A/N: Okay, so I'm sorry about this chapter. I told you guys it was gonna suck, but I think you'll be happy with the next one :)

xxx

When Teddi got home from Billy's house her father was waiting for her in the driveway. There was a moment after she saw him that she almost considered just pressing down on the gas, passing her house and never going back. But she knew that that wasn't an option. She couldn't imagine it ever being an option. So she pulled into the driveway, took in a deep breath and got out of the car.

Her father had his arms crossed tightly and his jaw was firmly set. It was an expression Teddi was all too familiar with. He didn't move as he watched Teddi make her way up to the house. "Where have you been?" he asked. Teddi didn't answer. She shifted nervously from foot to foot. What kind of a question was that? "And I want you to think very hard about what you're going to say when you answer me."

Teddi swallowed thickly. "...I was at work. At the arcade." she couldn't meet his gaze. Her eyes were focused hard on the garage door behind him.

Her father's expression didn't falter. "I drove past the arcade on the way home for work. Your van wasn't there," he said evenly. Teddi's heart was beating so quickly she almost thought her dad could hear it. "...I've had my suspicions that you've been lying to us. You're not smarter than I am, Theodora. It's not a matter of whether you're going to get caught. It's when," his tone hadn't changed. Teddi felt her spine start to tingle as her anxiety grew. "Now, tell me where you really were tonight," Teddi looked down at her feet. "You look at me when I'm speaking to you, Theodora." he spat.

There was the small ray of hope that things wouldn't get too serious as long as they were in the driveway. If there was a chance that someone could see them then her dad wouldn't get out of control. So Teddi stood up a little straighter and looked him in the eyes. "I was babysitting. There's a girl, Max, that's always at the arcade and I was watching her for a few hours."

He watched her cooly for a few moments. Teddi knew he didn't believe her. He never believed her, whether she was telling the truth or not. "If you were babysitting, then why did you lie to your mother?" Teddi didn't really have an answer for that. It was just sort of a reflex when it came to her parents. If she lied and made them think all she was ever up to was working at the arcade they might not focus so much on whatever it was she was really doing. At least until now anyways. "...What's his name?"

Her father's tone made Teddi's body tense up. Like if she moved or breathed too loudly he'd snap. "...I don't know what you're talking about, daddy. What's who's name?" it was taking everything in her not to turn and bolt. Not that that would work either. There would never be even a little chance of her outrunning her father.

"The boy you've been out whoring around with!" Teddi jumped a little. "Do you think I don't know what you've been up to? Do you think I don't know my own daughter?" she almost laughed. He didn't know the first thing about her. "Get in the house," he ordered. Teddi was almost too afraid to move. She hesitated for too long and her father grabbed her arm tightly, leaning in towards her. She could smell that sharp, almost overwhelming smell of alcohol on his breath. "I said get in the house, Theodora."

He gave her a hard shove towards the front door. Whenever things got like this with her father Teddi felt something that was worse than anxiety or fear. It was like she couldn't even think straight. Like her body was doing everything it could not to just explode. All she wanted to do was scream at the top of her lungs. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe properly. Teddi's fists clenched in an attempt to keep her hands from shaking. That had been a mistake.

Her father's large hand wrapped around her wrist and he pulled her hand up roughly to get a better look at the bruises that were forming on her knuckles. "And what's this? Getting into fights again, are we?" Teddi was sure if he squoze her wrist just a little harder he could break it. "You've always thought you're so tough, haven't you?" she didn't answer. She bit down on her lip hard, trying to keep herself from crying. Crying always made it worse.

He hit her. As many times as it had happened over the years, she never saw it coming. Sometimes Teddi wondered if he practiced or something. He had this way of hitting her directly across her cheek that sent this jolt of pain through her cheekbone and made her feel like her eye was going to fall right out of the socket. And she always saw stars after. It was like all Greg Larsson had been built for was to cause pain.

