The wasted first Kiss.

Chapter 19

I groaned and rubbed my face against the soft material of my blanket.

"Wake up sweetie." I groaned loudly and sat up. I sleepily rubbed at my eyes and silently pleaded for them to open. My throat felt tender and my lips were dry from all the crying my body suffered the previous night.

I felt my bed dip beside me but I had yet to open my eyes. "I love your expressions when you first wake up. Your mouth pulls into a pout and you get this cute dopey look that makes you look twelve."

"Thanks dad, I've always wanted to hear how at seventeen I look twelve." I mumbled and forced my eyes open to stare at my father. He was dressed in his usual grey suit and dark buttoned shirt. His greying hair was combed over to hide his reseeding hairline. His brown eyes shone with amusement as he ruffled my already untidy hair.

"I heard you had a rough night." My dad commented.

I frowned at the memory. "Yes. I can't believe things turned out that way."

"I'm sorry you had to go through the pain again baby girl. I wish everyday that I could have taken your place." My father's eyes grew distant and I watched as anger and sadness flashed across his face.

I reached out and hugged my father's plump body. His arms looped around my waist and I let him pull me on his lap. I curled into the loving arms of my father as I did when I was a child.

"I don't want you angry, daddy." I whispered.

My father kissed my head and rested his chin on my head. "I know baby girl but, I'm supposed to protect you and I failed. I can never forgive myself for that. He stole your childhood and faith in humans. It's because of him that you have spent six years sheltered from society. I can't express how happy I was to see a boy in your room. I know that any other father would be furious but for me it made me feel as though you were finally living and maybe, just maybe, I was finally doing something right."

I cried into my daddy's arms and felt as he breathed in harshly in an attempt to stop his own tears. "I never wanted you to feel guilt daddy. I can't change anything but I'm finally realising that I can change how it affects me. He got what he deserves but if I continue to live in the shadows and afraid of those around me, then he still wins. He stole my life but if I let him keep it, then he gets what he wants but, if I live then he loses his control and power."

I looked up to see my father staring down at me with a grin as wide as the Pacific ocean. "When did my baby girl grow up?" He asked.

I playfully hit his shoulder and giggled. "I had a little help," I replied.

"From that boy?" He asked awkwardly.

I laughed, "partly. I'll admit that he opened my eyes a little last night but, all credit goes to you daddy."

My father's smile grew until it consumed his face. He hugged me tighter against his body. I moved my head to the side for oxygen when suddenly my eyes caught sight of my bedside clock. It read eight in the morning. I gasped and jumped from my father's lap.

"I'm late! Why didn't you wake me earlier! I still have school." I screamed to no one in particular.

On my bed my father chuckled lightly and soon I felt his arms touch mine gently. "After everything you went through last night, your mother and I thought you needed a day off. You're not going to school, I've already called in for you."

I stared in amazement. "Why? You've always been strict when it came to school."

"I know and perhaps we've been too strict. We thought that since you retreated away from any social surrounding, school was the best thing for you. We push you to excel so that one day you may live the life we know you are capable and deserving of."