Sweet Misery
~~ Yay i updated again!! Enjoy this short chapter!! :)~~





Laura stared up at the ceiling as she lay in her bed comfortably. The past couple of days had been quiet in the household. Mike had this new routine of snapping at everyone in the morning and leaving during the rest of the day and not returning until late the next morning.

The first time he had done this, Anna questioned him about where he had gone and he merely ignored her and went to sleep. After more and more nights of this, she slowly began to realize that he wasn’t going to work but in fact spending all day at the bar.

One night, he had come home totally reeking of alcohol and had passed out in the upstairs hallway. Laura had questioned her mother about this but Anna merely brushed it off, telling her that her father had just had a long night and he went out drinking with a few buddies. Laura somehow figured out that this was not the case at all and that her mother was lying to her…perhaps to protect her from the growing danger rising throughout the family.

During the nights, Anna would instruct Laura to put Xander to bed and lock him in his room using a key instead of the regular doorknob locks where you just twist and push. Anna had made sure to put special locks on Xander’s room in case Mike became a danger. When Mike was drunk, he was nothing BUT dangerous in every aspect of the word. The only problem that disturbed Anna deeply within her heart was why Mike was doing all of this…why he was getting drunk every night. Had he not realized that he was becoming dangerous and even more angry?

During the night, she would briefly glance at her clock and sighed uneasily, watching the time fly by slowly. Each hour her father didn’t return home was worrying her at an unbelievable level. The last time she had looked at her clock was 9:00…it was now one in the morning. Now, she wasn’t stupid…no one goes to work for that long without at leased phoning. She had tried to ignore her mother’s concerned sighs and frowns but it was no use. The tension within the house was building.

Laura froze in place as she heard the front door click and unlock…then it swung open and hit the wall hard creating a loud boom. She then heard shuffling and a slam, followed by a muffled groan and a thud. She raised a brow of interest and sat up in bed, looking up the stairs leading to her door. Laura watched as Mike’s shadow passed her door and disappeared. He must have gone into the living room or kitchen.

Silence buzzed in her ears as she stared at her door, unable to see beyond it. Then, she heard her mother’s voice muffled in the kitchen…it was low and soft, as if she were trying to stay calm and not blow up about something. Laura cocked her head and arched her neck forward a little to hear the conversation better. Mike’s voice rose with each syllable…but his tone was different than usual. He no longer sounded soft and calm but irritated and sort of frustrated. His voice became gravely and thick with a prominent slur. Laura swallowed hard and felt her heart drop.

He was drunk.

Anna eyed her husband cautiously with dark eyes through the dimly lit kitchen. The once soft Asian eyes were now replaced with deep black orbs, full of such intensity that it was turning Anna’ blood cold. She swallowed hard and took a few steps back, not liking the look he was giving her at all.

“ Whaza matter Anna? Y-you look terrimafied…” He chuckled with a heavy drawl.

“ Where the hell have you been all day? And not to mention all night? It’s fucking one in the morning.” She explained quietly.

Mike advanced on her slowly and squinted in order to see her better through the haziness of his own mind.

“ Where do ya think I fuckin’ was huh?”

“ I’m guessing the bar.” She replied nervously.

Mike gave a crooked smile and stumbled towards her, gripping the centre island tightly in an attempt to keep himself balanced. Anna kept her distance from him and stopped near the counters.

“ You gonna do something to piss me off?” he demanded with a forced frown.

“ L-like what?” she breathed in confusion.

“ I dunno…why don’t ya tell me?” he replied with a deepening glare.

Anna looked around the kitchen desperately, hoping that somehow he’d pass out or something so she wouldn’t have to deal with this. When Mike was drunk…he was SCARY. Mike approached her slowly when she didn’t respond…couldn’t respond. The smell of alcohol was overwhelming as he stopped before her, cornering her.

“ Mike…you should get some sleep…you look exhausted…” she whispered carefully, trying not to set him off with the wrong words.

