"He loves me. He's just abusive." (BBS Ships)

5

Jaren walked up the street to his house, exhausted from work. He turned the key and entered the house, seeing his 2 year old daughter Juliet playing in the kitchen.

"Hey beautiful!" Jaren kissed her forehead, earning a giggle before looking around at the somewhat cleaned living room.

"Where's daddy?" Jaren asked as he slipped off his jacket and shoes.
"Up!" Juliet responded, pointing at the stairs.

Jaren walked up the stairs into his and his husband's room.
"John?" Jaren questioned as he entered the room, seeing the siloette of his husband.

John was sitting in front of the TV, with a bunch of empty beer cans and whiskey bottles surrounding him.

"John, what the hell is this?! Jully is downstairs all by herself and you are up here drinking?" Jaren said as he grabbed a bag and picked up the mess.

"No, no. You don't understand, Smitty. The beer is drinking me." John's dirty blonde hair swayed as he slurred out a laugh at his own joke.

Jaren rolled his eyes at the sound of his nickname. "John, when we adopted Jully, you settled on taking care of her, not sitting around and waiting for something to happen."

"I don't give a fuck about her or what you think." John got up, limping side to side while pointing at Jaren.

"See, when you drink, you are a fucking mess and I can't stand it." Jaren said sternly as he turned to leave the room.

"Hold up, get back here Jaren!" John reached out to grab Jaren by the arm, tightly.

"You're drunk and I'm not gonna deal with it. Go lie down." Jaren responded as he walked down the stairs, seeing Juliet playing with her stuffed bear.

Jaren picked her up and placed her on the couch and started to clean, only to see John wobble down the stairs.

"I told you to go to bed. You have nothing to do here. Go!" Jaren said as he grabbed John's hands.

The taller male glared at Jaren, letting himself go of the grasp.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" John said with a growl, making Jaren impatient.

"You are drunk-
"Shut up."
-and can't do anything-
"Shut it."
so please, go back to-"

Jaren was suddenly slapped across the face as he fell to the ground.

He looked up, holding his face as John stood over him.

"I told you to shut up!" John yelled as he grabbed Jaren by his hair, pulling him up and throwing him across the living room.

Hard.

Juliet started to cry, causing Jaren to react as he got up and grabbed John's wrist before he can strike him again.

"Let go, you fuck!"
"No! John, stop this! You are scaring the girl!"

John reacted to this by pushing Jaren to the floor before making his way to his crying daughter.

Jaren went autopilot and knocked John down, turning him to have him face him before punching John out hard enough to leave him daze. Jaren took his scared daughter to her room.

Jaren soothed her before giving her her pacifier and finally placing Juliet in her crib.

He closed the door before walking down to see John getting up and start screaming harsh words at him.

"I hate you, the kid and everything! You think you're better than me! You aren't the victim Jaren!"

This had Jaren start crying and yelling back, knowing it will be another long night.