"Welcome home, sweetheart."
Stepping through the front door, Kelsey timidly peeked through her lashes at the familiarity of her parent's house, everything still the same as she remembered.
Nothing was touched; the white leather couches still placed in the shape of an L facing the television screen perched on the white painted mantel to match evenly with the beige walls. Same rosewood coffee table decorated with the daily newspaper and remote control on top.
It was almost surreal to her as if she were stepping foot in a time warp and she was sixteen all over again. Same brown eyes peeking innocently through the lashes decorating her cheeks every time she blinked, her hair sprawled over her shoulders in waves, converses adorning her feet, and a t-shirt hugging her body - yet her mind was torn, the insides of her chest caved in and crushing her heart until her emotions were spilling from the seams.
"Kelsey Anne!" My mother shouted from behind but I didn't give a shit right now. She could rot in hell for all I care. Slipping the key I always held with me in case of emergencies inside the door, I twisted it, pushing the door open before stomping inside.
"Don't you dare slam the car door shut like that again young lady!" My dad yelled as he entered shortly after me.
I rolled my eyes, wiping feverishly at my face to remove the tears. "I don't care!"
"Don't disrespect your father like that Kelsey!" My mom shouted her face red in anger. "You have no right!"
"I have every right!" I screamed, letting my frustrations get the best of me. "It's because of you guys that I lost the one person that meant everything to me!"
"He's a god forsaken criminal Kelsey!" My dad yelled, his eyes wide in horror. "How can you stand there and still be fussing over that boy? He did nothing but bring danger into your life!"
"Kelsey--" James took a step forward upon realizing Kelsey had frozen in a trance, her eyes glazed over as she stared off into space.
"You don't know him like I do!" I spat harshly. "You know nothing about him!"
"I gave him the chance to get to know him tonight and all he did was showed me how he spends his free time—waving that gun around like he has authority to it!"
"He was protecting me!"
"He nearly got you killed Kelsey!" He shook his head, staring at me with a pure look of perplexity. "He's got you brainwashed into thinking he's protecting you! People like that only acre about one thing—protecting them! Don't you see what this whole charade tonight was about? It wasn't about protecting you! It was about having an excuse to not have him taken to jail where he deserves to rot!"
"This just proves my point all along. You truly know shit about him or his life." I hissed disgustingly.
"Look at you, using profanities left and right. You may not be able to see it but as your mother, I do. You've changed. You're so caught up in this fantasy world of your so called boyfriend that you can't see what it's doing to you on the outside." My mom stated confidently, as if she knew what the fuck she was talking about.
I rolled my eyes. "I love him and he loves me—"
"You don't know what love is!" My dad barked, outrageous.
"I do because Justin showed me it." I mumbled, shaking my head. "Love is where you give your all to make them smile. Love is when you'll do anything just to make sure they're happy. Love is when you do the simplest things just to spend some time with your partner. Love is where you'll risk everything just to be with them and that is what Justin did for me. He risked his life for me numerous times. He could've left me a long time ago but he didn't."
