(Ethan's Point of View)
Everyone sits in the car in silence, until Amelia's stomach grumbles and breaks the silice. "Well someone is hungry." My mom giggles and looks at Amelia who is bright red. "Sweetie just wait a bit, we will go home and we can have dinner." My mom assured her. I was still mad at Amelia, hence I didn't say a word to her nor looked at her. I could feel her giving me small glances from the corner of my eye but I just ignored them and stared out the window most of the time.
My dad stops in our driveway and I immediately climb out not bothering to wait for anyone and ring the doorbell. A few seconds later grandma comes and opens the door but furrows her eyebrows once she sees me. "What are you doing here so early? Dinner got over fast?" She asks as she opens the door wider and I walk in, everyone else walking in behind me. "It's a long story." I sigh. "Well I got the time." She says. "Dr. Adam's son forced himself on Amelia and things went out of hand and now here we are." I sigh gesturing towards all of us. "Oh my god! That explains the blood and bruises! Is Amelia alright?" She asks frantically as she walks over to Amelia and immediately spots her bruised wrists. "I am fine." She assures grandma with a soft smile.
"Oh dear, I swear I would have killed that kid for touching you." My grandma says as she hugs her. "I know. I would have to, but someone is just too kind for their own good." I say as I glare at Amelia to which she rolls her eyes at. "What?" Grandma asks in confusion. "Amelia freaking helped clean the guys bruises and even forgave him for what he did!" I say. Grandma signs but doesn't say anything. "I did not forgive him so you better not lie!" She says as she pulls away from my grandma. "Whatever, I am hungry." I say as I remove my suit and put it on the coat hanger.
I walk into the kitchen and open the cabinets to look for something but find nothing. "There is nothing there to eat, we have to go grocery shopping. You will have to cook something if you want to eat." I hear Amelia say as she opens the fridge door.
I look in her direction and see that she has now removed her heels leaving her barefoot and she opened her bun leaving her hair down. She no longer has her purse or earrings. She takes out a few ingredients and walks past me into the kitchen.
"Knowing that you can't cook to save your life, I will make mac and cheese for everyone." She says as she takes out a pan and puts it on the stove.
Everyone in the household knows how great of a cook I am.Yeah, you got it right, I suck at cooking and can burn water if I were up to it. Amelia on the other hand can be a pretty good cook and I love her food.
She starts making mac and cheese as she walks around the kitchen, not even sparing me a glance. "You just gonna stand there or actually do something?" She asks as she starts putting some stuff into the pan. "We need to talk." I say in a serious voice.
This is our first actual fight and it's not on some small topic, it is a pretty big topic and I want to talk it out and solve it even though I am super mad. I just think talking it out is the most sensible thing to do and after that we can decide if we want to be mad or not.
"Look I am in no mood to talk right now. Today was a long night and I am tired. I am just gonna cook for everyone, eat and then go to sleep. Maybe we can talk this out tomorrow, but right now I am seriously not in the mood." She says as she looks at me.
I can clearly see the tiredness in her eyes so I say nothing but nod. I just stare at her cook and move around the kitchen. My hands itch to be around her but I know better than that. Right now is not the time, both of us are frustrated with each other and are tired. I honestly don't want to fight, but what she said and did made me furious and even she knows that. I know I shouldn't have yelled at her, but my anger took the best of me at that time. She was helping me and I should be grateful for that, but the way she said she was cleaning up my mess really made me furious. I know I mess up a lot and maybe even disappoint dad due to the constant fights I have at school. I know today if dad would have seen just how much blood was poured, he would be furious at me even though I hit the guy for a good cause. Dad isn't a fan of violence and I know my punishment was yet to come.
I see Amelia take out a few plates and start serving the mac and cheese which let me tell you smells amazing. She puts a plate next to the counter I am leaning on before taking two plates outside. She comes back a few seconds later and takes another plate outside before coming back in and leaning on the counter opposite mine as she starts eating her food silently.
