A/N: Hello, everyone. I decided to write a new story that is not related to my last two. I just want to write something different for right now and I'm pretty excited for this one. I know this first chapter is short but it's just to get it started. I promise the chapters will be long. I hope you enjoy.

Yes, eventually Paul and Stephanie will pair up.

Disclaimer: I only own the little boy and Shania.

"Daddy, look!"

Paul looked up from his phone and at the direction where the little voice came from. He smiled when his son performed a trick in the middle of the massive yard of their property. He has seen the same trick a million times but his little guy always managed to amuse him every single time.

"You still got it, Hunter." Paul shouted from across the yard before he felt a gentle touch to his shoulder. He looked up at his wife smiling at him. "Hey you." He said as he watched her sit down next to him in the green grass.

"Hey. Did he show you his performance again?" She asked with a small quiet laugh.

He chuckled and turned his attention to his son once more. "Yeah, he did." Now Hunter was pretending he was an airplane or bee by spreading his arms out and running around in the grass making annoying buzzing noises. "He sure does have an imagination." He added with a soft smile.

"He gets it from his daddy." She replied as she hugged his big arm.

He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, really? What makes you think that, Shania?" He already knew the answer somewhat but he wanted his ego stroked at the moment.

She looked him in his hazel eyes. "Because you own a business, Paul." She eyed his phone in his lap. "Is that why you were on the phone?" She asked.

He sighed. "Yeah. The new guy I hired was having troubles looking for some inventory."

"Mommy! Daddy! I'm hungry!" The little blonde boy jumped excitingly into his fathers' arms.

"Is it time for lunch?" Paul asked Hunter who had dirt on his elbows and knees.

"Yes!" He made both his parents laugh.

Paul gazed over at his wife and caught her bright blue eyes. They smiled at each other and he knew he wouldn't have his life any other way.

Paul snapped out of his thoughts when suddenly a loud commercial played on his television set in front of him. He brought his focus back on the TV and took a swig of his beer. This was actually his second beer in the past thirty minutes. It numbed his feelings.

Whenever the TV would show a happy and healthy family, he would drift off to that happy place that he held in his heart.

He brought the bottle to his trembling lips once again but when he tilted his head back, nothing came out of the cold glass bottle. He brought it away from his mouth and grunted in annoyance before he tossed it in the wastebasket near the kitchen. It clanked loudly against the other bottles that were littered at the bottom of the plastic bin. He stood up from his lazy boy chair and trudged towards the dark kitchen. He navigated through the small space with the help of the small sliver on moonlight peeking between the curtains. He opened the fridge and squinted his eyes at the sudden bright light as he reached for another alcoholic beverage. Once he retrieved what he needed, he kicked the fridge closed all the while opening the bottle. He took a few drinks as he made his way to his bedroom for some rest.

He couldn't sleep. He couldn't fade off into another world no matter how hard he tried. He just stared up at the ceiling and watched the shadows of the tree leaves dance across it from the breeze out in the night. He sighed and rubbed the skin between his tired eyes. The clock beside him showed a quarter till eleven before ne attempted to get some much needed sleep. He hadn't been in here for long so he figured it would only be a little past midnight.

He reached over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand. He dialed a number and help the device to his ear. He waited a few seconds before a greeting sounded on the other end.

"Hey, man. Are you up?" He asked as he shut his eyes to rest them a little.

"Yeah, of course. What's up?" The male voice said.

"Can I swing by and hang out for a little bit? I can't sleep for shit." He really hoped his friend would let him come over because he couldn't take being alone in this place for much longer.

"Sure."

"Cool, I'll be there soon." He got off of the bed and slipped on his shoes.

"Alright, man."

Paul hung up the phone and placed it in the pocket of his jeans that he just put on. He left his room, completely forgetting about the almost full beer bottle on the nightstand and went straight for his keys. He knew he shouldn't be driving because he was buzzed, damn near drunk but he didn't care. If he could focus a little in front of him then he would be okay. He left his house and walked towards his car that was parked in the long driveway.

