On the Verge of Collapse

Snow laid awake on the bed, tired but unable to fall asleep again that night. She had been tossing and turning only to wake Belle multiple times forcing her to climb out of bed and go out to the living room where it was still dark and lay on the couch. She still laid there now, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes felt heavy but no matter what thoughts about her nightmare kept her awake and she had thought about making coffee for herself. Assuming she could find any.

Snow took a peek at the clock on the wall, letting out a frustrated sigh from not being able to see anything. She stood, to her disgust, and squinted with her muzzle almost touching the clock. It read almost five in the morning. The realization seemed to make her even more tiered than she was before.

She finally decided she'd turn the kitchen upside-down to find coffee, something she felt he desperately needed. Snow groggily made her way to the kitchen, flipping a light switch which illuminated the whole area with a blinding light. She quickly switched them back off, leaving her in the dark again. Snow rubbed her eyes for a few seconds before blinking. Snow started to shuffled around the kitchen, looking for a pantry door.

Numerous times Snow had almost gone muzzle-first into a wall before finding a door and opening, turning on the light in the small room. Fortunately this light wasn't as bright and didn't hurt her eyes like the kitchen's lights. She began to push aside the many boxes in the pantry, most of them cereals and pasta. A few of the boxes had fallen over creating a lot of noise.

After a few minutes of rummaging through the pantry Snow gave up with an exasperated sigh and exited the pantry. She then made her way to the cupboards and began to search there. She found plates and bowls, a few glasses. Not finding any coffee she went to the ones over the sink. Upon opening a bag of ground coffee greeted her and a french press as well. She took them both and set them on the counter.

Snow began to search for a pot, quickly finding one in a drawer and filled it with water. Placing the pot on the stove she began to heat it up. She waited patiently for the water to boil before poring it into the french press along with the ground coffee beams and sealed the lid, pressing down on the top part sticking out just a little. She did this every few minutes and the scent of coffee had filled the kitchen. The black liquid beckoned her as she unscrewed the top and poured it into a mug, leaving the grinds behind in the press.

She pressed the mug to her lips and took a long sip. She savored the bitter taste, one she hadn't tasted in years and one she had longed for. "How is it?" Hammer's tired voice called to Snow.

Snow looked up from the mug, the light from the pantry allowing her to get a better look at him than the candle light. He was slightly taller than average height with a medium build. His eyes had a gentle hardness and determination. His coat was a light blue and his mane and tail- which were disheveled and going all over the place- were almost a faded yellow. Hammer's tail swished back and forth slightly with annoyance.

"It's good." Snow replied quietly, adverting her eyes back to the coffee. "Sorry about the pantry, I'll clean it up." Hammer didn't reply but Snow listened as he made his way to the cupboard with the mugs before sitting at the table with her. He poured what was left of the coffee into his mug and drank it quietly.

"You know I heard what you said last night." Hammer stated, looking at Snow.

Snow now looked at Hammer, making eye contact. His expression had changed from a calm one to one of disgust. "We're leaving, nothing you can do about it." she replied flatly, sipping the coffee again.

"You know you're putting you and that filly in danger if you do." Hammer counter in a low growl.

Snow glared at Hammer for a moment before letting out an exasperated sigh. "She's my daughter, and it's my decision."

"So if I gave you the option to spend another night here you're saying you would rather pass that up to go be homeless?"

Snow had opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. He was right, she wouldn't dare to pass up an offer like that. She closed her mouth and gave Hammer a death glare for being right. "No. I wouldn't." she replied quietly, looking down at her coffee. She could imagine the smirk that stallion has on his muzzle right now and she'd be more than happy to slap it off him. Snow glanced after a moment and found Hammer's expression to be serious. "I guess we could stay one more night..."

Hammer let a small smile cross his lips and finished the rest of his coffee and stood up. "You're welcome take a shower after I'm done with mine." Hammer then left leaving Snow by herself again.

Snow finished her coffee as well before getting up and began cleaning up the pantry, setting each box back from where it had fallen, all but one. She picked it up and her stomach growled at the sight of food. She also grabbed what was the last of Hammer's bread and carried them both out, turning off the pantry light and turning on the kitchen one. She set the items on thr marble counter.

She quickly made herself a quick breakfast of cereal and toast, downing it quickly but still feeling hungry afterwards. She set the dirty dishes in the sink unsure what to do with them and then trotted out to the living room. Boredom quickly set in and Snow found herself sitting on the couch again. The faint sound of the shower was all that accompanied her until it had stopped an she assumed Hammer had finished.

Minutes later Hammer had come down the stairs, his mane now combed and still damp and Snow could smell the mango soap. Not her favorite scent but it wasn't strong either. "Shower's open." he stated as he walked into the kitchen and into the pantry. Snow stood and trotted upstairs. She found the bathroom easily, the light already on and the mango scent thick in the humid air. She found a towel already on the rack and a set of mango scented soaps.

