Not so secret. . .

Welcome home

"Hey we're home..." Bec's father mumbled plainly under his breath as he entered his house, happy that his daughter was back home. Bokang said nothing as she walked to the kitchen where she saw Eric pull out a can of coke from the fridge. He literally pounced onto his sister when he saw her, despite his large built body. Bokang smiled at her brother's actions, barely breathing.

As soon as Eric got off Bec, Kgomotso and Kgotso both hugged her at the same time, followed by Brian. Their father just stood there awkwardly smiling at his children. He then left them there, catching up and got out and headed wherever...just to clear his mind. He needed to decide when he should take the children to see their mother. He needed to decide whether or not he should go to the business trip he was offered to China. Eddie was an archeologist. He always travelled to look at ancient caves and rocks, bones and other fossils. He hated leaving his kids and wife behind, but now he felt he needed to. It was not like he had much of his wife left. He just didn't want his children to see him in the state he was in. He felt like he was starting to get crazy. He got in his car and drove off, not really caring where he'd end up, and it so did happen that he ended up in a dance club. Sixteen years it had been since he was there and he remembered well what happened. He'd had a huge fight with his wife when she found out. But no matter how nasty it got, they never once thought about a divorce. That's what scared him that moment, he was thinking of getting a divorce, but he still loved her, and the thought of her being in the horrible place she was in made him even more heartbroken.
He knew he had to let go sooner or later, he just didnt know how. Even though going to the dance club wasn't his idea of clearing his mind, he went there anyway, drinking and getting wasted.

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Back at his house, his children were worried about him. They didn't know where he went, but they knew he needed to let him freshen his mind, live a little. They knew what their mother did was horrible, and he might not have the guts to forgive or even look at her, so they knew they needed to give him his space.
Bec saw that there was no point in waiting for her father any longer, so she just went up to her room. She got under her covers that she'd missed so much and dozed off to a pointless dream as soon as her head hit the pillow.

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"Hey Bec..." The girl woke up to a soft hand stroking her cheek. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't help but smile.
"Palesa..." She mumbled sleepily as she closed her eyes again, but opened them slowly again, a small smile creeping up on the side of her lips. The sight of her angel never failed to make her smile. Just her presence was enough to make her forget, even for a moment, that there was even trouble in her life. She also knew that Palesa also had trouble in her life, but she wasn't ready to talk about it, but Bec would wait for her until she was ready.

"Hey again sleepy head." Palesa chuckled softly, waking Bec up completely this time. She got off bed and the first thing she did was take a shower. She really wasn't sure what to do those days. Well, starting that day. She just wanted to be with Palesa and move on. She didn't want to think about what happened with her family or her girlfriend's grandmother. She just wanted to spend the day with her girlfriend.
"Where'd you wanna go tonight ?" Bec shouted from the bathroom.
"Ummm... I don't know. I was just hoping we could stay here in your house." Palesa shouted back. Much to Bec's disappointment. She really needed to get away and all Palesa wanted to do was to stay in the house, and not go anywhere. Regardless, Bokang agreed to it and started dying up her Raven hair. She knew it'd be a mess if she didn't dry it up. Wearing sweatpants and a sweater, she jumped on the bed Palesa was already lying on, with earphones. Bokang sort of startled her when she jumped on the bed but Palesa caught her and brought her close to her.
"You know..." Bokang began as the cuddled in a somewhat cold morning. "I've missed-"
"Yeah yeah I know Bec you've missed me." Palesa smirked.
"Oh no. I was gonna say I missed my bed." Bec laughed when she saw Palesa's smirk disappear as she said that. She hit her with a pillow right across her face, groaning. When she was about to hit her again, Bec caught the pillow and took the chance to flip Palesa over and laugh. They both stopped simultaneously as Bec leaned in, and Palesa just went with the flow and leaned in too, much to her dismay, she opened her eyes to her girlfriend's breath on her ear. "But i totally missed cuddling... With my pillow..." Palesa got mad and broke loose from Bec's grip.
"You're. Such. A. Tease. !" She said in between slaps. She stopped and laughed, joined in by her girlfriend. They enjoyed each other's company. Bokang was glad that Palesa was there. She made her forget, little did she know, she made Palesa forget too. They needed each other.
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The two girls lay there cuddled watching a horror movie, much to Palesa's dismay. She hated horror movies. She kept jumping and screaming and hiding her face throughout the whole movie, making Bec laugh.
When the movie ended, Bokang couldn't help but hear Palesa's sobs.
She was quite caught off guard and didn't know what was happening, so she just pulled her in for a hug.
"It just hurts Bec-- it hurts so so bad..." Palesa sniveled. Although Bokang didn't know what was happening, she just felt like she understood, and holding Palesa in her arms made Bec feel like she was protecting her.
"Shhh...sorry love. Just tell me what happened. What's wrong?" Bokang said in a soft tone, pretty worried.
"Its just...my family. I mean...your family's not perfect, but at least you've got each other. My house is just... it's just so...torn apart. You know I have a sister. She's gone now, after mom started disappearing, she followed her footsteps, started disappearing too. My dad's too lazy to stand up to his wife. He just doesn't care. He lives in another city, and doesn't visit. But he's just my step dad... I practically live alone. Grandma Melda..." Palesa looked at Bec to see her reaction before she proceeded. Bec flinched at the mention of Melda. But Palesa continued.
"Grandma visits occasionally. She used to stay with me, but then one night she disappeared overnight and came back when you and I...and we were at my house the other day. It just hurts seeing your siblings there for you. It just reminds me of my sister..." She sobbed again. Bokang didn't know all that. She never knew how sad it was for her Palesa. She just wanted to be there for her.
She pulled her in for another hug and kisses her cheek softly, assuring her that she'll always be there.
"I'll be here... I promise..."