There was no confrontation. No shouting, no tears, no drama. Nothing.

Instead, my father left the room the second my mom had pointed at the photo and uttered a quiet: "Andrew... Is this really you?"

Afterwards my mother hadn't spoken a single word. Sitting there, silent and unmoving, she looked at the picture for minutes.

After a while, Alexis left her post by the door and walked out into the corridor, motioning for me to follow her. I glanced back at my dumbfounded mother one last time before I left the room.

Alexis was standing by the front door and handed me my jacket wordlessly. I shrugged it on as I made my way to her car, a small black Chevrolet.

I didn't ask where we were going. Truth be told, in that moment I didn't really care, as long as it was away from my parents.

Alex didn't try speaking to me and turned some music on instead. After a few seconds, I recognized Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N' Roses.

I raised a brow at her, but didn't comment. She just grinned and turned the volume higher, until I could feel the bass thrumming beneath my feet.

It was only after a few minutes that I realized where we were heading. "Really? To Nate's?"

Alexis shrugged, though her cheeks turned pink. "What? He told me to come over whenever I need him. Right now you do, so I don't think he will mind I if I extend his offer."

"How many times have you been here before without telling me?" I teased.

"A few times? But it's not like-" She interrupted herself and scowled at me. "Stop laughing! You and Hunter aren't much better."

I grinned. "Didn't say we were."

"Then stop looking so smug!"

"I'm just happy for you guys," I said honestly.

She was silent for a moment, smiling faintly. Suddenly, she asked: "Are you nervous about what your parents will do now?"

"I thought I would be, but I'm not. I'm just worried for Maya and what an impact this might have on her. But I don't regret it, if that's what you mean. Not after everything I went through because of my father."

"Maya will be fine," Alex said reassuringly. "She's got you. And she'll have Hunter."

"Does he like children?" I asked curiously. For some reason, I couldn't really imagine Hunter playing Barbie or drawing with Maya.

Alexis laughed. "They scare the hell out of him. But I'm sure he'll love your sister."

A grin spread on my face at the thought. "God, Maya will adore him. She usually latches onto any new friend coming over, but I feel like she'll love Hunter even more."

We pulled up in front of Nate's house only a few minutes later. His parents' car was nowhere to be seen, which I took as a sign they weren't at home.

Nate opened the door after the first knock. He wasn't wearing anything other than some sweatpants that were hanging low on his hips. His hair looked slightly wet from the shower he had apparently just had, and drop of water was still glistening on his slender torso.

"Hey, man," he said as he saw me, a surprised look on his face. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered and stepped aside so he could see Alexis behind me. "Coming here was actually her idea."

Nate's face flushed bright red as soon as he spotted her. "Oh, h-hey, Alex. Sorry, let me just, uh..." he stammered and nearly tripped over his own feet in his hurry to run upstairs.

Alexis was grinning widely as I winked at her and followed Nate into his room in the attic.

He was just pulling a tank top over his head as we entered.

"Didn't need to put that on," Alex said innocently, studying her nails as she perched on his desk.

Nate looked like he was about to faint where he was leaning against the door, so I cut in with: "Sometimes I forget that you and Hunter have been friends forever and wonder where these phrases are coming from. Then I remember and I'm not surprised at all."

"You don't even know half of it," Nate snorted. "Sometimes I'm one hundred percent convinced she's trying to give me a heart attack."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'd never do that," Alexis said. After a second she added: "Not before prom. I need a date."

"Please. You could have anyone," Nate replied, not looking happy about this fact in the slightest.

The mocking look on her face slowly morphed into a genuinely sincere one. "And what makes you think I want anyone else when I can have an adorable, song writing, hilarious, mix-tape making, gorgeous, clever guitarist?" she asked.

Nate stared at her like she had just grown a second head. Then he suddenly crossed the room at lightning speed and the next thing I knew was that he was kissing Alexis like his life depended on it.

I grimaced and flopped onto his bed face first.

