"Lydia just stay behind me, okay? Please." Finn whispered, pushing Lydia slightly behind him, shielding her with his body.  He was the only barrier between and her and his father and he was planning to keep it that way.

"Finn, my boy. I see you brought your beautiful girlfriend with you." Finn's father's lips pulled into a malicious smirk, the stench of alcohol rolling off his breath seeming to fill the air in the room.

It was suffocating and Finn hated it.

"Dad, you're drunk.  Please just go take a nap or something." Finn calmly stated, knowing anything could set him off.

Ignoring his father's last comment, Finn pushed Lydia into the hallway, farther from his father.

"Well no shit, I'm drunk.  It's the only way I can forget." Finn rolled his eyes, the comment fully intended to make Finn's guilt surface.  But it wasn't working: not anymore at least.

"Make me forget what you did to me." He always seemed to do this.  Play the victim, blaming Finn for all his miseries and then turning around to inflict some of that pain on him.

"You ruined my life.  Did your little girlfriend know that." Lydia's grip tightened on Finn's arm, fear clearly running through her veins as she stiffened.

"You took everything from me.  My job, my daughter, my wife..." Finn's father slurred before spitting on the ground in front of Finn's feet. 

Finn didn't even flinch.

"My life."

"I didn't ruin your life.  You did that to yourself and you know it." Finn spoke, suppressing the fear in his voice the best he could.

"What?" Finn's father's eyes suddenly laced with anger.  His red shot eyes instantly seeing nothing, but red.

Finn instantly regretted what he had just said.  The anger rolling off his father in waves was enough to send him cowering in the corner.  The confidence once gradually building inside him disappearing as he gulped standing tall, trying not to show weakness while Lydia was behind him.

"I said, I didn't ruin your life.  You did." Finn's words were laced in venom, finally regaining the confidence he once longed to have to stand up to his father.  Finn knew it was only because Lydia was there.  He was her protector and he couldn't show fear.  He was her savior, he couldn't cower away in fear leaving her to deal with his demons alone.

"Finn, he's not worth it.  We need to get out of here before something bad happens."  Lydia pulled at Finn's arm, trying so desperately to force him away from the horrible situation.  All she wanted was to safely bring Finn somewhere else.  Somewhere where he wouldn't be hurt and where he didn't have to live in fear constantly.

"Lydia, he won't let us leave without getting something out of it.  Don't you think I've tried to run away before?  It never works, it only gets worse."  Finn whispered, knowing full well that it was time he faced his demons.  Finn knew that it had almost killed him last time and he wasn't going down without a fight ever again.

"I ruined my own life?" Finn's dad chuckled lowly, Finn felt Lydia shiver in fear next to him causing him to tense instantly.

"You killed her Finn, and even you know that." He spat making Finn flinch. Finn didn't know exactly what he meant by his accusation, but he was tired of listening to his degrading words. Constantly cutting him down until the point of self-pity and misery.

"Now why don't you just send your little girlfriend back to where she came from and you'll get the consequences you deserve for what you did to me." The mans sickening smile spread across his lips, showing his yellow, alcohol stained teeth. Finn held his breath, tightening his grip on Lydia's arm, who sent a reassuring squeeze in return.

"I don't know how many times I'll have to tell you for you to get it through your thick skull." Finn's voice dropped in anger, a sudden wave of anger washing through him. "I didn't ruin you life and I didn't kill mom or Amber."

"Yes. Yes, you did." Finn's father grumbled mainly to himself, spitting a little alcohol that clogged his throat onto the floor causing Finn to roll his eyes in disgust.

Finn couldn't bring himself to understand why his father would blame him for all his misfortune. He had been questioning it for years, but Finn was done pondering on what seemed like a rhetorical question. His father would never tell him the real reason and he would never understand why. Finn was done wondering if it was really his fault and was ready to accept the fact that there was nothing Finn could have possibly done to prevent the tragic events from happening.

"No, I did-" Finn's voice started to rise with anger until his father waved his hand, dismissing him from speaking. He was slightly slumped over, slurring his words as he talked, with a frown etched onto his wrinkled face.

"It's fine Finn, I don't need to hear any of your excuses." He grumbled, scrunching his nose into a snarl.

Finn's father was delirious. He was emotional and all he could see was red. The alcohol coursing through his veins like wildfire didn't help him see any clearer.

He was too far gone. In his eyes, he didn't see a son. He saw a monster. He saw the boy who took the love of his life from him. He saw the boy that ripped his daughter from his arms. He didn't see his own flesh and blood. He saw his own worst nightmare, and he was out for blood.

"Because I know what will end my misery once and for all," Finn's dad snarled before reaching into his pocket aggressively and pulling out a silver object. It shined under the moon light in the dim room making Finn's eyes widen immediately.

Finn's father held up the silver gun with shaky hands and pointed it straight at Finn.

Finn knew that his father had no problem hurting him, he did it everyday of his life. But Finn never could fathom his own father threatening much less pulling the trigger to a gun pointed at his own son.

"Dad, please don't do it." Finn couldn't remember the last time he had called the man by 'Dad'.  It sounded so loving, so adoring, and it tasted so bitter on his tongue.

"You deserve this, for everything you've done to me." Finn's father's hand clicked the gun, initiating the bullet.   

Finn stared at the gun, fear lacing his eyes instantly.  He realized in that moment, he didn't want to die.  He wanted to live.

Lydia had shown him that there was so much more to life than he ever thought possible.  Finn wanted to live, to see the world.  He wanted to fall in love, he wanted to be crazy.  He wanted to do so many things before he left the world and he hadn't done any of it yet. 

Before he was only living for Lydia, but now he wanted to live for himself.  He didn't care if Lydia never loved him in the way he so deeply loved him.  He just wanted to be in her life.  He wanted to go through life happy with her.  Whether it be as a best friend or a lover. 

He wanted to be free.

He was done feeling sorry for himself and thinking that life would never get better.  He was done being his father's punching bag whenever he drowned himself in hard beer and whiskey.  He was done walking through life and not fully living.

And he wasn't ready to leave this world just yet,  not without finally tasting the sweet taste of freedom on his tongue.

"Dad, please think about what you're doing." Finn pleaded, staring at the barrel of the gun, pointed so closely to his heart.  Finn refused to believe there was absolutely not humanity left in him.  He was his father and he refused to believe he was that far gone.

"Oh, trust me my son, I've thought about this a lot." And in an instant Finn's father clicked the gun once more before whipping it toward the small girl standing next to Finn.  She had been searching for her phone, Finn obviously knowing she was trying to call 911 until her realized the gun was abruptly pointed at her.

Finn eyes widened in fear as Lydia instantly flinched backwards awaiting the gun shot.

The sound of a bullet being fired filled the air and all Finn could think of was her.  She couldn't die.

No.

Not after all this.

Finn couldn't lose her.  He could barely breathe without her.  She didn't deserve to lose her life because of the skeletons in her best friend's closet.

Without even a second thought Finn took one step in front of Lydia, grabbing her waist with his arms.  Pushing her towards the ground, he stepped in front of her, creating a barrier once again between her and his father.

"You stupid son of a bitch, you ruined everything, like you always do." Finn's father spat, throwing the gun to the floor.

But Finn didn't care about him anymore.

Because as he plummeted to the ground, blood oozing out of his rib cage, he still only thought of her.

He didn't know what was happening and he couldn't retain anything occurring around him, but at least she was safe.