I take a bite of my food and continue to stare at her with every bite I take and before I know it I have completed my whole plate but Amelia still has half of hers left. I walk past her and put my plate in the sink before washing it cleaning and placing it on the plate stand. I see Amelia take small bites of her food from the corner of my eye. "Kids, we are going to bed, don't stay up too late, tomorrow you have school." Mom says before heading upstairs with my dad.
By the silence in the entire house I am guessing Adrian is asleep and grandma is sleeping too. I look at Amelia who is now silently washing her plate before she puts it on the plate stand and walks past me and goes upstairs. I follow her and see her enter her room and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. We usually sleep in my room. "Where are you going?" I ask her. "To my room." She says as she walks into her room.
Oh right, we are mad at each other...
I sight and make my way to my room and change, wash my face and plop myself waiting for sleep to come.
~~~
I have been trying to sleep for the past two hours but nothing is working, I am tired but my eyes just would close since I don't have a certain brown haired girl in my arms. Sleeping with Amelia was a daily habit for me that now I just couldn't sleep without her. I needed her in my arms when sleeping for my comfort and security.
Would she be having the same problem as me? Is she even awake right now?
I sigh at my thoughts and twist and turn in my bed for the millionth time. I stare at my door that is wide open for her. I left my door open, hoping that she would maybe, just maybe come and sleep.
Okay, that's it, I can't sleep without her and it's driving me crazy. I get off my bed and push the blanket off my bare chest before walking towards her room. I open the door slowly and find her lying on her bed, her beautiful eyes wide open as she stares at the ceiling.
"I am still mad at you, but I can't sleep without you and you know how much I need my sleep." I say as I close the door behind me. I see her look in my direction, "Can't sleep without me?" She asks in a soft voice. I nod, "And taking by the fact that you're awake, you can't sleep without me too." I say as I make my way towards her bed. She shrugs in response before scooting a bit and making place for me.
I get into the bed and put the covers over the both of us. I put one of my arms under my head and put the other around Amelia. Amelia scoots closer to me and puts her head on my chest. I move my thumb on her back and just look in front of me, from the corner of my eyes I see her closing her eyes. Unlike usual Amelia is not completely on top of me, a bit of her body is on top of me but I don't mind. I feel Amelia's chest going up and down indicating that she is asleep.
I look down at her and place a soft kiss on her forehead before closing my eyes and falling asleep in peace knowing that Amelia is in my arms.
~~~
(Amelia's Point of View)
I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing and try to get up but Ethan is holding me too tight. Both his hands are wrapped around my waist and both our legs are tangled.
I was not able to sleep yesterday night, but the moment Ethan wrapped his arms around me I fell asleep in just a minute's time. I guess I am just too used to sleeping with him that I can't sleep without him.
I am broken out of my thoughts when my phone rings even louder. I try to pry Ethan's hands off me only to fail. I sigh and extend my hand to my nightstand for my phone and with much difficulty I finally get it in my hand. Short arms suck.
I look at the caller ID and see an unknown number. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as I pick up.
"Hello?" I ask and I curse at my morning voice for sounding so groggy. "Hi. Am I speaking to Ms. Amelia Waston?" A male voice asks. "Um yes, is there something I can help you with?" I ask. "Amelia, this is your father, Jackson Henderson." And the moment he says those words my heart seems to have stopped and my eyes go wide. "J-Jackson Henderson as in the billoriane Jackson Henderson?" I ask. As in my father Jackson Henderson a voice inside my head says.
"Yes. I am pretty sure you know I am your father. Anyway I'm calling you to see if you may wanna meet up?" He asks, and just then Ethan's eyes start to open. "I-I am sorry what?" I ask. He makes it sound so casual as if meeting up is no big deal, but if he has forgotten he is Jackson Henderson, my father who left me and my mother before I was even born because he was a coward, he is the same guy who is paying my mom to keep me a secret since he is so embarrassed by me that he can go to any costs to keep me hidden and saving his reputation.
