Chapter 46
ALEX
I’d done it again - let my guard down for Kai Fields - and now my brother’s eyes were narrowing in on me like I was prey caught in the open.
“You answer me when I’m calling you,” he commanded from the doorway, his voice low and sharp.
He didn’t step inside, just stood there, blocking the frame like he owned it.
His hair was freshly shaved to his scalp, and his knuckles were raw, the kind of raw that told a story he wasn’t going to explain.
He stared at me like he expected obedience, like the room itself was holding its breath.
“Sorry,” I said quickly, forcing my breathing to stay steady even as my pulse hammered against my ribs. I kept my hands still at my sides, trying not to show how badly they were shaking.
“Just don’t let it happen again.” His jaw relaxed as he spoke, and a wave of relief washed through me so fast it made me dizzy. I stood up quickly and reached for the TV remote, switching it off. But the relief vanished the moment his gaze landed on my bed.
“What the fuck is this?” he sneered, lifting Kai’s jumper between two fingers like it was something contaminated, eyes narrowing in on the logo. “Spending my money on designer clothes now?”
“N-No,” I stammered, taking a small step back. “It’s not mine.” I hoped that would calm him, but instead he inhaled sharply, like he’d just confirmed something.
“Oh,” he laughed incredulously, a slow, cold smile spreading across his face. “So that’s what you’ve been doing while I was away.” He shook the jumper once, the fabric swaying in front of me. “You’ve been fucking guys in your bed, you dirty fucking faggot.”
My stomach dropped. “No,” I said quickly. “I haven’t. I swear.”
But he’d already made up his mind. I could see it in the way his shoulders squared, in the way the room seemed to shrink around him.
“Was that who you were talking to just now?” he asked, his jaw clenching so tightly I thought it might crack. “Have you got a boyfriend?”
I shook my head, but my breath was already catching.
Just breathe, I told myself. Just breathe.
But I couldn’t.
Not with the way he was looking at me.
Not with the way he stepped closer, taking up all the space in the room until I had nowhere left to go.
“That’s the last time you talk to your faggot boyfriend in my house,” He hissed, yanking the plugs from my Xbox and hurling it into the wall beside me. The impact made me shudder and I took another step away from him.
“Please, Connor, it’s not what you think.” I pleaded, my back now pressed against the wall. “I haven’t got a boyfriend.”
“But you’re still a fucking faggot.”
He moved fast - too fast for me to react - and the next moments blurred together: raised voice, sudden movement, the room tilting as I stumbled back. Pain flared, sharp and disorienting, and I hit the floor before I even understood what had happened.
“I thought buying you this game would help.” He spat, towering over me. “Make you see sense.”
He glared down at me, hand gripped on the neck of my hoodie, yanking me upright.
“But maybe I’ll just have to beat the faggot out of you instead.” He seethed as his fist connected with my cheek in one fast motion. I felt myself collapse onto the floor. The pain in my jaw was instant, throbbing with the phantom feeling of his fist even after it left.
He kept going, each movement sending another jolt through me until my body curled in on itself. I tried to shield my ribs, tried to breathe through the pressure, tried not to make a sound that would make it worse.
Eventually, he stepped back, breathing hard, looking down at me like I was something he’d scraped off his shoe.
“Please,” I managed, my voice thin as the familiar tang of iron coated my tongue. “I’m sorry.”
I didn’t know what I was apologising for - only that apologies sometimes made it stop sooner.
But not tonight.
His boot connected with my stomach again, hard and fast, and the pain stole the air from my lungs. My ribs were already sore - still tender from last week, still trying to heal. And now, with everything that had just happened, it felt like they might never get the chance.
My breathing stuttered, each inhale catching sharply, like the air itself had turned against me. A thin, splintering ache spread through my chest, and I gasped, fighting for a breath that didn’t feel like punishment.
“I’ll stop when you stop taking the piss.” He sneered and sent another kick to my stomach. I groaned, holding my ribs, trying to gather up the strength to move.
To get away.
He stopped for a moment, like he was relishing in my curled frame on the floor.
“Get up,” He said firmly.
But my ribs ached, and the hot sting of my cheek kept me grounded.
“I said, get the fuck up,” He shouted again, this time lifting me by my hood and dragging me across the floor. “You’re pathetic,” He spat. “Get up!”
Just do what he says Alex.
I coaxed myself up, bracing a hand against the wall as I pushed.
My body protested instantly, a deep, aching pull that made every movement feel heavier than it should.
I leaned my weight into the wall, letting it hold me for a moment while the room steadied.
Every part of me wanted to stay on the floor, to let everything just…
stop. But I forced myself upright anyway, even though it felt like my bones were begging me not to.
The room swayed, but I stayed standing because he wanted me to.
“I have a reputation in this town. The people respect me.” He whispered as his hand wrapped around my throat. “Think they’d still respect me if they knew what you are?”
I clawed at his wrist instinctively, desperate for air. I couldn’t respond even if I wanted to; his hand was crushing my windpipe, and my lungs were fighting against him.
“Fucking pathetic.” His eyes looked me up and down as my hands clawed at his desperately trying to create some space, some leverage so that I could take a breath.
When he finally let go, I hit the wall behind me, sliding down it as my legs gave out. I dropped to the floor, coughing hard, my lungs scrambling to catch up, each breath thin and shaky as I tried to steady myself.
He didn’t wait. He grabbed Kai’s jumper again, flicked open a lighter, and held the flame to the fabric. It caught quickly, the edges curling and blackening. He watched it burn for a moment before dropping it into my metal bin and dousing it with water.
I stared at the smoke rising from the bin, my chest aching with every breath.
Mum appeared in the doorway, leaning heavily against the frame. “Could you boys keep it down?” she slurred, barely glancing at us. “I’m trying to watch TV.” Her eyes drifted to me. “Alex, honey, get off the floor. It’s filthy.”
I couldn’t move. I just groaned, the air still knocked out of me.
She wandered off, muttering to herself, and Connor followed her out, slamming the door behind him.
The room fell silent again.
I stayed where I was, curled on the cold floor, one arm wrapped around my ribs as I stared at the thin trail of smoke rising from the bin.
For a moment earlier tonight, I’d thought Kai and I could be friends.
But lying there, struggling to breathe, I knew I’d been wrong.