Forever [Prim/Cato]

Chapter 17 - The Angel?

Prim:

The fluorescent lights in this room start to flicker, bringing on a fiery headache that I think might kill me. Willow has finally stopped shaking and now sits slumped in her chair. Cato has one hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort... which of them, I actually don't know; he could be using her for comfort or the other way around.

I am sitting, too. The weight of this day is just.. I don't know how much harder it could really get.

"Grandpa?" Willow whispers to herself, following up with a frown.

My panicked eyes lock with Cato. "Low," Cato starts with a sigh. I shake my head. Cato sure knows how to pick nicknames. Low for Willow, Kitten for me. I shudder. I will never not hate (but also endearingly love) that nickname.

"Look-"

"You called him 'Dad', you look just like him. And he said he was my Grandpa. I just met my grandfather."

"Yes, Willow, that was my dad."

"I just met my grandfather and he wants me dead. We've spoken for five minutes and he wants me dead. What did you do?" She's getting angrier, her tone accusatory.

"Just listen."

Willow jumps up, interrupting him. "No, Dad!" She swats his hand from her shoulder.

"Hey!" Cato steps back, stunted at the disrespect. "Don't you ever pull that shit again! What's your problem?"

Willow scoffs. "What's my problem?"

Cato brows go up in shock. "You better take it down a notch," Cato says to her lowly.

Willow crosses her arms in front of her. "Or what?" she says back. Holy...

Cato takes a step toward her, pointing his finger at her. "You have no fucking right to speak to me like this."

"I have every right! You have no right to tell me what to do right now."

Cato is seethingly mad. Willow is just as such. I move to stand between the two of them. We need to stick together.

"Willow Rose, I am your father. I have loved you, I have cared for you, I've given you my all! I'd never hold it against you, and you don't owe me a damn thing for doing that; it was my job, I signed up for it and I'd do it all over again for you. What's most important is that no matter what, I respected you, I treated you like a fucking human first. I was reasonable, I listened to you, I gave you way more freedom than I give your own mother."

I almost laugh, and then frown... and then smile. Cato being overbearing and protective never bothered me. It's the perfect kind of guy for the type of girl who is scared of the world.

"I've earned your fucking respect. So like I said, you have no fucking right."

"You don't have my respect, not anymore. You just lost it!" Willow scowls at him. Cato looks like he's been kicked in the chest. "Do you not have a clue how this could be affecting me or do you not care about how I feel? I turn 16 years old tomorrow! I was supposed to have a birthday party, a gift, a cake with candles. I got this."

Willow points her finger between the two of us. "You lied to me my whole life. You kept secrets; I asked you over and over and over again about my grandfather, and you brushed me off and told me lies, and now that man is here and has his hand directly in the pot that's going to kill me! I've asked you, mom, Uncle Charlie, Gram... all of you lied to me. So yes, you've lost my respect!" she cries at us.

"Willow," I start, but I don't know what to say. We did do those things. We lied to her and then we took her life away. We did.

She turns to me. "No, Mum, just stop. It's not fair! I'm going to die, I'm going to die because of you!"