He suddenly lifted his arms and gripped her shoulders tightly, pressing her back against the counters with too much force for her to handle. Anna winced and gave an inward sigh. Here we go again.

“ Michael…you know you’re going to pass out soon…you might as well go upstairs, get into bed and go to sleep before you hurt yourself.” She explained shakily while trying to remain calm.

A sudden surge of pain shot up and down her back as he slammed her up against the counters, eliciting a small yelp from her lips. “ You’re pissin me off Anna…” he warned quietly.

“ I didn’t do anything…” she breathed.

“ You DON’T order me around…ya got that?” he demanded through his teeth.

She bit her lip nervously as his hot alcohol smelling breath hit her cheek. She closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath before responding. “ Yes…”

“ Yes what?” he growled.

“ Yes Mike…” she answered, feeling sick to her stomach.

The last time she hadn’t finished with his name, he squeezed her jaw as tight as he could, soaking her lips with blood. That was three days ago. Now she knew better…which made it all that much sicker.

She didn’t quite remember exactly when Mike had lost most of his respect for her…saying most because he still had a little bit of respect left. Anna suppressed her vomit at the thought. Once a man starts to lose respect for a woman…things become dangerous. The only reason why he wasn’t controlling her completely was because he needed her to take care of his children…the children he had been constantly yelling at for five days…the children who were too scared to even come near him anymore.

Xander would mostly play by himself in his room with the door locked while things became heated downstairs between his parents. Laura would also come into his room and lock herself in when the screaming started. Things were staring to get very bad and already the sickening fear had set in.

She would sit on Xander’s bed and try to distract him from the screaming but when that didn’t work, she’d hold her brother closely and sing to him while trying to block out the noise with her voice. When Mike had finally given up or passed out, the house was in peace again and Anna would check up on her two children, telling Xander that mommy and daddy were just being loud and that everything was fine.

She would then tuck in the little boy, kiss him good night and lock the door, walking Laura to her room. There was a silence between them like never before as they stared at Mike on the kitchen floor passed out with vomit rolling around his lips. The sight was enough to make you scream, cry and throw up all at the same time. This man was supposed to be taking care of his children and loving his wife…not abusing that.

Once Laura was safely in bed, Anna would return to her room and close the door, sit on the bed and hold her knees tightly against her chest, crying softly. Every time she thought about the peaceful moments between herself and Mike, she’d actually believe that she loved him.

Now…when she pictured him on the floor passed out like a drunken idiot, she felt anything but love for him. Tonight fortunately was a quiet night without screaming, crying or begging. Without another word, Mike released Anna from his grip and stumbled upstairs to pass out in his own bed. She sighed heavily with great relief and blinked away a few welling tears, rubbing her arms lightly.

She felt thankful for the silence in which Mike left the room. Perhaps he was just too tired to deal with her. She found herself walking towards the couch and sat down comfortably, sitting back and closing her eyes. She thought back to when Mike was sober…yet she found it difficult to remember that time. The last time he was even a little sober, he was more peaceful and quiet...more like his old self.

She felt herself slipping into an uneasy sleep while thinking about his sober moments…and soon her sleep became peaceful and a sense of longing coursed through her. Laura stared up at her ceiling blankly and sighed heavily with relief through the silence of the early morning.

Deep down inside, she knew this peace wouldn’t last too long…


~~ Anywhoo, the purpose of this chapter was to explain a few things about whats up with Mike. The next few chappies are about to get a little creepier and hopefully frightening hehe *smiles evilly* PLENTY OF ACTION...sooooo review, tell me what u thought and Thankees so much for readin!! :)~~
This Is Emotion
~~ Woot for new updates! Hope y'all enjoy this chappie!! :)~~



Anna stepped down the cushioned stairs lightly while keeping her gaze alert and aware of everything around her. She knew Mike was out of bed already since she had heard the toilet flushing periodically throughout the morning.

