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Whoohoo, finished this chapter a whole week earlier than I thought I would. Lucky me! :3

Whelp, hope you all enjoy it very much!

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Nathan's P.O.V.

The first thing my eyes perceived after seeing Caitlyn's screaming form, was Aiden's father, whose back was facing me. His hair was devilish, locks sticking up in all directions, as if he had run his fingers wildly through his hair with no care for proper appearance. His clothes were messy as well, and a strong fragrance of alcohol wafted from him, causing my nose to scrunch up in disgust. An invisible pressure seemed to emit from him, that I hadn't felt earlier. It was full of anger and hate. It felt heavy and weighed down the air around me, suffocating me. 

As my eyes traveled past Aiden's father, they locked onto Aiden. It was at this moment when the temperature dropped and everything seemed to freeze around me. My eyes widened with shock and my mouth parted as the air in my lungs rushed out of me in one fell swoop.

Aiden was pressed up against the wall, body slightly raised off the ground by the hands that gripped at his throat; the tips of his shoes barely brushed against the floor as he struggled, kicking them in an attempt to escape his father's grasp. Even hitting his father seemed to do no good in causing him to loosen his grip on Aiden. It was as if his father felt no pain.

Aiden's body convulsed continuously as he frantically tried to suck in air, but the hands that wrung tightly around his neck prevented him from doing so. Two trails of tears stained a path down his cheeks, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

His hands that were latched onto the arms of his father, nails digging deeply into his skin, drawing blood, seemed to weaken in its grip as the energy to fight drained quickly from Aiden. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before he succumbed, the shadow of death practically knocking on his door.

My breath halted in my throat as Aiden's eyes pleaded for his father to stop, pleaded for help, and pleaded to live to see another day. A deep rage filled me to the brim when I saw this, causing my body to shake uncontrollably and the world around me to turn red as it felt like I was about to snap under the pressure of my intense emotions. My blood began to boil, and a ringing formed in my ear, like white noise from a T.V., as all other sounds around me seemed to dull down. Even his mother's desperate cries felt drowned out and nearly nonexistent, compared to this high-pitched wail that echoed within my mind.

My heart thumped loudly against my chest, increasing in intensity as the seconds flew by and the longer I remained frozen by this sight.

As I stared unblinking at Aiden's face, which bulged and turned bright red under the force exerted upon him from his father chokehold; and as I watched as his expression filtered from one of pain, then to sorrow mixed with anger, and then to a resignation of fate, as if he had come to accept the fact that he was going to die, something inside me seemed to finally snap and the reality of the situation in which I found myself in, came crashing into me, nearly knocking me flat on my back.

All of a sudden, the yells of Caitlyn blared in the background, almost painfully so, as it was no longer the whisper I heard it as earlier; and the deranged blabber coming out of Aiden's father's mouth became tangible, accompanied by the sound of Aiden's final wheezing gasps for life, hit me hard.

My own mouth opened as a deafening roar erupted from me, bellowing out from deep within my chest. A releasement of the pent up rage and tension that had accumulated within me.

"Let him go!" I yelled as I rushed forward.

My arm reached out and I snatched up the first solid form of weapon I could find, which turned out to be a picture of Aiden with his mother and father beside him incased in a wooden frame, from on top of the dresser by the door. My hand tightly gripped onto the cool object as I flung my arm down forcefully, my aim directed at the back of Mr. White's head.

A savage glint flashed through my eyes as the corner of the frame smashed violently against his temple with a dull thud. His head snapped to the side and a low grunt of pain escaped his lips the moment the blow landed on him, and the hands that held onto Aiden loosed at once after a slight tremble and Aiden fell onto the floor with a loud crash, unconscious. It is unknown what his condition is at this moment.

Caitlyn's cries came to an abrupt halt as a shocked gasp sounded from her within the next second. She covered her mouth with her hands as she stared wide-eyed down at Aiden, her gaze then hesitantly moved to her husband, who staggered around in confusion, his hand pressed gently onto the side of his head, where the frame had impacted.

