Thank you for all the reviews! I am SO sorry that it has taken me so long to update this, I really struggled with this update and I have not been in the frame of mind to write recently but I am getting back into it so I hope to bring you another update soon. Please review, I hope you keep reading! :)

Chapter Nine

Josh kept his red eyes firmly fixed upon Shannon's face as she slept in his arms. It was coming up to nine o clock in the morning and she had stayed with him all night, her eyes had finally closed just over an hour ago when he'd started to stroke her face with his long fingers. He was grateful that she'd stayed with him, her presence had been enough to keep him calm, if he'd been left alone the temptation to drag Jake out of the house and dump him at a treatment centre would probably have been too much to contain.

Deep down he knew that doing that wouldn't help though, if Jake couldn't admit to himself that he had a problem then none of them could help.

'Where the fuck am I?'

He'd been so focused on Shannon and his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed that his brother had woken up from his long sleep. As soon as he shifted in his seat Shannon also woke up with a start.

'How the fuck did I end up here?' Shannon had been about to ask Josh if he was alright when she heard Jake speak, she turned around in time to see him sit upright on the couch as he held his head in his hands.

'You're gonna sit here and tell me that you don't remember any of the fucking shit that went down last night?' Josh's voice trembled, he'd not expected his brother to remember anything at all but hearing him talk without a care in the world just made his anger bubble under the surface again.

'If I did fucking remember, why the fuck would I be ASKING?' Jake snapped and as quick as a flash Shannon rose to her feet and moved to stand over him.

'I was the one that fucking found you lying out on the street Jake! I was the one that brought you here because I was terrified that something might happen to you! Josh had to fucking wash you and dress you last night! So don't sit there and talk to him like shit!' She was taken aback by the amount of anger she felt as she looked at Jake.

She was angry that he'd done this to himself, he was once a good looking, funny, intelligent boy and he'd ruined himself for what? To have a good time with his friends? To fit in with the idiots he liked to hang around with? Where were all his so called fucking friends now when he needed help? Oh yeah, they'd abandoned him as soon as his money had dried up!

'I never asked for you to fucking bring me here did I so don't act like you've done me any favours when you fucking haven't!' Jake stumbled onto his feet but before he could go face to face with Shannon Josh got in-between them and pushed Jake back down onto the couch.

'Don't you even think about fucking laying one finger on her! You touch her and I swear to fucking God Jake…'

'I wasn't going to touch her you stupid fuck! I don't want your leftovers!'

Shannon saw Josh's fists clench and his left hand draw back, before he could do any sort of damage to Jake she wrapped her arms around his waist and drew on superhuman strength to pull him back slightly, she did not want any violence in this house, never again.

'This isn't him talking Josh you have to remember that!' She was furious with Jake but she herself had to remember that if Jake was fit and sober he would NEVER talk like this, ever.

Josh was shaking with rage and if it wasn't for Shannon he'd be beating seven shades of shit out of his little brother right now but he had to hold back, fighting wasn't going to make any of this shit better it would just make it so much worse.

Shannon continued to hold onto Josh as she watched Jake stare him down for a few seconds before he sat back down on the couch, even though he still looked wasted he probably realised that he would not win in a fight against his older, stronger brother.

Josh was about to try and speak to Jake again when he heard the door to the lounge beginning to open slowly, he held his breath, hoping that Caitlin wasn't the one standing on the other side, he didn't want her hearing any of this. He was relieved when he saw a nervous Louise opening the door, she looked pretty rough, then again she'd had plenty to drink last night and not much sleep.

'Um, I was wondering if I could take a shower here? I was thinking that I could take the girls over to my place so you guys can sort things out here, we could um, kinda hear…' Louise stumbled with her words as Shannon immediately released Josh from her vice like grip.

'I'd better go and check on Caitlin, this is my fault…'

'Shannon it's okay, both the girls are getting dressed and I've told them to wait outside while I shower, gimme half an hour and we'll be out of here,' Louise smiled reassuringly as Josh reached out to grip Shannon's hand tightly. 'Call me when you want me to bring her back, I hope you guys can sort something out,' her eyes wandered briefly to Jake who had turned to face her, as soon as she backed out of the room and closed the door behind her he let out a low whistle.

'Damn she's hot, who is she?' Jake said and Josh could feel his temperature beginning to rise again.

'Seriously? You've been kicked out of your house and Shannon found you begging on the street and all you wanna do is sit there and try and act like some kind of fucking playboy? Can't you even see what a fucking mess you're in Jake? What you're doing to not just you but everyone around you?' Josh shook his head in despair as he tried to keep his cool, someone HAD to get through to him soon.