"Answer me when I speak to you!" he spat. He hit her again. It wasn't a slap this time. He'd hit her with a closed fist. Teddi stumbled but didn't let herself fall over. She had planted her feet and gripped onto the back of the couch to keep herself steady. She couldn't let herself fall. No matter how hard he hit her. Teddi briefly wondered if her cheekbone was broken.

"Do you still feel tough?" he asked. Teddi almost hadn't heard him. Everything sounded like it was underwater. And there was a loud, ringing sound in her left ear. "I don't know what I have to do to get you to stop lying to me," it made her feel sick the way he kept his voice so calm. "Do you think I enjoy doing this? Do you think I'm doing this for my health?" was Teddi supposed to believe he did any of this because he loved her? Because he cared about her? Sometimes she was surprised he could even remember her name. He took her chin in his hand gently. "What do I need to do to keep you from embarrassing this family?"

Teddi shook her head and took in a shaky breath. "You don't have to do anything. I won't. I won't lie again, okay? I'm sorry…" she hated how small her voice was. How scared she sounded. It only gave him more power.

"...Maybe if I take something away from you. Maybe then you'll learn your lesson. You won't be able to see that boy and you'll finally start to act like a lady." Teddi only frowned up at him. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Her father disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few moments later with one of the large steak knives that sat in the wooden block on the counter. Teddi took an instinctive step back, her eyes going wide.

Her father stalked past her, throwing the front door open and heading back outside. Teddi was too afraid to move. Too afraid to see whatever it was that he had planned. He had never done anything like this before. There was a loud pop that was followed by a hiss. Teddi felt her stomach roll. She moved then. Her wobbly legs carried her as fast as they could out to the porch. Her father was bent over, stabbing each of her van's tires.

"No!" she cried. "What are you doing?! I'm not gonna see anyone! I need my van! You can't do this!" she knew that it was stupid to argue with him. It would only make things worse for her if she tried to fight back. But she couldn't help it. Her van was her life. And he was taking that from her over something so completely stupid.

Teddi couldn't fight the tears anymore. They fell freely as she covered her mouth, hoping to quiet herself. Greg made his way back to the porch, pointing the knife at her. His jaw clenched tightly. "If you disobey me one more time, Theodora, you're going to be very sorry. This isn't New York. I'm not going to have you behaving that way anymore. You won't embarrass me or your mother anymore, do you understand me?"

Teddi only nodded. "Good. Now get in the house before someone sees you crying and put some ice on your cheek before it bruises." and he marched back inside, leaving his daughter frozen with fear on the porch.

xxx

"He pointed a fucking knife at you? What do you mean he pointed a fucking knife at you?" Billy spat. Teddi had called Billy the next morning once her dad had left for work and her mother had gone out with Steve's mom for brunch. Neil and Susan still hadn't come home yet, so it was safe for her to head over to Billy's.

Initially she had wanted to ask if he could help her fix her van. But of course that couldn't happen without confessing to Billy what had happened. The fact that the left side of her face had a nice, large, purple bruise didn't help either. To say he was pissed was putting it lightly. It wasn't often that Teddi saw him like this. He was pacing the room almost like a caged tiger. His hands were set angrily on his hips and his jaw was clenched so tightly that Teddi was worried he might chip a tooth.

"I mean...I don't think he was threatening me with it. We were out on the freakin' porch, you know? Where people could see what he was doing." Teddi hadn't been able to sleep the night before because her mind was trying so hard to convince herself that the knife in her face and the look in her father's eyes hadn't been a threat. It had almost worked until she brought it up to Billy.

"And was anyone around to see you?" he asked. Teddi didn't answer. Billy scoffed loudly and his face screwed up into a snarl. "Please. Of course it was a threat," he said it almost more to himself than to Teddi. He stopped pacing for a moment before he looked thoughtfully at her. "...You can't stay there anymore, Teddi." he finally said.

Teddi sighed loudly and fell back onto his bed. "Billy…"

"No. I mean it. It's not like me and Max. You don't have anything forcing you to stay there. You have to get out, Teddi. I don't wanna wake up one morning and see the cops are at your house wheeling you out in a fucking body bag." there had been a part of Teddi that was trying not to think of anything like that ever happening to her. If she could compartmentalize those types of fears it would make living at home easier. But hearing Billy admit to having those kinds of fears for her made her feel sick.

