~Author's Note~

Now newly re-written. But since this is an older story please excuse my writing if it still reads a little odd; I simply fixed the plot. A huge thank you for all of the views, reviews, follows and favorites this has gotten. To any new readers—I hope you enjoy!

Rated Teen just to be safe but also for minor violence, very little past child abuse, some language, mentions of substance abuse and bits of romance.

Notes: This takes place sometime during Season 2 of the show and is based off the song God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton (song lyrics removed for safety).

- W E A K -

Jack sighed as he heard yelling from downstairs, curses were being shot back and forth between his parents. He muted his TV and listened in on their 'conversation'.

"How. Dare You." Jack's father roared at the woman, causing her to flinch a little. "I have been working my ass off for you and our ungrateful son! How do I get repaid? By coming home to a mess and a damn son who doesn't give a shit!"

"Johnny—"

"Shut up Mary!"

The fighting had started over a year ago. But even before that, Jack should have seen what was coming. His father had been drifting away from them more and more. He would work long hours at his work; and then come home the next morning hung over or high off something. They moved because of that; because of his habits and weird mood swings but also because a year ago, Jack's father was fired from his job.

He went on a rampage that night and something changed him.

Something took over his heart.

Johnny Brewer wasn't the same man he used to be.

Now, every day Jack would come home to them fighting. He would always avoid the fights; just push past them and go up to his room, slamming his door shut behind him and locking it.

But this fight was different.

His mother wasn't throwing back a smart remark at Johnny's harsh words. Jack knew something was wrong. He listened more carefully to the eerie silence downstairs and then heard a sharp slap echo up the stairs. Jack muttered a cuss and bolted from his bed, unlocking his door. He opened it and headed downstairs. All his parents would ever do was yell and scream but there was never any physical contact between the two. Jack never had to step in and do something. Jack made it to the bottom of the staircase and saw his mother on the floor, her cheek a bright red. His father was yelling every vulgar word under the sun at Mary—her face showing utter horror.

"Dad." John didn't hear his son over all of his curses. "Dad!" Johnny turned and shot Jack a death glare which he promptly ignored. "What is going on down here?" He asked cautiously, glad that his mother was slowly crawling out of the room with tears in her eyes behind Johnny.

His father scoffed. "None of your business boy. Now, go back to your damn room." His father turned and became enraged when he saw Mary had escaped.

"Don't turn your back on me, Dad! Why did you hit Mom?" Johnny just stared at the floor while Jack took a slow step towards his father. He put a careful hand on Johnny's shoulder. Johnny turned quickly and flipped Jack.

All of the boys in the Brewer family knew karate because of their grandfather (who had taught Bobby Wasabi).

Jack gasped for air because he wasn't expecting that while his father crouched down next to Jack. Jack allowed a shiver to go down his spine because Kai wasn't the only cousin Jack was afraid of. He was afraid of his father was the second best at karate in the family (Jack was the third, Kai the fourth and his grandfather was the first).

"Jackson, don't get involved." Johnny stood up and started to walk away. Jack back flipped and was standing in front of his father but his father looked amused. "I said don't get involved, Jackson." When his father said his name, it was filled with venom. John sent a punch to Jack's face but missed and Jack caught his father's fist in a simple matter.

"You probably shouldn't have done that." Jack responded as he twisted his father's arm behind his back. He pushed his father forward and he stumbled into the wall. Jack smirked, but kept his cocky attitude under control. Next his father turned with fire in his eyes.

"How dare you disrespect me boy! I am your father!" Johnny shouted as he sent a kick towards Jack. Jack dodged easily, his youth giving him the edge. Johnny started throwing countless punches, Jack dodging all of them. His father became more aggravated as the minutes passed. "Jackson Shane Brewer! How dare you!" His yell caught Jack off guard which gave his father enough time to grab Jack by the shirt and push him up against the wall. Jack struggled to get out of his grip but his father was too strong.

Johnny might have been slow but he sure as hell was strong. "Now, you are going to pay for making me look like an ass in front of that woman!" He pulled a knife out of his pocket and held it up to Jack's chin. Jack froze completely.

His father chuckled darkly. "Not so tough now are you Jackson?" That sentence would burn itself into Jack's mind for the rest of his life. His father backed up a little bit and then threw Jack into the wall with all of his power. Jack slammed against the wall with force and it caused him to lose his breath for a second. He fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. His father chuckled coldly again. He walked up to Jack and roughly pulled him to his feet. He laughed smugly. All Jack could see was a dark figure in front of him. His head hit the wall pretty hard. Jack knew it was his father, but he couldn't see clearly enough to see the smirk playing on his father's face. He took Jack's arm and trilled the knife in his hand for a second.