After what felt like hours, I felt the mattress dip and dared to look up at Alex and Nate sitting down on each side of me, looking more than a little dishevelled.

"Speaking of prom," Alexis said as if nothing had happened, while simultaneously smoothing her hair down with one hand. "Jules might be able to be there tomorrow."

Nate looked at me in surprise, so I quickly recounted everything that had happened today to him. Afterwards we talked and talked and talked. About my parents, about tomorrow, about next year, everything.

The longer we talked, the stranger the atmosphere around us got. It was full of anticipation and anxiety, hope and nervousness, yet no one dared to say it out loud.

The quiet before the storm.

+++

I returned home alone the next day. Alexis, Nate and I had gone to school together after spending half the night sitting together on Nate's bed, so I only returned late in the afternoon.

Anxiety was making my heart race as I stepped through the front door, curious to know what my mother had decided to do in my absence. Turned out, she hadn't done anything at all.

I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when she told me: "I don't know what to do, Jules. He hasn't been home all night. I know that he'll return this evening though, he called and said I better decide what to do until then."

"Don't tell me you consider forgiving him. Mom, he lied to you. He lied to all of us. Hell, who knows for how long he has been cheating? Maybe this isn't even the first time," I said, leaning against the kitchen table and looking down at her sitting in her chair.

She took her glasses off slowly and placed them onto the table in front of her with shaking hands. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face pale. "Juley, I know that you're angry at him-"

"Aren't you?" I interrupted her harshly. "Mom, what he did, it wasn't... It wasn't okay. Are you just going to completely disregard that and pretend nothing happened so you can stay with him? So you have someone to make decisions for you and tell you what to do? Are you really that much of a child?"

Mom winced like I had punched her and looked down at her intertwined fingers. "You're not being fair. It's not that easy, he-"

I felt my patience wearing thin as I looked at her pathetic, pitiful figure. She looked at me with wide eyes when I tightly gripped her hand and held it up to her face so she could see her wedding ring still glittering there. "Yes, mom, it is that easy. He cheated on you. Where do you think he is right now? Where he spent the night?"

"Oh god," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "You think he was... with her?"

Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at her naivety, I said: "Yes, mom. And you know that's not the only thing he's done wrong in the last few months."

"Juley, I know you're upset about the way he treated you. But, you must understand, he had his reasons-"

"Are you really still defending him?" I asked incredulously.

But before I could get an answer out of her, the door opened with a bang and in stomped my father. I didn't even have the time to duck away before his hand shot forward and grabbed me by my collar.

"There you are," he hissed. "What are you telling your mother, huh? Haven't you done enough already?"

"You're still here, so apparently not," I ground out and glared back at him.

"Watch your fucking mouth," he barked. "Or I'll-"

I forced myself to raise my chin and look him in the eye. "What? What are you going to do? Hit me? Like you hit Luke?"

My father's face immediately paled and his grip on my shirt loosened just enough for me to break away. I stumbled back to bring some space between us as soon as he did.

"What? What does that mean?" my mother suddenly stuttered. When I turned around to her, she was slowly getting to her feet.

"It's nothing, Linda," he snapped. "You can't believe a single word coming out of his mouth."

Meanwhile, I was still trying to process the new information. "Really, dad? You never told her?"

"Shut up," he answered, just as my mother asked: "Told me what?"

"He hit Luke. Not just once, but every time Luke made the tiniest mistake and you weren't around. When he came home later than ten. When he got anything worse than a C on an exam. When he forgot to do one of his chores at home. Do you want me to go on?" I asked, swallowing hard as I remembered all of the evenings when I had entered Luke's room only to find him sitting on his bed with new bruises or another ice pack pressed to his face.

My mother's skin turned ashen. "His black eyes... all those bruises... I thought they were because he was bullied at school..."

"Really, mom? You never bothered to ask?" When she shook her head in shame, I said, sharp enough to make her flinch: "See, that's your problem. You don't ask or talk. You never talked to Luke about what was going on. You completely stopped speaking to me after you found out about Hunter. You knew that something was up with dad, but you never inquired. You'd rather believe in lies than know the truth, and that's just one of the things that has ruined this family."