I dropped the frame and said, "Go check on Aiden and get the police on the line, now," urgently to Caitlyn as I watched Mr. White stumble a few feet before managing to regain his balance enough to be able to turn around face me. His eyes were unfocused, still dazed and sluggish from my attack, and his expression was one of anger and pain, no doubt hurting from the force of the blow. His mouth opened and his brows furrowed, as if he was going to say something, but no words came out.

The hand which cradled his head dropped, revealing a small cut along his temple, where blood seeped out at a slow pace and crawled down the side of his face.

"Who...?" He finally managed to sputter, his eyes squinting as he focused his attention onto me, only for them to enlarge as he came to recognize my face. His lips pulled back as he bared his teeth at me in anger and his arm raised as he pointed a trembling finger my way, seeming to forget all about the pain from his injury in his rage, even the dullness to his nerves that came from his consumption of alcohol burned away as he became sober. "You!" He hissed with contempt.

"Yeah, me asshole," I snapped back, my hands forming into fists as I stared with intensity at him, my face blackened by my anger.

Mr. White's face turned bright red as he struggled to suppress his rage. "Y-y-you're the faggot that corrupted my son's head!"

"Son?" I sneered, scoffing at him as if I found the word itself to be the most absurd thing I've ever heard of. "What right do you have to call yourself his father, just look at what you did to him? You think you can call yourself his father after that, huh?"

Mr. White sputtered a few times, seeming unable to control his anger as he glared hatefully at me, looking ready to snap any second. "You shut the fuck up faggot, I can do whatever I want with him, he's my son! And if I want to discipline him for making foolish decisions, then I will," he shouted furiously, eyes spitting fire.

"You almost killed him you fucking idiot! That's not discipline, that's attempted murder!"

"How about I kill you!" He spat out venomously, murderous intent flashing within the depths of his eyes. As my words struck true and sound.

"I'd like to see you try," I growled back, my hands itching to start something with him, to attack with all my might and dispel the heavy rage that filled me onto his face in the form of a trough beating. However, intuition told me to remain cautious, so I hesitated to move, feeling tense, ready to react if confrontation between the two of us were to happen at any given moment.

I couldn't afford to be blinded by my rage at this time, there was too much at stake. Not only do I have no way of knowing to what bounds he would go to, to harm me and keep me silent, but I also still needed to buy time for Caitlyn. I was unsure whether or not she had already contacted the police, or was currently still doing so. 

And I had the feeling that if I were to show the slightest concern or let my concentration waver towards Caitlyn, then this would immediately attract Mr. Whites attention, and there was a slight chance that he would then target Caitlyn or Aiden.

I could not let this happen.

So, I had to keep his eyes on me at all times until the police arrived. I could only hope that he would not become a complete madman once they showed up at this houses doorstep.

Mr. White's eyes flashed with deep hatred as he took a threatening step forward, seeming ready to make his move, and my body tensed as I prepared to counter. It was at this moment when a loud gasp, followed by a round of intense coughing, sounded from behind me.

Both Mr. White and I froze, and my expression turned ugly as Mr. White's eyes flickered over to Aiden. Although I was immensely relieved that Aiden was alright, it seems like I was the only one feeling this way.

Mr. White's gaze began to burn fiercely, the look in them anything but good, and a sneer spread along his face as he bared his teeth in disgust at the sight of his son being fine after all that he had done to him. It seemed he was displeased that he had not actually managed to take Aiden's life away, as from this speculation alone, it was easy to tell how much hatred he had gathered towards his very own son.

My emotions became mixed as feelings of sadness, as well as anger swelled in me. Sorrow for the fact that a father could come to hate his own son over something as stupid as someone's sexual orientation, and anger for the fact that he wanted to kill Aiden because of this.

I could not comprehend why he felt such resentment towards Aiden, or even to anyone who liked someone of the same sex. My mind could not wrap around such a feat as I myself felt no problem with someone liking the same sex.

In the end, such thoughts quickly escaped my mind as it was not the time to ponder such deep questions when I neither knew the specificities of his thoughts on the matter, or his background that could have possibly influenced such thoughts.

Instead, I focused my attention back onto the situation at hand and moved my body so that I was standing in front of Aiden, a clear indication that Mr. White would no sooner have to go through me to get to Aiden. My eyes issued a challenge as I dared him to try and get past me, as I had enough confidence in myself in the fact that I would be able to at least block him from charging towards Aiden if a fight broke out.