'Why do you always fucking talk down to me Josh huh? You act as if you're so fucking perfect, like you've never taken drugs or fucked around, you didn't exactly set a good example!'

'Don't try and turn this shit around on me, yeah I fucked around, yes I took drugs from time to time but you and I are totally fucking different! YOU made the choice to start putting shit into your veins Jake, I didn't hold you down or force you to do anything so don't sit there and blame me for where you're at now when all I am trying to do is help you! All any of us are trying to do is help you! I want you to be around, I want you to be clean and sober so you can be a fucking uncle to Caitlin, so you can come out fishing and make something of yourself, you can't wanna live like this forever Jake, please tell me that this isn't what you want your life to be like because you could do anything, anything at all,' his voice shook with emotion as it poured out of him all in one go, as far as he was concerned this whole conversation was make or break time.

Jake remained seated on the couch but just stared into the distance as Josh continued to stand in front of him, his words had seemingly gone in through one ear and straight out the other. When Jake eventually snapped out of his daze after a couple of minutes he got to his feet, avoiding Josh's gaze as he started to make his way out of the room.

'I need something to drink,' he replied casually, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Shannon had watched the scene in silence, just by looking at Josh she knew that his heart was close to breaking on the spot. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close to her without saying a word, what could she possibly say to make him feel any better? She had no answers, no suggestions, maybe she should have just left Jake out on the streets then none of this would be happening, the love of her life wouldn't be close to tears in her arms.

'I don't know what to do, I just don't know what to do….'

He whispered as he remained locked in her arms. He had tried everything that he could think of but Jake wasn't willing to listen, he couldn't keep him here, not with Caitlin around. If he wouldn't get help he had no choice but to send him back out onto the streets where he wouldn't last long, how was he going to explain this to his dad when he came back home? His health had been deteriorating for a while and this latest bit of news was just going to make things a million times worse. Things just seemed to be falling apart around him and he couldn't seem to pick the pieces back up and make them fit.

Jake's POV – The Kitchen

He staggered to the huge fridge with so many different thoughts floating around in his mind, the first one being just how the hell he was going to get the money for his next hit. Josh was hardly going to give him cash, he knew as soon as he went back into the lounge that he would be out on his ass without so much as a goodbye. His older brother didn't want him around, not now that Shannon and Caitlin were in his life. He had his picture perfect family and there was no place in it for him at all. There didn't seem to be a place for him anywhere, not now, getting lost in a world of drink and drugs, they made him forget just how bad things had become.

He had his lucid moments, like now and he hated them because without the drugs he couldn't keep his guilt or his sadness at bay. It had all started as a bit of fun, he went to different bars and clubs every night with his friends and women just seemed to be drawn to him. At first, drinking and sleeping with different girls every night was enough to keep him going but the harder he partied, the harder the after effects began to hit him. He was tired and had no energy whatsoever, that's when one of his friends offered him a little something to keep him going. It started with different pills, then it moved onto the occasional line of cocaine, then he started to take pain killers or sleeping tablets to make him come down. Even when he was taking pills or snorting coke he still felt like he was in control, that he could stop at any time but then all that changed when he was introduced to the one drug that he couldn't run or hide from, heroin.

Looking back he didn't even know why he tried it in the first place, he'd been a little drunk when his old school friend Mark had offered it to him but he hadn't been drunk enough to not understand what he was doing. He thought that trying it just once would be harmless, that he would never need to do it again but as soon as the drug had entered his body that was it, he was hooked.

Things had fallen apart for him ever since, when he was sober there were times when he just wanted to pick up the phone and ask his dad or his brother for help but then the demons in his head would start talking, he would convince himself that he just needed one more hit, one more hit then he would look for help but the problem was, there was always one more hit.

'Katie ssshhh! Someone might hear you!'

He'd just pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge when he heard his niece scold her friend. He hadn't seen Caitlin in a while, Josh and Shannon wouldn't let him anywhere near her, not that he could really blame them for that. He had been about to go back into the lounge to tell his brother that he was leaving but when he heard her voice he decided for some stupid reason to talk to her.

With the cold bottle of water in his hand he made his way to the back door which was open just a little, he began to push it gently when Caitlin started to speak again.

'I don't know if it's a good idea, mom and dad would ground me forever if they found out about this,' Jake's instincts told him to hold back from heading out to see her, he wanted to know just what she was planning to do that would freak Shannon and Josh out so much.

