Juliet's POV
"Juliet!" Matt called me over to the kitchen, when I walked inside of the apartment.
Matt was sitting on the counter, facing away from me.
"Matt?" I said as I walked over and stood in front of him.
He had scars on his face, and a black eye.
"Oh my god. Matt! Are you okay? What happened?" I said as I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and put it on his eye.
Matt's POV
flashback
I walked into my house.
"Mom? D-dad?" I said nervously.
"Come in. We're in the kitchen." My mom yelled.
They were already eating dinner.
My mom smoked and drank. Smoke emerged from the kitchen as I sat down. Other than that, she was the closest thing to family I had.
She was also afraid of my dad, like everyone else.
"Join us for dinner." She said.
My brother was away in collage, so I'm the only one at the table with my mom...and dad.
"Hi son." He grunted.
"H-hi."
We had spaghetti and meatballs.
My dad was eating sloppily, meatball remains and sauce was all over his shirt.
"So, what have you been up to these days?" My dad asked.
He smelled like beer.
"Nothing."
"Man, you're such a loner."
"I'm better off alone than living like you." I mumbled.
"What did you say?" He said.
"I said, 'I'm better off alone than living like you.'" I repeated.
My dad slapped me across the face.
"Don't talk to me like that again. You heard me?" He said. I nodded.
"So, lovely dinner we're having." My dad said to my mom.
She nodded as well.
"So dad, I have something to tell you." I said.
"What?" He said, annoyed.
"I've quit smoking a month ago. I've always hated it. And I did it for a girl I really care about."
My dad undid his belt and slapped me across the face with it.
"That 'girl' doesn't care about you. She'll never care about you. How dare you quit smoking? I've wanted you to keep smoking so that I don't have to kill you myself."
"That is not true! Lesley cares about me and I love her." I confessed.
He whipped me again.
"You know what? That's cute. Good for you Matthew." My mom said.
"You think this is cute? Huh? Maybe you'll find this cute."
He wiped my mom on the back.
"Stop! You leave her alone!" I said as I grabbed the belt.
