The Price Of Love

Chapter 4

Alex's POV

I groan at the sound of my alarm but force myself to sit up and turn it off. While rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I get up out of bed.

I walk toward my door, blinking my eyes rapidly as they threaten to droop back closed.

I leave my room, quietly walking down the hall to the second staircase at the end of the hall that leads up to the third floor.

I go up the stairs, then turn left and stop in front of Clayton's door.

I knock on his door, before slowly pushing it open, seeing him throwing on a shirt.

I step inside, closing the door behind me and shooting him a tired smile. "Hey Clayton, sleep well?" I ask, and he nods his head. "Yes, but I fell out of the bed at some point during the night," He tells me, and I smile, leaning back against the doorframe behind me. "Idiot".

He grins at me, and I catch a glimpse of his missing front tooth.

I take a deep breath, glancing away. Every time he smiles it hurts since we get a reminder of what dads doing to him.

Me, Sage and Leo finished our training just over a year ago, and that's the same time Clayton started his.

I glance at the clock on his wall. Ten to seven. "You ready?" I ask, and he frowns but nods.

I walk over to him, crouching down in front of him and grabbing his hands in my own. "Later, I was thinking we have a pool day. How does beating Leo and Sage at shoulder wars sound?" I ask, and he smiles, nodding his head immediately.

"Great. Now, you start thinking of ways we can trick Jay into coming outside so we can push him into the pool" I tell him, and he laughs. "He's going to get so mad" He grins, and I hum. "We'll blame Leo," I say, winking at him, and he laughs again.

I stand up. "Come on. The quicker you start, quicker you finish" I say to him, and he nods. Grabbing his hand, I lead him out the door and all the way downstairs to the first floor. We stop in front of the stairs leading down to the gym.

He hugs me, wrapping his arms around my lower waist and resting his head against my stomach. Clayton is pretty short still. Clearly hasn't hit his growth spurt yet.

"See you later" He mumbles, looking up at me with a small frown. I smile down at him, running a hand through his hair. "See you later. And remember, there's a brand new..fresh..unopened tub of your favourite ice cream in the freezer" I whisper, and he grins. "Perfect for our pool day" I add, and he nods. "I'm excited".

"Not as much as me" I tease, and he scoffs. "Yes, even more". I shake my head. "Not possible". "Well-"

"Quit the chitchat" Dad suddenly mutters, grabbing the back of Clayton's shirt and pulling him away from me.

Clayton stumbles back, nearly falling down the stairs behind him but luckily he grabbed the handrail and managed to stop himself in time.

I scowl. "He nearly fell down the stairs!" I yell, and he turns and glares at me before he shoves me. "Fuck off Alexander, before I shove you down the damn stairs" He mutters. I shove him back without thinking, and he stumbles into the wall behind him.

"Alex it's fine-" Clayton begins to mumble, but stops when Dad lands a punch to my face I didn't have time to dodge.

He grabs me by the collar of my shirt and slams my back against the wall, pinning me there. "Come on tough guy, fight me back" Dad grits out, and my hands ball into fists by my sides.

I look behind dads shoulder, seeing Clayton standing at the top of the stairs leading to the gym, with a worried look on his face.

If I fight back, it'll only make Dad more pissed. Meaning it will be a lot more worse for Clayton.