Beyond The Music

Chapter Twenty Five - Mika

Once I got home from Steven's house, I rushed upstairs and had a shower before heading downstairs for dinner. Caitlyn was at a friends' house and mum was at an her sister's house so it was only me and dad home for dinner tonight but sitting across from him while eating our pizza felt good. I expected dinner to be really quiet without much talking but just as I finished a mouthful of pizza, dad spoke up for the first time since I sat down. "So, how'd it go with Steven? You don't seem upset so I'm guessing it didn't go badly," I smiled despite myself and nodded slightly.

"It went...better than expected."

He raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, "How so?"

"Well...I guess you could say that, um...we're actually talking again without the fighting and things might be getting better but I'm not completely sure where we're at now. One conversation isn't going to just mend everything and make things right again and he knows that. I mean, he should, I've told him enough times," he laughed softly and placed both elbows on the table after gently pushing his plate away.

"That's good, Mika. You really like him, don't you? I mean, I haven't seen you like this before and it's kind of confusing but I'm trying to understand all of this. As you may have noticed, this whole you dating thing is completely new territory for me, you know. I might not understand at first but I'm sure I will sooner or later. To be completely honest with you, I would have thought you would have liked Max or something before Steven. I know it sounds completely out of whack but you guys were always so close when you were kids," I couldn't stop the laugh from escaping my lips as I watched him with a smile.

I placed my hand on the table in front of me and leaned back slightly in my chair. "Oh, dad. I mean, yeah, I love Max and all but not in the way people would think. Growing up, he became more like a brother to me and besides, he's been in love with Keira for longer than anyone knows and even if he wasn't, I still wouldn't think of him in that way. It probably sounds mean and all but I can't physically imagine liking him like that in any way and he's completely fine with it. We've established that he's like my brother long ago. Way before any of this complicated relationship stuff happened."

He laced his fingers together and laughed softly, "Glad we're on the same page for that tiny little tidbit. Now, how about you tell me about this thing you have with Mr Mills? I want to know why you like him, that's all," he picked up his slice slowly and took another bite of pizza. Chewing thoughtfully while watching me patiently.

"Well, it's actually really hard to explain..."

He nodded slightly and smiled, "that's fine. What do you like about him then? There must be something if you like him more than those other idiots you've liked previously."

"I like pretty much everything about him."

"Like what in particular?"

"Well, he's infuriating most times and annoying and sweet and honest and sometimes, he gets this look in his eyes that just...I don't know, but I just seem to...he somehow manages to just," I spread my hands wide and gave a small shrug, "break the walls I've spent so long building around me. Plus, you know, he has that whole blonde hair and blue-eyed thing going on that has everyone tripping over their own feet sometimes," he laughed at that last part while I continued to eat my dinner slowly.

"You never answered my original question, Mika."

"And what was that?"

"You really like him, don't you? I mean, more than you've liked other guys before," I paused with my pizza slice halfway to my open mouth and looked up at him slowly.

I cleared my throat softly and smiled, "I don't know what I feel anymore, to be honest. It's all confusing but I really do like him...a lot, actually but please don't tell anyone. People don't need to know about anything in my life, at least not yet anyway. Besides, that girl Stacey and her friend have really started to piss me off with their stupid comments about me and...Steven and why it got all messy all of a sudden. It's bad enough that she already has these stupid assumptions about why everything happened the way it did. She's already convinced that he's the one who broke it off with me when in fact; he's the one who royally screwed up everything by doing something completely stupid and reckless while I was there. Anyway, I've let it go and I'm just trying to get past it before something else happens and crushes it like a bug again."