Hangovers could be a bitch.

She stepped onto the cold kitchen floor and felt her heart skip a beat as she watched Mike holding the back of his neck with his two hands, reading the newspaper with a lowered head. He looked to be distracted with something that had a very large article and a small picture.

She bit her lip nervously and snuck passed him towards the fridge and stopped cold when he called out to her.

“ Anna…”

She turned around slowly and cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the growing nerves inside her body. Lately when he called out to her, it was to scold her about something.

Sometimes it was: Why aren’t the dishes done? Where are my clean clothes? What the fuck do you think you’re doing watching TV, clean my house…those kinds of things.

“ Yes Mike?” she asked while trying to suppress the shakiness within her voice. He turned his head slightly towards her and blinked with painfully red eyes, glancing at the cupboard.

“ Could you grab me the Aspirin please?” he asked softly.

She remained still for several seconds, trying to comprehend what he had just asked…and the manner he had asked it with. Was he actually going to be decent today? Slowly, she opened the cupboard, careful not to turn her back to him and grabbed the small white bottle, giving it to him.

He took it gently and popped it open quickly, jutting two pills into his mouth and swallowed hard. “ Thanks…” he whispered calmly and returned to his newspaper.

Anna stared at the back of his neck blankly for several moments in shock. A thank you…she had received a thank you…what the hell was going on? Cautiously, she moved towards the other side of the centre island and stared at him as he read silently. She watched his dark eyes scanning the page slowly and then he turned it quickly, eyeing another article.

“ Mike?” she asked quietly, hoping he wouldn’t snap at her like he always did lately.

He lifted his head slowly and glanced at her with hollow eyes. She hadn’t realized it before but now she could see the stubble protruding through the skin on his face, making him look slightly scruffy.

“ You gonna shave sometime today or what?” she asked with an arched brow but quickly regretted her words. Surely he would become angry at the comment and slap her.

He gave a heavy sigh and gave her a dirty look before closing the newspaper and slamming it down against the island. “ I’ll shave when you learn to shut your fucking mouth.”

Anna lowered her eyes and watched him reach for a mug and slowly began pouring the steaming hot liquid of coffee into it. “ Sorry…it’s just not a very good look for you.” She muttered.

Mike eyed her dangerously before taking a long swig of the drink and then placed it down onto the counter. Laura came up from her room slowly and rubbed her eyes wearily, trying to adjust to the light of the house. As she entered the kitchen, she raised her eyes and stopped cold as she looked at her father.

“ Oh my God shave…” she stated bluntly.

Mike glared and ran a hand through his messed hair quickly. “ Laura, get fucking dressed…you have school.” He ordered with angry impatience.

“ Fine.” She breathed with frustration and disappeared into the depths of her room once more. Anna shook her head and swallowed hard. Being around Mike was like walking on eggshells all day. No one knew what was going to set him off in the wrong way.

“ Are you drunk?” she asked quietly.

Mike turned his vision towards her and clenched his jaw tightly with irritation. “ Not yet.”

“ You sure?”

“ Anna mind your own fucking business.” He growled as the doorbell rang.

“ Answer it.” Came the order from his red lips.

Anna rolled her eyes and walked towards the front door and was surprised to see Chester standing there with a cheesy grin. Her heart raced with relief, knowing that with Chester here Mike would be somewhat calm.

“ Hey Chaz, what’s up?” she asked, trying to keep the casualness in her voice.

“ I just came over to see if Mike still has my laptop.”

“ Come on in.” she smiled weakly and led him into the house.

Chester nodded his head, greeting Mike as he entered the kitchen. “ Hey man, you still have my laptop?”

“ Yeah, it’s in the basement…I’ll grab it for you.” He replied softly and opened the door to Laura’s room…then disappeared inside. Anna swallowed hard while trying to keep a smile on her face.

