This is my first fic so apologies in advance for any newbie mistakes. Reviews would be very much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. This fic features spanking, including parental spanking of a teenager. If that's not your thing, please move right along.

Chapter 3

People always thought Sutton had it easy. Her parents never disciplined her, not really. Sure, they sometimes said: "Sutton, don't do that!" or grounded her, but they were weak. They lifted groundings early if she simpered enough, and they certainly never insisted on respect or good manners.

"You're so lucky," Mads had once told her after the pair of them were busted stealing lipsticks from the drugstore. "I can't believe you got off so lightly."

Sutton had been grounded. Inconvenient, sure, but hardly the end of the world – especially when she just ignored it and sneaked out anyway. They hadn't even taken her mobile phone away.

Things hadn't been so easy for Mads. She hadn't gone into any detail about exactly what had happened, but Sutton could work it out easily enough from the way Mads winced when she sat down in class. She wanted to ask questions – what happened, how much did it hurt, what were the marks like? She already knew what Alec could be like. But Mads didn't realise how much Sutton knew.

Alec's temper was an open secret among Sutton, Mads and their friends. They had all witnessed him shouting at Mads, or roughly grabbing her by the arm. They knew what it was to comfort her after a bad day, or to pointedly ignore a bruise.

Because what could they do, really? Sure, they could tell someone. And if they were believed, what then? Mads didn't want to go into some cruddy foster home, Sutton knew that much. They hardly spoke about it but, when they did, Mads was clear: she didn't want anyone to know.

But she didn't know how much Sutton had actually seen.

It was summertime and Mads had thrown a party. Everyone was hanging out in the back garden. Sutton needed the toilet, but the downstairs bathroom was engaged. That must be where Mads was, Sutton thought, realising she hadn't seen her friend for the past ten minutes or so.

Mads had told them to stick to using the downstairs bathroom, as Alec didn't like her friends making noise upstairs. But Sutton didn't fancy hanging around until whoever-it-was bothered to finish their business, so she tiptoed up the stairs.

Halfway along the hallway, she heard voices – and froze.

"We shouldn't be having this conversation again," Alec was saying. "I've told you enough times."

"I know, I'm sorry, I-"

"You will be sorry," Alec said.

There was a pause, and then Sutton heard the crack of leather hitting skin. Heard Mads gasp, but without yelling or screaming. This clearly wasn't the first time she'd participated in this particular ritual.

Sutton froze, listening. Crack. Crack. Crack.

"It's a shame that you made me do this," Alec was saying.

Sutton had always wanted to ask Mads what she had done wrong that time, but she couldn't let on that she had heard.

That, and she wanted to ask how it felt.

Because while she felt sorry for Mads, while she found Alec terrifying and thought it repulsive that he beat his daughter, she couldn't help feeling jealous of the fact that, well, at least he actually bothered to draw a line – and to do something when she crossed it.

Sometimes she wished Ted and Kristen would bother. She would never have admitted it to anyone, but there were times when Sutton imagined what it would be like if Ted was just a bit more like Alec.

If, instead of saying: "Now, don't be rude, Sutton," he said: "That's enough, young lady. Do you want me to take my belt off?"

But Ted never bothered to discipline her, not properly. Apparently Ethan's father wasn't so lacking in that department, and Sutton had to admit it: she envied him.