There were few things David Gordon hated, one was when he forgot to take paper out of his pockets before putting his jeans in the wash. The other was hypocrisy. His family was hypocritical, doctors who smoked. Well his parents had smoked, now just his dad did. David sighed, looking around his father's apartment.

For a peace and love non-materialistic woman his mother sure had been relentless in her pursuit of the house, home practice and money. Everything except her son. The divorce had been quiet and painful. As far as David could see there wasn't any reason for it, his parents had never fought, or he had never known about it. There was a high possibility that they had. The Gordon family was good at keeping secrets, like the divorce.

David smirked the apartment was messy, in an almost comical and TV way. There were old pizza boxes around all over the place. He paused, looking at the microwave, his TV dinner already in. His father stormed in.

"You would think she would give it a rest" He muttered turning to his son.

"What did you do to her?" The response was a cuff upside the head causing David to see bursts of red. The answer, apparently. David had wondered if his father had hit his mother. They were very different. His mother was a down to earth hippie from money, his father had fought his way up to a doctorate, climbing up from horrible roots. His dad never talked about his past instead trying to lodge himself in the present and submerse himself into his new family.

Apparently he still had anger management issues. David shook his head lightly, the spots clearing from his vision. "Why do you take it?" His father asked, "You're eighteen, fight back"

David silently took his meal into the living room. The phone rang "Hey Gordo!" Lizzie's sweet voice rang out, David smiled at the use of the old nickname.

"Hey" he grinned "how are ya?" He smiled imagining Lizzie, in her large house, hair up loosely and laying back on her bed.

"Fine, I have a ton of bio homework though, and Matt is totally being annoying about his new girlfriend, dragging her around like she's a trophy." He could hear her smile in her voice "And my dad is totally flipping out, he's threatening to ground me, guess what for?"

David grinned "I have no idea"

"Not cleaning my room! Like I'm five or something!"

David grinned, he didn't ever begrudge Lizzie for her trivial problems, in fact normally they helped him. He knew Lizzie better then anyone else, even Miranda, who had been dragged to Mexico earlier that year. Her mother panicking that America was ruining her good daughter. Miranda's choice to come out had apparently come at just the wrong time.

"That stinks" He smiled, cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear. "You heard from Miranda?"

"She has a girlfriend in Mexico." Lizzie smiled.

"She told her mother?"

"I hope not where else would her mother send her?"

"Military school?" David suggested.

"Gordo!" Lizzie laughed. "So how's your new school?" she asked, her voice turning slightly more serious. "You getting enough challenge? Why did your dad have to move so close to the end of the year? Couldn't you have lived with your mom for that length of time?"

"Its fine Lizzie, I'm in all honors classes" He grinned, honors was the only challenge and barely even a challenge for him. His teachers just gave him an advanced text book and expected him to finish with that. "Its great, really independent"

"Kinda like college" Lizzie asked hopefully.

"Yeah." David smiled, he saw his dad open up the kitchen drawer. "Um I gotta go, see you this weekend?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah, See ya Gordo" She hung up the phone.

"Who you talking to?" His dad asked, calling in from the kitchen.

"Lizzie"

"Why she still talk to you?"

"We're dating Dad." David said, leaning back into the old couch. "I'm gunna go visit her this weekend"

"No you aren't"

"Yes I am" David said eating calmly.

"No" His father said in a cool level voice. David sat, eating the over cooked vegetables. He paused looking at his father, seeing his own blue eyes looking back at him he worried.

"Yes" He said standing up and putting the tray in the trash. In a spilt second he felt his father's fist across his cheek.

"You little wimp fight back."

"I don't want you to justify this" David said climbing out the window onto the fire escape. He sighed reaching into his pocket and fingering the weed and pipe he stole from his dad.

There were a couple of other kids hanging out on the old fire escape. It was the unofficial safe spot of the building, no adults came out. Not because of a "code" or anything, but because the owners of the building hadn't kept up with the safety codes, and the structures were far from sound. The parents of the children who fled weren't that self destructive.

David sighed, leaning against the building he heard the almost exact opposite of Lizzie call down to him. "Gordon" She said climbing down the ladder, settling on his platform. "You score some?" She smiled

"Chris" He whispered to her, looking at her, calmly, sea blue eyes meeting her dark brown ones.

"Ouch" She smiled looking at his face.

"I'm gunna visit Lizzie this weekend." He said softly.

"Is that a good idea?" Chris asked, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. "Its just gunna make it hurt more"

"Why do you think its gunna end?" He asked packing the drug in.

"Because she doesn't live here" Chris said, honestly, leaning in and lighting the pipe. "She's not like us".

"Yeah well neither was I until I moved here" He said sucking in a lungful of smoke.

"But now you're here, and its hard to go back" she said. he took a moment to reflect on how different Chris and Lizzie were. Lizzie He had known most if not all of his life, they had shared most experiences, first kiss in kindergarten, first time when they were 16, the subsequent times. And as many years as they were old of life together. But now they were different. And that's where Chris came in. The two of them had a different realm of experience together. First high, first time he got hit, the fire escapes. The pipe he passed to her.

Lizzie was adorable, she was his saving grace, the thing he could go to when he didn't want this world around him. Chris was there with him. Listening to my father hit him. Knowing the hopelessness. She was there to help him survive till the weekends. Where she was alone again.

He looked over at her. His eyes searching hers. They'd kissed a few times when they were high. No romance, not possibility of such. Instead they were looking, desperately for a connection in their hell.

"I'm gunna call Lizzie and see if you can come with me" He said pushing a curl out of his eyes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing really. Seeing as Chris is... actually I own Chris, whose name is short for Christina.

Author's notes: I'm sorry if I offend anyone. But this seemed more plausible then a lot of abusive lizzie's parents stories. I am not trying to make Lizzie sound dumb. She isn't she just is shallow (And her complaints are from my life) But here we go. Please review with your opinion.