"Oh my god," she whimpered, pressing a hand to her mouth. "I'm the reason he... he..."

"Killed himself?" I asked harshly. "No, you're not. You're just one more small factor. Luke wasn't okay, but it was dad who pushed him over the edge."

"I didn't fucking kill my son!" my father yelled, red-faced and spluttering spit.

"Yeah, dad, you did. And you know what, if it wasn't for my friends and Hunter... maybe you could have killed me too."

Next to me my mother made an animalistic sound somewhere between a whine and a whimper. "Andrew... Is what he's saying true?"

My father didn't respond. Instead he lunged forward and, before I could get away, pushed me up against the wall behind me. I suppressed a groan when my back slammed against it and forced myself to look him in the eye when he closed in on me.

"If you say one more word to your mother-"

I ignored his warning and craned my neck to look at mom over his head. "Do you see what he's doing? Do you even care?" I asked. There was a desperation in my tone that I hoped my father didn't pick up on.

My mother stood frozen in shock, not moving and not saying anything to defend me.

"I said shut up!" my father growled, shaking me so hard my teeth chattered.

I wasn't sure if it was a lack of survival instincts or plain stupidity that made me say: "You said If you say one more word to your mother."

My father responded by raising one hand.

I pressed my eyes shut and held my breath, waiting for the blow that was sure to come. When it didn't, I slowly dared to open my eyes.

What I saw was something I had never expected in my wildest dreams. My mother was holding onto his wrist, keeping him from hitting me. Her knuckles were white with effort, even though my father wasn't even trying to shake her off. Instead, he was staring at her in utter confusion.

"Don't touch him," my mother said. It was quiet and timid, but it was the first time in years that I had heard her give a direct command to my father.

"Sorry?" my father asked, his voice threateningly low. "What did you just say?"

"I said: Don't touch him," my mother repeated, louder this time. "I'm not going to let you hit him."

"Really? What are you going to do about it?" he sneered.

"I will call the police."

"You wouldn't," my father laughed. I wasn't sure if it was imagination, or if he really sounded nervous.

"Oh yes, I would," mom said firmly and grabbed her phone from the table, dialling three digits. "If you don't let go of my son right this second, I'm going to call the police for child abuse."

For a few seconds, all my father did was stare at her in disbelief. Then I slowly felt his fingers easing the grip on my shirt.

My mother gripped my wrist and pulled me behind her to shield me from him as soon as he stepped back took a step away from me. "Get out of here," she then said, voice trembling.

"What are talking ab-"

"Get out of here!" she suddenly screamed, high-pitched and piercing, making both my father and me jump. "Pack your things and go. If I see you here one more time then, so help me God, I will take this to court!"

"Fine," he spat. "I don't need you, either of you. You pathetic, spineless, disgusting-"

"Get out," my mother and I hissed at the same time.

He didn't need to be asked twice. After he stormed out of the kitchen, we heard him rummaging around upstairs for a while. Then his steps stomped down the stairs and out of the front door, leaving us alone in tense silence.

"Thank you," I eventually whispered.

My mother cupped my cheek with one slightly trembling hand and tilted my head to look at her tear-streaked face. "I'm so sorry, baby. So, so sorry."

I didn't hug her or kiss her cheek or tell her that it was okay. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to do that, after everything that had happened. So for the moment, I answered with a small smile.

"Do you want to... order take-away and watch a movie?" my mother whispered.

I knew what it was; an apology, an attempt at reconciliation. Nevertheless, I shook my head. "I can't. I need to do something tonight and I need you to let me go."

"Are you going to see that boy?"

"Yes."

She looked at me sadly. Then she suddenly reached into her pocket and handed me her keys. "Okay. Drive safely."

"Are you seri- Thank you, mom," I breathed before I rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room to get dressed.

