Each echoing footstep drowned within the storm of shouting by the others in the living room. With a long sigh, Emil leaned his head against the wall of the hallway, connected to the living room. "You're a selfish bastard, Dane! Why not leave to get drunk off your ass again?! I bet you have someone else. Why else would you be gone almost every night to 'drink' or 'work'?" "I do love you, Lukas! You're just too cold hearted to see it! I don't want anyone but you! Why don't you believe that?! I'm not a fucking cheater!"
The couple argued back and forth. Their insults got harsher, louder, and more hurtful with each word that was shouted across the living room, but this was a normal occurrence now. Lukas' stubbornness mixed with Mathias' hidden rage to make their arguments overheated and hateful.
A frown drooped on Emil's face as he listened carefully to what was being said. Those words hurt him, though they weren't directed to him. Another sighed slipped past as his eyes closed. Trying his best to clear his mind best, he thought back to when it all went wrong.
Not long after Mathias and Lukas got together, they moved in after Lukas lost his job and home. Stress and personal problems soon lead to the two drifting apart as their true personalities shown. Most everyone saw Lukas as an emotional abuser because of his monotone and mysterious demeanor, but that was far the truth. Just because he was didn't show emotions, didn't mean he didn't have them. He'd been scared out of showing them, and Mathias was part of that fear.
Behind that bright smile of a Dane lay years of pain turned to anger. Any small thing could set him off into a blazing rage, one that clouded all rational thoughts. This caused him to lash these angers out on others. Drinking quickly became his first way of venting. Being out all night at bars and coming home drunk made Lukas worry about his lover's safety and commitment. This led to accusations of cheating, making tensions skyrocket. As of late, more beer bottles were thrown across the room and more holes were punched in the walls, but no one dared yet cross the line to make verbal abuse psychical.
"Just shut up, Lukas! You need me! You can't live without me! You're nothing without me and you know it! You and, that freak of a boy you call, Emil would be on the street if it wasn't for me! Just be happy I still bother to support you!" "Then fucking leave! I'm not asking you to stay! I want you gone!"
The Icelander bit his lip before it could quiver. Tears peeked from the corners of his soft lavender eyes as a strong feeling of anxiety stirred within him. Something that hadn't happened before, at least not like this.
The arguing stopped suddenly when a loud slap echoed though the house. Gathering up his courage, he looked around the corner to see Lukas shaking slightly with his hand over his reddening cheek. His back was to Mathias, who had narrowed eyes and a scowl to the Norwegian. A dark, emotionless gaze moved up to his meet Emil's fearful, tear filled one. Lukas mouthed a 'go and hide' to his little brother, not daring to verbally be heard for fear hit again. He nodded and complied, running off upstairs to hide in the bedroom closet.
Emil sobbed and shook, burying himself within the clothes to help cover the sounds. That was the first time he ever witnessed Lukas being stuck by Mathias like that.
Never in a million years would he have guessed it would have escalated to such an alarming rate. Never would he guessed his life would be changed from loving his protectors, to fearing what one could do to the other.