*Four years later*

Brandon let out a heavy sigh as he slowly made his way to his and Marissa's shared apartment. He pulled out his key and quickly unlocked the door. As soon as it was shut he made his way over to the couch, flopping on top of it. He just laid there. His body ached all over the place. He eventually closed his eyes, drawing a pillow closer to himself. A few minutes of resting his eyes passed and he was soon confronted by Marissa. "Brandon? Honey. Can you make dinner tonight?" She nudged him. Marissa was now a senior college student, studying pre-med at one of the best colleges in their area. Brandon went another route, diving straight into the workforce. Things seemed to be going pretty well for the two. They were able to move out on their own and survived without any help from Marissa's parents, not that they would have taken the help anyways.

Brandon groaned, turning away from her. He may be a 21 year old adult, but he was still a kid at heart. This kid valued his sleep more than anything. "Can't you?" He mumbled as he hid his face with the gray couch pillow.

Marissa rolled her eyes, "Brandon get up." She raised her voice. "I have to study for my huge test tomorrow. Please help me out and make dinner. Plus, you're way better of a chef than me." She teased

Brandon let out a heavy sigh before he moved to sit up. He looked at Marissa. "Fine. What do you want?"

Marissa smiled at him as she cupped his cheek. "Make whatever you want. I don't mind." She pulled him in for a gentle kiss. She eventually pulled away to head to her room, ready for a long session of studying.

Brandon found some energy after a few long minutes spent staring at the wall. He entered the kitchen and wasted no time to start dinner. As he searched around the kitchen for ingredients and inspiration, he started to throw a few things away that seemed to have been left in the fridge for many weeks. There was Chinese take out, moldy fruit, rock hard cheese and some more. Just between the two of them, they made quite a bit of waste. He always felt terrible about it, but Marissa always seemed to buy way more than they needed. She was never really bothered about how much they threw out. There was enough waste to top off the rest of the trash bag's capacity. Brandon quickly went to change it out with a fresh bag, pulling it out of the can and setting it to the side. The couple had made it a habit to leave a few new trash bags at the bottom of the trash can. It definitely made the whole process a lot easier. Brandon grabbed the last one at the bottom when he noticed something was already inside the trash bag. He carefully opened it up as he raised a brow. It was a thin, blue and white colored box. He flipped it around to see what it was and let out a gasp as the box fell back to the ground. "MARISSA!" He shouted in a panic, "MarISSA!!"

Marissa heard him yell and dashed into the kitchen, "Brandon?! Did you set the oven on fire again?!!!" She panicked as she grabbed for the fire extinguisher. "Brandon? Are you okay? Did you burn yourself?" She saw the man just standing there in shock. Brandon continued to look at the box as he shuddered. He couldn't get a single word out of his mouth. Marissa walked over and finally noticed the box sitting on the ground, "Oh... Brandon..." She paled, "Brandon, take a deep breath please. Please don't be upset. You don't understand..." She teared up as she sat the extinguisher down on the floor. She moved to hug him.

"Then what the hell is it?" He glared at her, stepping away. "Why didn't you tell me?" He snapped, "You shouldn't hide these type of things from me!" He shouted. "The box reads, '2 pregnancy tests'. Marissa, what does this mean!" He shouted as he picked the box back up.

Tears fell down Marissa's cheeks as she looked at him. "I-" She was foolish to thing that this could be hidden away from him. She wanted to beat herself up for attempting to do so. Any man could find that box and know exactly what was in store for him. "I started to feel funny Brandon. I felt very ill." She explained, "look... We don't have to keep it." She moved to take his hands. Brandon glared at her, unsure of what to think of this. He moved to take a seat on one of the barstools as he ran a hand through his hair.

Brandon looked back at her, "why would you try to hide that..." He mumbled to her, "is it even mine? I'm not an idiot Marissa! All those nights you spend with 'friends' or at all of those parties!" He snapped at her, "you're not faithful! Everybody talks."

