Author's note: I feel I should warn you that this chapter is a lot darker than the previous ones, but I felt I needed to bring up these facts to make it clear how life was for John.

Once John reached his house, his good mood evaporated in a matter of seconds. The moment he entered the house, he knew it would be one of those days. The air was permeated with the smell of alcohol, and there was a certain stillness in the air that only happened on 'those nights'. Then he heard it.

The screaming, the crying, and worst of all small childish sobs that were, as always, ignored by the other voices. He hurried towards the sound of shouting voices and the helpless cries. It was his priority to get his little sister out of that mess.

He was just in time to see his father drunkenly slapping his mother, while his little sister coward under the table, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. Experience had taught him that he should first get Marjory far away from the chaos their living room was on those nights.

He approached her slowly and scooped her up gently in his arms.

It wasn't as easy as it used to be to carry her. After all, she wasn't a small child anymore. 

However, the situation made her turn into her younger, more frightened self, and he knew her legs wouldn't be able to hold her if he asked her to walk with him to her room. So, he gathered all his strength and composure and carried her to her room.

All the while, her huge blue eyes were red from crying, and tears kept running down her reddened cheeks. If he didn't know better, he would have suspected their father hit her, but he knew better.

No matter how bad the situation got, he never hurt Marjory, at least she was never the one receiving the blows, only the emotional scars of watching it happen to others.

This time she didn't get a panic attack which was a relief for John, those were much harder to stop, but the crying would subside soon enough, and be replaced by restless sleep, it was always like that.

The next day, their father would apologize, and Marjory would forgive him, after all, he was her hero. John wasn't as forgiving, but there was nothing he could do or say to change the situation. Even as an adult, he was helpless.

It was a vicious cycle that kept repeating, and he didn't know how to stop it. The best he could do was live at home instead of the university campus, and try to limit the damage.

As he gently tucked his sister in, putting her headphones on, blasting her favorite songs, he couldn't help but wish for just one completely perfect day. One day in which no one had to suffer, no one had to cry, and everyone was simply content with being alive. 

John had had such a wonderful day with Gem, and instead of ending the day on a high note, he had to deal with his family problems.

It was exhausting, and he blamed both of his parents for the constant problems. Yes, his father was a drunk, and drunk George was sometimes violent, but his mother...Instead of just trying to calm him down and put him to sleep, she decided to further antagonize him, every single time.

She thinks it's a good idea to argue with a drunk guy with a tendency towards violence. For some reason, it seemed to her that the best time for her to nag him about his drinking problem was while he was not thinking straight.

Of course, that always ended in conflict, sometimes verbal, but more and more, it tended to turn into a physical conflict. That was what led to 'these nights', to his sister laying in her bed terrified, and their parents yelling their hearts out and even hitting each other.

It was awful. Every. Single. Time.

And every single time, he was stupid enough to try to stop them, to try to protect his mother, when she didn't have enough common sense to protect herself with silence.

Most of the time, they were great people, amazing parents, but sometimes...Sometimes all hell broke loose, and for a night John would be able to see the darkest side of his parents, the side he thought no child should ever have to see. This time, once again, he positioned himself between his mother and father.

His father's hand didn't stop in time. John could see him trying to stop when he noticed his mistake, but John still received the strongest slap he had ever felt. George's wedding ring managed to somehow cut John's lower lip, and blood started trickling down his chin.

The sight sobered up both of his parents. They stopped arguing, and his father sauntered off to bed, mumbling an apology on his way to the bedroom. His mother was back to her caring self, fussing about his lip, trying to make it better.

Another crisis averted, John wished they hadn't chosen that particular night to lose it. His good mood was tarnished by their actions. He wasn't insensitive, he genuinely cared about his parents, but those fights happened so often that they became a norm. It was normal for them.

Sometimes John wished they would get a divorce or help, either one would make the situation better, but they preferred to hide their problems than admit the horrible truth.

People knew. 

People always know. 

However, no one said anything. At one point in his life, John started accepting that it was just the way life was.

Looking at his parents' relationship, he promised himself one thing, to never hurt the woman he loved. To do the exact opposite, to shower her with warmth and affection and protect her from all the evils in the world. That was what he planned to do for Gem if she allowed him.