𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 - 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

twenty-six

TW: description of domestic violence. please do not read this chapter if this is something you may find upsetting/triggering.

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"𝙄 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙈𝙔
𝙁𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙉𝘿𝙎."

╚═══════════════════╝.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐇-𝐎𝐔𝐓-𝐎𝐅-𝐓𝐇𝐄-𝐅𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 as Kevin Wilson had just got back from the local chippy. He called up the stairs to alert his children, and within seconds the three of them were bounding down the staircase in pure excitement. They bundled into the kitchen to grab a plateful of food, with Jordan looking intently at his phone while Mollie and Cory became instantly occupied with squabbling over who got the biggest piece of fish while.

Clearing his throat, Kevin drew all of their attention. "Look, I know things have been a bit rough for us lately. But I've got a trial at a new warehouse outside town. Proper sick pay, proper holidays, none of this zero hours crap anymore."

"Dad, that's brilliant." Cory smiled encouragingly.

"I'm so proud of ya." Mollie added, sending her dad a soft smile.

"I know we've all had to make some sacrifices lately, but this could be good for us." Kevin nodded. "Really good."

"Does that mean you can lend us a twenty, then?" Jordan asked, looking up from his phone with a hopeful expression.

"At least let me get the job first, mate." Kevin chuckled. "This better not be for that girlfriend of yours. She's already rich, don't need my boy spending any money on her."

"Chloe?" Jordan raised his eyebrows. "No, it's not for her. It's just, um, school stuff."

"Right." Kevin said, his mouth forming a tight line with slight disbelief. "Look, if the trial goes well tomorrow then I'll think about it, alright? But for now, I'm gonna go watch some telly. I'm missing Corrie."

As the dark haired man left the kitchen, not a word was spoken by any of his children until they were sure he was out of sight.

"God, you are an idiot, Jordan." Cory scoffed finally. "First, you get banged up over Christmas. Now you're in debt to some scummy dealer and you're trying to drag dad into it."

"It weren't my fault." Jordan protested. "I was robbed-"

"Yeah, by some random schoolgirls in burqas. And if that weren't embarrasing enough, you failed to run after them not once, but twice." The older Wilson rolled his eyes. "You never learn, do you?"

"That's enough, Cory." Mollie said, shooting her twin a warning look. Turning back to Jordan, she sighed. "Look, Jord, I know you're in a really dangerous position, but there's gotta be something you can do other than borrow money off of dad."

Cory scoffed once more and let out a dry laugh. "There is no way this idiot is gonna sort this out all by himself."

"No, I'm not." Jordan said assertively, causing both of his siblings to look at him with confusion. "'Cause you're both gonna help me."