Here's chapter 2! It's a little bit longer, but hopefully it's easy to follow and understand. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE BREAKFAST CLUB OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN SAM, WHO IS A CHARACTER OF MY OWN CREATION

CHAPTER 2: ESCAPE

I snuck in through the window of my room, knowing that my dad was in the living room and I really didn't feel like dealing with him right now…especially when I'm sure by now he knows I borrowed the car again the other day after detention. I borrowed his car and didn't replace the gas since I don't have a job to pay for the gas. The last time I 'borrowed' the car, I ended up with a black eye and a few broken knuckles from my fist connecting with my dad's face. It was only so long before he 'punished' me for my deed.

When I finally ventured out of my room for something to function as dinner, I darted into the kitchen only to come face to face with my dad. "Get out of my face, dad."

"I told you what would happen if you borrowed the car again."

"I'm so very sorry that I had somewhere to go." He slapped, no, more like punched me square across the face. I stumbled back and rubbed my jaw, which was sore from the punch.

"Don't push me, son. You will regret it."

"What are you going to do, huh?! What are you going to do?!" I felt my dad's fist connect with my face again, this time near my right eye, knocking me on my back. The wind was knocked out of me and I struggled to catch my breath. As my breath returned to normal and I began to roll over on my side in order to get up, I felt my dad's boot connect with my chest multiple times. Each time, the wind was knocked out of me to the point I was struggling to even breathe in. When my dad finally stopped, I rolled over on my back again and felt his hand grip my arm and pull the sleeve up. I knew what he was going to do as soon as he showed me the cigar that he either had in his other hand or somewhere nearby. I felt the burning end of the cigar press to my arm and I let out a grunt of pain. I would give my dad the pleasure of letting him know how much it really hurt.

"Come on, John, you know you want to scream. Scream out and let me know how much it burns." He pushed even harder and I felt like the cigar was going to push through my arm. It was too much and a small scream of pain escaped my lips.

"Just a little reminder of what happens when you borrow without my permission. I own everything in this house. I own your mother and I own you. I own your worthless ass and don't you forget it. It happens again and it will be a lot worse." He disappeared as quickly as he appeared and I attempted to stand up. It takes a little time and the use of various chairs and countertop spaces before I am standing mostly upright. Gripping my side and grimacing in pain, I shuffled my way to the front door and pushed it open before shuffling outside and letting it slam. I stumbled my way down the stairs, almost falling in the process. My hand landed on the tree nearby and I used that to steady myself.

Once I made sure I was steady, I shuffled my way between my house and Sam's house and over into her backyard. She lived in a two story colonial and her room was on the second floor. My hope was that she would be near the window so that she could let me in from the first floor back door, but that was a long shot.

Her dad was downstairs in the kitchen, making dinner like he did every night when he was home. But he kept the blinds closed in the back of the house since our houses faced nothing. I don't blame him. You never know who is lurking around outside…says the guy next door who chooses to climb the tree into his daughter's room.

I saw the light on in her room, but she was nowhere near the window like I hoped. "Pst, pssssst!" I tried to be quiet as to not alert her dad. He never saw me after an episode with my dad and I wasn't about to start now. Ughhh, I'm going to have to climb the tree, aren't I? The things I do for this girl.

Standing at the base of the tree, I reached up and grabbed the branch and pulled myself into the tree. Groaning in pain, I waited until the pain subsided slightly before continuing. What normally took me ten seconds to climb took me a couple of minutes because of what transpired between my dad and me. Once I reached the height of her window, I perched upon a branch, clutching my side and holding back a loud groan. Instead of jumping onto the balcony like I normally do, I slid out on the branch until I was over the balcony and slid off onto it. I bent down slowly, wincing before peering into her window.

That was when she finally saw me. Scrambling off her bed, she ran over to the window, opened it, and pushed the screen up to let me in.

"I didn't think you were going to come."

"Well, you are my escape from this crazy thing called reality. I need a break and you take me away from it all." I crawled in and set my feet gingerly on the floor. I tried to stand up straight, but my ribs and chest protested, causing me to wince in pain, right in front of Sam. I always tried to put on a strong face for her, but being kicked in the ribs can prevent that sometimes.

"He didn't…"

"He did…" My eyes met hers and I saw the worry in her eyes. "All because I borrowed the car without his permission."

"You can barely stand! Come; sit on my bed while I go grab the first aid kit. I'll help you get your shirt off when I come back…unless you can manage it yourself." She opened her door and walked down the hall to the bathroom before coming back and sitting down on the bed herself.

