I'd just like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who's read, alerted, favorited and reviewed this story. I'm so happy that you're all liking it so far.

So thank you. And please enjoy this next chapter. :)

CHAPTER 6
Jade's POV

I saw Beck burst through the door from the corner of my eye. I was incredibly relieved that he was here, but he could get hurt because my dad had just found out we were together. Oh geez, I didn't think of that. But he was here to rescue me, so I guess I would have to make the best of it.

"Beck!" I shouted as my dad's hands tightened around my throat.

My dad swung out with one fist, and I saw Beck fall to the floor. My dad's hand resumed its position around my neck and he started shaking me roughly.

"No, stop!" I said, choking and trying to fight back against my father. "Beck!"

"So that's your boyfriend, huh?" my dad snarled. His alcoholic breath covered my face, smothering me completely. "Well, I'm about to teach him not to mess with my daughter."

He let go of me, and I fell to the ground, trying to breathe. My dad staggered towards Beck, who was still lying there, clutching his face. My dad drew his foot back and kicked my boyfriend in the gut. Beck groaned and rolled over.

"Dad, stop!" I yelled again, trying to stand up. "Stop!"

My dad ignored me and reached down, grabbing Beck's arm, hauling him into a standing position. Then, with surprising strength for someone who was drunk, he threw him over our couch and onto our glass coffee table. There was the sound of shattering glass, and I knew I had to do something.

I leaped onto my dad, wrapping my arms around his throat, pulling his body backwards. We crashed onto the bookshelf by the door. I was lucky and avoided hitting my head on the wooden oak, but my dad wasn't. There was a sick sound as his head met the shelf and he collapsed on top of me, unconscious.

I quickly rolled him off of me and got up to find Beck. He sat in a mess of blood and glass shards, his face twisted in pain.

"Beck?" I whispered, walking towards him, glass crunching under my boots.

"You never told me," he said faintly, holding out his hand so I could pull him up. I put my arm around him and we sat down on the couch carefully.

"I'm sorry, Beck. I really am. It was to protect you," I said, feeling tears in my eyes. "And now you have to get out of here before my dad wakes up. He'll kill you if you don't. He knows." I stood back up and tugged on his arm gently.

"No, Jade," Beck rasped, leaning back slowly. "You need to tell me everything. Now. I'm not leaving until you do."

"Can we talk about this later?" I pleaded, pulling harder on his arm.

"Oww…no, Jade. You need to explain everything right now."

I felt tears prickling in my eyes but I brushed them away quickly. I sat down, and Beck put an arm around me gingerly. Every part of me screamed to not tell him what had been going on in my life for the past twelve years. But I had to.

"My dad, he's also an alcoholic," I whispered slowly.

"Yeah, I could smell it on his breath," Beck muttered disgustedly.

"And he gets angry with his job…and his life in general. And he likes to take it out on me." I couldn't go on. If Beck was smart enough (which he was; I would never date anyone stupid) he would be able to piece together the rest. I buried my face in my hands.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing my shoulder. "You should've told me when we first started dating, you know. Then maybe this wouldn't have gone on as long as it has." He paused. "Why didn't you tell anyone before? And don't give me this 'I was trying to protect you' crap."

I was about to reply when there was a loud sound behind us.

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Beck's POV

I looked over at Mr. West. He grabbed what was left of the tiny bookshelf to haul himself up, and looked straight at us. Instinctively, I turned my body to protect Jade.

"Yoouu, booyyy," her dad said, pointing a beefy finger at me. "Get away from my girl. Now."

I glanced at Jade, who was looking up at me frantically, her blue eyes full of worry. I put my hands up, showing surrender, and backed away from my girlfriend slowly, going over to stand by the door. I couldn't risk anything now. That would be stupid, and I didn't want him to hurt Jade.

Her dad advanced on me.

He poked me in the chest, his smelly breath all over my face. I did not lower my arms. "You been goin' out with my girl for a while now, huh, pretty boy?" he said, practically slobbering on me.

I didn't know how to respond. Did Jade tell him that we were going out?

He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. They were the exact same color that Jade's were. I had to nod eventually, because it felt like he was going to squeeze my jaw out of its socket. I saw Jade hang her head, and immediately regretted it.

Come on Beck. You can put up with a little pain. Don't be such a baby. This is for Jade, remember?

"Well, then, sir, I need to talk to you." He let go of my face, and I sighed. But then he grabbed my neck and slammed me against the wall. I didn't try and defend myself. While holding me still, he said, "My dear, give me your phone right now."

Jade hesitated at first, but then thought better of it. She slowly walked to a corner of the room, picking up her bright red PearPhone before giving it to her dad. Mr. West took it in one hand and crushed it to pieces before our eyes with surprising strength, dropping the sizzling parts to the floor.