Marissa glared at him, going to him. "I'm an adult Brandon. Yes it's yours, and yes I am faithful!" She yelled. "I've never been with any other man... We don't even have to keep the baby for crying out loud!" She screamed

"You're not getting rid of it, are you kidding?!" He shouted back, "my mother didn't plan for me but she still kept me." He snarled, "that's just cruel."

Marissa moved to grab him by the throat, activating her powers and trying to freeze him as she glared at him. Brandon gasped as he quickly grabbed her arm and activated his own, burning her wrist.

"You jerk!" She screamed as she backed away, "You will not be treating me like this!" She moved to slap him. Brandon quickly dodged, getting off of the chair and stepping away.

"You're not killing this kid!" He yelled back, throwing a small ball of fire at her.

"I can do what I want! It's my kid, my body!!!" She screamed as she stepped to the side. She threw an ice ball back at him in return, hitting him in the face. Clearly she had more control over her powers than him.

Brandon tried to get away, "stop it!" He yelled as he searched his pocket for something to throw back at her. Marissa threw another one, knocking him down to the ground with a grunt. Brandon searched again, finally finding something and throwing it at her. It was a small, black velvet ring box.

Marissa shouted as it hit her in the face, "what the hell!!" She picked it up, "no you did not..." She snarled as she opened the black velvet box, "you were going to propose?!" She gasped, tearing up again.

"You fucked that one up." Brandon glared. "I thought you were the right person for me. I was going to wait until you graduated..." Marissa screamed out in frustration as she threw the box at the wall. She activated her powers again, pulling water out from the sink faucet as she glared at him.

"You fucked *us* up!!" She yelled as the water turned into shards of ice and started to surround Brandon.

"I knew you were psycho!" He shouted as he quickly got up, dashing for the door. Marissa threw some ice shards at his leg. Brandon hissed in pain as he stumbled to the ground, he turned to glare at her. His eyes started to glow a fiery orange as sparks came off of his body. Marissa threw more shards at him. They quickly melted as they touched him. "Stop it!" He screamed, "I don't want to hurt you!" He tried to get away. Soon there was a loud pound at the door. Marissa deactivated her powers, the remainder of the shards turning back into water and falling onto the floor. She went to answer the door as she fixed her hair. Brandon used this chance to quickly run off to their room, slamming the door shut and locking it. He quickly started to gather his things into a bag. He quietly slid down against the bed as he lets out a heavy sigh. He hid is face in his hands as he thought to himself. He thought the situation over, comparing the pros and cons of leaving her girlfriend. He wanted to get away, but he couldn't leave her. Not with his child. Not with her mind set. Brandon's eyes widen as reality finally settled in. He looked up out the window as tears filled his eyes. "My child..." He mumbled to himself as tears slowly slid down his cheeks. His body ached and shook with excitement all at the same time. He quietly put his hands together, bowing his head to pray for the first time in forever. He quietly thanked the ones up above for this amazing gift, for this chance to do something his father never got to.

"Brandon." Marissa softly knocked on the door, "Brandon, it was just our neighbors. Please let me in... I'm so sorry..." She spoke through some tears. Brandon bit his lip as he forced himself to stay quiet. He kept an eye on the door. Marissa knocked again.

"Please dear..." She begged, "I promise I won't hurt you like that ever again. I promise. I'm just scared..." She knocked one more time. Brandon looked down, slowly standing up. He finally moved to slowly open the door as he glaced at her. "I'm so sorry." She quickly hugged him.

Brandon hesitated before carefully hugging her back. "I'm sorry too." He looked at her. "Are you okay? What did our neighbors have to say?" He gently checked her over.

"They were just asking for us to be quiet. I'm fine. It's fine." She shrugged as she hugged him. "We'll be fine." She looked up at him, "right?"

Brandon nodded quietly, "We will... We'll figure this thing out together. I know we will." He moved to kiss her forehead.

Marissa sighed, "but how... my parents are going to be pissed." She mumbled, "they're going to disown you..."

