The Fighter

12-The house that broke me

Ivan kissed the top of my head.

I looked around the kitchen where we were standing.

Where do I begin?

I went upstairs to the bedrooms. I started in Mason's and Aubrey's room. I walked in and started smiling when I saw the bears my dad picked out after mom had the twins. I picked them up and smelled them. I kept them as I continued to walk around the room.

Next was my parents room. Ivan already had all the photo albums taken out of the closet for me when he went through the house all those years ago. Those are safe in my apartment. I went into my mom's jewelry drawer, she didn't have a ton but I grabbed what she did have.

Walking out, I headed to my bedroom. I started laughing when I looked around and saw my Backstreet Boys poster hanging on the wall.

"Please tell me you didn't like them?" Nick chuckled, as he learned on the door frame.

I place the teddy bears and jewelry on my bed, "I mean... I might have had all their songs memorized and went to a few of their concerts."

Nick smiled and shook his head at me. "So this was your childhood bedroom, huh?"

"Yep." I picked up the framed family picture I have on my dresser. "It's funny how fast things can change, you learn not to take anything for granted. I went from loving the Backstreet Boys, make-up and fairy lights; to kicking guys' teeth in."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but for what it's worth... I think you're doing an amazing job."

I smiled at his words, still looking at the framed picture.

"Did you ever meet my dad?"

"I did, a few times actually. He was a nice man from what I remember."

"He was the best, so was my mom. My dad was so gentle, kind and the absolute best story teller. Every night before bed he would tell me some kind of fairytale. He never once told me about the monsters of the real world. My mom reminds me a lot of Ms. Kay. Maybe that's why I love your mom so much. The best cook, kind hearted and would hurt a fly."

I had tears in my eyes, I haven't cried since that horrible night. Nick came up spinning me towards him gently. He wrapped his arms around me as I hugged him back. I felt him kiss the top of my head a few times, letting me know he was there for me.

I let go of Nick, and looked away, wiping away the tears ready to fall.

I walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Nick."

He nodded and smiled at me.

********

I walked downstairs alongside Nick. I opened my dad's office door, and looked around for a while. Ivan told me that the cops took all the papers in his office, so most of it's been cleared out and his filing cabinets emptied.

"Are you finding anything Kid?" Bryan asked as Bryan, Ivan and Alec walked in.

"No, I have one more place I want to check in here."

I moved my dad's chair towards the book shelf and I stood up on the seat.

I still had to stand on the tips of my toes and reach. Nick came over and held the chair as I reached for the button I was looking for.

"Found it." I said, as I hit the button.

The book shelf started to move, as Nick helped me down. The dust was thick as we all started coughing.

"I didn't know about that." Ivan smirked.

"I actually forgot about it, I wasn't allowed to go in this part before."