Then he traced a deep 'W' in Jack's left wrist with the knife. Then, he made an 'E'. Jack cried out in pain as his father craved out the rest of the word in Jack's wrist; like it was a craving board. When Johnny was done, Mary rushed into the room and pulled him away from Jack, yelling things at him. Jack's vision cleared up and he saw his father over take his mom with the knife. Jack stood up quickly and ignored the searing pain coming from his left wrist. He took his father's legs out from under him and his father fell on his face. Jack bought him and his mother a few seconds. He gently grabbed his mother by her arm and pushed her towards the kitchen.

"Call nine-one-one! I'll hold him off!" His mother nodded, too scared to talk. Jack watched as she grabbed her cell phone from the counter and put it up to her ear. Jack turned to be meant with his father's breath in his face.

"Jackson, you are no son of mine." He threw Jack into the wall and threw the knife at him. Jack stood up quickly and caught the knife. Without thinking, he threw the knife back at his father. His father couldn't dodge. The knife lounged itself into Johnny Brewer's chest. Jack stood there in shock as his own father fell to the floor not breathing. Jack just stared at his father's dead body as he heard sirens in the distance. His mother slowly walked over and pulled her son into a hug.

"Jack, you did the right thing. He's gone." Jack just simply nodded. Her mother pulled back with tears in her eyes. Then, they gleamed with . . . evil? No, they flickered with happiness. "Jackson, we can lie." All Jack did was nod. He felt too numb to understand what was happening around him. Jack looked down at his left wrist after a while to see what his manic of a father had carved into it. His mother was talking to the police. You could only see it if you looked for it.

Smaller than anything, he had written the word 'WEAK' in all caps.

Jack had a scar for the rest of his life.

One that would always bring back the memory.

Jack was different from that day on. That day was only five months ago. He never told his friends about it and always hid the scar with his mother's make-up. Jack was never charged with murder, his mother and he got away with it. Lucky for him, no one ever noticed the scar even if the make-up came off from sweat. It was only noticeable if you searched for it and since all of his friends didn't know, they didn't search. Jack was walking to the dojo, his bag clenched tightly in his hand. Just a mere month ago, his mother turned into a drunk. She was never home but when she was—Jack pretended he didn't even know her.

She wasn't a mother to him.

She just a woman who lived with him by law.

Jack didn't notice his knuckles go white after a while because he was holding the bag so hard. His thoughts were overwhelming him. If he told the police about his mother and how he had no father—he would be thrown into a foster home. Jack let out a long breath he didn't even now he was holding. Jack would rather live with the shell of his mother than be thrown into a damn shelter. He walked right into someone and got snapped back into reality. "Oh sorry." He mumbled quietly, trying to walk away briskly because he was late for practice.

"It's no—Jack!" Jack turned and saw Kim who had a small smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Kim." Jack said, hiding his thoughts and feelings and covering it up with a large smile. Kim picked up her duffel bag and she went up and stood next to Jack. They stood there in tense silence for a few seconds and then Jack held out his arm towards the mall. "Shall we?"

"Sure," Kim replied as they started walking to the mall. Halfway there, Jack noticed Kim struggling with her bag. He chuckled quietly to himself and Kim heard. "Why are you laughing?" Jack looked over at Kim and let a smirk slip its way onto his face.

"Did you pack too much in your bag? It seems like your struggling," Kim nodded slightly.

"I packed for the week so I didn't have to tow this thing back and forth each day. I call it planning ahead." They both laughed. Jack then reached his other hand out and grabbed Kim's bag. "Jack—"

"Hey, hey let me help out the lady here alright?"

Kim smiled at the fourteen year old. "All right . . . thanks Jack." He nodded. Talking to Kim really got his mind off things. Whenever he talked to her it always brightened his mood. She was always there for him. She was an angel from above sometimes.

They made it to the dojo and started practice.

"Rudy, why are you pushing us so hard today?" Jack questioned tiredly as Rudy threw a punch at him. They were sparring. Jack dodged the punch and sent one back. Rudy didn't answer for a moment as he threw a kick Jack's way. Jack caught Rudy's leg and flipped Rudy, who was on the floor in seconds.

