~Chapter 3~

I waited anxiously for someone to tell me if he was done or not… if he lived or not… no. No, I wasn't going to think like that, even though life is hard he still has so much to live for.

I pressed my damp face into my hands while I waited in the waiting room. I thought about how we first met… at school… he was a sophomore and I was a junior. We were in the same math class and got paired together for a project…

"Sooo… its Arthur Kirkland, right?" he asked. I had never really noticed him before. Of course I had heard all the silly obnoxious girls giggle about him in the hallways together, but that was the most I had ever heard.

"Yes. And your Alfred?" and if you know anything about high school, knowing someone by just rumors isn't the best when they are trying to make a good first impression.

"Uuhh… yeah." He seemed almost nervous to talk to me. It was almost cute.

And that was how we first met, just a project in math. We stayed friends for awhile. We really weren't very close until…

I found Alfred sitting on the floor curled up in a ball in the corner of the gymnasium. He looked like he wasn't feeling too good so I walked over to find out what was wrong.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked as I looked down at him on the floor.

"N- No… I feel like I'm going to pass out…" he looked like he was drifting off. The next minute he just seemed to collapse.

~Alfred's POV~

Next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital. I wasn't sure what had happened. All I remember was leaving for school and then feeling really sick all of a sudden. I looked around the room and found a familiar face. Arthur Kirkland. "He's awake!" my eyes widened as he shouted. I felt a massive headache follow.

"What the hell happened…?" I asked in a slightly slurred and puzzled voice. He looked at me like I was crazy. I just looked back up at him.

"You passed out in the gymnasium at school. I found you right before it happened. The doctors said you suffered from a minor stroke. Had someone hit you on the head, or had you bumped into something? They found a bump." He answered with more questions. Last thing I wanted to do was think. My head hurt too much. But I may have figured out why now.

"Umm… I don't know…" I felt like dozing off.

A doctor walked in and Arthur turned around. "Please, sir. Let him sleep."

"Oh! Of course…"

I immediately drifted off…

I was just walking into my house after finally getting home from school. I actually didn't mind being at school. I really liked school. Mainly because it wasn't home. I dreaded coming home every day. I had nothing of no one there that wanted or needed me, or at least it seemed that way.

I walked through the door only to find my drunk-off-his-ass father passed out on the couch. Beer bottles and cans strewed all over the house. I thought I had cleaned those up yesterday… maybe not… or maybe I did and he just replaced them. I didn't really want to think about that though.

I dragged myself to my room and dropped my 15 lbs. book bag on the floor. I turned on the radio and my favorite song happened to be playing. Viva La Vida by Coldplay. I flopped down on the bed and laid my head back. I fell asleep instantly.

When I woke up my dad was standing over me. He had an empty beer bottle in his hand. My eyes widened as he just stood there watching me. "D- Dad?"

He came closer and spoke something quietly. I could barely understand what he was trying to say because his voice was so slurred. It sounded like 'Take off you your pants.' Dear god I knew what was coming.

When I started struggling and refused he took the beer bottle and smacked me over the head. Next moment it was shattered on the floor in pieces. I feel dizzy…

I shook it off and pushed my dad out of my room and onto him bed. I turned off his light and just before I left the room I whispered… "Go to sleep dad…"

I sat outside the bedroom door crying… I prayed my dad would get better, but at the same time thanked the lord for a break from all the shit he puts me through. Today was nothing compared to the things he did to me yesterday… or the day before that…

I carried on for the next few days with only a minor headache. I felt fine otherwise…

~Arthur POV~

Alfred shot up in the hospital bed and started coughing wildly. "I got hit on the head with a bottle…" he spoke hoarsely.

"Huh…? Are you saying someone hit you?" I just stared at him.

"Y- Yes… by my father." His eyes opened wider as he spoke. I wonder what happened. "H- He came into m-my room and tri-tried to-…"

The doctor came into the room. "Looks like everything should be fine now. But, if you start to feel sick or dizzy come back immediately. You can be on your way now." He gave us a kind smile. Alfred continued to stare down with his eyes wide open.

"Let's go Alfred. You can tell me on the way home…" I walked him slowly out to my car. "Where do you live?"

"I'm not going back to that house…" he spoke slowly and quietly. The loud obnoxious Alfred that everyone knew was nowhere to be found right now. He swallowed hard. "I don't have a home anymore. I'm done with him. He's not a father to me anymore. That went away a long time ago."