25 Danny's POV

"Alright, let's start at the beginning," Harry took in a deep breath, "So, your wife told you that you weren't capable of looking after Buzz, and that he would be taken from you, because you couldn't look after him?"

Tom nodded, avoiding eye contact as he did so. He wasn't looking at Buzz either, like he couldn't bear to look at him, in case he was suddenly taken from him. It was... heartbreaking didn't even cover it actually. It felt like, it felt like everything had been shattered inside me, to know what had happened in this house. Tom had been treated like dirt, and made to feel like he wasn't capable of anything, that he was a waste of space, and we hadn't noticed. I wanted to hit myself for not noticing Tom's pain, we were so close, and I had missed it like an idiot.

And that wasn't even including how Tom felt in all of this, the poor man clearly felt like hell. He looked like hell, but his face couldn't have been showing even one tenth of what he was feeling. I'd never seen him this upset, not even in his bad days.

"And she told you that you couldn't do anything right, and a whole lot of other bad things, and she made you believe them." Harry continued, Dougie and I winced at the summary. It sounded so simple like that, like it was nothing, when it was so damn horrible it made me want to hunt down Tom's wife and kill her for what she had done to him.

"Y-Yes." Tom answered in a whisper.

"When did it start?" Harry asked, I let him lead, I didn't think I'd be able to speak during this.

Tom hesitated for a minute or two, we let him, not wanting to rush him, or spook him out of talking.

"She, she had always been dissatisfied with me, a-and had always pointed me in the right direction. But she was never happy after we got married. She didn't... she thought I was going to grow up, s-start acting like a man instead of a boy... start b-being able to do something other than fuck up. But, but I never managed it, a-and she got angrier and angrier the longer we were married." Tom continued whispering, staring resolutely at the table, "A-And then Buzz was born, and she started getting really annoyed with me, because I was so useless."

"So it got worse after Buzz?" Harry asked, Tom nodded again.

"It wasn't his fault though; none of it was his fault. It was mine, it was all mine. Buzz was just being himself, as he should have been. She never got angry at him, or anything he did. She was always kind to him, and understanding of his mistakes, because he's a baby. It was me, always and constantly me. I was the one who screwed up all the time." Tom was quick to explain, like he thought we could possibly blame Buzz for any of it.

He was so ready to blame himself for everything; I couldn't believe how ready he was to put himself in the line of fire. Even when it was obvious not his fault, and so clearly her problem, he was blaming himself. He was so deep in this thought pattern, wasn't he? He completely and utterly believed it.

"Of course it wasn't Buzz's fault," Harry placated him, then seemed to take a second to take a breath again, "Did she ever... did she ever hit you? Or punish you in any way?"

I felt my stomach drop through the floor at the thought alone. To think we missed this, let alone if we missed physical abuse, was making me feel sick. Please don't say she hit you, please don't say she hit you, please don't say she hit you.

"N-No, no she never hit me. Or punished me in any way. She was kind like that, patient, like I needed. She never punished me for anything I did, even when she should have." I felt even more sick when he looked grateful for that, "She only ever shouted, told me when I was wrong. She never punished."

That, that was something at least. But it was still awful to think all of this had been going on under this very roof. She had been destroying Tom, piece by piece, for years, making him feel like he should be grateful that she never hit him. No-one should have expected to be hit, or punished, for their so called mistakes, ever. No-one should have to feel like they should be hit for anything like this.

This shouldn't have happened, this should have never had happened. Tom was the sweetest man, he did not deserve this.