"Jack wins!" Milton yelled from the side line as the others, especially Kim, cheered. Jack held out his hand to Rudy and he took it with a smile as Jack helped him up. Rudy then was surrounded by everyone, as they waited for his answer to Jack's question. Rudy let a big smile appear on his face as he looked at everyone's confused faces.

"You know the big tournament coming up?" Everyone nodded. Rudy's grin grew bigger, if that was even possible. "We got in!" It took a moment for everyone to realize what he meant. Then, everyone started cheering and Rudy started to jump up and down like a little kid who just got a brand new toy. "I know! I know! I'm awesome right!?" Jack and Kim held back their laughs but Jerry, being lost like he always was, fought back.

"Nah, I'm awesome!"

"No! I am."

"Uh no dude, me."

"Me!" They started to bicker like two five year old kids. Kim couldn't hold back her laugh any longer. She burst out laughing with Eddie and Milton who had cracked up a few seconds before. As soon as Kim's beautiful laugh reached Jack's ears, he let out his gentle laugh too. Eventually, everyone settled down and now Eddie and Jerry were sparring. Kim was sitting on the bench next to Milton, who was asking Rudy about the tournament. Jack was punching a practice dummy off to the side by the lockers. Jerry flipped Eddie and held his hands up in victory.

"I beat him! Yeah! Told you I was awesome!" Milton snuffed a laugh and Rudy got up from his seat to help Eddie up—who was groaning from the throbbing pain now present in his back.

"Nice job Jerry—wait a second . . . I am still more awesome than you!" Kim lost interest in Jerry and Rudy's 'who's the most awesome' fight and decided to watch Jack instead. Jack was lost in thought, punching the dummy absentmindedly. Then, Kim saw something on Jack's left arm as he took a break from punching the dummy. It was a small red scar as Kim thought. She couldn't see it very well because he moved his arm a second later. She would ask him about it later.

Rudy and Jerry were done their bickering fight and heading towards the door with Milton and Eddie on their heels. "Kim, Jack; coming?" Rudy asked while Kim shook her head.

"No thanks. I need to do homework." Rudy nodded. He looked over at Jack, waiting for a response but no answer came. He kept punching the dummy instead, Rudy stopping his steps so he could get an answer from the fifteen year old teen while the others didn't notice as they headed out the front doors and towards Phil's restaurant.

"Jack?" Rudy tried again, Kim sending Jack a worried glance. It was like he was in his own little world.

"Jack." Kim asked, standing up slowly and walking over to him; Rudy doing the same.

"Jackson!" Rudy yelled loud as he put a hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack snapped out of it once he heard his full name as a truckload of memories slammed into him. It was like the boy was in a different world as he turned and flipped Rudy onto the floor, shocking both. Kim froze for a second before recollecting herself and wrapping her arms around Jack's waist to pull him back before he attacked Rudy.

At Kim's touch, Jack seemed to snap out of it and relax but just barely at that. Rudy scrambled off the floor and went up to Jack with a questioning look, the latter gaining a sheepish smile.

"Sorry Rudy, I was thinking and then my reflexes kicked in." Kim took a step back from Jack and saw his right hand clasped tightly over his left wrist. Her eyebrows narrowed. Something was up and she was going to find out.

Jack had declined the offer to go to Phil's with the guys; using the same excuse as Kim that he had too much homework. He was lying though and Kim knew it, though she wasn't going to act on it until a little later. They were both in the dojo and Jack threw a last punch to the dummy in the corner and sighed.

"I'm gonna go Jack." Kim said, breaking Jack out of his trance. He frowned a little.

"I should be heading home too, want me to walk you?" Kim smiled as she tried to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"That would be great."

Kim wouldn't ever admit that she did enjoy when Jack walked her home . . . which sadly, wasn't as often as he used to. Every time he walked with her, she felt safe but recently he had been drifting farther and farther away. Kim was planning on bringing him back to shore.

They started walking to Kim's house and cut through the park, where Kim decided to make her move.

"Jack can we sit for a minute," she paused as Jack turned to look at her, "it's just that I need to ask you something." He nodded and a small smile appeared on his lips. They went over to a bench and sat down, Kim letting out a small exhale as they did so.

"So what's wrong Kim?"

"Jack," she choose her words slowly yet carefully, "why did you flip out earlier?" The brown haired boy paused for a second. Kim knew what he was doing. He was considering his words and Jack Brewer never did that unless it was important.