"I asked if you want to meet up." He repeats and just then Ethan mouths, "Who is it?" I put my finger on my lips indicating him to stay quiet. "Um I am sorry, are you sure you have the right Amelia Waston?" I ask. "Yes, your Amelia, my daughter and I want to meet up with you. Is there any problem?" He asks. Somehow the word daughter sounds so forgein to my ears. I gulp as I get out of Ethans bed and get off my bed and stand and start walking around the room. "No, si- I mean Mr. Henderson-'' He cuts me off, "Call me dad or father." He says. Dude is this man crazy?! He just suddenly waltzes into my life and expects me to call him father or dad?! "Right... Father, um may I know why you want to meet up with me?" I ask.
The moment I said father a grimace made its way onto my face, I have never really used the word dad or father to refer to anyone in my life before and the word is just too unknown to my tongue. This man has no rights to be called my dad, he left my mom and me leaving us both, he left my mom in her sorrows which made her distant from me and what made her hate me, calling him father is even not his right, I don't even know why I called him that. The only reason why I call my mom, mom and not mother is because even though she hates me, I care about her, I know the wounds my dad left for her, she may be a bitch to me but I still care about her, she may not deserve the title of my mom but I give it to her, plus its a habit since I was small, all the kids called their mom mom or mommy.
"I feel like we have a lot to catch up on. But if you're busy today, maybe we can do it sometime later?" He says hopefully. A lot to catch up on my ass, this man is acting like he actually knows me, I can bet on the fact he doesn't even know how I look. "No, today is fine, just text me the address and stuff." I sigh. I don't even know why I agreed, maybe because I was hoping I would get my answers to everything I have wanted to know since I was a kid? Maybe... Today he will give me those answers?
"Great, I hope to see you soon!" He says and hangs up. I sigh and sit on my bed and put my face in my hands. "What's wrong?" I hear Ethan ask from behind me. "Nothing." I say.
I know I should tell Ethan, he is always the person who can help me and calm me down in such situations. But right now we have our own problems to sort out and I don't want to add my problems in between this. We still need to sort out our fight from yesterday and I don't want my problems to come in the way. We have a lot to talk about and I am hoping we can do it by today and sort things out or just make a wise decision.
"Are you sure? I mean you seem stressed." He says as he starts rubbing my back which somehow soothes me. "It's nothing, we should probably start getting ready for school." I say as I get up. "Okay..." He said hesitantly before giving me one more look and then walking out the room.
I sit back down on my bed and criss cross my legs and put my face in my hands and close my eyes. My so-called dad contacted me for the first time in my entire life! I am gonna meet him for the first time...
I feel my anxiety kick in, I try to breath in but I can't, I feel like two hands are choking me. I remove my hands from my face and grip my throat trying to breath. God, no I am having a panic attack. I feel my heart racing, and tears start to brim on the corner of my eyes. I start to choke and cough and sob all together. Whenever I would have a panic attack grandma was there for me, but right now I just feel helpless and alone.
My sobs become louder and before I know it a figure is running towards me. I can't see who the figure is due to the tears in my eyes that are making everything blurry. I see the fingers mouth moving as they are trying to say something but all I can hear is my own sobs and chokes. Suddenly out of nowhere I hear my fathers voice, Amelia, this is your father, Jackson Henderson. His words seem to echo in my head and for some reason my sobs become harder. "Amelia, look at me!" I hear a distant voice. "Amelia breath in, breath out." I hear the same voice say as someone takes a hold of my hand.
The contact somehow calms me down and I squeeze the person's hand and start to take deep breaths in and out. I continue to squeeze the person's hand as my breathing starts going to normal. I take a few more deep breaths in and block out my fathers voice from my head until my heart seems to be beating normally.
