1 Leaving the Nest

Keith exhaled. His heart hammering against his chest; his stomach doing backflips. Though anxious, he felt a thrill of excitement alongside the nagging feeling. It's like the two feelings were battling it out to see who would win.

The idea of moving out was daunting. Keith was moving out of his parents' house, leaving it behind for an old beach home his grandparents had left him. The family had visited them out there every summer before they passed away.

Even after nine years, Keith still remembered the heavy sadness he'd felt upon hearing about their deaths. How could he? Such despair stays with you for life.

However, thinking back on the memories of visiting them always surrounded him with the warmth of nostalgia. A smile crept onto his lips as the memories flow like the waters of the sea by the beach. The breeze was something Keith had come to love. Such a simple element of nature yet it brings about the most dramatic changes to our surroundings.

Yet similarly, so can words. The very next year, Keith's parents had told him about the clauses in their will. The house now belonging to him along with a lifetime's worth of spending money.

Keith's parents had stripped his old room bare, the memories of the past now packed away in boxes- stacked up in the cab of a U-Haul his dad had rented, which was idling at the curb. Maximus, his American Pitbull Terrier, lolled his tongue as he sat at Keith's side, panting.

"Ready, Max?" Keith said softly, ruffling the dog's fur and getting a lick on the hand in response.

He picked his duffle bag up from the floor and brought it over his head, letting the strap rest across his chest. Keith took one last look at the room. Although all traces of his past were gone, they still lingered, dancing in the still air in his presence.

Keith's eyes flickered to Max who waited patiently by his feet. A heavy sigh leaving his lips, he turned on his heels and left the room once and for all.

His parents, Elijah and Ethan were whispering to each other at the base of the stairs. The whispering ceased upon hearing their son's footsteps.

"You ready?" Elijah asked, a warm smile on his face as Keith approached the couple.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Keith said, reaching the bottom of the staircase with a lopsided smile.

Though an expression of happiness was evident on his face, the knot in his stomach just seemed to get tighter and tighter.

Elijah leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek as Ethan took the duffel bag from Keith. The three men headed out of the house-the click of the lock resounding heavily at Keith's back. The walk to the car reminded Keith of a funeral procession.

Keith swung the van door open, whistling to Max bounded over and hopped up into the van. Keith followed suit, then shut the door of the old van.

"I'm driving," Keith heard Ethan say through the window.

"What? No way," Keith retorted in disbelief as Ethan got into the driver's seat.

"Yes way, now buckle up buddy," Ethan told him.

Keith sat back in his seat as the clicking sound of seat belts simultaneously rang through his ears, followed by the croaking noise of the engine. Next thing they knew, they were off.

Both Ethan and Elijah knew how long the drive would be and the effects on their son's anxiety levels wouldn't be very positive. Although there was little they could do, the couple were determined to ensure that Keith felt at ease.

Whilst Ethan and Elijah bickered, Keith ran his fingers through over the soft grey coloured fur. With the wind from the open window of the van hitting his face, he couldn't help but think about his new home. There were so many possibilities, so many new things to explore.

Leaving home was the only way to experience these new things. Yet his thoughts clouded over this. Keith couldn't help but feel scared. Stepping into new territory wasn't exactly his speciality.

"Are we almost there?" Keith whined slightly, his leg bounced and anxiety was bubbling in his chest. The continuous battle between his excitement and nervousness couldn't be contained for much longer.

Keith had never done anything like this before. The fear of somehow messing up always haunted him but there's a voice in the back of his head that kept telling him that his parents will be there for him. Although it eased stress, he still couldn't disregard that sickening feeling.

"Yup, the GPS says 5 minutes," Ethan said as Elijah turned around in his seat, facing his son and giving him a reassuring smile.

"This is the first time we're gonna see it after the repairs, are you excited?" Elijah asked.

"I'm so excited, I bet it's gonna look great!" Keith exclaimed, biting his lip before trailing off "It's just that..."

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked, sensing the worry in his son's voice.

"I'm just really nervous," Keith huffed, leaning his head back on the headrest. "What if I'm not ready for this? What if this was a mistake? What if Oliver doesn't adjust? He's just a kid! What-,"

"Keith," Elijah cooed, reaching out and taking his hand. "Just take a deep breath, everything's gonna be okay,"

Elijah rubbed Keith's knuckles softly. Panicking was a normal response to this. Being inexperienced in this kind of situation made things a lot worse for Keith. If maybe he had moved before then things wouldn't be so, well, terrifying for Keith. Even so, that still wouldn't stop his heart from racing almost twenty miles per second.

Keith inhaled deeply, holding his breath before finally letting it out.

'Everything will be okay,' Keith thought to himself, hoping his words would calm himself down. Although he was using the relaxation techniques he had learnt from his therapist, he still didn't feel himself calming down.

Reaching for his bag, he grabbed his anti-anxiety medication and his bottle of water. Just as he downed the drugs, the vehicle jolted forward and to his dismay, nearly spilt the water on himself.

"We're here!"