'I know but if we don't go they'll all make fun of us in school forever, you know what they're like! We could just go for a little while, maybe one drink wouldn't be so bad,' by the sounds of it someone was having a party, a party that would involve more than goofing around whilst listening to Justin Bieber by the sound of it.

'I guess going for an hour wouldn't hurt, what's the worst that could happen?' Jake shook his head, there was no way that he was going to allow two thirteen year old girls to sneak off to some party where drink and possibly drugs would be going around.

Before either of the girls could speak again Jake decided to go out and talk to them. As soon as he stepped outside the girls turned their heads and stared at him nervously.

'Uncle Jake?' Caitlin was the first to speak, a little smile appeared on her face when Jake nodded in response to her words. He stood frozen to the spot, this had been the first time in over a year that he'd seen his niece sober and now that he was here, face to face with her, he didn't really know what to do or what to say.

'Are you gonna be staying with us for a while so you can get better?' Caitlin kept staring at him and he could feel himself wilting under her gaze, maybe coming out here to try and talk to her hadn't been such a good idea after all.

'No, I'm uh, I'm going home pretty soon, I just wanted to talk to you about this party…'

Caitlin shot Katie a nervous look as Jake slowly began to move closer to the two guilty looking girls.

'You shouldn't be going to parties like that at your age, you might think that drinking and smoking is cool but it's not….'

'Well you think it's cool don't you? Drugs are cool too, in your eyes anyway,' Caitlin quickly responded as she crossed her arms and looked at him sadly.

'I never said that they were cool, I just, I just got caught up in it all, believe me, you don't wanna turn into what I've become Caitlin,' Jake shook his head.

'I've heard mom and dad talk about you, they think I don't hear them but I do. Dad cries about you sometimes because he's scared he'll lose you, granddad cries too when he thinks no one can see him but I've seen him. Everyone's sad because they want you to get help but you won't because you don't care about any of us, you only care about the stupid drugs,' Jake could feel his heart beginning to tear in two as he looked right at his thirteen year old niece who was so wise for her age.

'I do care about you, I know I haven't exactly shown it since you've come into my life but I do. It's just difficult for me to explain this to you Caitlin, about how things have got so bad….'

'You don't need to explain! You just need to get help so I can get to know you! So dad and grandpa can stop crying and worrying about you all the time! If you care for me even a tiny bit then you'd get yourself better!'

Before he could respond to what she had said Caitlin rushed past him and went back inside as Katie jumped off the bench to quickly follow her.

Her words just spun around in his head so fast that he thought his brain would explode, he didn't realise just how much Josh and his father had worried about him, he'd never thought about them one bit when he was using whatever fucking drug he could get his hands on. All he'd thought about was getting his next hit, now that his teenage niece had told him just a few home truths he began to realise that his addiction wasn't just tearing him apart, it was tearing his whole family apart.

Inside

Shannon had managed to pull Josh over to the couch so he could sit down, he was now resting his head in her lap as she stroked her fingers through his hair. She'd never been religious, her mother's ramblings about God had never made her into the good Christian girl that her mother so badly wanted her to be but right now, she was praying. Seeing Jake so sick was bad enough but to see Josh tearing himself apart and breaking down was more than she could bear, she would do absolutely anything to take away his pain but she really didn't know what to do.

'Caitlin, Caitlin wait!'

Josh snapped out of his trance like state as soon as he heard footsteps running into the house and Katie shouting his daughter's name. He jumped up off the couch and ran to the lounge door, opening it just in time to see Katie grabbing a tearful Caitlin before she had the chance to go upstairs.

'Baby? Baby what's wrong?' Katie stepped back and let him take Caitlin into his arms as she began to cry against his chest, she was in no fit state to explain what had happened so his eyes immediately fell on Katie who looked back at him nervously.

'Why is she so upset? Have you guys argued?' He asked as Shannon approached the scene and pulled a sobbing Caitlin out of Josh's arms so she could take her into the lounge and sit her down.

'Jake, he came outside to talk to us….'

As soon as his brother's name fell from her lips he saw red, it was one thing to upset him or Shannon but no one, no one fucking upset his daughter!

He pushed past Katie before she had time to tell him the whole story, he just wanted to get Jake out of his house before any more damage could be done. He'd done everything that he could to make him see sense but he just wouldn't listen, there was nothing more that he could do.

When he got outside he half expected Jake to have sneaked off somewhere so he was a little shocked to find his little brother sat on the bench with his arms wrapped around his thin waist as tears ran down his cheeks.

Jake looked right at him like a scared little kid and Josh's anger was replaced by an overwhelming sadness.

'Please Josh, help me.'