"Are you okay?" I hear a voice ask from beside me. I look towards my side and blink my eyes a bit to see clearly and I see Ethan kneeling beside me, his face has a worried expression as I hold his hand, well more like squeeze and his other hand is on my back as he rubs circles on the back with his thumb.
I nod my head not able to find my voice. He breaths out a sigh of relief as he removes his hands from my back and uses it to wipe my tears.
"W-What happened just now?" He asks hesitantly. "A-A panic attack." I say in a croaky voice. He nods but I know he wants to know more, but lucky he doesn't ask. I know my reason to this panic attack was stupid, but hearing my father's voice and the nerovousness to meet him scared me and got my anxiety level up. I don't even know what he wants from me and why he contacted me for the first time in 18 whole years. A part of me didn't want to meet him, I wanted to call him and tell him to fuck off and never contact me again, to tell him he never was and never will be my father. But another part of me wanted all my answers, answers my mom never gave me.
"You wanna talk about it?" Ethan asks, still holding my hand. "No." I whisper. He nods understandingly. "Kids is everything okay here? I heard a lot of... noises." Jullie says as looks at us. I look up at Jullie and see that she is wearing her pink silk nightgown. "E-Everything is fine." I say with a weak voice. "Are you sure?" Jullie asks in concern. I nod and she sighs knowing that I might not say anything. "Okay, well get ready and come down for breakfast hmm?" She says politely.
"Yeah, we will be down in a minute." I say with a smile, a fake smile. "Okay." She smiles and walks away. I look back at Ethan who is still kneeling down in front of me, holding my hand and looking at me with the look of worry in his eyes. "Ethan I am fine." I sigh. "You are most definitely not fine, so don't fill me up with that bullshit." He says with narrowed eyes. I am about to respond when my phone's notification goes off and I immediately know it's my dad who sent me the time and place for our so-called meeting.
I unconsciously tighten my hold on Ethan's hand which makes him alert. "Who was that?" He asks. "N-No one." I say as I try to remove my hand from his but only for him to tighten his grip. "You're lying to me. Who is it?" He asks. "Ethan, it's no one." I say, but he just narrows his eyes at me and snacthes my phone from the bed. My eyes widen and I try to snacth it out of his hand but it's too late.
"Meet me at the Starbucks next to your school at 3: 30 pm." He reads out. He looks at me, "Who is this?" He asks. "L-Look its no one." I say as I try to snacth my phone from him. "Are you cheating on me?" He asks and my eyes widen. "What no! I would never ever do such a thing!" I say immediately. "Well I mean your mother did, and you are her daughter." He says as he shrugs. The moment he says that my heart shatters. He thinks I am like my mom? He thinks I would cheat on him?
"Y-You think I am like my m-mom?" I managed to choke out. I don't even wait for him to respond, I have too much on my mind right now, I can't deal with this, well at least not now. "I h-have to go." I say and immediately run out of my room. I hear him call my name but I ignore it.
I can't believe he thinks I am like my mom. He knows that being like my mom is one of my fears, he knows how insecure I am yet he uses it against me, out of all the things he said he had to say that? I don't think he knows, but I do know that what he said back there was very low of him.
I run downstairs and see Mary and Jullie in the kitchen and Adrian sitting on one of the counter chairs. "Good morning." Mary smiled. "Good morning." I mumble as I make my way towards the fruit basket. "You aren't ready?" Mary asks in confusion. "Um no. I will just eat and then get ready." I say. Mary nods before going back to doing her work and I take the apple and start biting into it.
I quickly finish the apple and run upstairs, I stop in front of my room and put my hand on my door handle. I am not yet ready to face Ethan. I open my door with a shaky breath and poke my head in just a little.
I see the room is empty and my phone is thrown onto the bed. I sigh in relief as I enter my bedroom and lock the door behind me. I honestly don't want to go to school today, I would much rather sit at home. But today I have a really important bio test, so I have no choice but to go.
I get ready and stand in front of the mirror and sigh.
Lets see how today goes...