“ Chester…can I ask you something?” He leaned against the counters and sighed comfortably with a sincere grin.

“ Sure.”

“ Have you talked to Mike lately?”

He looked around the room in thought and shook his head. “ Nah, he says he’s been busy at home with Xander…by the way, where is the little guy? I haven’t seen him for months.”

Anna checked her watch and raised a brow. “ Well he’s still sleeping…maybe you could come by later and visit for a while.” She suggested hopefully.

That way, if Chester was here, there was a good chance Mike would resist the urge to hurt her for some unknown reason.

“ Yeah sure, that’d be great-.”

He stopped short as a loud crash and a boom was heard downstairs.

“ What the hell was that?” Chester demanded with an arched brow. Anna’s cheeks paled as she heard muffled whispers from Laura’s room…angry whispers.

“ I don’t know.” She replied shakily.

Soon, Mike appeared from downstairs and gripped the laptop tightly, handing it to Chester. “ Here man.” He muttered with a fading glare.

“ Thanks…what the hell was all that crashing?” he asked with confusion.

Mike shook his head and raised a brow. “ Oh, that was nothing…I accidentally tipped over Laura’s CD rack.”

Anna glared and ran a hand through her hair quickly. “ Would you two excuse me please?” she asked shakily and then disappeared into Laura’s room leaving Mike and Chester alone in the kitchen. When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she saw Laura on the floor with a hand to her cheek…tears welling up in her eyes.

“ Laura, what happened?” she whispered and knelt down in front of her.

The young girl shook her head and sniffed back her tears while rubbing her cheek. “ Noth-.”

“ –Did he hit you?” She stared at her mother for a long moment and then merely shook her head.

“ I got in his way…I fell…”

“ Laura…don’t try to protect him.” She warned quietly.

“I FELL.” Laura replied harshly through her teeth.

Anna lowered her eyes with concern and eyed her reddening cheek carefully. “ You ready for school?”

“ Yeah.” She breathed and stood up with the help of her mother. Chester remained silent as Laura and Anna emerged from the bedroom with shaken looks. Mike turned around and shot his daughter and angry glance before giving a heavy sigh.

“ I’m off to take a shower…”

Laura lowered her head and kept her eyes to the floor as Mike brushed past her and disappeared upstairs. When Laura was sure Mike was gone, she lifted her head and stared at Chester with pleading eyes.

“ Chaz, could you give me a lift to school?” she asked quietly.

He nodded slowly and raised his eyes. “ Yeah sure…is something wrong with your dad giving you a ride?”

“ I want to get there early…” she replied quickly and grabbed her bag.

“ Alright, see you later Anna.”

“ Bye Chester.” She smiled and walked them to the front door. She gave her daughter a kiss on the head before finally watching them leave the house and enter Chester’s car. Anna’s heart sank and she swallowed hard, realizing that she was now home alone with Mike.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“ You okay?”

Laura turned her head slowly towards Chester as the trees whipped past the window at high speed. “ I’m fine…why?”

“ You look a little teary eyed…something you wanna talk about?” he asked with a soft voice, glancing at her briefly before turning his vision back towards the road.

She really did appreciate his concern but right now she really wanted to stay quiet about all of this. “ Not really…I’ve just been having a hard time lately…with friends and stuff…” she lied in an attempt to leave it at that.

“ What about the bruised cheek?” he asked blankly while keeping his eye on the road before them.

Laura stared out the window and squinted through the bright sun. “ It’s nothing.”

“ I heard something crash this morning in your room when your dad was down there…what happened?”

“ Nothing.” She stated clearly, trying so hard not to become angry with him.

“ Laura-.”

“ –Look, I whacked it on my closet door this morning when I was pulling out some clothes okay? Just drop it!”

Chester glanced at her with worry and shook his head, turning the car into the school parking lot. “ If something’s going on then maybe you should tell me…or your mom…”

She found it suddenly odd that he hadn’t mention her father…perhaps he was becoming suspicious of something. After all, he hadn’t seen his best friend for weeks and whenever he did, he seemed to have been sort of out of it, like he was drunk.

