Blind Love (Edited)

Chapter 41: Decisions

Like that, Lauren had finished packing a few things in a few minutes. When Lauren made sure that she had everything she wanted to take--- like personal items in a separate bag--- she turned to her dad and said, "Thank you."

"Sweetie, you don't have to thank me."

"I do, Daddy." She went to hug him and then she repeated again, "Thank you."

Kyle welcomed Lauren into his arms. It had been a long time since he had hugged his daughter. He was learning to be more transparent, if that was possible. He loved her. How could he not? He knew Cindy loved her, too, but the way she was treating her now was an injustice. And since Cindy wasn't doing her job as a mother, he was going to do his as a parent and a guardian.

"You should be getting over there soon. I'll go check downstairs to see if the coast is clear and when it is I'll tell you as a code word kind of thing. I'll say 'it's a great day' and then you go ahead and leave, okay?" Kyle explained.

"I understand." Lauren affirmed. "Thanks again, Daddy."

With that, Kyle went downstairs and a few minutes later, Lauren heard the code phrase and that was when she took her things and went downstairs.

~~~~~~~~~

Landon was home alone. It was one of those few times in which his mother actually let him alone. Lance was again at work. Nowadays, Lance was always at work and he didn't have very much time for home or anything else. Of course, the time he did have left over was spent in college.

He was alerted by a knock on the door. He wondered who it was. It wasn't his mom because she had keys and Lance didn't get home until later.

He went downstairs and he opened the door. He was a bit surprised when the smell of paint hit his nostrils. "Lauren?" he asked. "What are you doing here? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, Landon, it's me again. A lot has happened in a while." she answered.

"Oh goodness, I haven't even told you to come in."

Lauren laughed. It was cute the way he had said it.

"Come in." Landon said.

"Thanks you." she said as she also took her bags with her.

"What's going on?"

"My mom's back."

"I see. That's good news."

"Not so much for me. When she got here, I opened the door and I said hi and she just acted like I wasn't there. She went straight to my dad and aunt. I went upstairs and I just hate that I couldn't stop the tears from falling. Then later my dad came in and he gave me an option to live here temporarily. Of course I said yes, but at the same time I had no right because I never once asked you or your brother or your mom."

"It's okay, Lauren. Don't worry about that. You're welcome here whenever you need it and if you need it now, I'm not going to say no, and neither will my brother or my mom."

"You're too sweet but I shouldn't have come here without asking you first. I feel horrible right now. It's completely ridiculous." She turned to leave but Landon caught her arm, by chance.

"Don't go. You don't have to. It's fine, really. If you need it, we'll all understand."

"Landon, you don't have to do this."

"Trust me, Lauren. It's fine. That's what friends are for."

"Like I said you're a sweetheart. Thank you."

"Any time. What do you want to do?"

"Watch t.v?"

"Sure. You can pick what channel we're going to watch."

With that Lauren grabbed the remote control and they went to sit down. Landon sat on the edge and Lauren sat next to him, after all, he was the one who was going to help her pick. She didn't have to sit next to him, but all she wanted was to feel him close. Jesus, I'm starting to act like a crazy woman, she thought. This in no way is normal.

Grabbing the remote in her hand, Lauren turned on the tv. She didn't have in mind what she wanted to watch so she flipped through the channels to see what interesting things were on. On one channel, there was a show about the Sun having another star surrounding it and that it was the cause of the extinctions of the dinosaurs. That was pretty interesting so she left it there.

Then she turned to Landon and asked, "Do you mind if I leave it there?"

"No, not at all." he responded.

"Okay."

With that she turned back to the tv and paid attention to what was happening. In this case, the scientist had developed a theory that the Sun had a star surrounding it whose name was Nemesis. According to the studies, every 65 million years there was a massive extinction, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs. The theory is that Nemesis was launching the asteroids out of the orbit and sending them straight to Earth.¹

After that, Lauren doesn't remember anything because she fell asleep. Landon was listening to the interesting facts when he noticed that Lauren's breathing pattern was different. She's asleep, he thought.

He turned next to him and reached out, but Lauren's face was not there. He tried to get up and that's when he realized that her head was resting on his leg. Knowing this, Landon lowered his hand to touch her face, hoping that he wouldn't poke her eye out or something.

Luckily, he touched her hair and he caressed her face.

"What am I going to do with you, huh?" he spoke softly to her, hoping that she was fast asleep and that she could't hear what he was saying. "You're so sweet and you're amazing and you're perfect to me. I love that you trust me with your problems and I am even happier now that you're going to be living here with us temporarily. I hope everything gets better for you, though. I hope that your mom finds out soon that she's making a huge mistake.

Jesus. You've made me feel something I could never have felt. I mean, it's not like I've never liked anybody, it's just that I've never had them so close. I like you. I really do and I guess that's what scares me. It's also the reason why I'm telling you this while you're fast asleep.

You have no idea the impact of you entering my life. It's also the reason why I never want you to leave it in the first place. But I understand that I have no say in that and I never will. Although that's true, I'd like to think that you wouldn't leave if you had the chance.

But I also know that isn't true. Maybe you won't leave but I don't think that there's anything that's holding you back. I don't think there's anything here that's going to keep you here. Maybe there is. I don't know. Maybe I should know after all, you are my best friend, although I do wish we were something more.

But I probably don't have a chance. Geez, I am such a coward when it comes to this. I don't think you'd want to be with a coward.

But thanks. Thank you for being my only friend and for being with me through everything. I really appreciate it."

After this statement, Lauren sat up and she had Landon's face right in front of her face. There was no physical way that was possible, and yet there he was. Lauren looked into his eyes. She was lost in them.

In his eyes, she saw the strength that he had given her, the hope that had once not been there, the person that she knew she wanted to become, or grow into. In his eyes--and this is what scared the crap out of her---she saw the future. She saw all that the future could be.

"Landon?" she started.

"Yes." he answered.

"I think--no wait. Let me rephrase that. I li--"

"Sweetie I'm home." Laura announced as she walked through the door. Immediately, Lauren sat up straight and waved at her.

"Oh," Laura said surprised. "You're here again?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. My mother is back and well, I need somewhere to stay because she's going to make my life miserable like she always has."

"I understand. You're welcome to stay."

"Thanks, Laura. Thank you."
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A/N
¹ This was a show on history channel called Nemesis: The Sun's Evil Twin or something along those lines.