Eric strolled into his house, his car keys jingled as he pushed the door open, hanging them upon the key holder hook which was situated next to the door. He'd come back from study group, needing to use a distraction which would get his mind off of his friend's disappearance. It all felt so surreal to him, "Did he really just get up and...leave? That's so unlike him. Why isn't any of this making sense?" he wondered to himself, absent-mindedly shrugging of his jacket as his face contorted with puzzlement, his brows knitting themselves together.

"Eric!" His father called out from upstairs, glaring at his son from behind the railing. "What is this?" The man held up as a piece of paper, expecting an answer from his son.

His thoughts were interrupted, causing him to turn around in shock as his father had never spoken to him like that, unless he was upset or visibly crying. The boy's eyes landed on the piece of paper, squinting as he attempted to make out its contents from a far.

"I-I don't know what that is?" Eric's reply sounded more like a question, watching his father storm down the staircase and stand in front of him.

The man threw the piece of paper at him, his chest heaving with rage. His father's temple vein was prominent, throbbing with anger as he expected an answer regarding the sickening picture he'd had to see. Though his father hoped the contents in that picture weren't true, he'd subconsciously needed a reason to teach his son a lesson...God knows why, but he just did.

Eric picked up the photo, scanning the image in front of him. His mouth gaped in shock, realizing it was a picture of Matthew and Eric sharing a passionate kiss. His heart began racing, fearing what his father would do if the boy didn't bullshit an excuse right now. He gulped, hesitant to look up at the man standing in front of him.

"Where exactly did you go tonight?" His paranoia began getting the best of him, his nostrils flaring as the kid in front of him laid his head low in shame. This triggered the man to hold Eric by his ashy blonde locks, forcing him to make eye contact with.

"S-Study group." The boy stammered out of fear, his eyes beginning to turn glossy as he overthought about this situation. He knew there was no way he going to get out alive.

His father striked him across the face, causing Eric to whimper in pain. The man later shoved him to the ground and went over to the bottom of the couch to retrieve a baseball bat, something his wife kept in case of emergencies. He witnessed Eric attempting to flee, only to be whacked in the calf by the bat and fall towards the floor.

Eric held up his hands in self-defense, though that didn't stop his father from repeatedly hitting the boy in the ribs, beginning to black out in rage. His cries for help were drowned out with the sound of the man throwing homophobic slurs in his son's face, along with a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush.

"So that's what those blood stains were in your room? You were being a faggot in my house?" He exclaimed, his spit projecting itself further with each word while the weapon in his hand thwacked the boy below him with force.

The hitting continued until Eric could feel a pair of fists continually hitting his face, causing him to start feeling light-headed. He couldn't feel much anymore, who knew if his father even stopped, for all Eric knew he could have become more aggressive as he'd realize Eric starting to lose consciousness.

Fortunately for him, Eric felt the fists abruptly pull away, his blurry vision landing upon a tall figure who crouched down, shaking his body in hopes that he would wake up. He could make out a cry for help, but the words began morphing into one another, sounding heavily slurred as his mind began fading.