"Jace, Jace! Wait up!" I called out to my little brother. I was walking back from lunch when I noticed Jace in the halls. I tried catching up to him, but he just walked faster, ignoring my calls.

"Goddamn it," I cursed under my breath.

I was about to turn back around, ready to give up, but he abruptly stopped in the middle of walking students and turned around to face me. He pressed his fingers against his forehead and let out a long sigh.

"What Dakota?" He rasped, his eyes boring into mine, finally giving in.

"What's going on with you? Are you okay?" I asked, worry taking over my features.

He gave out a humorless laugh. "God Dakota, can't you go one day without worrying about me? That's all you do, you protect me from mom like I'm a fucking child that needs to be saved from the big bad wolf. News flash, I think I'm old enough to handle her."

By this time, all the students have disappeared from the halls, leaving just him and I standing here alone. The students went into their class while we stood out here, only a few feet away from each other.

His words stung a little but I managed to keep a straight face. "What do you mean?"

"All you do is protect me and make sure I'm not hurt. I appreciate it, I really do, but don't you think I'm old enough to protect myself now?" He bellowed. "You saw yesterday, I was able to protect myself just fine."

"She hit you Jace!" I harshly whispered, rubbing my forehead in frustration, "Look, I'm just trying to help because I care about you. I don't want mom hurting you," I whispered the last part as my breathing became shallow.

"What if I don't want your fucking help?" He snapped, his eyes narrowing into slits.

I was taken aback. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I felt my feet sink into the floor.

"What's really going on Jace? Ever since mom came home last night, you've been acting so different," I hesitantly stated. There was no one roaming the halls so it was still just Jace and I standing here alone.

He shook his head before angrily stepping closer to me. "I'm old enough to-"

"What's going on here?"

Both of us whipped our heads to a teacher who was standing in the middle of the hall with her hands placed on her hips. I believe she is an English teacher for the upperclassman.

I looked at Jace who doesn't spare a glance, he's just looking directly at the teacher with his jaw clenched.

"Oh I'm sorry, my brother and I were talking about who was going to take him home today since I couldn't," I lied, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

She raised her eyebrow before hesitating. "Will do. Be quick and return to class when you're done. If I see you out here in the next five minutes, I'll write you up, got it?"

I just nodded my head as I watched her wobble back to her classroom. I turned around to face Jace, but he was already walking down the hallway with his head hung low as he gripped his backpack straps tightly.

"Fuck," I whispered to myself. I grabbed onto my hair and slightly pulled, frustrated with our conversation that went absolutely nowhere.

•~•~•

The ride home from school was pretty awkward. Jace and I didn't spare a glance and we didn't talk to each other. When we picked Liv up, it was only her and I talking to each other. Jace was either on his phone or looking out the window the whole time.

When we got home, Jace roughly threw his bag on the floor and went straight to his room. Liv and I played with her dolls for a bit before she went to her room to take a nap. She's been out for around 30 minutes so I've just been downstairs by myself.

I was sitting in the living room, reading a book, when I heard Jace yell from upstairs, followed by a crash. My body tensed as I heard another crash. I quickly rushed upstairs to see what the hell he was doing.

I reached Jace's room and shoved the door open. The first thing I noticed was paper scattered all around the floor, as if someone threw all their homework everywhere. I scanned the room and my eyes landed on Jace gripping his hair with his back face towards me. He was pacing around his room and my eyes widened as he groaned in frustration.

"Oh my god, Jace what happened?" I questioned as I motioned my hand to cover my mouth. He slowly turned around to reveal his tear brimmed eyes. His cheeks were rosy and he looked so exhausted. The way his body is slumped told me he wasn't doing well.

His eyes held a mix of sadness and anger. He lifted his head up and connected his gaze with mine. He was breathing heavily and he stumbled back. He broke our gaze and stared at the wall beside him. His fists were clenched at his sides and he slowly winded his arm back before connecting it with the wall.

I flinched as I watched his fist go through the drywall. It made a loud noise as he punched it again.

"Jace stop!" I yelled, quickly running over to him as I held his arm back so he didn't pound his fist into the wall again. I looked up and saw two gaping holes in the wall where his fist just went through them.

"Let me go," he hissed, but I didn't miss his voice breaking at the end of his sentence.