“ See ya later Chaz.” Laura breathed and slammed the car door shut, walking towards the door of the school. Chester sighed uneasily and watched her as if he were watching over his own child with a protective eye.

Something was definitely wrong at home and he knew that Mike was part of the problem. The crash didn’t sound like someone hitting themselves with a door…it sounded like someone was pushed into something and then fell.

Laura opened the large door of the school slowly and looked back at Chester in his car, silently hoping he’d figure all of this out before someone really got hurt.

I think you know what I'm getting at
I find it so upsetting that
the memories that you select you keep the bad but the good you just forget

and even though I'm angry I can still say
I know my heart will break the day
when you peel out and drive away
I can't believe this happened

And all this time I never thought
that all we had would be all for not

No, I don't hate you
don't want to fight you
know I'll always love you
but right now I just don't like you
No, I don't hate you
don't want to fight you
know I'll always love you
but right now I just don't like you
cause you took this too far

Make your decision and don't you dare think twice
go with your instincts along with some bad advice
this didn't turn out the way I thought it would at all
you blame me but some of this is still your fault

I tried to move you, but you just wouldn't budge
I tried to hold your hand but you'd rather hold your grudge
I think you know what I'm getting at
you said goodbye and I just don't want you regretting that

and wisdom always chooses
these black eyes and these bruises
over the heartache that they say
never completely goes away
(I just can't believe this happened
and one day we'll see this come around)

what happened to us
i heard that it's me we should blame
what happened to us
why didn't you stop me from turning out this way
and know that I don't hate you
and know that I don't want to fight you
and know that I'll always love you
but right now I just don't...


{Song: Which To Bury First: Us Or The Hatchet}
{Artist: Relient.K}

~~ Okay, more coming soon...hope y'all enjoyed and reviews are greatly appreciated. Thankees for reading so far!...Thats all i have to say for now :)~~
Silent Dinner
~~ Thanks for all the kind reviews!! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! :)~~



Anna wiped the tears from her eyes and reached for a dishcloth in an attempt to get some of the dishes finished before Chester came over. Of course Mike was specific about those demands, making it clear that if there was one dish left in the sink he’d make her regret she ever forgot about them. At first, Anna had told Mike to go fuck himself and do the dishes himself if he wanted them done so fast.

That remark didn’t exactly sit well with him and he had become quite angry, forgetting completely to restrain his violence against her and had grabbed both her arms and threw her down to the floor, making her smack her head against the cold floor of the kitchen.

When Anna had tried to sit up to get her bearings, he responded by kicking her hard in the ribs and screaming at her about how pathetic she was. She squinted and winced through the throbbing pain in her stomach as she scrubbed the dishes weakly yet quickly while remembering that afternoon. Mike’s voice was still pounding in her skull as if she were back in that horrific moment where her husband had finally decided to become extremely violent with her.

It didn’t really help much that he was completely drunk out of his mind already. She stared down at her arms and swallowed hard at the black and blue bruises already forming. She couldn’t let Chester see them, so she pulled down her sleeves and looked back down into the sink, letting her tears fall into the stainless steel basin.

She was already pretty sure by the soreness in her abdomen that there was internal bleeding between the tissues of the muscles. When Mike kicked, he kicked HARD. She began to feel sick to her stomach as she placed the soaked plate on the counter and then reached back down into the sink for the other. As she raised the plate to place it on the counter on top of the other, she felt something hot against her neck as if someone were breathing against her.

Suddenly, she dropped the plate with a start hearing it crash against the floor and shatter into millions of little pieces. She felt the familiar tight grip around her arm and she winced as the already sore bruises shot pangs of intense pain up and down her arm.

“You done yet?” he demanded with a sickly quiet tone.

