Chapter 1

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Your younger brother was a tool

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Your younger brother was a tool. You'd have been surprised if it hadn't been for your father, the ultimate tool. You'd both been brought up in a toxic household to say the least. The moment you got accepted into college, you packed as much as you could, moved out and never looked back.

Your brother was 7 years younger, and it had been a difficult decision leaving him behind. But he was never on the receiving end of your father's wrath, no, that was reserved for your mother and yourself.

It didn't surprise you when, going home for Christmas or Thanksgiving (for your mother), you could see your brother turning into your father more and more each year.

You were disappointed in him. He'd seen your mother suffer, seen the abuse, hell, seen how your father treated you as well; did none of that... disturb him? All the beatings, the yelling, the screaming, the way your father would get drunk and just unleash all his pent up frustrations on the two of you. He'd seen all your bruises, as well as your mom's, he'd seen how you two got them first hand. But your father had been raising a man to carry on his legacy, he taught him how to treat a woman, how to "put her in her place". He'd ingrained in his mind that women were weak and a nuisance and disposable and that when it came to women, anything went.

As for your mother, she was a lost cause. Growing up, you'd tried talking her into leaving your father countless times. She had what was clinically called "Stockholm Syndrome". She was so used to the abuse that she was convinced that each time it happened, no doubt she'd done something to have earned it. She blamed herself for not being good enough, not having done her wifely duties well enough etc.

But what you could not understand for the life of you was why she had allowed him to touch his own daughter. No, nothing inappropriate ever happened, it wasn't that kind of abuse, it mainly consisted of him beating you and degrading you verbally. Ok, she was willing to put up with it herself, but how could she let it go on for as long as it did when it came to her own daughter? What excuse did she find for that? She never gave you an explanation. She always shrugged it off as "all kids need to be disciplined". What about your brother then? He'd never been manhandled, never even been shoved aside. If anything, your father always encouraged his mean streak. So when he'd pull your hair, play crude pranks on you, your father just laughed right along with him. You could even see your mother smirk proudly sometimes.

Needless to say, your family was fucked.

So when your brother brought Emily, his girlfriend, over for Thanksgiving one year, you felt the urge to pull her into the bathroom and give her the rundown before it was too late. What a sweet thing she was, too. How did she ever get involved with your tool of a brother?

Emily was 18, your brother's age. She looked angelic, her soft curls framing her face, her bright green eyes were doe-like and her cheeks were rosy and not from using any makeup. She was the perfect victim. You could tell she was unsuspecting of your brother's true colors, they were still early days, having met in college just weeks ago and a small part of you couldn't help but wish that she could somehow turn him around. Maybe, maybe, being away from home was going to do your brother a whole world of good. Maybe he'd open his eyes finally, fall in love and treat his partner with the utmost kindness and respect.

Daddy issues // Harry StylesWhere stories live. Discover now