Daddy's In A Boyband (Nathan Sykes fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

The view from the car window was peaceful. We were one of the very few cars on the road and everything seemed to be calm, no busy traffic or chaos. The trees and various bushed that encased the roads stood small at the side, different shades of green helping them to blend into the fields behind. The long row of trees continued all the way down the road. They seemed to be wherever I looked. But when the car was suddenly turned, I looked at my dad questioningly. He clearly knew what my expression held and felt obliged to keep my mind at rest.

“We just have to turn down here,” he said calmly, “It’s not far now and besides, this way’s quicker.”

I slowly nodded my head and brought my gaze to my feet, distracting myself from everything and everyone else around me. Soon enough, I would see Caiden again. It had seemed like forever since I had last seen him, but in reality, it hadn’t really been that long. I still missed him though. And apparently he missed me too. Well, that’s what his hoard of texts to me said anyway. Over the time we had been apart, we text each other pretty much every day. Even though we weren’t with each other physically, we still wanted to know how the other was and what they had been up to. That’s one of the things I looked forward to most. I wouldn’t have to ask Caiden any of that anymore because I would be there to see it myself.

As the car jolted to a halt, I hastily unbuckled my seat belt and waited for my dad.

“Calm down, Lex,” he chuckled, but I just brushed it off. I had planned for Caiden to meet me at my house pretty soon after I arrived home and was anticipating seeing him again. As soon as dad was out of the car, I jumped out and ran for the door, knocking multiple times. Dad ran to catch up with me and stood by my side at the front door. “Someone’s eager, eh?”

I merely shook my head and blushed, looking down. I heard dad laugh as the door opened.

“Oh, Lexi, dear, it’s so good to see you,” I heard my mum squeal delightfully as she opened the door.

“It’s great to see you too, Mum,” I said and embraced her in a hug.

“It’s nice to see you too, Nathan,” she said tentatively as she pulled out of my embrace.

“You too,” he replied quietly.

The awkward tension grew the longer dad and I stood in the door way. I gently hopped from one foot to the other nervously whilst dad looked at the floor with his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, sorry, dear, would you like to come in?” mum said as she moved to side, opened the front door wider and gestured her arm towards the living room. I walked in with dad following behind as he said a quiet ‘thank you’. “So, how have you been? What have you been up to?”

For the rest of the morning and through till lunch, I told mum about everything that had happened; about Caiden, about the days out I had spent with dad, about my audition for Sylvia Young and most of all – what happened with Jasmine. It was a touchy subject for both dad and I, but mum deserved to know. Dad and I stayed for lunch and as soon as I had washed my plate, the door bell sounded.

“I’ll get it,” I said joyfully, already knowing who it was. I slowly walked out of the kitchen and as soon as I couldn’t be soon, I jogged to the door. I pulled open the front door and was greeted by Caiden’s beaming smile.

“Hey, green eyes,” he said with a wink. I squealed and practically jumped on him, throwing my arms around his neck. He spun us around on the doorstep several times before he stopped to place me down on the floor. He rested his head in the crook of my neck and whispered, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I muttered back just as quietly. For the next few minutes, Caiden and I just stayed where we were on the front doorstep, hugging each other tightly. Although, the peace was broken by a forced cough from behind us.

“Hey, Dad.” I laughed. He smiled back, knowing that what he wanted to achieve was working.

“Caiden,” he said with a slight nod. Caiden smiled before replying.

“Hi...Sir,” Caiden said awkwardly.

“Look, we may not have gotten along at the start, but please call me Nathan! ‘Sir’ makes me sound old,” dad said cringing. Caiden and I laughed before pulling away from each other and walking inside as dad led the way. We all sat down in the living room – mum, dad, Caiden and I. The room was quiet and I intertwined my fingers with Caiden’s as I became more nervous.

“Lex,” I turned my attention to dad as he began to speak, “have you actually told your friends that you’re leaving yet?” he asked. I took in his words and thought back to the last time I had seen Olivia, Mia and Chloe; my budding trio. Come to think of it, I had hardly spoken to them since I had gone down to London with dad. I hadn’t been a very good friend recently. I looked down as I nervously played with my hands. I slowly shook my head, ashamed of myself.

“No, I’ve hardly spoken to them actually. I’ve been such a bad friend,” I huffed. Caiden wrapped his arms around me and rubbed up and down my arms soothingly.

“Why don’t we go talk to them now? You can apologise and explain to them why you’ve hardly spoken and tell them what’s happening. You’ve just found your dad, they weren’t that important as harsh as that sounds,” Caiden said matter-of-factly. I thought and slowly nodded, agreeing. It did sound harsh, but I suppose it was true. “Come on, I’ll go with you.” He stood up and reached out for my hand.

“Go on, Lex. I need to speak to your Mum anyway. I’ll still be here when you get back.” Dad’s last comment put a smile on my face and gave me all the confidence I needed to go and talk to my friends. I jumped up and took Caiden’s hand as we walked out of the door.

The walk to the park my friends would mostly likely be at was quiet, but it wasn’t awkward - it was weird. It was somewhere I usually went to with Chloe, Olivia and Mia and it was strange not already being there with them. Instead, I was about to tell them that I was leaving. As soon as we arrived, I was proven right. In front of me were my three best friends sat around the swings, laughing loudly. I stood still as Caiden stood next to me, grabbing my hand.

“It’ll be OK,” he soothed. I walked towards my friends as they Mia turned around.

“Hey, is that Lexi?” she screeched. I picked up my pace, releasing my hand from Caiden’s and began jogging towards the three girls in front of me. Olivia and Chloe looked in the same direction that Mia was and their eyes widened. They all jumped up and ran towards me. We bounded into each other and wrapped our arms around each other tightly.

“I’ve missed you, guys,” I whispered. They all squealed about how much they had missed me too and we pulled away from each other. “Guys, I need to tell you something. Let’s go sit down,” I said, gesturing towards the bench in front of us. The girls nodded unsure, but sat down anyway. I sat with them and began my apology.

“You’re my best friends and I don’t know what I would do without you all. I’m sorry that I’ve hardly spoken to you recently. I guess I’ve just been a bit overwhelmed with finding my dad, so I’m sorry. But I kind of have some news...” I paused, “I’m moving in with my dad, in London.” They all took a deep breath and look down at the floor. “I’m sorry, but I promise that you can visit as much as you want and we’ll still see each other and everything. I’m sorry that it had to be like this.” I sighed and rubbed my seemingly watery eyes. As my hands covered my eyes, I felt three pairs of arms wrap around me, hugging me.

“We’ll miss you – loads in fact – but you deserve to be with your dad. We’ll visit as much as we can! And just make sure that Caiden doesn’t hurt you because if he does, we will kick his arse.” I laughed at Mia’s comment and sniffled. I wrapped my arms around the three of them and smiled.

“I don’t deserve to have such great friends like you, thank you.”