All Kinds of Luck (Ashton 5SOS fanfic)

One

'How was your exam?' I asked, swallowing a forkful of the stir-fry I'd cooked for dinner. Andrew shrugged, spinning his own fork around.

'I bet you did really well, babe. You worked so hard, I know you-'

'Can we not talk about it,' Andrew grumbled, staring at his untouched food.

'I was just asking...' I sighed.

'I don't care, I don't want to talk about my fucking exam!' he hissed, shoving his plate away from him.

My eyes widened in fright as he stood, towering above the dining table.

'Andy,' I whispered, 'please calm down.'

'Calm down? Why do I need to calm down?' He growled, his jaw tightening as he took a few steps towards me. 'I fuck up in a final exam and you tell me to calm down? Maybe you shouldn't have brought it up!'

I slid back in my chair, the legs scraping against the wood floor. I went to stand, but Andrew put his right hand on my shoulder, tilting my head up with his left so I was looking at him. 'Come on, Beth. Tell me I'm a failure.'

'N-no.'

'Aw, and why not? Cos my Dad sure thinks I'm shit, we all know that. Not that you would understand, you have parents who don't care about grades.' His grip on my shoulder strengthened as he spoke, his fingertips pressing hard into my skin.

'Andrew, you're hurting me,' I said softly, trying not to sound scared.

'There's not even room for second place with my father, he'd rather swap me for someone else's child than that,' Andrew continued, his fingernails piercing my flesh by now.

'ANDY STOP!' I screamed, the searing pain unbearable.

'SHUT THE FUCK UP.'

I felt a sharp, strong sting across my face, and a loud smack ring out around the room.

He'd slapped me.

Still stinging with pain, I lowered my head, allowing a few broken sobs to escape my mouth.

Andrew stood above me for a minute or so, before kneeling down.

'Shit, I'm sorry, baby. I'm so, so sorry,' he muttered, his breath fanning my injured face. He leaned his face towards me, his lips ghosting my own before I turned away from him.  I heard him sigh before he got up and left, the front door clicking shut.

                               -------------

I frowned at my reflection in the mirror, lifting a hand to my swollen, red cheek. This wasn't the first time Andrew had lashed out at me, before I had even received a black eye from him. Last night was nothing in comparison to some of the hits I'd taken.

My gaze dropped to the purpley-blue blotches on my shoulder, evident under my blue and white plaid uniform dress. The only problem with these warmer months was the increase of visible skin, which in my case was a topic of school gossip: Have You Seen Beth Green's Bruises. It was amazing how badly my teachers faked their belief for my excuses, especially because usually it was 'I fell over at netball', and everyone knew I played no sports.

I applied a bit of concealer and then some foundation to my rose-tinted face, almost making it half better. I agree that cake-face is ugly, but my usually bruised face looked even more repulsive.

I arrived at school a little late, joining my group of friends on a back bench in the hall.

'Hey,' I whispered as our principal ranted on about 'our final assembly together before we leave this place.'