"Let them." He told her, "I'm not letting anything happen to that baby. Or you. I can't."

Marissa just rolled her eyes, "it's not even alive yet." She muttered, "we can get rid of it. It doesn't have a heart beat yet."

"Alive or not, you're not getting rid of it. We'll take care of it together. We have to. It's only right Marissa." He held her hand as he moved over to the bed.

"We're too young!" Marissa shouted, "for crying out loud Brandon! I'm still in college!" She screamed at him.

Brandon just glared at his girlfriend. "Fine." He mumbled as he moved his hand away. "I'll take the baby. I'll take care of it. You don't have to. In fact, you don't even have to see it." He snarled before going to grab his jacket from his closet.

"Where the hell are you going now?" She followed him with a nasty glare. "I'm going to see this baby if we don't get rid of it. All that work I'll have to go through." She rolled her eyes as she grabbed his wrist.

"To talk to somebody." He glared back. "I won't be gone for long. Just don't do anything stupid." He snapped before heading out of the apartment. Marissa opened her mouth to speak but he slammed the door before she had a chance to say anything. She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. She glared at the door before pulling out her phone to call her parents.

"You'll sure see somebody..." She muttered.

~

Brandon walked down the quiet street as he held his head low, deep in thought once again. How in the world could he be a father? He doesn't have any experience, let alone any type of bond with his own father. He doesn't know what it was like to be cared for by some type of father figure. Brandon let out a heavy sigh, he doesn't even know how to care for himself... All of that was a total mystery to him. He continued to walk down the streets, slowly coming to his destination. He walked up to a small apartment complex much like their own. He walked up to one of the buildings and knocked on the door. He stood there quietly as he waited for an answer. He finally took a moment to just enjoy the quiet evening. It was very quiet, a peaceful quiet. No loud trucks, honking cars or impatient civilians. There was no construction, or buses. Just plain quiet. Well, at least it was. He heard a few police sirens and looked up. He tried to map out where they were off to. Somebody was definitely in trouble. After a few moments of waiting and looking around for where the police cars were, he tried knocking on the door once again. He moved a hand to the dark brown painted door when blue and red lights started to flash behind him. His heart stopped, his body froze up. What did he do this time? He turned around to see the cop cars surrounding him and the building. He panicked as he tried to think of what to do. He banged on the door, "Let me in!" He begged. "Felix! Let me in!" He screamed in a panic as an officer walked up to him. He turned back around, backing up to the door. Then he noticed who it was, Marissa's father... "Shit." He muttered before putting his hands up above his head.

"Shit is right boy." The officer snarled. "Shit is right." He went hand cuff the young man before leading him back to his vehicle.

~

"Whatever it is, I'm innocent!" Brandon pleaded as he pulled on the handcuffs that were connected to the metal table. Officer Applin looked the man over.

"Marissa called me kid. Me and the wife don't know what to do with you boy. We gave you a home, food, a nice bed. In return you get my little girl pregnant? Break her heart and threaten to burn her alive? That's just not right." He snarled before taking a seat in the chair across from Brandon.

Brandon looked down quietly, "I'm sorry Officer... I didn't mean for this to happen. I promise. I'm not even ready for this parenting thing, I can't do it. I don't know how.. I would never threaten your daughter, never." He shook his head.

"And you won't have to. Aless, we'll be taking the kid into custody the day they are born. When Marissa feels that she is ready to be a mother down the road, she can have it back. No hassle. As for you, I don't think you're the right person to be around my grandchild. After what you did to my daughter, young man! I feel that the best place for you now is in jail. Locked up and far away from my family."

"Jail?! But this isn't a crime!" He exclaimed, "It's not! I'm sorry, please don't do this to me! It's unjustified"

The officer quietly stood up, taking a file from the fellow officer who stood by the door. He sat back down in front of Brandon as he opened it up. "November 6th, 2018. Aless. You got into a fight with some other school boy and stabbed him in the gut with a small pocket knife. The boy had to get stitches, but is still awaiting justice for your crime. " The officer read before turning a few pages.

