All or Nothing

3 | You're a Coward

Chase's Point of View

I swing the front door open, neither of my parents in sight as I walk into my house for the first time in weeks. I tend not to go home, when I do it's mainly just to check in on my mom and make an appearance so they know I'm not dead on the side of the road somewhere. Not that they'd care much anyway.

I make my way into the kitchen, my mom standing behind the counter pouring herself a glass of water. Her face lights up when she sees me, a smile appearing on her face. "Hey mom," I smile, embracing her in a short hug before she reaches for a second glass. "How have you been? And don't sugar coat it, just tell me the truth."

Her smile fades almost instantly. She sighs as she hands me a glass of water. "Difficult. He um, he's at the bar right now, doing god knows what with god knows who. As much as I wish I got to see you more, I'm glad you don't come by too often. It's not a good place for you when your father's around."

My father. He's an alcoholic who abuses his family. He kicked my older brother, Marcus, out of the house four years ago. He was 17 at the time and neither me nor my mom have seen him since. I stuck around until the summer before my sophomore year. My dad and I got into a huge fight and he said and did some things that I couldn't forgive, so I packed my stuff and stayed with Hudson. It was only ever supposed to be for the summer, but when I tried to go back home, I wasn't welcome, so the Grey's spare bedroom became my own.

"Mom, has he been hurting you?" I ask, my tone nothing but serious.

She shakes her head. "No, I'd call you if he had. I've always promised you that."

I sit with my mom for a few hours, catching her up on everything that's been happening with me. It gets to about 11pm and I decide I should go. I make my way to the front door, hugging my mom goodbye as I begin the walk back to Hudson's. The familiar headlights of my dad's truck come tearing around the corner, slamming on his breaks as he sees me on the footpath by our house.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" he screams at me through the window, his words obviously slurred due to his intoxication.

I scoff, standing my ground as I take a few steps towards the window. "It's my house too. I'm allowed to visit my mom. I suggest you get used to that concept." He swings his door open, shaping up to me. "I'm not going to fight you, so if you're going to hit me just get it over with," I say, shaking my head at him, awaiting the impact of his fist.

"I always knew you were a fucking coward," he spits at me before getting back in his truck and pulling into the driveway. I take a moment to compose myself before I walk back to Hudson's house, trying to clear my head as I do.

I open the front door, closing it slowly and locking it behind me as I make my way upstairs, being as quiet as possible so I don't wake anyone up. Hudson's bedroom light is off, so I assume he's asleep. I notice her light is still on.

Olivia Grey; my best friend's sister. Liv and I have always had a love-hate relationship. One minute we can actually get along and be friends, the next we're bickering and saying how much we hate each other. She's the most stubborn girl I've ever met. Never tell her she can't do something because she will find a way to do it just to prove a point. It's infuriating. You could tell her she can't jump of a cliff because it would kill her and she'd probably do it and find a way to survive it, purely just to prove you wrong.

I walk into my room, taking my shirt off and changing into some grey sweatpants. I open the door to mine and Liv's joint ensuite bathroom. She's standing by the sink, washing her face.

"Shit, Grey I'm sorry. I should've knocked," I scold myself, turning around to walk out.

She's wearing plaid pyjama shorts and a black sports bra, her blonde hair damp and tied into a messy bun. She's gorgeous and she doesn't even know it. She's completely humbled, it's an attractive quality. I've always had a small thing for her, not that it matters because I could never act on it. Hudson would kill me if I even tried.

I stop the moment she laughs. "It's fine. I should've locked your door. I didn't even realise you were here."

"I only just got here, I had stuff to deal with."

"At 11pm? This stuff involve a random hookup?" she laughs, using my reputation against me as she massages her moisturiser into her face. "I'm just shocked you're even sleeping in your own bed tonight."

"Hmm you're just full of jokes tonight aren't you?" I laugh sarcastically as I reach for my toothbrush and begin brushing my teeth in the sink beside her.

She smiles, reaching for her own toothbrush. I nudge her with my elbow as she brushes her teeth, making her laugh and have to spit out the toothpaste in her mouth before it goes everywhere. We nudge each other back and forth while we brush our teeth, both of us laughing, desperately trying to hold the toothpaste in our mouths.

"I wasn't hooking up with anyone tonight. Just to clarify... I guess," I turn to face her as I speak. I don't even know why I felt the need to justify myself to her, but for some reason I just did.

She looks over at me with her piercing green eyes. "You don't need to justify yourself to me Chase. Whatever you were doing with whoever you were doing it with is none of my business."

"It's not what you think okay? I just feel like I need to get that out there," I offer her a slight smile in response as I make my way back into my room. 

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Hi guys! So sorry for the late post, I honestly just didn't get the time to finalise everything for this chapter. It's not perfect but I really wanted to get something out. 

Thank you for all your support, I hope you continue to enjoy!

<3