"Hardin." Anne snaps.

"What? I am just asking a question." He says.

I can tell that Ken is debating whether or not to take Hardin's bait. I hope to god he chooses not to.

"Stop it." I whisper to Hardin.

"Don't be rude." Anne tells him.

"It's fine." Ken says and takes a drink of his water.

Karen's face has paled and Landon is staring at the large television on the wall..

"I know it's fine." Hardin smiles.

"You are just angry so go ahead and say what you please." Ken says.

He shouldn't have said that.

"Angry? I am not angry. Annoyed and amused yes, but angry, no." Hardin says calmly.

"Amused by what?" Ken asks. Oh Ken just stop talking.

"Amused by the fact that you are acting as if nothing ever happened, as if you weren't a massive fuck up. You two are being ridiculous." He explains.

"You are crossing the line here." Ken says. Jesus Ken.

"Am I? Since when do you get to decide where the line is?" Hardin challenges him.

"This is my home Hardin, that's why I get to decide." Ken responds.

Hardin is on his feet immediately, I grab his arm to stop him but he shakes me off easily. I sit my glass of wine on the table next to me and stand up.

"Hardin stop." I beg and grab ahold of his arm again.

Everything was going well, awkward but well and Hardin had to go and make a rude remark. I know he is angry at his father for his mistakes but Christmas dinner is not the time to bring this up. Hardin and Ken had began to repair their relationship and if Hardin doesn't stop now it will get much worse.

"I thought we were moving past this, you came to the wedding?" Ken questions and stands up.

They are only feet away from one another and I know this will not end well.

"Moving past what? You haven't even owned up to anything! You are just pretending that it didn't happen!" Hardin is yelling now.

My head is swimming and I wish I would have never suggested for them to come. Once again I have caused yet another family argument.

"Today is not the day for us to be discussing this. We are having a nice time and you had to go and start a fight with me." Ken speaks.

"When is the day then?" Hardin asks and raises his hands in the air.

"Not Christmas, I haven't seen your mother in years and this is the time you choose to pick a fight with me?" Ken says to his son.

"You haven't seen her in years because you fucking left! You left us with nothing, no fucking money, no car, nothing!" Hardin shouts and steps into his father's face.

"No money? I sent money every month! A lot of money! And your mum wouldn't accept the car that I offered her!" Ken yells back, his face red with anger.

"Liar! You didn't send shit that's why we lived in that shit house and she worked fifty hours a week!"

"Hardin.. he isn't lying." Anne interjects.

"What?" Hardin turns to Anne.

This is a disaster. A much bigger disaster than I saw coming.

"He sent money Hardin." Anne explains.

"Where is the money then?" Hardin asks his mother, disbelief clear in his tone.

"Paying your tuition." She explains.

"You said he was paying the tuition!" Hardin yells.

My heart aches for him.

"He is, with the money he sent that I have saved over the years." She tells her son.

"What the fuck?" Hardin rubs his forehead with his hand. I move to stand behind him and thread my fingers through his free hand.

"I didn't use all of it for your tuition, I paid the bills as well."

"Why wouldn't you tell me? I would pay my own tuition! He should be paying it! You still left us, whether you sent money or not! You just left without so much as a fucking call on my god damned birthday." Hardin turns to Ken.

"What was I supposed to do Hardin? Stay around? I was a drunk, a worthless drunk and the two of you deserved better than what I could give you. After that night... I knew I had to go." Ken says, excess saliva pools in the corners of his mouth and he blinks rapidly. Hardin's body goes rigid and his breathing increases.

"Don't you speak of that night! That happened because of you!" Hardin screams and pulls his hand out of mine.

Anne looks angry, Landon looks terrified, and Karen is already crying. I realize I am the one that is going to have to stop this.

"I know it did! You don't know how much I wish I could take that back son, that night has haunted me for the last ten years!" Ken says, clearly trying not to cry.

"It haunts you? How do you think it was for me to see that shit! I fucking watched it happen you prick! I was there to clean up the fucking blood off of the floor while you were out getting shit faced!" Hardin balls his fists.

Karen whimpers and covers her mouth before leaving the room. I don't blame her. I  hadn't realized that I am crying until the warm tears hit my chest. I had a feeling something would happen today but nothing like this.

"I know Hardin! I know! There is nothing I can do to erase that! I am sober now! I haven't had a drink in years! You can't hold that against me forever!" Ken puts his hands in the air.

Anne screams as Hardin lunges at his father, Landon rushed over to try to stop Hardin but he is too late. Hardin pushes Ken back against the china cabinet, the replacement for the one Hardin had broken months ago.

Ken grabs Hardins shirt and tries to hold him back as Hardin's fist connects with his father's jaw. I stand frozen, as always, as Hardin attacks his own father. Ken manages to turn himself and Hardin around before Hardin can hit him again, Hardin's fist punches through the glass on the cabinet door. I break out of my motionless state and fist Hardin's shirt in my hand. His arm jerks back, knocking me into the table next to me. My glass of red wine topples over, covering my white cardigan.

"Look what you did!" Landon yells at Hardin and rushes over to my side. Anne holds a horrified expression and Ken looks at his broken cabinet then me as Hardin stops his attack against his father and turns to face me.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I nod.

