Aleck takes a deep breath, his scowl digging further between his eyes, staking its claim on his beautiful face. He pulls away from me, stepping to the foot of the bed, and sits. Leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, he threads his fingers on both of his hands through his hair, resting with his head in his hands.

My entire body stiffens. I’ve never seen him so uncomfortable.

“He’s done a multitude of things, Winter.” The resonance of his tone making my heart ache. “At first, I fought back. I didn’t know how not to fight back, coming from where I came from. In my life, before the Fox’s took me in, if you didn’t fight, you didn’t eat, have blankets on your bed at night, survive. Somehow Hayden knew which buttons to press, which threats would make me fight for my life.”

He sighs, keeping his head hanging low in his hands. “He just kept fucking with me behind their backs, then pretended like I instigated all of it when I retaliated. He even gave himself a black eye one time, saying I gave it to him. And I had no ground to stand on. Of course they didn’t trust me yet. I was just some dirty, scrappy little shit who came from an abusive household. It would be weird if I weren’t giving their son hell.”

I amble toward him, stepping between his spread legs. I bend to my knees, resting on my folded legs, and slide my hands over his. He finally lifts his head, showing me his eyes. Fire singes the rims of his deep blue irises. A heavy weight seizes my heart, owning it, claiming it as its victim.

“One night, when I was about eleven, he came to my room and started beating me with his lacrosse stick while I slept. I sprang awake and my initial reaction was to take the stick and shove it up his ass. But then I realized, if I kept it up, they’d send me away. They wouldn’t want me in their home with their son. They’d realize his safety was at stake.”

Shaking his head, exhaustion adding weight to his expression. “I just wanted a bed, a room, regular meals, a better school…”

My bottom lip trembles. My throat grows thick with emotion, but I swallow it down and hold Aleck’s hands tighter.

“I wanted a family,” he whispers. “So, I stopped fighting. I just closed my eyes and took the beating.”

“You let him beat you up with a stick, Aleck?”

He nods, snorting a laugh. “It was child’s play compared to the beatings my birth-father would dish out, anyway. Hayden was so pissed I wouldn’t fight back that he hit me harder and harder. And when he was done he was drooling, snot running down his face, tears staining his cheeks, and I finally saw it: his hatred. He hated me. I didn’t know why, but in that moment, I didn’t care. I pushed myself up to sit the best I could, and I smiled with a mouthful of blood. I told him, ‘Do whatever you want to me. I won’t ever react again. Mom and dad hated you so much they came and found me, and now they’re mine, shithead.’ He may have lit the match, igniting the war between us, but I stoked the flames, making them uncontrollable.”