I've had a bit of a shitty weekend and now it's Monday and all I want to do is stay in bed forever. It's cold too.

"Sammy had to wait half an hour and she burst into tears in front of Emma's mum," Stacy started, slamming the bedroom door behind her. Chase backed up a little until he had to sit down on the bed. His entire body was trembling at such a pace that he was a little puzzled as to why his teeth weren't chattering. Stacy's interrogative and mildly threatening gaze was enough to send Chase into overdrive with panic. He felt like a child again and his mother was about to tell him off for teasing a sibling or doing something worse than that... except he knew his mother wasn't even half as menacing as Stacy. The worst his mother did was yell at him for five minutes and threaten to take away his video game console and never go through with it. Stacy was much worse. She was about as petrifying to Chase as a fox was to a rabbit. "I ask you to do one thing."

"I know but I got carried-" Stacy slapped her husband whose mouth snapped shut as soon as their skin came in contact with each other. He knew better than to ramble out apologies or defend himself: any words were just fuel added to the roaring fire. His head dropped to look down at his shoes, knowing full well that he could make a run for it and just never come back. He could distantly hear Alex screaming at his Xbox and that was one of the reasons he stayed glued to the floor.

"I said you could only go out if you picked up Sammy and you didn't do that." Nodding but not really paying attention, Chase began to focus on his breath like Marvin had advised him to earlier in the day. He could feel his body shaking but breathing slowly was helping him steady himself a little. "Next time I'm going to say no. You won't be allowed to see them again."

"I'm sorry," Chase mumbled. He would have hated for his friends to see him in that position: rendered so defenceless in front of the woman he, himself, had decided to marry. He had brought it upon himself and there was no chance he'd admit his vulnerability to his friends. "I won't forget again."

"You know I love you but I need you to stop seeing them for a while."

Chase nodded. He had expected much worse so he was satisfied with the punishment. Stacy pulled him into a gentle hug and whispered gently, "I know you understand."

"I do, Stace."

-

Chase placed his phone down on the table and let out a gentle sigh. Stacy, who was sitting about a metre away from him, looked up at the noise. The TV was alive in front of them, images moving and dancing across the screen. Stacy had had her full attention on the movie whilst Chase had been messing around on his phone. He had been talking to Marvin, right up until the point that Marvin had asked to arrange another meeting. As much as Chase wanted to say 'yes', he had to refuse the offer so that he didn't have to deal with Stacy's wrath again.

As if aware of what Chase had been texting a friend, Stacy sent him that look. The look that told Chase she had control of him and he couldn't do anything he wanted. Chase's decisions were based on code and Stacy was the coder, leaving Chase completely under her command. "Who are you talking to?" She questioned, fake innocence laced in her tone.

"Just Marvin." Chase replied, hoping she'd drop the topic even though he knew she would just ask more and more questions until she found an excuse to scream at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"He asked if I wanted to meet him and the others but I said no."

"Good," Stacy smiled that smile that made everything worth it for a few moments. She even went as far as to shuffle over on the sofa so her side pressed into her husband's. She leant her head on his shoulder, her hair falling down and covering her face. Chase hated when her face was covered. Her face was the main indicator of how she was feeling, like the tail of a dog. Chase couldn't tell if he was currently in her good books for saying 'no' or her bad books for even bringing up the subject. Stacy eventually whispered, "I love you," which confirmed to Chase that he had earned a place in her good books, an absurdly rare occurrence.

"Dad!" Alex yelled, entering the room and grimacing at the sight of his parents cuddling. "Can I borrow your skateboard?"

"Manners." Stacy muttered, sitting up and moving away from her husband. Chase frowned at the loss of contact but covered it up within seconds. He was used to covering up his emotions in front of his family: he couldn't show weakness in front of Stacy and he couldn't let his children know how he was being treated by their mother.

"Please can I borrow your skateboard? Josh and Simon are going into town and I wanna join them."

