Sometimes he loves me

Chapter 1

EMMA

8 years ago- I sit up straight, startled when I hear the front door open and my dad's voice echoes through the house.

"I'm sick and tired of your shit!" His angry tone makes me shudder and I stand up, tensely looking at the living room door.

The front door closes with a loud bang, and the wind from outside rushes into the living room with a mix of the smell of alcohol and my father's old leather jacket.

I glance at the clock hanging on the wall and see it's already midnight. So I quickly turn off the TV, knowing I'm not supposed to be up this late. Dad always gets so angry with me when I do. Well, not all the time. Only when it suits him, because sometimes he's too drunk to notice anyway.

"Then go! Leave. Just fucking leave!" My mother yells back, and I can't help but hear the noticeable slur. I doubt they even see me standing before our old brown couch as they stumble into the living room.

My eyes shoot between them, both stupidly drunk while they try to keep themselves on their feet. Staggering and with bloodshot eyes, they continue their bickering right in front of me.

"You know what Tina? I will." He says and walks back towards the hallway, but my mom stops him and grabs his arm.

"Where are you going?" My mom asks while my dad tries to yank himself free from her grasp. She attempts to hold him tighter as she lets herself fall to the ground, but gets a hold of his leg when he suddenly starts walking towards the front door.

"I'm going to jump in front of a fucking train." Even though my dad has said those words so many times, my heart still drops into my stomach when I hear him say it once again. Mom always stops him, but I truly wonder if he'd really do it if she'd just let him walk away.

"No you won't! You can't do that to Emma! You can't do that to me. You have a family Mike."

I slowly step into their view. "Mom? Dad?" I say cautiously. But they don't hear me, too caught up in their daily fight.

"I'm done with you! I never wanted kids nor this life! You forced me into it, secretly going off birth control-" He gets louder with every word that comes from his lips. He tangles his coarse fingers in her long black hair and tries to pull her off him.

"You were there when you fucked me, weren't you?" She screams, digging her nails into his hand. Their loud voices are getting more unbearable the longer I watch them.

"Stop arguing!" I suddenly hear myself scream as I press my hands to my ears to muffle their voices. My ears start ringing until I can only hear my own heartbeat. My dad's gaze darts from my mother to me and lets go of her hair. Familiar tears are already flowing down my cheeks as my parents look at me for the first time since they came home.

"Emma." I hear my mom say, but I'm already running up the stairs two steps at a time by the time her desperate voice reaches me.

As soon as I enter my bedroom I throw myself onto my bed and start crying into my pillow. They always do this. Fight over nothing and they're always drunk. I'm so tired of putting up with this almost every day. Why do they feel the need to drink this much?

A few sobs later, I hear a soft knock on my bedroom window and look up to see Finn, the boy from next door, waving at me. Stifling a sob I crawl off my bed and walk over to my window and slowly open it.

"Hey you." he says, smiling from underneath his hoodie. I can hardly see his eyes.

"Hey." I reply with a soft voice, wiping my face. Despite my tears, I already feel safer with him here.