"You will never be contacting this boy again, you hear me?"

Jade nodded, and it looked like she was going to cry. I hated her father so much right now. I lunged out with a fist, aiming for his face. It landed with a loud smacking noise. He jerked his head back, and used his free hand to pin my arm to my side, thus rendering any punches useless.

"Be a good girl and go upstairs." Jade started towards the stairs, stopping midway to give me a fleeting glance. "Go Jade. I don't want to have to hurt your boyfriend—wait, no, he's your ex-boyfriend now, so now I can do whatever I want to him." Jade rushed up the remaining stairs, her bedroom door slamming audibly.

Mr. West grabbed my collar and pulled me outside into the open darkness. He forced me up against the closed front door, shaking me a little. My head banged backwards, and I felt another lump forming. Oh boy, I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

"All right, boy, you listen up. You say one word of this—and I mean one word of this—to anyone, I'll hunt you down myself and make you wish you were never born. Understood?"

"Yessir," I answered, wanting nothing more than to get away from this man and talk to Jade—but wait, he had broken her phone and if I tried to get inside the house I certainly would be better off dead.

God help me.

"One more thing. You see the way my daughter listens to me?" Mr. West snarled, his face centimeters from mine. "That's because I've taught her to do what I say without question. I ask her something anything; she gives me an answer right away. Does she do that for you?"

"Yes," I growled, "Except she does it without being afraid of being beaten practically to death."

Something hit me hard in the face. I thought my nose was broken, and my eyes were watering horribly. I felt blood dripping into my mouth and spat it out quickly.

"Someone's gotta teach the kids nowadays how to respect their elders."

"There's a difference between respect and fear," I snapped.

He hit me again. My head banged against the door, and I saw stars—well, besides the ones in the sky. Jade's dad threw me down to the ground and stood over me, glowering angrily. I wiped the blood off my face.

"Get outta here, stupid," Mr. West yelled. "And one word to anyone, you're a dead man. And my daughter will pay the price, too, as a matter of fact."

No, not Jade! I thought desperately.

"Promise me boy?" Mr. West hauled me back up by my collar.

"Yessir," I gulped, landing back hard on the ground. I crawled to my truck, blood dripping down onto my shirt. I hauled myself into the driver's seat, looking back to the front of Jade's house. Her father was standing there, obviously waiting for me to drive off.

I turned the engine and drove off. As soon as I was far enough, I pulled over and picked up my phone in my bloody hands. I had a text message from my mom, but I ignored it.

Instead, I dialed someone's number and brought it up to my ear. Screw keeping secrets, especially if my girlfriend (yes, she was still my girlfriend, no matter what her father thought) was getting hurt.

I thought I had figured out her secret, but there was something even darker hidden behind it.

"Hey, Beck," the voice on the other end said calmly.

"I need to tell you something really important, André, and you have to help me…"

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Jade's POV

I watched with a broken heart as Beck drove away. He looked pretty beat up walking to his truck. I swallowed the pain building in my body and looked away from the window, wiping my eyes even though nothing had come out.

I heard heavy footsteps on the stairs, but thought nothing of them.

My door banged open and my father walked in, his strides long but slow.

"Well, Jade, I'm very glad we got that settled," he said, sitting down on my bed. I stiffened by the window. "Come, come and sit with me." He patted the area beside him. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to, unless I wanted to get hurt anymore.

"I understand that you've been going out with that boy for a while now," my dad said, in a tone that seemed more gentle than anything. Weird.

"And you will not anymore. If I ever see you with him, I'll kill you both," he said threateningly, and I knew he wasn't kidding. "I've warned him and he knows the consequences. I want you home afterschool at three. For every minute that you're late I will spend beating the crap out of you when I get home."

I didn't respond, and my dad grabbed my hands suddenly, holding them together painfully.

"Life doesn't need to be worse for you, Jadey," he said, leaning towards me while I tried to lean away. "But if it does…well, then you only have yourself to blame." He got up and staggered out of my room.

I leaped off my bed, staring out the window.

Beck was gone, and he wasn't allowed to come back.

He knew my secret, though. My big one.

My dad was still an overpowering maniac who hated my guts and wanted to ruin my life as best as he could.

I had a stupid project to work on with Tori.

Life isn't fair.

It never was.

It never will be.

Here's a fun fact for y'all: The original version of this entire chapter was just supposed to be Beck and Jade driving to Jade's house, Jade getting overly upset at Beck for being nosey, and then she jumps out of the truck (while it's still driving). Beck stops the truck and goes to comfort her, they get over it, etc., etc. But that messed up my plot so I had to change it.

Let me know what you think. :)