Snow turned on the water, the room quickly filling with more steam and warmed her coat. She forgot how good it felt to take a shower as stepped into the water.
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Once Hammer had trotted into the kitchen he opened the pantry and found everything neatly put away, just like Snow had said. He went to grab his cereal only to find it wasn't there. Befuddled, he poked his head out from the pantry and found the box on the table, how he missed it he didn't know. He closed the pantry and grabbed himself a bowl and milk. He turned to make his way back to the table but stopped upon spotting Belle.

"Morning, Belle right?" he asked setting his stuff on the table.

Belle, who still looked very tiered and fighting to keep her eyes open shuffled over to the table with a yawn. "Yeah... Belle." She sat down and eyed the box of cereal that Hammer was no pouring into his bowl.

Hammer looked over at Belle and smiled. "Want some?" Belle hesitated a moment but nodded nonetheless. Hammer got up and got another bowl for the filly and set it in front of her along with the cereal. "So, you're up kind of early." He said trying to strike up a conversation.

"I'm always up this early." Belle replied with another yawn as she poured herself some cereal. "Mom kept waking me up last night, she couldn't sleep. This wasn't the first time either."

Hammer stared at Belle in disbelieve at her callous attitude towards her mom not being able to sleep, but her eyes held a hint of sadness in them. "Is it insomnia?" Belle shrugged in reply, too busy munching on the cereal. "Does it happen often?" Hammer tried again trying to pry information.

Belle looked up at gave him a slight glare, giving off the sense that she didn't like the intrusion. "Not really. Just every so often when her stomach pains keep her up or she has nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah... she won't tell me about them." By this point Belle had already finished her cereal and was fiddling with the spoon. "Do you have anything else, still hungry..."

Hammer perked up got up from his seat. "Yeah, I think I have something around here." Hammer began to search through the pantry but found nothing but some macaroni and pastas. He then went and searched the refrigerator for anything only to find it empty save for a jar of pickles and cheese. He closed the fridge and looked at Belle. "Is there any cereal left?"

Belle picked up the box and tipped it over her bowl, only a little coming out. "Not really."

"Guess I'm going to have to go to the market." Hammer stated with a sigh. He sat back down at the table as Belle finished off what was left of the cereal. "If you want you and your mother can come with me and we can get you something."

"But... she said we were going to leave today..." Belle said a little confused. Hammer shook his head. "So... we're staying?" Hammer nodded with a smile. "I don't think mom would let us stay."

"Well she said that you both will be."

A smile formed on Belle's lips at the sound of those words. She was about to say something before she felt something fuzzy cover her head and block her view. She pulled it off her head and looked up. "Go take a shower sweetie." Snow gently told Belle. Belle took the towel and bolted towards the shower. As Belle left Snow looked up at Hammer with a scowl. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a low growl.

Hammer gave Snow an unimpressed look. "Just getting to know her. Is that a problem?" Hammer challenged, crossing his hooves.

Snow continued to glare at Hammer for a few more seconds before letting out a defeated sigh. She didn't see reason to fight the stallion who let them in only to ruin it. "I'm sorry, I'm not use to having other ponies talk to her." Snow lied as she sat at the table with Hammer.

"Cute kid." Snow didn't reply. "So I need to go to the market later on when it opens if you two want to come along."

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Snow said in a low voice.

Hammer, on the other hand thought it would be a good idea. "Come on, you could rebuild your reputation."

"I already destroyed it. There's no point."

"Alright then, I'm forcing you to go."

"What?!" Snow exclaimed, her expression a mixture of anger and confusion.

Hammer grinned. "Either you come with me and at least try to make friends or you can go back to... whatever you were doing before." Hammer watched as Snow's expression turned to utter disbelief.

"W- but you can't do that!" Snow attempted to counter. Hammer didn't say anything in response but waited patiently for Snow to realize she had not option. "You're a fucking ass! He would have never done this to us!"

Hammer stopped grinning at the mention of 'he'. "He?"

Snow was going to continue yelling at Hammer but realized she had said a little too much. "It's.... he's nothing. Forget I said anything." Snow quickly replied now unsure of what to do. Everything was going so quickly for her she didn't want to give anything away.

Hammer wanted to know about who 'he' was and pry for answers but restrained himself from doing so, for now. Sooner or later she would have to talk about it. "Alright." he paused a moment before letting out a short sigh. "You don't have to come to the market. I just thought it would be a good idea to get you a few things sense you would be staying."

Snow shot Hammer an angry glare. "Well maybe you should've said that in the first place." Snow stood and trotted out of the kitchen and back up to the bedroom to get away from Hammer.