Jeff and Lucy sat side by side at the top of the landing, a quick glance of his wrist watch showed it to be just after three in the morning.

"That's a woman's watch isn't it? And the face is cracked."

Jeff let out the yawn that he had been trying to suppress before turning to face her.

"It was Dixie's until she flung it out the ambulance window."

She chewed her bottom lip, placing a hesitant hand on his knee.

"What happened between you two? Did you..."

He looked away from her, focusing on a stain that marked the carpet.

"I know what you're thinking but I wouldn't. Not to her, never to her."

"You can hardly blame me. I know what you're like."

He sighed leaning back against the wall and resting his head up against the banister.

"Well I hate to break it to ya princess, but you weren't exactly an angel yourself."

Lucy edged away from him. She didn't want to cause any arguments. She often wondered whether if she and Jeff had worked through their marital problems in a mature way, John may have turned out different.

"I'm sorry its just John was rambling on about it earlier."

Jeff sat up straight, suddenly a lot more alert.

"What did he say?"

"He never made much sense before when he was like this, he's gotten worse."

He turned his gaze to the locked bedroom door where his son was.

"He's not stopped crying Luce, he aint stopped all night."

"You've not seen the worst of him yet, it's when he's abusive you've got to watch out for."

Jeff let out a mocking laugh.

"If being robbed by him and watching as he threatens my wife with a flip knife isn't his worst then God help us all."

She clasped her hand over her mouth. John had stooped to incredible lows before he had ran away the year before, however she hadn't expected to hear that.

"What did he take?"

"I say he threatened my wife and you're asking what he took."

"Except she's not your wife anymore, is she?"

He narrowed her eyes at her before wordlessly turning away.

"Is she?" Lucy repeated once more, determined to know the truth.

He sighed to himself and turned to face her, putting on his most convincing act once more.

"No that's you. You're not my wife anymore, me and Dix are fine."

"Jeff, I know you and I know that you can't help yourself."

"You see the thing is Luce unlike you she actually knows me, she knows how to make me happy."

She took a deep breath in through her nose, he was trying to spark an angry reaction and she was struggling to rise above it.

"How long for, until someone wearing a shorter skirt comes along?"

"Go on then I dare ya, tell me I was the only one who went looking for extras."

"Fine don't tell me, what do I care if Dixie has seen sense? Good for her."

Climbing to his feet he backed away from where she was perched, a look of anger becoming ever more present on his face.

"You wanna watch what you're saying."

"Struck a chord has it?"

"Until yesterday I hadn't gone near another woman, I wouldn't have gone near her if Dix hadn't asked for a divorce."

She rolled her eyes in disapproval.

"That's the attitude to have, don't fight her just move on to the next woman who's willing to have you."

"Shut up, just shut up."

"Great comeback, as always you have such a way with words."

The will to fight back slowly left him. He took a few more steps back until his back was up against the wall, where he slowly lowered himself down to the floor.

"I tried ya know, it was her that was off with other women."

She turned slightly so she could see him, her hardened features gradually softening into a smile.

"You always did have a sense of humour."

"I'm glad me being married to a lesbian has given you a good laugh."

There was a long silence as Lucy processed his last sentence, taking the time to interpret it and work out her reaction.

Her face turned from one of amusement to one of shock which quickly turned to confusion followed by a nervous laugh as she studied his expression for any indications that he could've been joking.

His features remained serious and his whole body seemed tense.

"Jeff, I just don't see how that would ...?" She started before trailing off unable to form the words she wanted to say.

He brought his eyes up to meet hers.

"And you thought our marriage was complicated."

She shook her head in disbelief.

"You can't be serious, this is a wind up its got to be."

He took a deep exhalation, letting out a laugh as he did so.

"Ha! A wind up? I aint that funny princess."

She opened her mouth to speak however no words could be formed nothing but a confused stammer of ill prepared responses.

"You lied."

Jeff sprang to his feet as his daughter's voice broke through the tense atmosphere.

"How long have you been stood there?"

"You lied." She repeated once more, tears filling up in her eyes.

"No sweetheart I..."

She pushed her him away from her and ran over to where her mother was.

Lucy quickly scrambled to her feet and pulled her into a tight hug, running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm as confused as you are."

She shot him a look of warning urging him to salvage the situation.

"It's not as bad as it sounds."

She pulled away from her mother, looking at him with a mixture of betrayal and anger.

"You should've helped us with John."

He visibly flinched, the thought of his thirteen year old daughter having to deal with the weight of her older brother's drug problem made him feel sick.

"I didn't know."

"For a year! You would've found out if you'd have bothered to come see us, if you'd have called." She screamed out causing her parents to take a step back.

Lucy held out her hand in attempts to calm her.

"C'mon Sophia we need to help your brother now, whatever has happened with your dad doesn't matter."

She stepped away from he mother a look of venom and intense anger burning in her eyes.

"Yes it does, he chose her over us and it was for nothing."

"It may seem like nothing to you but it aint that simple."

"It is you chose her over us, you loved her more."

Jeff diverted his eyes to the ground.

"I didn't love her more but maybe I loved her better."

That was all he could offer. It was the truth, he didn't love his children any less however he hadn't loved them as well as he could have.

Yes the way he felt about them had never changed but what he did for them certainly had.

She looked over to the locked door of where her brother was.

"I want to see my brother."

"Not when he's like this."

"He's my brother, I don't care."

Behind the other side of the door John could hear the raised voices of his family. He way lying on the floor, he wasn't sure how long he had been there. It must have been a while however everything just seemed like a blur.

Tears still stained his face except he didn't have the strength to wipe them away.

He must have still been missing Rachel, he couldn't tell anymore. The pain had been numbed.

He recognised the discussion outside as a negative one, he didn't care not anymore in fact he could hardly hear what they were saying it was blurred like he was listening to a poorly tuned radio.

His sleeves were still rolled up, he hadn't bothered to pull them down.

His parent's had thought they had stripped him of any substances he had. They were wrong, he had learned to be devious, he never took chances.

He had kept a clear bag of flour in his opposite pocket and had been perfectly willing to hand it over.

After all they had told him to hand the bag over. They didn't specify which bag, they just assumed they knew what was in it.

He could feel the plastic of the syringe in his hand yet he couldn't grip it, his fingers had a tingling sensation in them.

He hadn't controlled how much he took, he was too desperate for that. He couldn't remember how much he took.

More than usual maybe?

He felt hot, boiling hot and the sweat was dripping off him. He didn't feel good, he wasn't sure how he felt.

He must have been face down, he was lying in something yet he couldn't pull himself out of it.

He couldn't move, he wasn't sure if he was even awake.

Breathing was constricted, he should have been fighting for breath but he couldn't.

He heard a click.

A door being flung open.

A scream of horror.