Heal my Heart

Chapter 4 - Aftermath

Everything hurt.

After giving in to a few hours of restless sleep, Grizz could feel his whole body aching. His face was still red from the punches and his ribs were on fire. But what hurt the most was this undefinable hatred his father had thrown at him the night before. What the hell did he do to deserve such hatred ? He knew he was held responsible for the death of his mother, but what could he have done ? He's just a kid... not some kind of fucking superhero. He did everything he could to keep her safe and even if it wasn't enough at the end, did he really deserve such treatment ?

Debating on weither to stay like that, curled up on the floor or to just get up and go to school as if nothing had happened. He tried to determine if his father was still somewhere near or if he just collapsed on the couch after beating his son. Hearing nothing but the few cars passing outside, he decided that he would be in even more trouble if he had to explain why he didn't come to school for the whole day and began changing. As he headed to the bathroom, he took in the state of his face and body. His left cheek was slightly bruised and his nose had stopped bleeding but he did see a beautiful black eye starting to form. His side was red and blue, which was no great sign but he would have to do with it for the day.

When he walked downstairs in the quietest way possible with bruised ribs, he discovered his dad passed out on the couch, his beloved whiskey bottle still in his hands. Grizz decided it was best to just let him be, knowing that a hangover Logan was as much a threat as a drunk one.

The young boy made his way to school, where he found Luke and the others talking about their previous night. Not feeling comfortable sharing his recent argument with his father, he just went straight to the classroom, just waving at his friends. The day went quietly, nothing out of ordinary ; Luke being his funny laughing self, Jason grinning on the background, talking about his love for dogs with Clark who just didn't give two shits. A very normal day, but Grizz just couldn't get over what had happened the night before and was starting to think about talking to Luke about it during the weekend.

When he came home after school, he wasn't prepared for what was waiting for him. A very pissed and scary Logan still on the familial couch, drinking his head off.

"No please, not again..." did he tell himself. He didn't have the strength to put out with this shit for a second day so he just walked straight up to his room. Unfortunately, his father had already spotted the young boy and called for him before he could escape.

" Hey kid ! Where are you going like that, you impolite bastard, come back here ! "

Grizz took a few steps back, just enough to take the poor state of his violent father.

" Hi dad, how was your day...? " he said shyly.

" Well, it didn't go very well because someone didn't even care to wake me up this morning. Because of that I was late at work and my boss was pissed at me. " Logan stared straight through Grizz's green eyes.

" And you know how I hate being late at work don't you, Gareth ? "

" Yes I know, I'm sorry not to have waken you up this morning, I thought you could use some more sleep... "

" Owh, you thought I could use some more sleep, how kind of you ! " he said, irony written all over his contorted face.

" Well, in fact, I thought that yesterday I had made myself clear as who's in charge here... But I suppose you didn't learn your lesson, Gareth. "

Grizz's blood ran cold as his father's stare shot right through his young heart.

" I'm sorry dad, I didn't mean to be dismissive or anything, I really understood yesterday... I don't think there's any need to... "