"Angela! Stop! You're making things worse!"

"Worse? What could possibly get worse than this, bastard?"

Four years old Alex woke up violently from his slumber. It was becoming a regular now. It was midnight and all he could hear were his parents fighting. He usually toughed it out and just listened to them, sometimes for over an hour, until he fell back asleep. But this particular night, he wouldn't fall back asleep. Every couple of minutes, something banged onto his bedroom door. Although Alex knew not to get in the middle of adults fighting, he couldn't take it anymore. Curiosity was beginning to cloud his thoughts. He climbed out of bed and opened the door that lead to the living room.

The first thing he noticed was his mother, Angela. Her black hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and all she wore was a long, black tank top and her underwear. Tears filled her eyes, anticipating to stream down her face. She held a book in her hand, ready to launch it at any given moment. Not at Alex, but his father that was now standing right in front of him.

"Now, look Angela!" Jason yelled. "None of us are winning! We woke up Alex! He's just a kid. He doesn't need to be hearing all of this…"

Jason couldn't get in another word even if he tried. Angela struck the book, almost hitting Alex, if it wasn't for Jason taking the hit in his bare torso. Jason was so angry, he didn't feel the hard-covered book at all. He picked up Alex and soothed the frightened boy by rubbing his back.

"Crazy bitch! You almost hit our son!"

"So…sorry." Angela stood there panting. Then, eventually her knees gave out and she fell to the ground. She held her head in her hands and sobbed vigorously into her lap. "I don't want to do this anymore! I can't do this anymore! I can't…"

"Can't what?" Jason asked, quietly. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by this? Our relationship?"

"Everything, Jason!" Angela screamed. Then softer, almost a whisper, she said, "I…I can't be a mom anymore."

Jason felt fear cling onto his chest. He almost dropped Alex from shock. He was speechless as Angela shakily picked herself off the ground and walked off to their bedroom. Jason could feel his heart dropping deeper and deeper in his chest. He gently lowered his son onto the floor.

"Go to bed, Alex." Jason told him.

Alex watched his dad leave the room. Jason never checked to see if he actually went back to his room. He picked up a teddy bear from the floor. He figured his mom used it as another weapon against her dad. He climbed up the only couch in the living room and curled into a ball, squeezing the teddy bear tightly for comfort. He hoped his parents were able to work it out soon. Though, from the continuous screaming he could still hear and see through the cracked door, things weren't looking up for him.

In his parents' room, Angela had dragged a suitcase from under her bed and was throwing all of her items into it desperately. Everything she could find, she either threw it in her bag or at her now ex-boyfriend. Jason was certain he was starting to have a panic attack.

"What do you mean you can't be a mom anymore? I thought we both agreed no one was bailing out of this…" Jason placed a comforting hand on Angela's shoulder but she shrugged it off.

"Don't touch me."

"Angela…"

"Don't touch me!" Angela threw punches at Jason's chest. "Stop touching me!"

"You can't just leave like this! I can't pay the rent by myself! Where are you going? Your parents aren't in town."

"I have an aunt living in the city…doesn't matter where! Just as long as I am away from you!"

"Angela…"

Angela stopped packing her suitcase and shot Jason a nasty glare. "I cannot stand you! And because I cannot stand you, I cannot stand Alex! You are both a pain in my ass and I'm tired of being unhappy!"

"You can't really mean that in this heat…Angela, come on! Let's talk about this first."

"I don't want to talk! I'm leaving and nothing you say will change my mind!"

"Nothing? Angela, you're leaving your son…your freaking blood! Do you understand how crazy you sound right now? Alex loves you! You can leave me…but think about Alex! I can't raise him by myself!"

Angela ignored him. She finished packing her suitcase, put on a pair of leggings, and walked out the room. Jason followed, trying to get to the front door before she did.

"Please, stop and think!" Jason pleaded. He grabbed her hand. "Don't do this! Don't do something you will regret for the rest of your life!"

"Let go!" Angela began throwing a tantrum, jumping up and down, and trying to wiggle her hand out of Jason's. "Let go! Let me go! I want to leave!"