It was quiet out since it was late and the cool air left goosebumps on his skin. He unlocked his car and climbed into it, immediately starting it up. His stereo blasted loud heavy metal music as he sped out of the vicinity of his home.

His car squeaked as it came to a halt in front of his desired location. He killed the engine and pulled the key from the ignition. He managed to drive well in such a state. He swerved every now and again, at least he thinks he did. He was insanely lucky that there was no cop in sight, otherwise he'd be behind bars instead of where he actually was at this very minute.

"Man, shut the fuck up. You bitch too much." A man said from inside the house. Him and another guy were currently arguing before there was a loud knock on the front door. "That should be Paul but it might not be so put that shit away." He demanded as he pointed at the little bag of white powder. He watched him put it away before he opened the door, revealing Paul.

"Hey, man. It's nice seein' ya." He said with a smile as Paul walked through the door.

"Yeah, it's been a while, Ray." Paul chuckled. He gazed over at the other man whom he didn't know. He looked, well….fucked up. His hair was disheveled, eyes wide as saucers, fidgeting with his fingers and was extremely skinny. He looked terrified and he had no idea why he would be.

"Oh, yeah, that's Dave. He's a friend of mine. Shows how long we haven't hung out." Ray laughed as they walked over to the couch and sat down.

"I see that." He said before he stuck his hand out for the unknown man to shake. "Names Paul." He smirked when the other man shook his large hand. He seemed so fragile during the gesture.

"Names Dave." His gruff voice spoke.

"Wanna show Paulie what we got?" Ray asked with a huge smile.

Paul felt confused. What Dave pulled out of his pocket made his eyes go wide. This was the last thing he had expected to see him take out. He watched as they poured the rocks of cocaine onto the coffee table and crushed it up into powder with a card. They separated the amount into three lines and rolled up a dollar bill. His heart stuck in his throat when Ray held out the rolled up dollar bill to him with a smirk.

"Wanna take a hit? It'll rid of your pain, man."

Paul just stared down at the item in his hand. He has never been offered illegal drugs so he didn't know what to say. No was an obvious answer but something was stopping him from saying no.

"It'll rid of your pain, man."

That statement was ringing in his head as he actually contemplated this. Yeah, he was a drunk but he would never consume these drugs.

He just shook his head and sat back against the old and raggedy couch. "No, thanks. Do you have beer or hard liquor?" He asked in hopes of him having something. Although, it was impossible for him not to have something in his fridge and cupboards. He watched as his friends' face faltered a bit at his rejection.

"Yeah, I have some Coors. Make yourself at home." He gestured over to the lit kitchen.

Paul sat up and went over to the kitchen. He's been in here many of times but he couldn't get over how messy it was all the time. It looked almost as if no one lived in this house. He opened the fridge and his eyes lit up at the sight of the colored glass bottles in the back. He moved the Chinese take-out over and grasped his desired beverage.

"Oh, shit." One of them gasped after they snorted an entire line in one hit. They pinched their nose and fell back with their eyes rolled into the back of their head. They were seeing stars and didn't even notice Paul walking back into the smelly room.

Paul caught sight of the both of them, high as a damn kite. They looked like they were sleeping when really, they were in another dimension. The three white lines were gone off the table and now adorned the skin underneath their noses.

This was a mistake. He thought to himself. He took a swig of his chill beer before he grabbed his leather jacket that he took off just ten minutes ago. Without a seconds thought, he walked out the door, slamming the door behind him. He set down the glass bottle on the doorstep so he can put his jacket back on. Once it was, he grabbed the bottle and made his way to his car.

Once he was inside, he placed the bottle into the cup holder and fired up the engine. He didn't know where he wanted to go. He didn't want to go back to his house where he was alone in the dark. It hurt his soul to be stuck in that house all day and all night. Well, except for the temporary work, that was all he had.

Maybe a nice night drive is what he needs.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and again, I'm sorry this was so short! I promise the next chapter will be much longer. What did you think of it? Please review/favorite/follow! It means so much to me.

A/N: I had to go back and edit this because I wanted him to be in a house instead of an apartment. Sounds stupid to delete the story and upload it again because of that but it's for the story's purpose. It's actually important to the story.