Breathe Again

Chapter 14

Author's Note: Well guys... this is the point where we catch up to everywhere else this story is being  posted... as well as what I have written so far. Chapter 15 is well on it's way and should be ready to post next week! Thank you for your guys' responses so far!

Get ready for a clash of emotions! 

Blaine's hand flies up to his cheek as he winces at the pain coursing through his face. He'd like to say that he's unfamiliar with the pain of a hand swiping across his cheek, but if he did he'd be lying.

The first time it happened was a shock. He hadn't thought that his father would do such a thing, yet in the month that had passed since the first time, it had happened at least a dozen or so more.

It seems to happen when his father has a few too many glasses of scotch, and since the stress from work has continued to build over the past six months, the drinking has become a daily activity.

"You fucking brat. We didn't raise you to be this way!" his father shouts as Blaine receives yet another blow to the face. He had not thought that someone could go from kind to verbally abusive to physically abusive in a span of six months, but his father is living proof that it can happen.

"Andrew! Andrew, stop!" he hears his mother shout in the background as he staggers a little. He gives in to the weakness in his knees as he falls to the floor, hand still pressed firmly against his face.

"No Cora, he needs to understand the line that he has crossed. He cannot continue to spit such disrespectful words towards us," Andrew scolds, glaring in Cora's direction before turning back to his son. "Everything that you have is because of us. It can just as easily be taken away," he growls at Blaine.

"Andrew! He's nineteen for god's sake! He's an adult, you can't treat him like this!" Cora screeches as tears flow freely down her delicate features.

Blaine knows that he could do something about the hitting. He knows that it's illegal and that if he wants he can pick up his phone, call the cops and have his father dragged off to jail. He also knows, however, that if he were to do so, his mother might be the one to pay the price.

Although the hitting and insults come frequently, he's more than grateful that none of them have been directed towards his mother. He could not bear it if his father were to cast even the slightest insult her way, let alone beat her as well. If it were to happen, he's sure that he would completely lose his shit, and then he would be the one behind bars. So instead he takes it. He's been taking it for the past six months, and he can do it until he is able to leave the house, which if he has his own way, will be much sooner than any of them had originally planned.

Teachers had questioned Blaine's bruises at first, but upon joining the school boxing club, they had left him alone assuming that the club was the source of the bruises. He was content with that. Anything to protect his angel of a mother.

"I can, and I will. This house, everything in it, is mine Cora. And I will deal with my possessions as I see fit," Andrew snarls.

"I'm not your possession. I'm a fucking human being," snarls Blaine, eyes alight with a renewed fire that had been kindled by his father's comment. "And neither is mom. We're not your fucking property, Dad."

"You little fuck," Andrew spits before his hand is once again colliding with the side of Blaine's face. As he withdraws his hand he looks down at his son, eyes narrowing to an angry glare. "I have work to do. Learn to show some fucking respect to those who provide for you," he barks before marching off to his study.