Chapter Text
Drew just got back from another gruelling day at school. making sure to take his shoes off before treading on the white carpet, he headed upstairs planning to go straight to his room so he can finally lay down and rest. he rarely gets enough sleep anymore so he is usually quite tired by the time he gets back home. practically dragging himself up the stairs and towards his bedroom door, he glances the spotless, white walls with minimalist yet expensive wall art. drew always thought the house seemed more like a hotel then a home. it always has. for as long as he can remember, the rooms had been a minimalist mix of whites, blacks and greys. even when he was little he was never allowed any toys because they would apparently 'ruin' the aesthetic his mother was going for.
He approaches and then opens his bedroom door before stepping inside and closing it behind him. he beelined straight for his bed and collapsed on it, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. he was content lying there until he felt his phone ping in his pocket. sighing, he took it out and read the notification while being careful to not click on it so he wouldn't be forced to reply straight away; "hey drewy-bearrr~" He didn't even bother reading the rest of the text, she was probably just asking for money again and quite frankly drew cant be bothered to send a reply right now. putting his phone back down and closing his eyes, he slowly started to let go of the stiffness in his shoulders. letting out a final heavy breath, fatigue seemed to take over him and he fell asleep.
A loud bang erupted through the house and drew jolted up and looked around in a panic before realising the bang was coming for the kitchen. a sigh of relief escaped him before he realised- the kitchen. the kitchen a place that was rarely entered, let alone used so any noise coming from there was suspicious. he knew his mother was on a business trip right now so that left his father as the only person who could've done it. Drew's father was never a good cook so the only reason he would ever go to the kitchen is for the wine cupboard.
So it was going to be one of those nights. again. drew debated going to one of his friends houses before deciding that he wouldn't want to be a bother. to him, the best option seemed to be being quiet and hoping his dad forgot about him. it had worked a few times before, making it Drew's go-to method during nights like these. he slowly sat all the way up and made his way to his desk, making sure to avoid all the creaky floorboards on the way before sitting down and slowly turning the chair so it faces the desk. he knew he could do his homework in silence so he reached to his bag and zipped it open before carefully pulling his homework out as to not make a sound. he knew that if the paper make a noise his dad would most likely not hear it but he still made sure to be completely silent just in case if he did. he new he was doing a bit too much but he wanted to avoid any conflict between him and his father as Drew's frame was skinny and already littered with bruises. any more and it would get even harder to hide.
A few hours passed since drew woke up, he had long since finished his homework and had moved on to drawing in this old sketchpad he bought a few years ago. he only ever drew in moments like these. moments where he had to be quiet. after a while of doing this he found that he actually quite liked drawing and was surprisingly better at it then he expected. he wished he could show someone his drawings but his parents would most likely yell at him for wasting his time and destroy his sketchbook. his friends would most likely be more supportive than his parents but he still doesn't show them because he doesn't want to be seen as a 'weird art kid' or 'cringe'.
He's snapped out of his thoughts when he hears sluggish, heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. curling up and holding his breath, he silently prays his father starts heading towards his own room instead of Drew’s. waiting in anticipation, he hears it; the footsteps start getting louder, confirming that his father was in fact coming towards his room. he panics and snaps his head around the room, searching with his eyes to see if he can see anything his father would deem 'pointless' or a 'distraction'. he calms down as he sees its okay before he looks down and realises; his sketchpad! he moves with speed and precision as he stuffs it between schoolbooks and slides his laptop in front of it as an extra measure. as he pulls his hands back he hears his door slamming open as the drowsy man stumbled inside. flinching and turning to where his father was standing, he hesitantly spoke up.
"is there anything you need father?"
the man seemed to scan Drew's body, looking for imperfections before looking around his room in an attempt to find a reason to 'discipline' him. finding nothing, he turns back to the small-ish boy that is now standing in front of him.
"have you done your homework."
"yes, father"
"show me it then"
drew walked over to where his bag is and with shaking hands, he slid his homework out and handed it to his father who snatched it and started to flip through the pages without bothering to read them. he hands it back, annoyed that he hasn't found a reason to be angry with him yet, he gets an idea and smirks devilishly. drew notices this and shivers go down his spine as he tries to reassure himself that he'll be ok.
"are you hiding anything?"
"no, father"
"liar."
drew suddenly looks up with a confused yet irritated look on his face which turned out to be a mistake because his father was waiting for this kind of reaction.
"don’t look at me like that, boy. do i need to put you in your place?!"
"but i didnt do anything wrong!"
Drew’s sudden outburst seemed to be enough justification for his dad, because as soon as he said that he felt a cold, hard, slap against the side of his face. he put his hand up to cover it as it started to burn up.
a single tear escaped his eye as he backed away and quickly tried to cover up that he had just cried. it was still to late though, as his father had noticed. this may have been the biggest mistake he had made all day. Another slap echoed across his face before his dad started to yell at him about how boys don’t cry. He felt another hit, this time in his side as he started to zone out. He decides to try and not pay attention to what his father was saying as his words often hurt and he didn’t want to cry again. That would make things much worse.
When the man eventually left, drew pulled himself up off the floor and got into bed, deciding to skip getting dressed or brushing his teeth tonight. He was exhausted and the faster he falls asleep, the faster he’ll heal. He pulls the covers over himself and closes his eyes, hoping one day he’ll wake up and everything will be okay. After only two minutes, his breathing evens out and he falls asleep.
‘hopefully tomorrow won’t be as bad as today’ he thought just before he drifted off into a (not so) peaceful sleep.