Anna sighed shakily under her breath and closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself while feeling the pain coursing through her body.

“ No Michael I’m not.”

“ Why the fuck not?”

“ You’re making it very difficult.” She replied through her teeth.

He glanced down at the floor and eyed each broken shard " Well I'm not the one breaking plates."

“ Well you’re breaking my arm.” She warned.

Mike stared at her silently with a sort of crooked dark smile as if he were encouraging her to go further…just a little further so he could crack the bone. Anna did not give into his little game because quite frankly he had played it many times before…she wasn’t going to let him win this. With a cold glare, she stared him down with a sharp gaze, sharp enough to cut through his heart.

“ Release me before I rip that arm of yours from its socket.” She hissed with a deep tone, even sending chills up her own spine.

With black menacing eyes, his brow lowered into a dangerous glare and he released her arm slowly, allowing the pressure to ease of gently. Anna gave an inward sigh of relief and turned away for just a moment, believing he would finally let her be…but instead she felt a sharp sting against her cheek followed by a loud crack and then a feeling of wet. Before she even realized it, she was on the floor holding her cheek as the blood oozed through her shaking fingers.

Mike dropped the broken half of the plate and let it crash to the floor beside her. She flinched when the shards bounced into her face and hair, causing her to shake them out furiously. Mike stared down at her with a small smile and she could have sworn she heard him laughing that devilish laugh that made her skin crawl.

“ Anna, I picked up your youngin’ from the learning establishment!” Chester shouted as he and Laura stomped into the house and slammed the front door.

Anna looked up slowly at Mike and he clenched his jaw tightly with nerves suddenly realizing the situation he was in. It took quick thinking to come up with an excuse as to why his wife was bleeding on the floor surrounded by broken plates.

“ Jesus Christ…Anna are you alright?” he breathed with concern while bending down to her. She stared at him with confusion and swallowed hard as Chester and Laura stepped into the kitchen slowly. She heard the quiet gasp of horror from Laura and felt Chester’s dark eyes of worry glued to her.

“ Anna, talk to me…” Mike stated softly and put his hand against her shoulder.

“ What the hell happened?” Chester demanded with an arched brow of concern. Mike looked up and tried to ignore his daughter’s shocked glare.

“ I walked into the kitchen…a-and…I don’t know, I guess she passed out…must have knocked her cheek against the side of the counter. Jesus, these things can be sharp.” He explained in a warm tone.

Anna gave her husband a cold glare as he gripped her hand tightly…which was normally supposed to be a sign of comfort but in reality he was only doing it to warn her to play along. Because she knew that if she didn’t…she’d pay for it later tonight.

“ You want some help?” Chester asked.

“ Nah, I got her.” Mike replied quickly and moved his hand to her arm, pulling her up slowly. Laura swallowed her own vomit, instantly knowing that this was all part of the manipulation Mike had gotten into since the attacks were becoming more and more violent with each day.

In order to keep out of trouble, he’d have to lie to his best friend and hope that he didn’t realize what had really happened. In fear for her own safety, Laura kept her mouth shut awarding an approving and calm glance from her father.

“ Is she okay?”

There, that was a safe enough question to ask. Mike gripped Anna tightly within his arms and stared into her clouded eyes with fake concern. “ Sweetie, how’s your head?”

She raised her eyes to meet his, then touched the blood on her cheek, feeling it already drying.

“ Here, I’ll clean that up for you.” Mike breathed and grabbed a damp cloth, sitting her down at the centre island. Anna remained silent as he dabbed the blood from her cheek, keeping her glare signalling to him that she didn’t believe a single compassionate word he said to her. Laura decided to help out and clean up the broken plates, earning a soft thank you from her father.

As she threw the shard into the trash, she almost sighed with relief knowing that the small act of cleaning meant her dad would be more laid back towards her for the rest of the night so she could rest peacefully without yelling and screaming. The bad thing about that was…her mother would receive the brunt of the force tonight when Chester left.

