🏆Featured on TeenFiction | Head Over Heels
To Leroy 'Lee' Hiew, home's never felt like home. He has a huge mansion, a big car, and more money than he could ever spend. And yet, the idea of home always seems to elude him.
Armed with his dog, Socks...
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Jack reacts immediately, all but flinging Lee off him in his desperate attempt to get to the door. Lee isn't too far behind, stopping only to toss on Jack's shirt and a pair of dirty shorts from his bag before rushing out too.
"Jax!" Jack shouts, and Lee's stomach drops even more, rolling out of his bare feet and splattering down the hall. Because Jax is fearless, the bravest person Lee knows...and if she's screaming, it can't be good news.
The half-open door reveals a sight he never thought he'd see---Jack's father with his one fist balled as he stands protectively in front of Jack's mother...and a man in the entrance, one burly arm slung across Jax's throat.
The man is tall, taller than Jack's father and just as broad. He wears a black blazer over matching trousers and a button-up shirt, his expression set in a mask of stone.
And worst of all, Lee recognises him. Recognises him from family dinners long ago, back when his parents were still a happy unit who loved him more than the stars, back when his house was still a home, back when his mother wasn't...dead. He wears the family name over every inch of his face, from his dark hair to his aquiline nose to his imperious stare. So much like Lee's father, and nothing like Lee himself.
"I'm here for Leroy," his father's brother declares. Around Jax's chest, his arm slackens, and Jax takes the opportunity to wriggle out of his grip and run into her mother's open arms. There's terror---no, pure, undiluted fear---in her usually fiery eyes, and Lee's stomach sinks all the way into the ground. He mentally thanks the heavens that James isn't with them---probably in his room, safe from whatever hell Lee's accidentally inflicted upon Jack's family.
"You're not here for shit, especially after assaulting my kid, you sick fuck," Jack's father snaps. "Get off my property before I fling you into next year."
Lee turns, locking eyes with his something something. Jack shakes his head. Don't do anything stupid. And don't go out there, his stare screams, even though his hands ball themselves into fists.
Why not? Lee asks back, passing the silent message between their intertwined gazes.
You'll only make things worse. And for a moment, the old Jack is back, hissing through clenched teeth as he writhes beaten on the ground and unknowingly cleaves Lee's chest in two.
"I apologise for laying my hands on your daughter," Lee's uncle says. He has the same careful evenness to his tone that Lee's father has---so perfectly poised, so crisply intoned, as if they're merely discussing about what to have for tea. They speak with dollar bills stapled to their tongues, each monochrome inflection dry as stone. Empty men with empty hearts. "I did not intend to, but I couldn't just sit back and let her attack me."
Jack's father jabs a pointed finger into the man's chest. "She attacked you because you showed up at our doorstep unannounced to do your employer's dirty work."