"Of course, Al. It's by the door."

"Awesome! Thanks!"

Alex then left the room again but Stacy didn't move back to cuddling Chase. Instead, she decided to pick a fight out of something petty. "You really should get rid of that skateboard. You're a grown man for fuck's sake."

"I like it. Easy transport and it looks great at the same time." Chase replied, unsure of where his sudden confidence had sprouted from. Usually he'd just have grumbled something and agreed with her to avoid unwanted trouble.

"Sammy will grow up before you do."

"I like skateboards. What's the problem? Let me like what I want to like."

"Don't talk to me like that!" Stacy lifted up her hand and brought it across Chase's face. Redness spread across his cheek as a sharp pain spread through it. Chase's eyes scrunched shut but they soon jolted back open when they heard a gentle gasp. Alex was standing in the doorway.

"Alex-" Surprisingly it was Chase who spoke up, his tone of voice desperate. His son was staring at his parents with wide, shock-filled eyes.

"I couldn't find the skateboard. Can you help me, dad?" Alex whispered, the only sign he had realised what had been going on his tone. His words, out of context, seemed normal, as if he was just a boy asking his father for help searching for a missing object. Chase decided not to say anything further, instead choosing to nod and get up onto his feet. He could feel Stacy's hard glare in the back of his head, letting him know he was in charge of conjuring up an excuse.

"It's right here." The skateboard was leaning up against the wall but it blended in a little. Chase grabbed it and held it out for his son to take but he had become disinterested.

"Why did mum slap you?"

"Al, she just-"

"And don't lie. I'm old enough to understand that you shouldn't hit people." Alex's voice was oddly calm, like the calm of the world before the storm. Chase could tell he was upset from his monotone, as well as his refusal to meet his gaze. Alex was usually a rather confident person and made more eye contact than was really necessary.

"She just gets angry. You know her and her temper." Chase hated that he was sugar-coating the abuse. He knew it wasn't right and he didn't want to etch anything else into his son's brain. He was only lying to defend Alex in the long term. If Chase admitted the truth, Stacy would be infuriated and potentially take it out on the two things that truly mattered to him: his children.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Alex practically snatched the board from his dad, dropping on the floor hard enough to emit a small thud. Chase flinched at the noise.

"Well, no-"

"Why would you lie about something like this? I know what abuse is, dad."

"Al, please don't tell your mum. I wanted to protect you."

"By giving me some pretty fucked up morals?"

Chase knew what Stacy would have wanted him to respond with. Something along the lines of "language". Instead, he stared into his son's eyes as tears filled his own. He could feel the anxiety dancing around in his chest, making him feel extremely nauseated. He was on the verge of puking but he had to hold it back. Alex had already seen too much. "I don't want her to hurt you..."

"I'm going to see my friends." Alex placed one foot atop of the skateboard and used the other to push himself forward. He soon became a blur, disappearing into the distance.

Chase didn't want to go inside. Aware of what was waiting for him, he was more than terrified. He was petrified and even that was a major understatement.

-

"What did you do, daddy?" Sammy asked, reaching out with her small hand to brush it across Chase's bruised eye. Luckily it hadn't swollen as bad as he had expected and his eyesight was fine. It was just a pain to come up with an excuse and consistently stick to it.

"I fell like an idiot and hit my eye on the side of the table." Chase replied, smiling to let his daughter know she didn't need to worry. Alex was opposite him and his eyes narrowed at the excuse. It was obvious that he understood but he didn't speak up and just continued eating like normal, much to the delight of Chase who was worried he'd say something to anger Stacy.

Sammy giggled, too young to spot any faults in the lie. "Daddy's an idiot!" Chase wished for a moment he was Sammy's age again, so naive and unknowing of the horror the world had in it. Obviously not everything was bad but, with Chase's life, he assumed everything was bad. Except Marvin and his other friends. They were the only good in the world.