Chapter Text
Jax slowly walks down the stairs as the sun shines through the house, peaking through the windows and leaving small streaks of rainbows onto the carpet in the living room. His dad isn't in his usual spot on the couch due to a special occasion. As Jax heads into the living room he peeks into the kitchen through the small hallway that connects the two rooms, seeing the table with a box that looks like it could hold a cake inside, but instead of excitement Jax knows this is just a ploy to make his father feel better about what's going on.
Jax straightens his posture, focuses on pushing his emotions far away from his face so his father doesn't know what he's thinking. “Fuck… whatever.” Jax whispers to himself as he enters the kitchen, his dad slumped over on the chair at the end of the table, as far as possible from Jax and the cake. The two men stare at each other, not a word is said as Jax slowly approaches the table curious about the box on the table. His dad notices the curiosity and a huge grin stretches across his face as he points to the box with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. “Go ahead Jax, open the box. I’m sure you’re dying to know what's inside.
Jax stares at his dad, clearly drunk out of his mind on a Wednesday morning. Hesitantly, he sighs “do I want to open this box or would you rather just tell me what you want out of me?” Jax's dad did not like that, his grin fades quickly and he slams his bottle onto the table and raises his chest clearly trying to intimidate his son. “Come the fuck on Jax! Open the god damn box. You should be excited, it's your eighteenth birthday!” He yells, still keeping holding the bottle tight. “I don't give a shit about what’s in the box dad, its going to be some stupid letter telling me how much you fucking hate me or something and I just don’t care!” His dad stands up out of the chair aggressively, causing Jax to instinctively step back. “It’s not a letter son, open the box.” His voice cold, intimidating, and commanding leaving Jax to freeze up putting his hands on the outside of the box.
He notices his fathers grin appear again as he slowly lifts the box, he peeks into the slightly open part to see a familiar feline paw. Jax gasps and jumps back from the table and stares at his dad who has started laughing maniacally. “No… No, no…” Jax feels his face go pale, his eyes start to get heavier, he stares at the box. “I told you you’d like it!” The paw fills his mind. Jax feels something inside him break away from him, leaving nothing but pain behind. He looks back at his dad with fear. “You should have seen your stupid little-”
*Blink*
Jax stares at himself in the mirror sobbing as the water runs in the sink beneath him, his father banging on the outside of the bathroom door screaming. “Open this fucking door right now! You were always so pathetic, running away from everything! Fuck you Jax and open the fucking door!” Jax stares at the mirror, his eyes red, his fur stained with tears, he feels like he's fighting for air as he gasps for each breath. He feels himself getting lighter yet feeling so heavy, he looks at his hands then back at the mirror.
A shattering sound echoes through the bathroom as glass falls all over the sink and floor, the banging stops for only a moment before restarting louder than before. Jax stares at the now broken mirror then at his hand which is now stuck with glass, blood drips off his hand and onto the floor as he listens in to his dad once again. “JAX! JAXXX! WHAT DID YOU DO IN THERE, OPEN THE DOOR OR I WILL KICK IT DOWN! GOD DAMNIT YOU ARE SUCH A MISERABLE BAG OF-”
*Blink*
Jax stares up at his dad who's been beating his face in with the bottle of alcohol he was drinking earlier at the table. His hand is still bleeding and laced with glass shards as he watches his dad pull back for another swing of the bottle. With another hit Jax’s vision goes blurry, he feels the blood crawling down his face from his nose and mouth. With another hit the bottle shatters on Jax’s face, covering his face with alcohol.
Jax’s father looks at the now broken bottle and throws it to the side yelling something at Jax before grabbing him by the ears and dragging him to the front door of the house. Being barely conscious Jax can't resist, but the pain is surely there. Jax’s father opens the door and throws him outside, Jax stares at his dad as he tries to get to his feet not saying anything but hearing the last sentence before he slams the door on him. “If you ever return here son, I will rip your god damn throat out, you-”
*Blink*
Jax wakes up on his floor, covered in sweat, mouth dry, and surrounded by trash. He looks around his apartment and realizes he's more miserable now than he was back then. “Why do you do this to me?” He says quietly as he stares up at the ceiling, picking himself up as he walks through the trash in his apartment and into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. “Gross as ever Jax, happy twentieth birthday fucker.”