A few 'thank you's before the chapter… I feel ungrateful if I don't put them there and I'm far too lazy to reply to everyone individually… please bear with me…

thunderknight: Thank you!

whitetigers: Thank you!

Shallowbunny: Thank you!

Jolly001: Thank you! And huh? Didn't really get those wisdom words of yours there…

Well, hey, look at me! Looks like I'm getting that angst thing down after all B) ... though it seems like it's doing more for you than me… Hugs and kisses to you all!

XOXOXOX

Bleeding Soles

He opened the door and gasped when the memories washed over him.

She was coming from the bathroom, wearing a white nightgown, brushing her damp hair. She was grinning playfully at him as she pulled the curtains from the window in the morning, bathing the room in sunlight, rendering him momentarily blind.

She was rocking an infant in her arms in the middle of the night, smiling tiredly but fondly at it and then at him.

She was sneaking her arms around his waist from behind, leaning her head on his back and whispering softly to him after an argument.

She was laughing when he pulled her into his arms, kissing her lips and touching her face.

She was lying beside him, sleepy but happy while he caressed her cheek.

-She was everywhere he looked…. Only she wasn't.

He couldn't get his head around it. It seemed so surreal, so unbelievable that he would never see her again. Never hold her, never talk to her, never hear her, never feel her…

The list went on endlessly.

"Dad?"

Fenton turned around to see Frank standing behind him and watching him worriedly.

"Are you ok, dad?"

Fenton gave him an empty look.

"Dad?" Frank stepped closer to him.

Then Fenton blinked his eyes and shook his head and took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right, son. I… I was going to… get my shaving kit… and some clothes."

-"You want me to do it?"

Fenton shook his head again. "No, no, it's no problem. You should get your brother up before Gertrude tries. You know how they always end up fighting when that happens…" He puckered his lips in an attempt to smile, then went into the room and closed the door behind him.

Frank sighed and went back down the corridor. He stopped in front of his brother's room and knocked on the door.

"Joe?"

No one answered so Frank tried the doorknob and found the door was unlocked.

Joe was already awake and dressed. He was lying on the bed with his hands crossed behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

"You gonna get up?" Frank asked.

The younger brother rose up without saying a word and moseyed after the older one down to the kitchen.

"Morning, boys," Gertrude greeted with her ever-stern voice, "Hurry up with the breakfast so you…"

-"Won't be late for school," Joe mouthed with her and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Then they ate breakfast in silence. Fenton didn't come down. It was like the house was holding its breath, like it knew that something was brewing and subconsciously its residents sensed it too. They were almost tiptoeing and the faintest sound of spoon rattling against a bowl or cough or someone clearing his throat sounded like an explosion to them.

The boys felt relieved when they got out of the tension-filled house even though the freezing air stung their nostrils. Frank drove to the school and they remained silent on the way.

XOXOXOX

They encountered some of their friends outside the school building.

"Hey, guys!" Frank greeted.

Chet, Biff and Phil all turned around and smiled.

"What's up?" Biff, a tall and muscular, blond and blue-eyed boy, asked.

"How are you guys doing?" Chet, a podgy boy with brown eyes and brown crew cut hair, asked.

"How's your dad?" Phil, who was tall and slender with wavy brown hair, dark eyes and glasses, asked.

Frank smiled and tackled the questions in correct order. "Nothing's up, we're ok and dad's not as ok."

Biff turned to Joe. "You'll come to football practice after school?"

Joe looked up from the ground. "Yeah, 'course. What else would I be doing?"

"Hey, guys," Tony, an Italian boy; black-haired and dark-eyed, and Jerry, a bleach-blond, wiry-built one with brown eyes, approached. "What's for first period?" Jerry asked.

"Um, I don't know about you, but I have physics," Phil answered.

"You have history, Jerry, We're together in it," Joe said.

"Oh shoot…" Jerry mumbled.

Frank felt a soft, warm hand sneak into his palm and then the faint smell of perfume filled his senses.

"Hi, Frank," someone whispered just below his ear.

He turned around, smiling at his slim, blonde, brown-eyed girlfriend. "Hi, Callie."

"How are you doing?" she asked.

Frank sighed. "You know, I'd be a rich man if I started charging people for every time they asked me that."

She shrugged. "Can I pay in kisses?"

Frank's brows lifted. "Wouldn't hate that…"

"Oh, for cripe's sake, get a room," Biff exclaimed and frowned to hide a grin when Callie leaned closer to Frank.

"Um…Chet?" a new voice joined in.

"Yeah, Iola, what is it?" Chet asked, looking at his younger sister who had medium-long, dark hair and large, dark eyes.

"Can I borrow a pen or a pencil or something to write with? I must have forgotten mine at home," she said.

Chet groaned. "Oh, Iola! How many times must I tell you to keep that stuff in your locker? That way you can't forget it somewhere else."

"Yeah, well, I need it at home," the dark haired 15-year old snapped at her brother.

"Well, see, you can keep some of them at home and others here," Chet explained like he was trying to tell her what two plus two is.

Iola pouted angrily and looked as if she would retort something back but then shook her head. "Look, can you just lend me something or not?"