I looked down at his knuckles and realized blood was profusely dripping down his arm. His hand was busted as a dark purple bruise is forming around his knuckles.

He looked at me with tear filled eyes, looking the most vulnerable I've ever seen him. My gaze softened as I looked into my brother's eyes. One tear slowly slid down his cheek as he looked down, embarrassed to show his tears.

I watched as each tear fell down his cheeks every time he blinked. He brought his hand up to his mouth, choking back a sob.

"Jace," I said quietly, frowning as I watched my little brother break down.

He gives out a loud cry, finally breaking. I quickly wrapped my arms around him as I whispered reassuring things into his ears. He hugged me back, gripping on to my shirt tightly. Tears were falling one by one as violent sobs racked his body.

"I'm so sorry Dakota," he sobbed, clinging on to my shirt even tighter.

"Don't be sorry Jace, it's okay. It'll be okay," I whispered as his head fell into the crook of my neck. I wanted to cry as I watched my brother break down, finally letting go of all the emotions he's been holding in for so long.

"I was such a dick to you for no reason today. I was so mad at myself because I've just watched you get hurt by mom without even trying to stop her. I took it out on you for no fucking reason. All these years and I've never stood up to mom until yesterday, shows how pathetic I am huh? You stand up to her all the time and you get beat so bad Dakota. It should be me, not you" He gave a dry laugh. He looked up from my shoulder and I frowned as I watched another tear fall from his eyes. I released him as he took a step back.

He shook his head and wiped his own tears, then proceeded to sit on the edge of his bed. He sat down with his head in his hands, blood slowly dripping down his forearm. His right leg was moving up and down, anxious as he held onto his hair.

I went over and sat next to him as I stared at the wall in front of me, studying the holes he created. We sat in silence for a few moments before I continued, "You aren't pathetic, Jace. It's my decision to take all the blows from mom. You and Liv don't deserve to be put through that. Y'all are too young to even be dealing with half of this shit."

"So does that mean you deserve it then? You think you deserve to get hit by mom?" He asked, his voice rising in anger as he faced me.

I looked down at the carpet, too scared to meet his eyes. How was I supposed to tell him yes? After everything my mother has said to me, although it may not seem like it, it really does get to my head. The physical aspect of her abuse feels like a punishment for doing everything wrong.

The last time she beat me, she destroyed my whole body. It was only a few days ago that I found out my ribs were completely healed and all of my bruises faded a while ago. I felt like I deserved the beating for not living up to our mother's expectations.

I finally gained the courage and met his crystal blue eyes. He's looking over my face, trying to find any expression to give away how I truly feel.

"You don't really think that do you?" He whispered as his eyes furrowed in sorrow.

I numbly shook my head, not bothering to respond, because I know if I do, I'll spill everything I've been trying so hard to keep inside. I'm not going to burden him with how I feel, he's already stressed out enough so he doesn't need to worry about me.

He doesn't seem convinced, but goes along with it nonetheless. "I knew something was up today in the halls. That didn't seem like you."

He looked down at his knuckles which were now covered in dried up blood. "I just couldn't hold it in any longer. I was so mad at myself and all my emotions came crashing down at once and I took it out on the first person I talked to, which unfortunately was you."

"You know, it's okay to open up about how you feel. It doesn't make you any less strong. I hope you know that," I reassured.

He nodded his head, finally calming down. "Yeah I know, it's just hard sometimes. No one understands and when I try and tell them, they just brush it off like it's nothing."

"I understand, but if you need anyone to talk to, you know damn well I'll be right there to listen, and I would never brush it off like it's nothing," I smiled, the sadness seeping through my smile lines.

He hugged me one last time. "Thank you Dak," he mumbled into my hair, making the words sound distorted.

"Now let's clean your knuckles, yeah? I'll even help clean your room up."

He gave me a look filled with guilt, but just nodded his head. He knew I wasn't going to change my mind about helping him so he immediately agreed. We started picking up all the paper and placed it on his black desk. He mentioned that he threw his homework everywhere because he was so frustrated with himself that he threw the first thing he saw.

We finished cleaning Jace's room, placing the rest of his paper in the trash. After I threw away the last piece, we both lifted our gaze to study the holes in the wall. "Now what the fuck are we going to do about?"

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