Straight through the Heart

Chapter 13

"Da-ad!" I almost shriek in surprise. "Put me down!" He laughs at my reaction as he swings me around in a circle. His blue eyes brighten enthusiastically as his laugh wrinkles pop out.

"I'm going to miss my little princess." He gives me one big bear hug before letting go. "Can I have a kiss before I go?" He points to his cheek. He has a little gray hairs growing out, so I know it's going to be a prickly peck.

"You almost crushed my ribs." I pout. "Dad, I'm a grown woman now. You should also shave your face." I roll my eyes at him before I give him a little peck.

"Your ma likes this look on me. I think the hair gives me the "rugged, sexy look" that is trending right now." He rubs his cheek against my mom's cheek, knowing she won't like it. The last time my dad grew out his gnarly beard, my mom refused to kiss him until he shaved the damn thing. He said he wanted to grow it out for no-shave November. Honestly, he just wanted to be able to see if he could braid his beard. I sometimes forget how weird my dad can be.

Then again, who else did I inherit this weirdness from?

"Jacob!" She says in surprise. "Stop it."

"Yes ma'am." He salutes as a joke.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm the only one who's mature in this family." Robin grumbles as he stares at our parents.

"Stop hiding that jokester within you. We know it's there." My dad grabs Robin's cap and ruffles Robin's hair. Robin lets out a string of complaints as he tries to fix it.

"Dad, don't bother Rob. He's too cool for us." I push Rob playfully to the side. He rolls his eyes and shoves me back. 

"We should hurry though." My mother glances at her watch.

"Love you!" She raises her voice cheerfully as she grabs my father by his arm. She pulls him after her and I laugh at the sight. My father protests a little bit as he says, "I haven't got my kiss from my beloved son!" Then, he turns around and plants a kiss on her lips before walking beside her.

"I don't get it." I cock my head at my loving parents. "How can they be so gross but also so dangerous?"

"Me either." Robin agrees seriously with me. "I'll never understand anyone in this family."

We stand there watching our parents leave.

"Are you in a rush to get back?" I start walking towards my car with him.

"Nope."

"Okay."

There's a small silence between us before we both say, "I have something to say."

"No, you first-" We stare at each other.

"You go first." I tell him.

"Anthony's death and Sebastian's attack was my fault." He sighs. We stop walking as he says this.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for the accident. You didn't kill Anthony. The son of a bitches who pulled the trigger did it." I reason with him. I may be a hypocrite in saying this because I've been putting the blame of everything wrong about my life on me.

"NO, you don't understand. The reason why they pulled the trigger in the first place was because of me!" Robin gets a little angry. I'm a little surprised at his outburst since he rarely has outbursts.

"Fine. Explain then! You don't need to shout at me!" I raise my voice at him. We get some strange looks from bystanders so we end up walking into an alley to talk.

"Sorry." Robin apologizes immediately. "I just...I caused it. It's a long story." Robin takes a deep breath. I can feel that he wants to tell me. He wants to get rid of the burden and finally tell someone.