"Have fun with that perfect little family you have!"

Perfect family… yeah right!, Jack nearly snorted out loud while waiting for his taxi, as those words haunted him. He was going home after going out with his buddies, like he did every day for the last 10 years now. A perfect family…that was what everybody was seeing when they looked at the Bolton family.

As an outsider all they saw was the seemingly perfect love story they presented. Jack meet his wife Lucille in high school, where they had an instant connection. They were the High School Sweethearts of East High which seemed to be punctuated with the child they got right out of high school. Of course they married and were happy ever since, watching their son growing up to be smart and an athlete extraordinaire. The perfect family indeed, as they proved every time they were in public.

But Jack knew better. They weren't perfect. In fact they were a far cry from perfect.

It wasn't that he didn't love his wife anymore; it wasn't even that his son was not the perfect son everybody seemed to think he was. No, that wasn't the problem, the problem was that even though he did love his wife, there were no sparks anymore. And even though his son was the perfect son every father could wish for, they just couldn't form a real father-son bond. Maybe it was because he wasn't trying hard enough, but it also could be because he just didn't know how to do it. He did try everything that had worked between him and his father, but with Troy there seemed to be always an emotional distance that he didn't know how to bridge.

And then there was that "little" problem his wife had with the alcohol, Jack mused as he settled into the taxi and told the driver the address to his home. He wasn't sure how much she exactly drunk daily but he knew it was far too much to not be addicted. He wasn't even sure if she knew that he was aware that she was drinking herself into a stupor every day. He was ashamed of himself that he didn't take the matter into his own hands, to stop her from destroying herself. He was ashamed of how weak he actually was that he couldn't talk to her or plead with her to get help. All he hoped was that Troy had no idea about it, that Troy somehow didn't notice the empty bottles all over the house.

Jack sat back into the seat of the taxi while thinking about when things had gone downhill. He remembered the shock they had when they learned that Lucille was pregnant at 18 but he also remembered the joy they felt, that he felt. It did change their entire plan for the future. Originally, they wanted to go to college together, graduate and start a family after they managed to find their place in life, preferably after they managed all the traveling they wanted to get done. But they quickly changed it to plan B which consisted of having the child and Jack would just find work a few years to provide his little family with the essentials they needed to live, they would go to college later when the kid was a little bit older. Well that didn't work out. After four years Jack was still working as assistant coach at East High while Lucille would stay home, tending to their son's needs, and at the same time, do some little jobs all around town.

It was then the first time that Jack felt the need to escape and to join his buddies who were enjoying their single lives in the bar. It was then when Jack started finding the bottles. He knew that Lucille was unhappy. He could feel how her joy was dimming with every day passing by, but didn't know how to change that fact. So he pretended that everything was ok and kept going on with their lives. He pushed all their plans to travel to the back of his mind and just kept living on.

Now, 10 years later, things hadn't changed much. Jack was head coach of East High's basketball team as well as teaching PE. Lucille was still staying home all day and tended to the household.

Troy was doing well in middle school; in fact he was in the top 5 in all his classes. He was on the basketball team of his school and by far the best player they had. He had three good friends, the outgoing and loud Chad, the nice and calm Zeke and the smarter-than-he-looked Jason. These four where a tight group with Chad as the leader even if Troy was his equal by far. But for some reason Jack couldn't fathom the reason why, Troy let Chad lead the group.

Jack sighed as his home of 14 years now, came into sight. He was tired of pretending that everything was peachy. He smiled at the taxi driver and paid his fare, all the while thinking about how he could change something about the current situation he spent 10 years pretending didn't exist. As he walked toward the front door he frowned when he heard some subdued yelling. Walking faster, he reached the living room and felt his heart breaking as it shattered into a million pieces.

There stood his son, in front of his obviously drunk wife with a look on his face that would be imprinted into Jacks mind forever. The face was void of any emotion, which wasn't entirely uncommon for Troy but it was the eyes that held the emotion. His eyes burned with coldness, despair, guilt and resignation. Jack never saw such a look on anybody, nevertheless on a 14 year old boy. It was a look he never wanted to see again.

Then Jack glanced at his wife, who was red in the face from all the yelling she was doing, her eyes were glazed over and the entire room wreaked of alcohol. Jack looked at his wife, really looked and he could see emotions on her face he had never seen before. There was hatred and resentment as she yelled at her only son she should love.

Neither of them had seen Jack yet.

Suddenly the yells shouted by his wife, registered into his mind.

"IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT. HOW I WISH I NEVER HAD GIVEN BIRTH TO YOU. YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING. I HATE YOU!"

And then in slow motion Jack saw Lucille raising her hand and hitting Troy harshly on his face. Troy wasn't even trying to defend himself.

"Lucille!"

Both occupants turned to Jack and to his horror he could see that Troy's face was red all over. This wasn't the first time she had hit him today. Suddenly so many little details felt into place, why Troy was so introverted from time to time, why Troy never really opened up to anybody, his many bruises he always found excuses for.

Just when he opened his mouth again he saw Lucille hitting Troy again and this time being caught unaware, he fell backward. Helpless, Jack could only watch as Troy fell backwards, straight onto the couch table. And then if only for a second he could see the blame in his son's eyes.

AN: So here it is. Thank you cuzimbored for nagging me and for beeing my beta. Thank you at adcgordon as well, you know why. Love you both.

this is my first story with more than one chapter, so please tell me what you think? pretty please?