Vehemently Yours,

32.Faithfully Crying

Bursting into her house, Rene ran headlong to her room without stopping. Closing her bedroom door shut, she hears her father calling her name out.

"Rene! Is that you? Rene!"

She sobs in despair, her hands covering her face and she plops face down into her bed. Her door gets a small knock.

"Go away!" She wails.

Her agony tearing her heart into pieces. Her walls were closing in, trapping her in her own jail of terror.

No one would love her. Every one thinks she isn't good enough. But Sebastian had said he loved her, right?

She shakes her head frustrated knowing that he was probably lying or else he would have chased her down. Clasping her into his big safe arms. He would protect her. Taking away all her fears.

"No! No! Men aren't like that." She says to herself.

He doesn't care about her. Last night was.. again the new fresh tears spilled.

She couldn't even begin to explain. The most powerful feeling that reverberated within her. Now it was all hopeless. Nothing mattered. All was lost.

"Sweetheart. Talk to me." Her dad's voice muffled through the thick door. "What's wrong, love?"

She sniffles, suddenly wanting her dad to hold her. So, she calls him to come in. Without saying anything, he comes and hugs her. Which made Rene grateful for the silence and comfort. She cried harder.

"It's all going to be okay." She sobs against his shirt. He caresses her back affectionately. Cooing her with wordless love and kisses. Rene just holds on to him tight.

Then, their bell rang. Twice and thrice, and Dad yelled, "Coming. Stay right here. Let me see who it is at the door."

She nods, and goes back lying down her bed. Her crying stops but she feels the heaviness laden upon her eyes.

Her head was throbbing. She feels the temptation to go into the sleep that pulls her and then she succumbs into agonized sleep.

"Sebastian! What are you doing here?" Daniel says, looking at a wide eyed looking disoriented Sebastian.

"Uh did your daughter come back home?" He looks around the house, as if trying to get a glimpse of her.

"Yeah. Come in. Come in. She was crying and I don't know what's happening. Do-"

Sebastian cuts him off saying. "Can I see her?"

He pleads as Daniel opens and closes his mouth. "Is there something I should know?"

At first, Sebastian wanted to tell him everything. Everything single detail and leaving nothing out of it. He was ready to be knocked and hit by Daniel. He'd probably deserved it but nothing was going to stop him from his seeing Rene.

She ran away from him. And it was all his fault. If he hadn't allowed Nicole to come in his house, none of this would happen.

And don't get started on his sister.

After Rene left, he bursted upon Nicole. As much as protective older sibling Nicole was, she always muddled into Sebastian's life. Making sure he never get hurt.

This could be also shown by the graphic display of the over protectiveness she felt for him due to their childhood dilemma. He was a small boy who had been harassed by his own mother and the only person who stood by his side was Nicole.

He, in his reasoning mind should have predicted her behavior about this because of another bad incident that occurred in college. It was the last straw and he promised himself not to get involved with anyone like that before. Yet here he was.

Things change. Life makes that happen and there is nothing you can do about it. Zilch. Nada. But he believed in himself to at least try and make an effort to understand the rudiments of life's way of throwing him a curve ball.

When he yelled at Nicole with so much hostility, she had stepped back to take a long look at him. She was struck by the magnitude of his anger. Telling her that she had no right to interfere and he bloody didn't care if he was in love with Daniel's daughter. He bloody didn't care.

Fuck, he can't believe he had said that. He first thought this slip of tongue meant nothing. That he was trying to shut Nicole up but no, he wasn't doing that. He was hopelessly hooked onto this girl. He was irrevocably in love with a woman like Rene. My Rene.

But this was not how it was supposed to be. He knew she was a flight risk. He knew she probably thought he was saying flowery shit to shut his sister up. But if anyone who knew him, Sebastian doesn't do bullshit.

"Sebastian? What's up?"

"I'll tell you everything, Daniel. Just let me see her if she is okay." That got his attention immediately. Daniel told him to follow him, slowly knocking on her door. There was no answer at first.

Sebastian's hands clenched into fists. He was trying to rein in his control not to flung open the door and see if she was alright.

Daniel glances back at Sebastian, shrugging. He then turns the door knob gently and opens the door. As they walk in, Sebastian's breath hollowed.

She had been crying. He could her eyes were swollen and puffed up like pillows pressed around them. Her cheeks still red with stains of tear mark running down. I did this.

He clenched his jaw from saying anything stupid in front of Daniel.

"She just came in running and crying. I couldn't even ask her what was wrong when all she did was cry and cry." Daniel whispers to him.

He nods back, not leaving his eyes from Rene. He did this to her. Making her feel pain. He wanted to hit himself. He was such an asshole.
He can't make her feel like this.

He steps back, finalizing something.

He needed to stay away from Rene. She deserves so much more. Someone better than him. Although, that thought alone has got him churning in pity jealously.

"I need to go." He turns back, heading to the front door.

Daniel runs after him, quietly shutting his daughter's bedroom door.

"Now, hold on a minute. Why did you come here? Do you know something? Because I think I do."

That got Sebastian to pause.
"You do?"

"Yeah I think I know what's going on." Looking at Sebastian dead in the eye, he feels sweat trickling down his back nervously. He says nothing, keeping his mouth zipped.

"Rene wasn't at Alannah's house, was she?"

Crap. "Look Daniel-" Trying to think of something to save her when Daniel cuts him off.

"She was at that Anderson's house."

Sebastian blinked in confusion. What?

"She stayed a night at his house and now, she comes back crying and sobbing. It doesn't take a genius to know that the asswipe took advantage of my baby girl and then dumped her in the morning."

Sebastian lets out a breath of relief when he hears this. For a minute there he felt like the kid who stole all those cookies from their jars.

"Well, is it true?" Daniel was still staring at him in that weird parent sort of way. He then realized he hadn't said a word yet.

What should he say? He was caught in a trap.

He can't say anything about his relationship or whatever he had with Rene. Not unless they had to discuss about this first. God, how much they needed to talk was making his head swing in pain. And secondly, she would be displeased and he knows she would never let her dad be disappointed in her. It would crack her.

So he did the most sensible thing he thought he could think of at that moment.
"Yeah. It's true."