Vikk's P.O.V.
I desperately tried to ignore the shouting and screaming from down the stairs, sobs muffled by the arm of my sweater coming from my mouth. I knew I was in the firing line, dad was drunk again and if mum ran out of the house or upstairs then he would go for me, adding to the layer of bruises already covering my skin.
It would be worse if he found out that I was crying, he already thought of his only son as weak and a failure because I was academic, not athletic, and I was gay. I didn't mean for him to find out about my sexuality, it was only because he went into my phone without permission and saw the old messages with a previous boyfriend, which I hadn't deleted despite our breakup. Rob was nice and we remained friends afterwards but we weren't meant to be together.
The yelling faded off as I heard the front door slam and I sighed, knowing dad had gone out to pub for another drink, despite the fact it was only ten past one in the afternoon. He drank any time of the day, all day every day and was almost never not drunk. I peeked on the back window and yes, mum was smoking a cigarette on the deck outside, meaning he had left.
I sighed and pulled myself up of the floor, flinching as some of the bruises on my body flared up. The bruises were from yesterday and there were some older ones too, from my father either throwing things at me or beating me with his fists.
Turning on my computer I continued to editing my last video. I was a YouTuber, the money I made went into a secret bank account that my father didn't know I had for when I could get out.
Lachlan, my closest friend, helped me when things got bad. I couldn't leave, I could leave my mother with him but he brought food around to my house and gave it to me through my bedroom window when my father locked me in, he gave me support when I needed it most and he gave me the love my parents had never given me, probably the only things that kept me going.
I answered the Skype call when Lachlan's name popped up on screen, making sure my headphones were plugged in. Even if my father wasn't home or I thought that he wasn't home, I had learned the hard way not to have anything playing out loud.
"Hey Lachy." I smiled, seeing his beautiful face on the screen.
"Hey Vikk, you okay?" I nodded. He knew about the abuse but he had been respecting my wishes of not reporting it to the police. He knew the reason, my mother was too weak to work and if my father was in prison then we would be left with money, no form of help. "Nothing happened today?"
"No, he just went out I think, the yelling stopped and the door slammed and I saw mum in the backyard." He nodded.
"So you're fine?" I inclined my head.
"Yes, I'm fine." I sighed. "You don't need to worry about me."
"I do need to worry about you!" He cried. "I worry ever night that your dad got too drunk and had really badly hurt you or even killed you! If your dads gone then your mum can get the help she needs, she could move into a place where she gets the help she needs!"
He looked furious although not at me, at my dad.
"And you could get out of there! You know it's better for both of you!"
"It's not Lachlan! It's not better for both of us! I'm not going to leave her!" I slammed my hand on the desk and hung up the call. He didn't understand, my mum didn't want to go into what was basically a nursing home because she couldn't live on her own and I didn't want to leave her. I loved her, even if she never gave me that love in return.
I closed down my computer and just gave up, not wanting to edit anymore. I hated arguing with Lachlan, especially over my family, and I often didn't want to do anything until we made up again, sometimes days later.