“ Is there anything I can do? I mean…I feel kind of useless right now.” Chester stated nervously with his hands stuck in his pockets.

Mike glanced at him and nodded a little. “ You could get Xander from his room. He’s been up there all day playing.”

“ By himself?”

“ Well does it look like there are other three year olds running around the house?” Mike demanded with annoyance.

Anna pushed the cloth away from her cheek and wiped the tears from her eyes as Mike took a small step back, allowing her space to stand up. “ Anna, you should sit down…you took quite a nasty fall-.”

“ –I’m fine.” She barked back with a shaky voice, then suddenly stopped as she noticed the small form on the stairs. All the others turned in the direction that she was looking, seeing Xander gripping the banister tightly while staring at everyone in the kitchen with a curious eye. Chester gave a small grin at the sight and sighed happily.

“ Look who decided to join us.”

Mike walked towards the stairs and stared up at Xander who eyed his cautiously. “ Come on Xander…” The little toddler blinked at him and bit a quivering nervous lip. Mike swallowed hard, feeling suddenly uncomfortable and stepped onto the first step…but stopped cold when Xander moved back a step, pushing himself further away from his father.

“ Xander, come downstairs.” Mike stated calmly.

The child shook his head slowly, gripping the banister as tightly as possible. Chester’s grin faded and he frowned, wondering why this child was silently distancing himself from his father.

“ Come on Xander…Chester wants to see you.” Mike tried with a soft smile.

The little boy watched his father silently but then cried out in desperation for his mother as Mike stepped a little closer. Anna walked towards the stairs and sighed uneasily under Mike’s intense gaze.

“ Xander its okay sweetie…come downstairs.” She whispered shakily with a hint of a smile. He stared at his mother with watery eyes and slowly let go of the banister. She outstretched her arms and he jumped into them, gripping her shirt tightly in comfort.

Mike ran a hand through his hair uneasily and sighed out with frustration. Great…just what he needed Chester to see…his own son too afraid to come near him.

“ Is he okay?” Chester asked with soft concern.

Laura watched as her mother carried the little boy into the living room and sat down with him on the couch…AWAY from Mike. “ He’s fine…he’s just got this thing where he needs Mom more than Dad lately.” She tried to explain so that it made sense.

Chester nodded with acknowledgment and glanced at Mike. “ Don’t worry man, I’ve been there…”

“ Yeah whatever.” Mike sighed and stepped down off the stairs and into the kitchen. Without another thought, although the oddity of the situation still stuck in the back of his mind, Chester rubbed his hands together and smiled.

“ So…what’s for supper?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The kitchen table was silent as everyone chowed down their food. Chester glanced around the table with an arched brow of curiosity, never seeing a family this quiet in his entire life.

Even Xander was quiet as if there was some command burned into his brain to instruct him to remain silent. Chester began to wonder what Mike had done to his family…because this was just eerie.

“ So…Xander…your Mom tells me you got some new toys.” He stated to relieve the uncomfortable quiet.

The little boy looked up from his plate and glanced at his father who slowly nodded, allowing him to speak. He gripped his fork tightly within his knuckles and swallowed the mashed potatoes hard.

“ I got toy cars.” He replied with a small voice, almost unsure of his own words. Chester smiled a little and nodded.

“ Wow…that’s pretty cool. I remember when I was your age and I got my first set of toy cars. I had this little black one with red flames all up and down the sides. It was awesome!”

“ Don’t you still have that car Chester?” Laura asked, feeling nervous that she had just spoken during the silence of dinner. Mike continued to eat silently, letting his children speak in order to keep the normality going…to keep the illusion alive. Chester lowered his eyes and sighed.

“ Oh please…I’m too old for that.”

“ So…then why were you sitting on the floor in your living room playing with that car…and in your underwear might I add.” She stated.