My blatant movement and intent were clearly caught by Mr. White's as his expression grew darker as his rage seemed to grow ever stronger due to this action of mine.

"Why do you protect him?!" He then shouted, his expression ferocious, eyes blazing with uncertainty and anger, as it seemed like my actions threatened him more than he was willing to admit. It also seemed like he was just as confused with my mindset, as I was with his.

He similarly could not understand why I was willing to risk my life to save Aiden's. He could not understand why I choose to discard the 'path of God' like this, for Aiden, a 'sinner' for liking the opposite sex.

These actions were absurd and thought to be a sin itself, even if he knew that I too was a 'sinner', he could still not accept my actions, it bewildered him to the extreme.

He believed that there was no reason for me to do this.

And yet, here I stood.

Ready...

Determined...

To protect Aiden... 

No matter the cost, even if the price I had to pay, was my very own life.

"You ask why?" I hesitated, and a soft chuckle soon escaped me as the tension seemed to release from my body due to this question of his.

My eyes grew calm, and my expression gentle as I turned my head, my gaze landing onto Aiden, who sat, with his back supported by the wall. His face lined with exhausted, but his eyes remained alert and wary as he stared at his father and I, rubbing lightly at his bruised neck, where red marks formed from how tight his father's hands had been clutching his neck.

Caitlyn sat by Aiden's side, her expression nervous and worried as she too stared at the two of us, unsure of what was going to happen next.

When my eyes landed on Aiden, he blinked up at me, and reflected in his eyes were an array of emotions, each one clearly visible to me. They were filled with relief and happiness at the sight of me, and fear and dread towards his father from having barely survived the grip of death.

I stared at him for a good while, my eyes scanning lovingly over his entire being repeatedly, as if I couldn't get enough of seeing that he was fine and knowing that I had been here in time to stop his father from signing his death certificate. A tenderness formed on my face as I did this, that seemed to ease away the tension and worry that was displayed on Aiden. Then, with a flick of my eyes, my attention focused back onto Aiden's father, and a small, knowing smile crept along my face.

"You ask why, but you see, my reason for doing this is actually very simple," I said, my voice steady and unhurried as I stared down at Mr. White, causing him to grow more uncomfortable with each passing second. My shoulder's squared as I pushed them back and puffed out my chest proudly, my gaze growing resolute as I answered him. "There is only one reason I would do all this for Aiden, Mr. White, and that is... because I love him."

My heart thumped wildly as I said this, and my gaze grew hot as I knew that what I had just said was anything but a lie. I really did love Aiden. At first, I had tried to deny these feelings for him, tried to tell myself that I no longer felt that way towards him after what had happened in the past. But now, as I said these words out loud, I knew I could no longer think that way, as those thoughts had just been my pathetic attempt to mask my true feelings.

And it seems my feelings solidified as I realized this truth. It seemed like I had finally come to terms with myself and these feelings, and a sensation of becoming at peace spread through me because of this. All my previous burdens and worries disappeared within a matter of seconds, and my conscious grew clear.

However, Mr. White's face soured when I said this, as if he could not accept this truth, no doubt his bias getting the better of him again.

This caused me to frown with anger. My hands then clenched tightly into balled fists as my eyes hardened.

"Let me ask you something now," I began, startling Mr. White and his eyes sharpened as he gazed at me. "What is so different from you and me? Why does the fact that I love your son as something more than just friends, make me so different from you? We are both human. Both capable of love. The only difference is who we choose to love. But is this choice of ours really as despicable as you wish to make it out to be?" I finished softly, my voice downcast with sadness.

Surprise flashed through Mr. White's face, before his expression turned dark, and an internal struggle exploded forth from within his eyes. A minute went by, and Mr. White opened his mouth, his face carefully blank. It looked as if he was going to finally say something in response to my question, and anticipation ran through me as I attentively waited for him to speak.

Unfortunately, before he could, the wail of sirens sounded from off in the distance.

A breath of relief escaped me when I heard them, and I closed my eyes as I knew that I had managed to hold off until the end.

The police had finally arrived.

I couldn't tell though, if I should consider this timing fortunate or not. 

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