Brandon just paled, "he called me-"

The officer simply cut him off. "July 5th, 2019. You and a few buddies stole $500 worth of fireworks from a warehouse and shot them off in some woodland forest 'for the little school kids'. As you guys claimed. Turns out, you caused a small woodland fire and they're still trying to hunt you boys down with the fines." He shook his head.

"It was the 4th of July... The other day. I remembered it rained that day so all the firework shows were canceled in our area." Brandon mumbled.

"So? You don't steal $500 worth of fire works you moron!" He yelled at him, "you clearly have reason to be behind bars! You're a endangerment to our society and my daughter! I will not tolerate this any longer. You will be placed under arrest and will be given a hearing by a judge who will decide your final sentence. This could be around 6 or more months with fees starting at $1000." He explained before closing the file. He stood back up and looked at the other officer. "Take him." He nodded before walking out of the room.

The officer nodded and walked over to Brandon. Brandon looked at him, "Please... You can't do this to me... Please." He begged. "I didn't mean to do anything, I didn't mean to hurt her!"

"Shut up." The officer back handed Brandon across the face before going to remove the cuffs from the table. Brandon allowed him to do so, submitting to him as he watched. The officer forced him off of his seat and out of the door. "Lets go." He kicked his ankles, forcing him in the right direction. Brandon just followed along, looking around the place as he was led through a hallway.

Brandon rose the brow as they neared an exit. "umm... Where are we going?" He questioned. The officer just kicked him as he forced him through an exit and into the small alleyway. Brandon looked at him with wide eyes, "What the hell?!"

Officer Applin walked to Brandon, "now that we're out of the view of those damn cameras..." He moved to punch Brandon in the gut. Brandon yelled out as he tried to move away. The other officer just shoved him to the ground. Officer Applin began to kick Brandon, "this is for my daughter you inconsiderate swine!" He yelled at him as he beat him up.

Brandon yelled out, crying for help as he tried to break away from the cuffs. "I'm sorry!" He screamed out, "I didn't mean to hurt her!" His eyes started to glow as tears filled his eyes. His body started to heat up as he moved away. The other officer grabbed him, searching through his pockets for something. He finally pulled out the small black velvet box before handing it to officer Applin.

Applin opened the box up, shaking his head. "You didn't even bother to ask didn't you?" He snarled. "It's a beautiful ring." He complemented. "Very beautiful." He kicked him again before throwing the ring to the side. Brandon started to cry as he curled up into a ball, giving up on fighting back against the abusive man. He tired his best to protect some parts of his weak body. The other officer soon joined beating up the young man. Brandon tried to protect his face from being attacked as well. Maybe these two men were right. Maybe he was a danger to the people around him. Maybe he didn't deserve to be a father or live on without punishment for his crimes. His eyes slowly returned back to their normal hazel color as his body cooled down. His world slowly growing dark as the sour taste of blood filled his mouth. He closed his eyes as his body slowly shut down. This was all too familiar to him, way too familiar. Years of pain and scars from classmates, friends and even his own 'family'. And each time ended up in his defeat. Slowly being beaten to his death, close to the edge before finally being left alone to suffer in his own puddle of tears.

"I'm so sorry..." He mumbled quietly to nobody in particular. Or maybe it was addressed to somebody in particular. Maybe it was addressed to his girlfriend, who beat him down to the bone. Or maybe it was to his unborn child, the little miracle now left to suffer without his care. Or maybe it was addressed to his mother, for who he had failed to live out the single life she gave him 21 years ago. His body slowly grew numb as his mind fell blank. The officers finally came to a stop as they felt the job was done.

Officer Applin looked at the other officer, "take him to his cell. If anybody asks, just tell them to come to me with their complaints. If they are requesting a trial with this man, also tell them to come to me." He snarled before walking back into the building. He slowly pulled out his phone to call his daughter back.