A safer place

chapter four

warning!
this chapter contains mentions of drinking & physical abuse, so be careful if this is triggering for you <3
requested by bananasforstevee
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Billy shivered when he got out of his car.
He knew he was late, but he didn't care, the alcohol having numbed his senses to it. He just wanted to get away from his mind for a single night, and when one of his »friends« asked him to get busted, he happily accepted.

Stumbling over to the door, he almost fell over as he tried to walk up the few steps towards the entrance.
Giggling at how stupid he felt, he tried unlocking the door, but to no avail, as he couldn't make out how the key went in.

He almost had it, when his father opened the door, and suddenly Billy was filled with fear.
He hadn't thought about Neil being still awake, but there he was.
Before Billy could say anything, the man grabbed him by his collar and dragged him inside, pushing him onto the floor in the hallway.

„What do you think you were doing?" he growled, bending down to face Billy, who was groaning and holding his head in pain.
„I'm sorry dad" he slurred, the scent of whiskey and beer clear to make out on his breath.

„Oh, now you're sorry? I'll give you something to be sorry about" Neil growled, grabbing the boy by his collar again and dragging him up, only to slam him against the wall and swing some punches.

Billy bent over in pain when his father hit his stomach, having to use every bit of strength in his body to not vomit right then and there.
He knew, if that happened, he was in for a whole different kind of beating, his father most likely getting the belt again.

So he just held an arm over his abdomen protecting and took the punches to his face instead.
Soon, it became difficult to stand up, and Billy tasted blood in his mouth and slowly dripping down his chin.

„You better be out of the house before Susan and I leave tomorrow" Neil growled, grabbing his son once again and dragging his bruised body to his room, basically throwing him inside and slamming the door.

Billy curled up on the floor, quiet tears streaming over his face, still bloody and on the verge of throwing up.
He laid there for a second, gathering his strength to get up and change out of the now bloodstained clothing.

Once he had thrown on some sweats, he stumbled over to his mirror to see the damage his dad had done.
There were bruises forming over his chest and stomach, his lip had sprung open and he had another cut on his face, likely from when he had his the floor with his keys still in hand.

The cuts were swollen slightly, making Billy hiss in pain when he went to wipe the blood coming out of them, but they didn't look too bad.
The bruises on the rest of his body were starting to swell up as well, and the boy pulled a grimace at them, knowing that those would hurt a lot more, especially during basketball practice.

Billy finally allowed himself to let out a small sob, feeling the drunken rush he had felt prior wear off.
He was never affected by alcohol for a long time, so it wasn't new to him, but he still felt drunk, and worst worst of all, he felt small.

The blond had realised a while ago that he regressed fairly quickly whenever he was drunk, but right now everything came crushing down on him, making the boy drop deep into the headspace.
He dropped to the floor, fresh tears forming in his eyes when grabbing his box from under the bed and pulling out his pacifier, placing it between his lips.

Curling up into himself, he held his knees, hiding his face against them and rocked himself slowly.
It was all too much, the pain and the fuzzy feeling from the alcohol, he wanted to get Max and let her comfort him-
But when he wanted to get up, he stopped.