Painful Love

Exile

"I-I s-said I'm s-sorry!" Alec breathed out, "P-Please-.."

"Do I look like I give a fuck whether you said sorry or not?" Robert hissed, taking ahold of his son's raven hair. "You're not allowed to come out of your room for the next three days after you go to the store and get the beer you fucking spilled on the floor."

Alec nodded, with teary eyes because of how tight his father's grip on his hair was. He let go of him with a slap across his face, but at least he let go of him. His gaze fell down at his hands and he saw how much they were shaking.

"What the fuck are you waiting for?!" Robert yelled at him when he saw Alec standing there, waiting, "Are you fucking retarded or something?!"

"T-The m-money?"

"What money? You spilled the beer that I bought with my money, so you're gonna go back to the store and get my beer. I don't fucking care how you get it, but if you're not back in ten minutes with my beer, you'll be sleeping in the garden for a week."

Alec's breath fastened, truly unsure whether Robert would actually do that or not. It was Christmas, the next day was Christmas day and it would snow for days. He would freeze to death if he slept outside...

"-... really is an amazing character," Magnus muttered, "The whole character and personality, it should be studied deeply. The entire movie is just really interesting, don't you think?"

Alec, whose head was on Magnus' shoulder, blinked repeatedly. He came back to the present. He was watching a movie with Magnus in their apartment, with Chairman Meow squeezed in between them. He wasn't with Robert; he didn't have to worry about sleeping outside; he didn't have to be scared.

"Alec?"

"Hm-mm?" He hummed, taking Magnus' hand in his to give it a gentle squeeze.

"I was just talking about the Queen of Hearts, darling, didn't you hear?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said, Alec?" Caleb asked, taking Alec's hands in his, "You didn't do the chores, honey. You promised me you'd do them but they're not done and you've had all day."

Alec forced a small smile, feeling the fear start coursing through him, because of the chores he hadn't done. He was glad Caleb was not yelling at him, though. Maybe he would forgive him for not having done something he, honestly, didn't remember ever promising.

"I'm s-sorry, I c-couldn't sleep last n-night a-and I got s-some sleep today and I-I-..."

"Darling, you can't possibly sleep that much!" Caleb chuckled, "I mean, I know you're lazy and everything, but if you're gonna make up an excuse, then, darling, at least make it sound real!"

Alec blushed. He felt his stomach clench. He didn't like this.

"You had to clean the apartment, Alec, I expected to come back home to a clean place, but this- this is a mess, we can't live in such a dirty apartment. I'll have to stop working so much if you don't do your chores anymore, so that I can do them, even if that's gonna exhaust me-..."

"N-No, no, I'm sorry, i-it won't happen again, I p-promise," Alec felt Caleb's hold on in his hand get a bit tight. "I h-haven't been doing all right, lately, I-I think I'd l-like to start seeing a th-therapist."

"A therapist? Do you know how expensive that is?" Caleb frowned, letting go of Alec, "You can't afford that. I can't pay for it, you don't deserve it either, darling."

Alec blinked the small tears that threatened to fall down his cheeks away. He could feel his mental health had been seriously declining lately and he couldn't handle his thoughts anymore. He was suffering a lot, getting way too many flashbacks and not a single hour of sleep at night.