Jake Brockman sat alone upstairs with his curtains drawn and his room in darkness. He was thinking about how he compared to his younger siblings Ben, who was eleven, and Karen who was eight. Jake often felt excluded, and although he never showed his emotions, especially to his parents Pete and Sue, he had become very unhappy and depressed. He felt as though he was not noticed or loved by his parents, and his relationship with his father especially had become very vague and estranged. This may have been a cause of his unnoticed depression, and although he was very happy at school underneath it all he was sad. He had become extremely popular and was in a band, and had even got lucky to have a sixteen year old girlfriend who was a year older than him. However his life at home with his family was a different story.

As he sat on his bed with his headphones in he heard the phone ring. His mum and Ben had gone out, but they should've been back by now; it was a late December Friday night. The phone continued to ring, and when he grew tired of listening to it he got up to answer it, which was something his neither father nor sister was going to do. He answered to the familiar voice of his mother:

"Hello?"

"Jake? Is that you?"

"Yeah, mum it's me. What's up, you sound worried?" Jake could sense the tone of anxiety in his mother's voice, and could hear her cracking up into tears.

"Oh, Jake! There's been an awful accident! I need you to tell dad to meet me at the hospital as soon as he can." Sue said in a rushed and upset tone.

"Woa, mum slow down! What's happened?" Jake asked sounding even more worried by the second.

"It's Ben. You remember when Karen was run down by a car, but she was alright? Well the same thing has happened to him only much, much worse!" She said, bursting into tears. "We were walking back to the car from parents' evening and he just stepped out into a car. He hit the windscreen and flew back onto the road and was unconscious. The ambulance came and I'm in hospital with him now but they're saying that he may not make it!"

Jake stood in silence for a moment, waiting for it to sink in. His brother was in hospital in a coma, possibly dying. He felt his eyes well up with tears, but he had to be strong. "Okay mum, just stay calm, I'll tell dad to come down as soon as possible. Do you want me and Karen to come?"

"No, I think it's best for you both to stay away, especially Karen."

"Okay. I'll tell him now."

"Thanks Jake." Sue said through sobs. She hung up. Jake stood there stunned. He wondered how he was going to tell Pete. Suddenly he felt his cheeks become wet as tears fell without him noticing. Slowly he trudged downstairs to see Pete in the hallway clearing things away.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you." Jake started through heavy breaths.

"Can't you see I'm busy Jake?" Pete said, his back turned.

"It's important!" Jake snapped. Pete turned around.

"Don't talk to me like that!" he said icily. "It'll have to wait." Something in Jake suddenly snapped, as he felt anger and hurt boil up inside him.

"Ben's in a bloody coma you selfish idiot!" he yelled. "He got hit by a car like Karen did last year, only he's in a much more life threatening condition, and the doctors don't know if he'll make it or not."

Pete stood there staring at his son, stunned. He was angry at Jake for yelling at him and for being so rude but then his words sunk in; 'Ben's in a bloody coma you selfish idiot!' "What?! Where's Sue?" Pete shouted.

"If you had just bloody well let me explain she's in the hospital and wants you to meet her as soon as possible!" Jake yelled back. He was furious now, and was also shaking with sadness, anger, fear and hurt. "If you had just paid attention to the fact that I was crying in front of you for the first time in years then maybe you would have known that something was wrong you stupid idiot!"

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Pete roared, towering over his eldest son. "You selfish brat, don't you dare twist this on me! Your brother is in hospital for god's sake! And all you care about is the fact that I don't care that you're upset!" Pete was shaking with anger, but he was also upset about hearing the news of Ben. "All you ever care about is yourself, and you know what Jake? I really don't give a damn about you being upset right now, I've got to go and see Ben."

Pete tried to push past Jake, but he stood his ground. He fought back angry tears, and stood there blocking his father's path. "You think this is about me? You think I only care about myself? You know what dad? I DON'T! I care about Ben a lot, okay? And it has nothing to with if you don't care that I'm upset or not, because I know that you really don't give a shit! I know you hate me, and I know that I don't compare to Ben and Karen but right now all I care about is Ben, alright?" Jake had never felt so angry and upset like this before, and he had never sworn like that in front of his dad before. He stood there in front of his dad, waiting for a response. Every desire to break down and cry had gone, now he was just livid and hurt by the fact that his father hated him so much.

"How dare you yell and swear at me like that." Pete said in an angry whisper. "How dare you, you selfish uncaring little shit."

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH YOU SELFISH MOTHER FUCKER?!" Jake screamed, no longer caring about what he did or said to his father. However, what came next shocked both of them. Pete raised his fist and punched Jake so hard in the face that he flew back into the wall and smashed his head hard against it. Jake stood there, stunned, as he put a hand to his bleeding nose, and slowly slid down the wall to the floor. His eye had gone black and his nose bled painfully. The back of his head had also been cracked from the impact of hitting the wall. He couldn't hold it back now. Jake silently started to cry as he backed himself into a corner in fear. He tucked his legs up and shank beneath Pete.

Pete stood there starring at his eldest son covered in blood. He no longer looked like a popular fifteen year old lad, but more like a frightened little boy. Pete couldn't believe himself. He would never hurt any of his children, ever. But now he saw Jake crying on the floor in the corner looking up at him with hurt and angry blue eyes. Pete would never be able to forgive himself. How could he hit Jake like that? Or even yell at him like he did? Pete walked over to Jake and knelt down beside him. He raised a hand to wipe away the blood but Jake flinched away. Suddenly he felt Jake's foot kick him extremely hard in the gut, and he fell backwards. He saw the boy flash past him and up the stairs. "Jake, wait!" he shouted trying to hold back his own tears. It was no use. His son had gone, and he was never going to win him back. He loved Jake so much, and yet he had just hurt him in such an unforgivable way. Pete sadly left the house and drove away to the hospital. He needed to meet Sue and see Ben.

Neither Pete nor Jake had noticed the little pair of eyes watching the entire argument that had just passed...

Jake lay on his bed in the darkness sobbing. How could his own father do this to him? He felt blood rapidly trickling down his face and onto the sheets and into his mouth. He felt sick and dizzy from where he had hit his head against the wall and could feel blood on the back of his head. Never had he felt so vulnerable and weak, and also embarrassed as he had just been floored by his own father and had simply broken down right before him like a child. So all he had questioned over the last couple of years had been true; his father really did hate him. Jake lay there in pain and despair, when suddenly he heard his bedroom door creak open...