I didn't get hurt, my shirt being ruined is too trivial to mention in the middle of this chaos. Anne is standing by the door giving her son a murderous glare.

"Move." Hardin snaps at Landon and takes his place next to me.

"Are you okay? I thought you were Landon." He says and puts his busted hands on both sides of my face.

"I am fine." I repeat and move from under his touch.

"We are leaving." He growls and wraps his arm around my waist. I move away from him once more.

I look over at Ken as he uses the sleeve of his crisp white button up to wipe the blood off of his mouth.

"You should stay here, Tessa." Landon urges.

"Don't fucking start with me Landon." Hardin warns him but Landon doesn't seem to be phased. He should be.

"Hardin stop it now." I snap and he lets out a breath but doesn't argue.

"I'll be fine." I tell Landon. It's Hardin he should be worried about.

"Let's go." Hardin walks toward the door, looking back to make sure that I am behind him.

"I am sorry.. about all of this." I tell Ken as I follow Hardin out the door.

"It's not your fault, it's mine." He says and turns away to go to the kitchen.

Anne stays silent, along with Hardin and I as he turns on the car.

I am freezing, the leather seats are ice cold on my bare legs and my wet cardigan isn't helping either. I turn the heat all the way up and Hardin looks over at me but I focus out the window. I can't decide if I should be angry with him. He ruined dinner and literally attacked his father in front of everyone. However, I feel for him. He has been through so much and his father is the root of all his problems. The nightmares, the anger, the lack of respect for women. He never had anyone to teach him how to be a man.

When Hardin puts his hand on my thigh, I don't move it.  My head is pounding and I can not believe the way everything escalated so quickly. I thought he would at least try to be nice today but I should have known better. Spending Christmas at Ken's house with Hardin and Anne was a recipe for disaster.

"Hardin we have to talk about what just happened." Anne says as Hardin turns of off his father's street.

"No, we don't." He responds.

"Yes we do. You were way out of line."

"I was out of line? How can you forget everything he has done?"

"I have not forgotten anything Hardin. I have chosen to forgive him, I can not hold onto anger for him. That type of anger will consume you, it will take over your life if you let it. If you hold onto it, it will destroy you. I do not want to live that way, I want to be happy Hardin and forgiving your father makes it much easier for me to be happy." She explains.

Her strength never creases to amaze me.

"Well I don't want to forgive him. I thought I could but not after today."

"He didn't do anything to you today, you provoked him about his drinking for no good reason." Anne scolds her son.

"He doesn't get a free pass mum." When Hardin removes his hand from my skin, he leaves a smudge of blood behind.

"This isn't about free passes. Ask yourself this, what do you get out of being so angry with him? Where does that get you besides bloody hands and a lonely life?"

Hardin doesn't answer her.

"Exactly." She says and the rest of the ride is silent.

When we get back to the apartment I walk straight to the bedroom.

"You owe her an apology Hardin." I hear Anne say as a cabinet closes.

I pull my ruined sweater off and let it fall on the floor. I am in no mood to worry about being tidy. I slip my shoes off and push my hair from my face, tucking the strands behind my ears. Seconds later Hardin opens the bedroom door, his eyes go to the red stained fabric on the floor then up to my face.

"I am so sorry, Tess. I didn't mean to push you like that." He stands in front of me and takes my hands in his.

"You really shouldn't have done that not today."

"I know.. are you hurt?" He asks, wiping his wounded hands against his black jeans.

"No." If I felt like he physically hurt me we would have much bigger problems.

"I am so sorry. I thought you were Landon and I was so pissed." He explains, his eyes pleading.

"I don't like when you get that way, so angry." My eyes pool with tears as I recall Hardin's hand smashing the glass on the cabinet.

"I know baby, I would never hurt you purposely. You know that don't you?" He bends his knees slightly so he is eye level with me.

His thumb traces over my temple and I nod slowly. I do know that he would never hurt me, physically at least. I have always known that.

"Why did you comment on his drinking in the first place? Things were going great." I ask.

"Because he was acting like nothing happened, he was being this fucking pretentious prick and my mum was just going along with it. Someone had to stand up for her." He explains, his voice polar opposite of how it was thirty minutes ago when he was screaming in his father's face.

My heart aches for him again, this was his way of defending his mother. The wrong way, but to Hardin it's the only way he knows. When he pushes his hair from his forehead blood stains his skin.

"Try to consider how he feels about this, he has to live with that guilt forever Hardin and you don't make it any easier. I am not saying you shouldn't be angry because you should but you out of all people should be more forgiving."

"I..." He begins but I interrupt him.

"And you have to stop with the violence. You can't just go around beating people up every time you get pissed off. It's not right and I don't like it at all."

"I know." He looks down at the concrete flooring.

"We need to get you cleaned up, your knuckles are still bleeding." I sigh and take his hands in mine, leading him to the bathroom to clean his wounds for what feels like the thousandth time since I met him.

(Please vote and comment, I am still deciding what to do about a third book but I will let you know what I decide asap. Either way this book still has at least 20 chapters so please continue to vote and comment or I will end it!! Just kidding but it makes me really happy when you vote and comment so please do <3