Anna stared down at her plate and snorted a laugh, causing Chester’s frown to deepen and his cheeks to flush. Xander let out a soft giggle and the tension around the room was slowly lifted.

“ I’ll have you know that every man has an inner child.”

“ Chester, you can’t say that…you’re still a child.” Mike muttered and swallowed his meat.

Laura smiled and shook her head, poking a few peas onto her fork.

“ Well at leased I’m more fun than you Mike. All you do is sit around all day watching TV. It wouldn’t kill you to unleash your inner child once and a while.” He retorted.

“ Watching TV is my inner child. That’s all I did growing up.” He argued back.

“ That and flooding your parent’s car with water.” Anna explained quietly.

“ Everyone kept talking about carpooling…so I decided to make my own car pool.” He smiled.

Chester burst out laughing and dropped his fork, wiping the tears from his eyes. “ Oh God Mike…you made a car POOL? What the hell were you thinking?”

“ I always took everything literally…it’s not my fault I was born like that.” He shrugged.

“ Daddy can we have a car pool?” Xander asked with wide eyes.

Laura laughed out loudly and leaned forward with her hand on her forehead. Xander stared at her with a raised brow and then slowly frowned.

“ Wha?”

She shook her head and choked down her laugh, followed by her mother who had also started laughing. “ Xander you don’t want a carpool.” Laura explained and finally ceased laughing.

“ Why not?”

“ Because water doesn’t belong in the car.” Mike replied, then turned his vision towards Laura.

“ Dishes…now.”

“ But-.”

“ –Laura don’t you fucking argue with me.” He whispered in warning.

Chester frowned at the sudden change in mood and watched everyone’s eyes drop while the silence flooded throughout the house once more. Laura frowned in disappointment over the loss of the happy moment and began collecting the plates and cutlery.

Mike watched her with a keen eye and then looked towards Anna. “ Feel like helping?” he pressured.

She took that as a hint and nodded, standing up. “ Yes Mike.”

Chester’s frown slowly twisted into a glare as he watched both women cleaning up silently as Mike sat back in his chair with a sigh of comfort. Something about this whole dishes situation seemed very wrong. It was almost as if Mike had ordered them forcefully to clean up, without even offering to help. What kind of man does that?

“ Hey Anna, Laura, you guys want some help-.”

“ –No, they’re fine.” Mike interrupted.

Chester stared at him in disbelief and shook his head. “ Mike, don’t you think since Anna cooked the meal and Laura set the table that maybe we should do the dishes?”

Mike shifted uncomfortably in his chair and growled under his breath. “ Ready to leave Chaz?”

Chester stared at him silently for several seconds before gasping out in shock. “ Are you kicking me out or something?”

“ No, I’m asking if you’re ready to go home. It’s getting late.” He replied with a glare…a forceful glare.

“ Well it sounds like you’re kicking me out.”

Mike stood up, followed quickly by Chester as the two women in the kitchen attempted to ignore the coming conflict. “ Chester…it’s late…I’m tired…we’re all tired…go home.” He ordered quietly while backing up towards the front door.

The way that he had said it made Chester shiver in his own skin. It was as if he were ordering yet persuading at the same time…perhaps unconsciously warning him of something that was going to happen when he left.

“ Anna wanted me to stay-.”

“ –Anna’s busy and soon to be very exhausted from all that work. Leave…now.”

Chester stared into Mike’s dark eyes suspiciously and sighed in defeat, opening the door.

“ Fine…tonight’s been fun.” He muttered sarcastically and stepped onto the front steps, only to have the door slammed shut behind him.

As he stared silently at the door in front of him…he could briefly hear Mike’s angry words…then silence.

He wished he could see through walls because if he had…he would probably had seen a very frightened looking family, stuck under the strong gaze of the overpowering man…reaching into the fridge for a beer.


~~Hope you enjoyed that..More to come soon, reviews highly appreciated!! Thankees for reading!! :)~~