The Brightest Star

34. Leo (TW)

Trigger Warning!

Leo's POV

"My dad is off work tonight," I finally told King as we walked to school. It was the first night he had been off since everything happened at school, and King had been staying over.

"Oh," King replied as he looked down at the ground.

Was he disappointed? He didn't say anything for a while as we continued walking.

"Well. I mean, my uncle's been needing me for stuff around the house anyways. So I guess I'll just take the time to get that done before he blows up about it," he said with a smile, but I could still see the disappointment in his eyes.

School went the same as usual as I kept to myself and ate lunch with King and Jess. When gym class came, I changed by myself as King had to talk to the teacher about something. I walked onto the gym floor alone to find Jess. If I wasn't with King, I was usually with her.

I didn't see her as I looked around. It felt like everyone's eyes were on me. I stood there knotting my fingers while I waited for one of them to walk out. I didn't enjoy feeling like I was the laughingstock of the school or the outcast.

"I bet you like watching us change," I heard someone say behind me and jumped around to see a boy named Andrew standing there with a few others. "You're not so tough without your boyfriend or little girlfriend around to keep saving your pussy ass."

They all laughed around him.

"Yeah. Maybe his mom found out he liked it in the ass so much, and that's why she's bedridden. From the shock and disappointment," the one next to him said, making them all laugh again and walk away.

I looked down to see my hands shaking as I found back the tears. How could someone say that? How could they even joke about someone like that?

King walked over shortly after that and nudged my shoulder. "Looks like the gym teacher is proud of my sudden energy in class. Looks like your too good of an influence on me, Leo," he smiled.

I forced smile at him but didn't feel like talking after that comment those boys made about my mom. I just wanted to be alone and sit in the corner by myself, but I couldn't.

After school, King walked me home like normal, even though he would have to go home instead of waiting for my dad to leave.

"Are you okay, Leo? You've been acting off since gym class. Did something happen while I was talking to the teacher?" He asked as if he could read my mind.

I didn't look up as we continued walking. "No, everything was fine. Thank you for asking, though," I lied to him. I just didn't want to talk about it and wanted to forget what they said all together.

"Well, you know you can talk to me whenever and about whatever you want. You know I'm always here for you," he tried reassuring me.

I knew I could go to him, he's proven that to me time and time again, and I was truly grateful for that, but I can't keep leaning on him.

Thankfully my home came into view, and I was starting to look forward to sitting in my room alone and letting this heavy feeling take over for a while as we waved goodbye to each other and I walked into the house.

It felt darker in the house, knowing he wasn't coming over later as I walked over to the table and started looking throw my backpack for my homework.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed the empty bottle of liquor on the counter and froze, holding a book in hand. It seemed like the room got even darker around me. He was drinking already. How much did he drink? Was it the whole bottle? Just a drink or two? Maybe it was just the empty one from last time he didn't throw after yet?

I could practically hear my heart beating in my ears as I stood there and thought about it, but I soon found the answer. I turned around when I heard a loud thud behind me and saw my dad stagger off the stairs. He was completely wasted.

"Hey!" He yelled, pointing at me as I jumped, still holding a book in front of me. "You- you have someone here at night?" He asked, looking everywhere but at me like he was looking for someone else in the house.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Did he know about King being here? No, there was no way he knew about that. "N- no sir," I lied.

"Th- then you sleeping down here?" He asked, slurring his words.

"I um, I- I've been having some problems with my back sleeping in the chair upstairs. I'm sorry. I'll sleep up there from-,"

"Your back hurts?" He asked, looking more confused.

"Y- yes, sir. I'm sorry. It won't-,"

"Fucken back hurts?" He was starting to get angry again. "What a bullshit... What kinda shit is that?" He yelled, making me jump.

"It's fine now, th- though. I'll be sleeping upstairs from now on," I said, taking a step back and hitting my lower back on the table while he stumbled towards me.

"You so fucken weak. What a- a... what a disgrace you are," he slurred again as he shook his head before he reached out to grab me. I quickly jump to the side, dodging him.

We looked at each other, a little shocked before he lunged at me again. I took off for my room, dropping the book in my hand as I slammed the door shut behind me and locked it. He slammed into it hard as I pushed my back against it, scared it would fly open. He started punching the door and calling me every name in the book.

"Open the door, you worthless kid!" He screamed. It's like he didn't even care that my mom could hear him yelling at me anymore.

I stayed there for a while with my back pressed against the door as he hit it hard. Tears ran down my face at everything he was saying to me, my whole body was a trembling miss. He was so drunk I couldn't understand much of what he was yelling, but it still hurt me.

Finally, he stopped as I heard him mumbling to himself and stumbled down the hall again. I stepped away from the door slowly and cautiously watched the door as I backed away. Feeling safe again, I sat down on my bed and exhaled a little wiping my tears away. My heart was still pounding.

The door slammed open, making me yell and jump off the bed as my dad stood there. I ran to the window, finding it locked, and started to unlock the latch, but he grabbed me and threw me to the floor.

"Dad p- please. I'm- I'm sorry," I cried, shaking like crazy as he walked close. It didn't matter how much I begged him not to, it didn't stop him as he got on top of me with his fist raised.

"I'll make your fucken back hurt," he growled through his teeth before grabbing the collar of my shirt.

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