began eating in silence. He glanced at his mother occasionally, seeing the tired lines on her face and the worry in her eyes. Tobias could feel there was something strange between the two.
Maybe I wrote about it in the diary. I should finish up her and continue reading it, just in case.
As he ate, Sophia watched him, content just to see her son home and safe. Their relationship wasn't perfect, but it was better than it had been a year ago. She was willing to accept the small steps forward, hoping that with time, things would continue to improve.
After finishing his meal, Tobias stood up and took his plate to the sink.
"Thanks for the food, Mom," he mumbled.
Sophia gave him a small, tired smile and began cleaning up. While Sophia was at it, Tobias wrapped his arms around her in a hesitant hug, unsure of how she would react. A moment of surprise crossed Sophia's face, followed by a smile.
She gently patted his head, wondering what was going on inside his head. He held the hug for a few more seconds before quickly pulling away, feeling a bit embarrassed as his mini-me reacted strangely.
"Goodnight, Mom," he mumbled, avoiding her eyes.
"Goodnight, Tobias," Sophia replied, her smile never leaving her face.
***
Back in his room, Tobias buried his face in his arms. He couldn't believe his body reacted like that towards his mother. Yeah, she was an attractive woman, but hell... how could something like that happen?
Fuck! I hope she didn't feel it.
Although he hoped so, one look at his raging hard-on was enough to shatter his hopes. There was no way she didn't feel him.
Fuck!
While shaking his head in embarrassment, Tobias' eyes fell on his diary and picked it up. He opened the notebook and began flipping through the pages, hoping to forget about what happened.
"So this place is called... Lixon," he mumbled, reading more. "A free country in a world where monsters and humans live freely in an intimate setting? No wonder I saw so many humanoid monsters everywhere."
But there was a strange part as well. The history of the planet was only fifteen thousand years long. Anything related to the period before that had been wiped, at least that's what the old him mentioned in his diary.
Tobias found it strange. How could someone erase millions of years of history with no traces left? Anyone capable of doing anything like that must have been a god.
Or maybe the old me was a dumb fuck. Yeah, that's more likely.
Ignoring the fact about the monsters, Tobias read on. The entries soon began talking about the friends he read about earlier.
At first, the entries only focused on the relationship between the old Tobias and Alexa, but within a year, they broke up and the friend group shunned him for some reason.
It seems weird they'll do something like that just because of a breakup. Something is missing.
He wrote about being hated for no reason, but something felt off about it. There were some torn pages in between, but they were nowhere to be found. Something must have happened for the old Tobias to tear those pages away.
Tobias felt kind of awkward. Someone had broken up with him, but he didn't feel bad about it. It was like reading about someone's relationship drama and not his own.
Let's forget about this and move on. I already got enough girls now.
After that point, everything seemed to have gone downhill for him. His relationships with everyone suffered, but the killing blow was when his father died in an accident. That made Tobias break down completely.
Since his father died protecting Sophia, Tobias held a grudge against her to the point he stopped interacting with anyone.
"Even my stepmother and stepsister." Tobias closed the diary. "What kind of gonk wrote all this bullshit drama... wait a moment!?"
Tobias opened the diary and went through the last line again.
"Stepmother and stepsister? They aren't biologically related to me!?"