"At least tell Alex bye…"

Angela looked over to the couch. Her son was hiding his face in his teddy bear, crying. Angela sighed deeply and made her way to him. She cradled him.

"Mommy is going away." Angela whispered. "In the meantime, be good and grow into a healthy, nice man for me."

"Will you be back?"

"I don't know." Angela told him truthfully. She kissed the top of his head. "I love you."

Angela let her son go and shoved pass Jason, who was now crying himself.

"Are you sure, Angela?" Jason asked. "We can work this out like we always do…"

"Goodbye, Jason." Angela said irritably.

Jason watched Angela walk out into the dark night, making her way to the bus station down the road. He made sure she got inside safely before closing the door.

"Shit!" Jason kicked over a lamp. He immediately regretted it when Alex screamed. He picked up his son from the couch and both of them cried on each other's shoulders. "We're going to be okay. I promise."

Alex jolted from his sleep. He wiped his tears once he felt safe again knowing he was in Mike and Emily's guest bedroom and not in his old house. He rarely dreamt about the night his mom left him eight months ago but when he did, it was the worst thing in the world reliving it.

He didn't want to go back sleep because he feared having another nightmare. He remembered before bedtime, Emily told him if he needed anything, he was welcome in their room. He got out of bed. There was a nightlight at the door so it was easy for him to find it in the dark. Mike and Emily had also left their kitchen light on so it could shine some light in the living room also making the trip to their room easier. Jason had told them Alex hated the dark.

The little boy ran across the hall and opened their door. He found Mike first. His fingers were dangling off the bed. Alex tugged on Mike's fingers. Mike woke up instantly. He pulled away his fingers and rubbed his eyes.

"Alex?"

"Sorry for waking you…" Alex said.

"No, it's fine." Mike yawned. He looked closer at the younger boy. He could tell he has been crying. "What's wrong? Do you miss your dad?"

Alex nodded. Mike sat up and offered his hand to Alex.

"Come on up, buddy." Mike pulled him up to the middle of the bed. "Be careful of my leg."

Alex made sure he didn't cause any harm to Mike's leg as he crawled over next to Emily. He was surprised to see Emily awake and not cranky. She gave him a sweet smile.

"Why were you crying, honey?" Emily asked, giving him a little hug. Jason had told her he was the kind of kid to sleep with him whenever he had a nightmare or just couldn't sleep. Despite that warning, Emily wasn't expecting Alex but she went along with it. She knew she had trouble sleeping in beds other than her own and she thinks Alex might be having the same problem.

"Nightmare." Alex whispered.

"You know the cool thing about nightmares? They aren't real."

Alex shook his head. "Mine was real."

"What was it about?" Mike asked.

"Mommy left…"

Emily and Mike exchanged worried looks. Both of them were speechless.

"Mommy was shouting and throwing things at daddy. Daddy asked her to stay but mommy kept on throwing things so he let her go…Why didn't daddy fight harder to keep mommy?"

"Because when you love someone, you let them go…" Mike frowned. It was hard telling a five years old those words but it was all he could think of.

"Is daddy going to leave me too?" Alex whimpered.

"Of course not!" Emily told him. She opened her dresser drawer and pulled out some tissues. She wiped Alex's tears for him. "Your daddy isn't going to leave you. I promise he won't."

"Yeah, I wish I had that type of relationship with my dad." Mike agreed. "You're lucky. I still have my dad but we barely speak to each other sometimes."

"Do you like Serena?" Emily asked. Alex nodded. "She's not going to leave you either. None of us are leaving you, okay? Your mom is just a lost cause."

Emily stopped talking there and just hugged Alex. She was going to tell him his mother bullied her when they were younger but that wasn't going to make things better and she didn't necessarily want Alex to hate his own mother.

"We aren't letting you go." Mike reached his hand over and pat Alex's back. "You're stuck with us and our crazy antics."

Alex giggled and also gave Mike a hug. "I love your crazy antics!"

I feel like I should be busting out some Frozen tune right now…Lol. I really wanted to do this chapter! I hope you guys like it. Not all of my OCs have long back stories but this one was weighing heavy in my mind and I had to write it! Thanks for the reviews! :)