The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

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Warning/Disclaimer: These next few chapters are going to get pretty intense.  Triggering events will happen in the next few chapters. So, if this is something that will cause an issue PLEASE do not read these next few chapters! I can upload a brief summary in a sepatate chapter without the details! I love everyone and if there is any way we can support eachother during tough times, then that's what we need to do! So, do not read this if drug abuse or suicide will trigger any emotions for you. 

"Candace, Stop! I didn't mean it like that, okay? I'm sorry. Just come back so we can talk about all of this." Matty yelled after me, following me out of the door almost immediately after I slammed it in his face.

"No, Matty! You can't just apologize after-" My phone starts to ring in my hand, and I look down to see my home phone number lighting up on the screen. I answer it immediately.

"Hello?" I ask, breathless from yelling.

"Candace?" Phoebe's soft voice asks on the other end.

"Phoebe? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" I ask quickly. Matty's eyes are now alert as he watches me intently.

"I think something is wrong with Daddy..." She mumbles.

"What? What's wrong with Daddy?" I ask quickly, "Phoebe, what did he do? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I ask frantically when she takes a little too long to reply. 

"Is she okay?" Matty asks, stepping closer to me.

"He's crying." She says in a whisper. 

"Okay, Phoebe, stay on the phone with me. I'm on my way home. Don't hang up the phone." I say sternly. I run to my car and try and unlock it, but my shaking hands prevent me from doing so. Matty is at my side in a second, and grabs my keys from me and unlocks and opens my door.

"Candace, answer me. Is Phoebe okay?" He asks, pulling my attention to him.

"Yeah, I think so. It's my dad. I have to go." I mumble, starting the car engine and shutting the door. 

"Call me when you get it figured out, okay?" I heard him yell from the other side of the door, and pulled out of the driveway quickly.

I race home in hopes that whatever situation I am about to walk into isn't really that bad. Phoebe ends the call mid sentence and I frantically begin to dial the number again, only to be greeted by our voicemail. Panic and fear of what might come is all I can feel. Maybe it's all in my own head and I'm just worried for no reason. Everything will be fine. Everything we be okay.

I peel my car into the driveway and race through the front door. The first thing I see if my dad hovering over Phoebe and yelling at her. 

"Dad! Stop right now!" He stops yelling when he hears my voice, and lets out an unamused laugh and stepped away from Phoebe. In two large strides, he is standing infront of me.

"Well look who it is. Mommy to the rescue?"He laughs. I can smell the alcohol on his breath instantly. He is fucking drunk.

"Are you fucknig drunk?" I spit out.

"Are you fucking drunk?" He mocks, " Of course i'm fucking drunk. What else, Candy Cane?" He laughs, using my old nickname as a way to mock me.

"Get in the other room. Right. Now." I say, pointing into his bedroom and marching down the small hallway.

He follows behind me and paces around the room once we reach the bedroom.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? I am trying to deal with everything else in my life, and you're getting drunk? I need you to actually step up and be a fucking father for once!" I yell.

"Be a father for once? Why? What's the fucking point? You're just going to take her away from me anyways."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what i'm fucking talking about, Candace! I saw the browser history!" He yells. I feel my body go cold as I realize exactly what he's talking about.

"Dad, I-" 

"Shut up, Candace! Just shut up! You are researching ways to receive legal guardianship of a sibling! You're trying to fucking take MY daughter away from me!" He screams, throwing the lamp that was on his side table and shattering it against the wall. 

"Dad! Stop! You are being fucking crazy right now! Just calm the fuck down!" I yell. He is being fucking insane and irrational. It's hard to control him when he gets worked up like this.

"No, Candace! You don't understand what the hell crazy is. You are only a fucking child. You don't know what it's like to slowly watch the person you love most in the worst die! Do you know what that's like? Do you know what it's like to watch them? To be left with the biggest fucking responsibility and not know what the hell you're doing? So, i'm sorry if my parenting isn't good enough for you! I fucking tried!" He snapps at me. He is drunk and crying. The mix is painful to watch.

"Dad, I miss mom, too. I miss her every fucking day. The day she died, I lost a part of myself with her. I feel like an empty fucking shell without her here. I know how you feel. Sure, she was your soulmate. I truly believe that. But you don't understand that she was also my mom. That's a bond that you will never understand either. You needed to step up and be here for us when she died! But instead, you let the fucking alcohol and drugs take over your life! Gambling, booze, and drugs are more important to you than your own fucking daughters! Look at Phoebe! She is scared of you! She doesn't even know who the fuck you are anymore!" I screamed.

"I didn't even want to have kids, you know? I never wanted kids. Your mother, though...she loved the idea of having children. She wanted a little version of us running around all the time. She begged me. I told her that I would be enough for her. I told her that I would love her enough. She wouldn't need kids. But then, you were born. It was honestly a fucking accident. We didn't really mind, though. Later, Phoebe was born. And then your mother died. Now, I'm stuck with this life that I didn't want. I don't know the first thing about raising a family. Alone? Fuck no. I don't know the first thing about it. I just...I can't do. I can't do it anymore without your mother. I'm sorry I let you girls down. I'm so fucking sorry." He sobbed, reaching under the bed pulling out the item I feared the most.

His fucking gun.

"Dad, what are you doing? Put that down. Now." I said slowly, not sure what his intentions were. I locked the bedroom door so Phoebe wouldn't be able to get in. My dad is fucking drunk and irrational right now. She can't see him like this. It will scare her to death.

"You know, you look so much like your mother. I really can't fucking stand to look at you. You have the same eyes. Same nose. Same hair. Everything is similar. So fucking beautiful, just like her." He said, giving me a small smile.

Two seconds later, he turns the gun towards his face and shoots himself in the mouth.

I screamed as I watched my dad's lifeless body hit the floor, blood now pooling below my feet.

Author's Note!

Wow. All I can say is wow. At first, I wrote this scene with much more detail, but then decided to cut back and just get to the jist of what happened to her father. He was a very sad man. There will be more about him in later chapters so we can all get a better understanding of him and his struggles with depression, and where he was in life that made him take his own life. This is a key element in this story, and this leads to many more obstacles in Matty/Candace's , and even Phoebe relationship.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression, please talk to someone! We are all a big Wattpad family and we will love and support eachother through everything! Please never hesitate to message me to vent, I will always be here for you! 

I love you all very very much. Stay tuned for the next chapter that will be out either tonight, or tomorrow! 

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-ac