Joe reached into the side pocket of his bag and pulled up a pen. "Here, I have an extra," he said and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Joe. I'll give it back after school," she smiled at him.

He shrugged and shoved his hands back into the pockets of his jeans. "Don't worry about it. I have billions of those."

She still smiled and then walked away.

The school bell rang and everyone hurried inside to get to class.

XOXOXOX

"Fenton," Gertrude rapped lightly on the door, "Fenton? Are you all right?"

There was no answer for a while.

"I'm fine," he finally said.

-"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Gertrude. Just… give me a moment," Fenton pleaded.

"All right," she replied and he heard footsteps getting further away from the door.

He sat on the windowsill trying to get a grip on his thoughts. He rubbed his unshaved chin and willed himself to concentrate.

There were so many things he needed to do. He had a family to keep together. He couldn't be the one to break….

He nearly did. He covered his face in his hands and sank deep into despair.

Then he jerked his head back up and sniffed. 'What am I doing?' He rubbed his tired eyes and looked over the bed. It was exactly like Laura had left it when she went to New York. He hadn't slept in there while she was gone. Most often when she was away he slept on the studio couch in his office –mostly to avoid having to make the bed.

"Well, Fenton. Guess you gotta get used to that," she laid her hand lightly on his shoulder.

He shook his head. 'I'm losing my mind.' He stood up abruptly and went out of the room, down the stairs and into the living room.

A bottle of scotch stood on a tray along with a few glasses on an antique wooden table in one corner.

He poured into one glass and drank up.

Gertrude came to the doorway. "Fenton…"

-"Not now, Gertrude," Fenton said without looking at her as he poured again into the glass.

His sister was quiet for a moment.

"But Fenton, I think…" she started but was cut off again.

"I said: Not now, Gertrude," he snapped but then sighed, "Please."

Gertrude nodded and went back into the kitchen.

Fenton emptied the glass again. He looked at the bottle. –Measured it. 'Oh, hell!' He opened a glass cabinet beside the table and found a vodka bottle on the bottom shelf. He closed the cabinet, picked up the bottle and took it back to his bedroom and locked the door.

XOXOXOX

It had never been harder to wake up. –Or more correctly, to get up. Waking up wasn't the issue. In fact, that was the easy part. Especially because what awoke him in the first place was a splitting headache –and then he felt how thick and fuzzy and oversized the tongue was in his mouth and how swollen his eyes were and how sore his throat was. He grunted, made a decision and swung his legs off the bed and onto the floor and quickly stood up. –Big mistake.

The headache got even worse, dizziness and nausea were added to the mix and a burning pain stung into the soles of his feet. He had stepped on small and sharp pieces of glass that lay scattered on the floor in a pool of vodka.

He sat back on the bed and pulled his legs up to examine the injuries. A few pieces were buried in the flesh and blood trickled from the wounds and because of the vodka, it stung like hell.

He carefully pulled the little glass pieces out of his feet. 'No need to wash it,' he thought dryly. He took a deep breath and wondered what time it was. He looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. Just three o'clock in the afternoon. He rubbed his eyes and mouth and tried to get himself together. He felt like crap.

He made another attempt to get off the bed, this time on the other side and then he took a detour around the vodka puddle to get to the bathroom and every step hurt like hell so he tried to walk on his toes since they were least cut.

He took a shower and the hot water pained him greatly at first but slowly he got used to it –but not to standing on his heels so he had to tiptoe his way around. After the shower he felt a little bit better although the headache and the nausea were still there. He shaved and got dressed and then tiptoed downstairs. By that time Frank and Joe were already home from school.

Gertrude had fixed them some light snack and they sat by the kitchen table and ate quietly.

"Hey, dad," Frank carefully greeted when he heard him come into the kitchen and then he noticed he was hobbling, "What happened?"

"Hm?" Fenton looked at him glassy-eyed. "Oh, nothing… Do we have any aspirin?" He started rummaging through the cupboards.

"It's in the cupboard above the canned food," Gertrude said looking at him closely.

When Fenton had downed the pills and half a bottle of cold water he looked back at his sons. "So… how was school?"

"You mean today or yesterday?" Joe asked, glaring coldly at him.

"Well, um…" Fenton scratched his head shamefully, "Both?"

"It was…well, like school; kind of boring, really," Joe answered, got up and headed out of the kitchen.

"Joe, wait!" his father grabbed him by the shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really am. I just…."

All three of them, Joe, Gertrude and Frank were looking at him questioningly.

"I'm sorry and I promise it won't happen again," he concluded and bit his lip, hoping for some response.

"All right, dad. We'll forgive you," Joe said and patted his father on the arm that still held on to his shoulder. "Now if you would excuse us, Frank has my homework to do," he said and grinned.

The brothers smiled and went upstairs.

Fenton turned to his sister and saw that she was still concerned. "Don't worry, Gertrude. It's gonna be fine."

Gertrude nodded but didn't say anything.

XOXOXOX

Here ends the part that my teacher proof read so I'll cross my fingers for the rest…please leave an opinion…