Can Nobody Hear Me? Jacksepticeye AU

Chapter 6

"Where the-" was the first thing Chase had said when he woke up later that day. He had opened his eyes and raised a hand immediately to cover them against the bright light shining down on him. He also let out a short, deep groan at the sharp pounding in his head which felt like the strongest man in the world had smashed a baseball bat against it... multiple times.

"You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" Stacy was the one who spoke up, her tone sickeningly sweet. Her green eyes bored into Chase's for a moment, as if she was trying to telepathically send a message but nothing was getting through on Chase's end.

Chase contemplated for a moment. "I remember arguing then the rest is just fuzzy. How long have I been in here for? Is it the year 3000?"

Stacy rolled her eyes but let out a content sigh. "We were arguing and you tripped and hit your head on the coffee table. Alex called an ambulance for you."

"Sounds just like something I'd do. I'm the clumsiest person on the earth. But you," Chase forced himself to sit up, no matter how much it made him wince, and held out a shaky hand to touch his son's arm. "Are my hero. What would I do without you?"

"Dad, you're embarrassing me." Alex mumbled, biting his lip as harshly as possible. The boy couldn't tell whether Chase actually didn't remember or whether he just wasn't admitting the truth out of fear or embarrassment.

"That's what dad's are for though, right?"

"I suppose. Marvin was here earlier-"

"He called him for some stupid reason. Marvin has no right seeing you like this." Stacy chipped in, sounding a lot less sweet than earlier and more agitated.

"I called him because he deserved to know that dad had hurt himself. As I was saying, he was here earlier but he had to go for a show or something. He said to send his love."

"Is that really what he said? That doesn't sound anything like Marvin." Chase replied with a small chuckle; even that hurt.

"No... what he really said was 'tell Chase that next time I see him we can talk over a cold one because we've got a lot of stuff to catch up on, dude' which I translated into English for you."

Chase let out a louder laugh that just ended up turning into a series of coughs before saying, "That sounds more like my best friend."

-

Chase didn't stay much longer in the hospital before he was discharged and sent home. Strangely, as soon as they got inside the house, Stacy sent both Alex and Sammy up to their rooms, despite it only being early evening and nowhere near their bedtimes. Alex shut his door and expected to hear shouting almost instantaneously but, surprisingly, he didn't. In fact, the house lapsed into silence which was unusual. The boy was unsure about whether to worry but decided to distract himself with his PlayStation for a while.

Downstairs, Chase and Stacy were arguing. Just, in hushed voices so their children couldn't hear for once. Chase was sat down on the sofa, a hand covering his forehead as he listened to Stacy's lecture of grumbles. Her tone was its usual sharp and, for some reason, it was all the more terrifying when quiet. "Alex says he knows... how the fuck does he know?  Did you tell him?" Stacy's hand grasped at Chase's collar, pulling him harshly to his feet. His legs wobbled as he stared into his wife's interrogative eyes. "If I find out that you told him, you won't be the one getting hurt, Alex will. And I won't go easy on him just because he's my son."

"Don't touch Alex," Chase gasped out, his voice coming out more confident than he had expected. He used his hands to pry Stacy from the top of his shirt. "I will do anything as long as you don't touch my children." Chase's hard gaze made Stacy raise an eyebrow and smile gently.

"That's what I like to hear. You better put him straight and tell him that I did not hurt you."

"He won't believe me even if I tried..."

"Then you better give him a little warning before I do and, trust me, I won't be nice about it. And you, you better not tell anyone either because I can do way more than just make you need stitches."

Chase considered for a moment whether the hit to his head had caused some sort of brain damage because his courage was at its peak. A hand curling into a fist at his side, he raised his voice just a little bit. "You can't treat me like this forever, Stace. Sooner or later someone will find out and do something."

"Yeah, right. It's sweet that you think people give a shit about you."

"They do. Marvin does and so does Alex."

"Marvin better stay away from you. If he does anything..." She didn't even need to finish the sentence because Chase had received the message. "Don't talk to him anymore, alright? We can't have him splitting us up now, can we?"

Chase gulped and felt all of his fear disappear in seconds. His fist uncurled once again and he didn't fight at all when Stacy grabbed him by his shirt again.

"Where's your phone? I think you should take a break from it from a while. Just in case you try and contact Marvin. It's for the best. Tell me, where is your phone?"

"I don't know... in my backpack?"

"Alex might still have it," Stacy mumbled underneath her breath before shoving Chase backwards and letting go of him. "Take this as a warning, alright? If you, Alex or that fairy of a friend of yours ever try and confront me about this... there will be hell for both you and our son."

"Please don't hurt him." Voice shaking with desperation and trepidation, Chase found himself glued to the spot as Stacy stormed upstairs.

-

"Do you have Chase's phone?" Stacy questioned, not even bothering to knock on her son's door. Alex looked away from his television and placed his controller beside him for a moment, staring at his mum in confusion.

"Why do-" He started but Stacy cut him off with venom in his voice. He took that as a warning and fumbled in his jacket pocket for his dad's iPhone before handing it to Stacy. She took it and unlocked it, finger swiping up the screen and clicking a few things before shoving it into her own pocket.

"Do you have any contact with Marvin by any chance?" Alex shook his head, his eyes wide and full of fear. "We need to talk about something," She then sat down beside Alex on his space bedcovers, placing a gentle hand on her son's knee. She could feel that Alex was trembling but that didn't faze her at all. "I didn't push Chase and I know that's what you think but I didn't. We were arguing and he tripped. I was there and I saw. I know-" Fake sadness in her voice, she placed a hand over her mouth as a tear trailed down her cheek. Alex's instinct was to wrap an arm around his crying mother, even after finding out about her abusive tendencies. "I know you think I'm a bad person and I'm... abusive or something but I'm not. I love your dad with all my heart and I would never hurt him."

"Do you mean that or- or is this some cover up?" Alex spoke quietly, afraid to mess up with his words.

"I mean it, Al. I love you and Sammy too. Did Chase try and tell you I was abusive after that slap?"

"He denied it but-"

"But what? It was only one slap, I promise. I got really angry over something stupid and took it out on your dad and I regretted it immediately after."

"I'm sorry, mum." Tears began to well in Alex's eyes so Stacy wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close, allowing him to bury his head in her chest. Sobs shook his body as his mum just held him.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry your dad made it out as if something was going on. We're okay. I never have intentionally hurt him."

"But you argue all the time... are you going to split up?"

"No, no, no. All couples argue a little bit. You have nothing to be worried about."