Justin and Gabe still picked on him. It was mostly verbal, but after school on Friday they grabbed him and he hit Justin in the face. This resulted in multiple punches to the face and a kick to the stomach before they left. His nose was bleeding as was his lip.
"'M sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." He mumbled, while laying on the floor in the fetal position.
"Freak." Justin spat before and he Gave walked off. He went to the boys bathroom and cleaned up the blood as best he could. His left eye was swelling shut and most of his face was purple with bruises. And on top of all this he was crying. When he was as cleaned up as he could get he headed outside to wait for his parents. Today would be their third family counseling session. And now more than he ever he just wanted to go home.
"Oh, Andy. What happened?" Amy asked when he got in the car.
"Nothin'." Andy mumbled and kept his head down. Amy and Chris shared concerned looks. The drive was silent aside from Andy sniffling in the back. When the reached Dr. Loft's office Andy didn't want to get out of the car.
"Now, Andy." Chris said.
"Don't wanna. Wanna. Wanna. Wanna."
"Andy." Chris said again, more firmly this time. Andy started crying harder.
"Chris," Amy said, glancing from Andy to Chris, "Maybe we should just go home."
"I'm taking a half day for this, Ames, and we can't afford for me to take it off. I'd rather it not be a waste."
"Chris." She nodded at Andy.
"He doesn't have to talk. He just has to come in."
"Can you do that Andy?" He shrugged and Amy sighed. "Please?"
"'K-Kay." He whispered and slid out of the car, keeping his head down.
"We need to have a talk later." Amy told Chris as he led them inside. He sighed.

———

Andy sat with his head down, still crying and wishing he could go home. He didn't like Dr. Loft. And he didn't want to be there, even before he got beat up. He was trying to stay quiet while he cried, but everything hurt and he couldn't really see out of his left eye now.
Amy kept glancing at Andy. They should've just gone home. The longer they sat there the more upset she got. She understood why Chris was doing this, but Andy had obviously had a bad day and needed to go home.
"Amy? Anything you'd like to say?" Dr. Loft asked.
"No." Amy snapped. Chris sighed.
"Ames, you know I'm doing this to help us." Any chose not answer, knowing if she did it would turn into a fight and she didn't want that. Not in front of Andy.

———

When their allotted time was up they left as quickly as they could. Andy was still sniffling and Amy hadn't spoke since she'd snapped at the doctor. The ride home was tense. As soon as the car stopped Andy got out and ran in the house and straight up to his room.
"What is wrong with you?!" Amy asked as soon as she heard Andy's door close.
"You know we can't afford for me to take this time off, but I'm doing it and I don't want it to be a waste."
"Did you see Andy? He got in a fight! He probably can't see out of his left eye and he didn't want to go!"
"He didn't want to go in the first place." Chris was staying calm, keeping his voice even. He didn't want to yell at Amy. Amy on the other hand was beyond pissed.
"So why are you forcing him to go?!"
"Because I'm trying to be a better father!"
"Well be a better father by taking into consideration how he feels!"
"I'm trying!"
"No you're not! Did you not see him? We should've come straight home!" They were quiet for a few seconds and heard the shower come on upstairs. Amy glared at Chris. "Do you hear that? He's sitting in the tub right now! Do you know why?" Chris sighed.
"No, Ames, I don't."
"The shower distracts him from everything else, because he doesn't like it! Because he doesn't like the way it feels. And when he's in there it's all he can think about. But you don't know that because you've never taken the time to know anything about him!" Any was on the verge of tears.
"And I'm trying to fix that!"
"Did you ever think it might be too late?! If you wanted to know him you should've started when he was little!"
"I'm sorry! Is that what you want to hear?!"

———

Everything hurt and Andy just wanted it to stop. He could hear his parents fighting downstairs and he knew it was his fault. He was still crying. He'd gone up and laid on his bed as soon as they got home, but now he was sitting, fully clothed, in the bathtub with the shower running. Being wet kind of distracted from all the pain.

———

Amy tired of arguing with Chris took an ice pack wrapped in a towel up to Andy. She found him sitting in the tub crying.
"Oh Andy, sweetie. Get out of the tub and get dried off. I brought you an ice pack and I'll get you some painkillers and dinner, okay?"
"'M sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." He mumbled.
"Sorry for what?"
"'M sorry." He said again.
"Can you get out? Please, sweetie?"
"Don't wanna. Wanna. Wanna. Wanna. It hurts. Hurts. Hurts."
"Being in the tub won't help." She turned the shower off. "C'mon, get out. Do you want some applesauce?"
"'Kay. 'Kay. 'Kay. 'Kay." He stood up slowly and accepted the towel she offered him. She left to get him painkillers and dinner and he dried off and got out of his wet clothes.
When Amy came back upstairs she found him sitting on his bed wrapped in a blanket, shaking and crying and holding the ice pack against his face. She offered him the applesauce and a glass of water as well as two ibuprofen.
"I'm sorry we forced you to go the counseling session, honey." He shrugged.
"'M sorry I made you fight."
"Oh, honey no! It's not your fault."
"Don't lie. Lie. Lie. Lie."
"I'm not. Our fight wasn't because of you."
"'M sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about. I promise." Andy just kept his head down and the ice pack against his face. The repetition was worrying Amy. It was very obvious that Andy wasn't sleeping well. She wanted to hug him, to tell it would be okay, but when she tried to give him a hug he pulled away from her. And if she was being honest she was afraid things wouldn't be okay. She sighed.  
"I'm gonna go get dinner for Dad. Let me know if you need anything, okay?" He nodded. She sighed again and left.