+++

I could hear the music as soon as my feet hit the concrete of the school's parking lot. My heart was racing faster than the beat shaking the gym to its core.

The closer I got to the building, the more distinct the noises got, until I could actually hear the voice of Kathy from the prom committee announcing prom king and queen.

I broke into a sprint as I heard Hunter's name and burst through the doors into the crammed hall. Inside it was too stuffy and too loud and I would've really rather turned around and left as fast as I had come. But knowing that Hunter was somewhere in here was enough motivation for me to start pushing my way up to the front where the stage was located, using my elbows and apologizing a dozen times.

"Well, well, well, Hunter. You don't look too happy. Does it get boring to be elected every year?" Kathy joked, her voice crackling through the speakers. "Well, the election for prom queen is just as unsurprising. Victoria, come up here!"

"I'm sorry, could you just... If you'd step away for a moment... Thank you so much," I muttered, trying to make my way to the stage as fast as possible.

From where I was, I could see Victoria walking up the steps to the stage, all the while smiling and waving. My eyes followed her until she came to a stop next to Kathy.

It was only then that I spotted him. Hunter was standing with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants. He hadn't bothered with a tie or a jacket and was simply wearing a white shirt that was partly unbuttoned, his brown hair tousled and falling into his eyes. He looked completely disinterested as he watched Victoria walk up to him. The only thing giving his disdain away was the corner of his lips twitching downwards, but I doubted anyone else noticed it.

"Now, as it is tradition, the king and queen will have the first dance of the night," Kathy cheered obnoxiously and took a step back so that Hunter and Victoria were in the centre of attention.

Victoria smirked at him as she took a step closer, holding a hand out for him. Hunter stared blankly at her, not moving an inch. She said something, to which he only replied with the quirk of an eyebrow.

It was then that I finally got through to the front of the crowd. For a second, I wasn't sure what to do, now that I was here.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt myself running towards the stage, up the steps, up to him.

I heard a few confused shouts as to what I was doing, but all of them blurred into insignificant background noise when Hunter's eyes met mine. His lips parted and whispered something, maybe my name, maybe something else, I didn't know.

Victoria heard him and spun around to me with a look that was the epitome of bewilderment and stepped forward as if to shield Hunter from me.

I didn't even look at her as I shoved her out of my way.

In that moment, I didn't care that the entire school was watching us. I didn't care about Kathy telling me to get off the stage, or about Victoria's indignant outcry.

All that mattered was Hunter stepping forward to meet me when I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into a kiss.

His arms wrapped around me almost immediately, holding me so tightly I could feel his heart racing against my chest, beating in time with mine. This time when he kissed me back what I felt weren't just sparks, but a full-blown firework.

"You're here," Hunter breathed against my cheek, holding my face between his hands like he had to touch me to make sure that I was there, that this was real. "Alex told me you might come, but I didn't expect... I didn't think you'd- God, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, my hands coming up to encircle his wrists. "Everything's fine."

"Everything?" Hunter asked carefully.

"Everything."

I could feel his incredulous smile against my lips when he pulled me into another kiss after only a second, and after a second I had to smile as well.

Through the speakers, I could hear Kathy telling us to knock it off already, this wasn't part of the program and what did we think we were doing? But a few seconds, later I heard a fifth pair of shoes climbing up the stage, and then Alexis' voice booming out of the speakers, telling Kathy to shut up and drink some punch to loosen up.

Hunter chuckled against my lips, then his mouth travelled to my ear to whisper: "We should get out of here."

I nodded, still catching my breath, and finally dared to look at the crowd below us. Most people were cheering, grinning and wolf-whistling, but there also were a few sour faces who were staring at me with blatant jealousy.

My cheeks immediately caught on fire, but Hunter looked unconcerned as he slipped his hand into mine and pulled me off the stage.

Liam and Emily were already waiting for us outside, sitting on the curb together. Emily immediately jumped to her feet and ran towards me.

I couldn't really hug her back due to Hunter refusing to let go of my hand, but she didn't seem bothered by that and held me for at least a