If he was this concerned that meant she wasn't being concerned enough. Teddi stared up at the ceiling and bit her lip. "...I was thinking of moving out," she finally said. "Steve told me about this apartment building that's out by that steel mill we went to on New Year's Eve. I keep talking myself out of going to see it, but maybe now I should just bite the bullet."

"Then I'll take you tomorrow. And you're not fucking arguing with me about it," when Teddi remained silent he made his way over to his bed and pulled her back up to look at him. His hand was gently grabbing her wrist. "We're going." he said firmly.

Teddi felt uncomfortable again. Like she had when Hopper had come into the video store. It made her feel a little pathetic. To be so unused to someone looking out for her that she didn't know how to respond to it like a normal person would. It was taking nearly all of her energy not to brush him off or crack some joke about the situation. Instead she only nodded. "We're going." she agreed.

Billy's tense stance immediately relaxed. The pair looked at each other, unmoving, until there was a knock at the door. Billy turned to see Susan poking her head into his room. "Billy, we're home...oh! Who's your friend?"

Teddi had never met Susan before. All she knew of Billy's step mother was from the occasional story Billy would tell her. She was pretty much what Teddi had imagined. While Susan looked a lot like Max there was something different about her. Softer. She sort of reminded Teddi of Bambi in a way. Quiet and doe eyed. Teddi couldn't imagine what a woman like that would be doing with a guy like Neil.

As if Teddi thinking his name had summoned him, Neil Hargrove appeared behind his wife in Billy's doorway. It was hard for Teddi to keep her expression neutral and not glare up at him. She hated him. And the feeling seemed to be mutual. Neil gave Teddi an unimpressed look as he took her in. Teddi couldn't help but squirm a little in her seat.

Billy's shoulders straightened as he stood a little taller. His eyes focused on the wall next to Susan, like he was too afraid to look at Neil directly. He was trying to play it off and keep his usual casual demeanor, but Teddi saw through it. Teddi hated Neil even more. "This is Teddi. She works at the pool with me." he explained.

Neil's hands rested on his hips. Teddi realized then how much Billy and Neil looked alike. It was amazing to her how two people could be so different but have such similar mannerisms. "And why is she here now?" there was a stern tone to his voice that made Teddi narrow her eyes at him.

"Car's broken," she answered. "I needed a ride to work. I live like a block over." Susan and Billy both shifted uncomfortably. Teddi was sure that there was probably some unspoken rule where you didn't speak to Neil unless spoken too. Tough shit, she thought.

"And what happened to your car? Get in an accident? Is that where the bruise came from?" Neil asked.

Teddi made a face and stood up. "What are you, a cop? Look, it was nice meeting you two, but I'm gonna be late to my shift if we don't get going. Ready, Billy?"

Susan's eyes were focused down at the floor. As if she was preparing herself for Neil to explode behind her. Neil's face had turned a lovely shade of red, his jaw clenched tight as he focused a cold look in Teddi's direction. Billy only smirked and grabbed his jacket. "Yeah, we gotta go," Teddi and Billy walked around his parents and down the hall. They didn't say anything until they were safely in Billy's Camaro. "Larsson, I could kiss you right now. He looked like his head was gonna explode." Billy laughed.

Teddi fell into a fit of giggles beside him. "You really weren't kidding about him, huh?" she asked as the car sped off down the street. She let out another laugh. "God our dads suck."

Billy chuckled. "Totally."

Teddi leaned forward and flicked on the Ratt cassette Billy had been listening to before. She looked over at him, watching his fingers tap along to the music against the steering wheel. "So...we told Neil that we're going to work, but we have the day off. What's the plan now?"

"You hungry?" he asked.

Teddi shrugged. "I could eat. Pizza?"

"As long as it's not that pineapple shit again."

Teddi rolled her eyes. "Fine. No pineapple...what if we only get it on half?"

Billy groaned. "Fine, Weird Girl. Half pineapple."