"Okay, let's get your shirt off." What should have been a two minute cycle turned into ten minutes of me repeating various cuss words over and over until my white long sleeve, my plaid button up, and jean jacket sat on the floor. Underneath that sat the real horror, the damage, the markers of my dad's abuse.

Sam grabbed my arm and immediately noticed the cigar burn. She didn't say a word, but I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking, 'how can a man so vial do this to his own son?'

"I would stop it if I could," I said quietly. "I just can't leave my mom to deal with him alone. She was always there for me and I won't let him hurt her."

"So you let him hurt you instead?" I will admit, hearing those words come from my other favorite girl did hurt. "Don't say anything else, you are safe here."

"…for now," I muttered under my breath, too quiet for her to hear. Sam grabbed the wet wash cloth and began to clean the burn spot in order to prevent more damage. There would be a nasty scar like the other one, maybe even worse than the first one. She applied some burn crème and then wrapped a cloth bandage around it in order to keep it clean. "Keep that clean and apply the crème every day. It should keep infection away."

"You could be a nurse from all that you do for me, you know that?"

"Don't count on that happening, Bender," she said as she began to inspect the bruises on my ribcage. She grabbed another ace bandage and wrapped it around my ribs, tight enough to allow them to heal if they were broken. "Can you breathe okay? I had to make sure it was tight enough."

"Yeah, I'm good for now."

"When I go downstairs for dinner, I'll bring some ice back up for your ribs and eye. That will most likely be a black eye."

"Yeah, yeah, you got any stuff for the pain?" She handed me a bottle of ibuprofen and a glass of water. I took a couple pills, downed them with the water, and put my shirts back on before leaning back and stretching out on her bed.

"Hey, boots off. You know my dad is with shoes on the carpet." Despite her dad barely being around, he was a neat freak. They had the cleanest house of out anyone in this neighborhood.

"Oh, well I'm sorry." After the words came out of my mouth, I realized how insensitive that sounded. She didn't say a word, just went to put the first aid kit away. Shit, did that upset her? Why am I such an idiot? I kicked my boots off and made sure they were not leaving any marks on the carpet.

When she came back, I tried to apologize for my snarky remark, but she stopped me. "It's alright, John. You had a good reason. I have to finish my homework. You can just stay here until you are ready to go home." She was trying hard to not let it show that my words hurt.

"Sam…"

"Forget about it."

"Come here…"

"No, I have to finish my homework."

"Sam…come here." She got up and walked over to her bed before sitting down, facing me. "If it was alright, then why are you acting like this?"

"I'm sorry; I just have a lot on my mind. My dad's been under a lot of stress with all these court cases he's been working on. With the added pressure of the divorce and then death of his dad, it's affecting the relationship we have. He fought hard to have parental rights and now I'm wondering if it was the right choice. I mean, we can afford a place so much better than this house and we are stuck here because no one wants to buy a house in this dump of a neighborhood." I looked at her, surprised at what she just said.

"Come on, the neighborhood isn't that bad." She glared at me and that is when I noticed the tears brimming her vibrant blue eyes. "Okay, it's not that great. That's not the point, though. You and I have a year and a half left at school and, when we graduate Shermer, we can do whatever we want…we can move away or stay here and get a place of our own; something where we can be together and be happy."

Sitting up, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest, ignoring that nagging pain from my ribs. "We can never be happy with the way our relationship is, John."

"Don't say that, angel. In my opinion, we are the happiest couple that is out there. We understand each other, we don't argue about anything, and that is all that matters."

"Well, we are different than most couples."

"That we are angel… that we are." I stroked her hair before she sat up. Her blue eyes connected with my brown ones and we both leaned in for a kiss. It was a simple moment that could have turned into more if there wasn't a knock on the door.

"Samantha, dinner's ready. Wash up and come on down." We broke apart and smiled at each other.

"No privacy, no privacy at all," I whispered to Sam.

"I'll be right down, dad!"

"Okay, honey. And make sure John washes up too!" I chuckled slightly before getting off the bed.

"How does he know when I am over?"

"I think it's a dad's thing. Come on, let's go get washed up and head downstairs."

Hope you guys enjoyed it. I tried my best with the abuse scene to show what John goes through and what Sam goes through with her father and all that he does. There will be more about Sam as the tale goes on. Please rate and review and let me know what I can do better.