"Rudy just said something that brought up my past, why do you ask?" Jack said dryly, almost like he was afraid that if he said the wrong word he would be set on fire. Kim looked at him.

He avoided her eyes.

"Jack, what happened in the past?" Kim said sternly, making Jack look at her with empty eyes.

"It's nothing Kim—"

"Jack if it was nothing, you wouldn't have flipped Rudy earlier!" She yelled, causing him to flinch a little at the sudden outburst. Jack looked at the ground and then back at Kim.

"You won't have a crush on me after I tell you this I'm sure." Jack mumbled to which Kim let out a breath to.

"Oh for the love of whatever's above—"

She cut herself off and the next thing either knew was that their lips were pressed together. He was stunned for a moment but got over it as he moved his lips against hers, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. Kim pulled back a moment later, his hand falling. They simply stared at each other until he slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling the fifteen year old girl close. Kim was a deep shade of red and had a small smile plastered on her face as he tried to keep his lips from forming a smirk.

"How long?" Jack asked after a few moments, Kim looking up at him.

"How long since what?"

"Since you loved me."

"From the day you caught my apple; I was just waiting for you to make a move Sherlock." Jack chuckled.

"Sorry, I was getting around to it." Kim playfully punched him in the shoulder, returning to her position of being buried in the side of his chest a moment later.

"Now tell me why you freaked earlier."

"Kim, you won't even want to look at me after this."

Kim turned her head slightly so that her lips brushed tauntingly against his cheek, pulling back and rolling her eyes. "I will always love you. Now, just tell me." Jack sighed, he had no idea where to start, and his mind was like a freak show— confused and struggling for an act.

"He shoved me against the wall and started to crave a word into my wrist." The images flashed in Jack's brain as he said them, eyes cold and distant and he was scared too. The day Kim saw Jack Brewer scared would be the day it snowed. "It hurt like nothing else. Knowing you would have an s-scar for the rest of you damn life." Jack said, stuttering at some parts. Kim snuggled closer to him. "He said I was weak; 'not so tough now are you Jackson' is what he said."

Kim understood why Jack had flipped Rudy now.

"Jack," Kim said quietly, cutting the boy off; "can I see it?" Jack froze. No one besides him and his mother knew about the scar. Should he show Kim? Or would she pity him? His mind gave in and he held out his left hand and rubbed off the concealer. Kim gently took Jack's hand and looked his wrist. There in fainted red was the word 'WEAK' in all caps.

She touched it gently like snow and Jack pulled his hand back like lightning.

"I-I killed him." Jack managed to get out and then looked way, staring off into the distance.

Jack was a murder; he killed someone . . . but no, not sweet Jack! Kim's mind fought with her as the silence over took them, Kim not wanting to break it.

Kim was leaning against the bench, her hands limp in her lap and Jack turned completely to the side- watching the dark sky. Jack continued anyway. "My mother said we could lie. 'Jackson, we can lie.' My whole life's been a lie." Jack muttered. Kim put a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Everybody lies Jack—" He turned sharply and Kim pulled her hand back.

"I killed someone! That's a lie you can't cover up!" His hand reached out to do something by control of his body but his mind quickly stopped him. His left hand was an inch from Kim's face. Her mouth was wide open and she started backing up slowly. Jack scotched over next to her quickly and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm sorry Kim. It's too much. I love you, please don't leave me. I love you too much for you to leave me . . ."

"Kim, I can't get through this if you don't forgive me. I'm sorry." Jack mumbled into Kim's hair. She looked up at him, a tear rolled down her cheek and Jack wiped it away with his thumb. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you have to hear me go on about how my life sucks and my mom's a drunk. I'm so—"

"Jack." Kim said ever so quietly but Jack still heard her and stopped talking. "If you say sorry one more time I'm gonna rip your head off." Jack cracked a smile.

"You are still the same Kim even at the worst times,"

"Yes now it's my turn to talk. Jack, I still love you. Don't you ever think I won't just because of one simple thing." Jack nodded in understanding.

"Thanks Kim. So, you want to go to Circus Burger?" Kim smiled and looked up at him.

"That would be great." Jack smiled and they kissed. They both stood up and started walking, Kim's hand intertwined with Jack's left hand and her thumb over the 'W' in his scar. "I love you Jack." Jack pecked her softly on the cheek.

"I love you too."

They stood up and walked to Circus Burger as one, happy and fear of the unknown gone.