Asher King's life has revolved around putting up an involuntary mask to hide his true self. With successful parents boasting about his 'pretend' success, Asher feels as though the life he is living was never his to begin with, and a home of happines...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I am harshly pulled from my sleep when someone grabs my wrist and pulls me off the bed to the floor.
"Don't touch him like that!" Leo shouts, and I barely understand what is going on, considering I was peacefully sleeping like five seconds ago.
I blink my eyes open to see Leo trying to help me up off the floor while my father still has a hurtful grip on my arm.
"You think you have a right to tell me what to do with my son when I already told you to stay the fuck away from him?" my father snarls, and his grip only tightens.
"Y-You're hurting me," I wince in pain, and tears prickle my eyes.
"Let him the fuck go," Leo seethes, angrier than I have ever seen him before. He pries my father's hand off my wrist and stands protectively in front of me.
"Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but you don't have the right to barge in here, under my roof, and tell me how to treat my son."
"No, but I do have the right to protect him from assholes like you."
Tears are spewing down my cheeks as I finally make it on my feet and latch onto the back of Leo's shirt.
My father shoves Leo's shoulder. "Yeah, what the fuck do you know, poor beggar?"
"I don't have to have all the fucking money in the world to know that Asher's unhappy and that you are the problem."
My father angrily pokes a finger at his chest, but Leo doesn't budge.
"My son was already a pussy before, but now you are just turning him into a fucking homo."
I've heard all of these words before and yet they still phase me. I just never wanted Leo to see this part of my home life.
"Now get the fuck out of my house," my father snaps at Leo, but he stands his ground.
"There's no way I'm leaving Asher with you," Leo retorts.
My body starts to shake as fat tears continue to run down my cheeks.
"I said get the fuck out of my house," my father says threateningly, lunging forward to grasp Leo's collar. My father is all up in his face to appear more powerful. "Get out before you regret it."
"Make me," Leo says with the same deadly tone back.
Before I have time to react, my father roughly shoves Leo in the chest and makes him stumble back a few steps. Since I am behind Leo, he accidentally knocks me off my feet and I stumble onto the floor.
With no hesitation, Leo shoves him back. Leo's push is so forceful that I hear my father's back slap the wall behind him.
My father is now more furious than ever. A dark look crosses his face.
All I can do is watch the disaster unfold in front of me because I am pathetically frozen in my spot on the floor. Unsteady breaths and shaky limbs, being as useless as my father always insists I am.
