Francisca's POV
"Francisca? What is this that I hear about you not being at school?" Matt says on the phone, he sounds pissed.
I gulp and glance at Dan nervously with a nervous smile.
"How did you know I wasn't at school?" I ask.
I hear a sharp inhale on the other side of the phone and hold my breath. I'm definitely not gonna get ungrounded any time soon.
"The school called when you didn't show up to any of your classes! What is going on with you Francisca? This is unlike you. Are you in some kind of trouble? Does this have anything to do with you're so called secret?" Matt sounded annoyed, frustrated, worried.
"No trouble Matt I promise." I say.
"Where are you? I'll come and get you." Matt says.
"No no" I say quickly, "you don't have too, i'm going back to school now!"
"Where. Are. You?" He says.
I gulp again, Matt can be really scary when he wants to be.
I tell him exactly where I am, which is like some blocks away from the school.
After that I hang up and turn back to Dan.
"Sooooo, I'm guessing that didn't go too well?" Dan asks.
I shake my head and sigh.
"He is um he said he is coming to get me now." I say.
Dan nods.
"Should I- should I leave?" Dan asks.
And I don't know, should he leave? I mean I don't know if I'm ready for him and Matt to meet but....I guess I'm trying not to hide things and not lie to Matt anymore, and If I know anything about myself, is that if Matt asks about me skipping school, and he will, I'll probably come up with another lie, since it's something that I apparently do pretty easily now.
I take a deep breath.
"Would you be okay if you stayed?" I asked Dan.
He had a surprised look on his face, he definitely expected me to send him on his way, but I guess...I guess I'm just really exhausted from having to lie to Matt. If Matt finds out what's happening now, then part of my goals are over.
Like ripping off a bandaid.
Dan nods and just then, Matt's car comes into view and stops right in front of us.
Matt quickly gets out of the car towards me.
Once he reaches me, he does something unexpected. He hugs me.
Which is a relief I thought that he's be super mad.
Matt breaks the hug to get a good look at me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asks looking concerned.
I shake my head no.
He sighs and then as if he was noticing Dan was there for the first time, he looks at him.
"And you are?"
Dan hesitates and looks at me, silently asking me what to say with his eyes.
I nod my head at him.
"Um hey" Dan says, "I'm Dan". He stretches his arm to shake Matt's hand.
I see a sign of recognition cross Matt's face, but it disappears quickly.
"Nice to meet you, Dan" Matt says. "Would you like a ride home" Matt continues pointing at his car.
"Uh um" Dan looks nervous, obviously hesitant to accept my step father's offer.
"I'm sure Dan is able to find his way back alone" I say to Matt, and Dan quickly nods his head at my words.
Matt looks between us and then sighs. "You sure?" He asks Dan.
Dan nods his head again and bids us goodbye.
Matt and I watch him leave and when he is out of sight Matt looks at me and gestures for me to go inside the car with his head.
I do as he says and wait for him as he climbs in.
He doesn't really say anything......anything at all. He starts the car and we drive in silence.
I know he must have his suspicions about Dan's identity. He probably has so many thoughts running around in his head right now.
Is he waiting for me to say something? What am I supposed to say though? Ugh I hate my life.
I clear my throat. Hoping that he would I don't know say something? Anything?
I try something else. "Um Matt?"
"Mhm" he replies.
"Uh...I kind of don't know what you're thinking and it's kind of freaking me out" I say chuckling nervously.
He chuckles, but it doesn't seem like a real genuine chuckle. "What would I be thinking about, Francisca?"
I gulp.
Okay he sounds...really mad. " um about Dan? I guess?".
"You guess?" He replies.
"Uhh yes" I say nervously scratching my head.
We sit in silence for about a minute when he speaks again.
"Was that Dan...really your Dan?" He asks.
I hesitate but I then nod my head, I would hurt Matt more by not telling him the truth. I know that.
"Was he the secret you were keeping?" Matt asks.
I nod "yes" I say.
I see Matt's jaw clench.
"When did you find out that you're family was here?" He asks.
"Um...since like our second day here?" Matt look at me with a raised eyebrow.
"The donut place" I mumble.
Matt's eyes widen with realization.
"Oh" he says.
I wait for him to say anything else but he doesn't.
After a few more minutes we reach our apartment building and then our apartment.
We head inside and Matt heads towards the kitchen without saying a word.
I'm pretty nervous, I don't know what he's gonna do, or what he's thinking. I just...don't know.
Matt comes back into the room I'm in to find me still standing in place, he hands me some money and I look at him confused.
"For dinner" he says. "Order whatever you like."
Right dinner...that's what I'm thinking about. (Note the sarcasm)
Before I could reply Matt leaves the room and heads to his bedroom. I hear his door close and I flop on the couch with a big sigh.
This day is....I don't know what this day is.
I mean I had fun with Dan, I loved that I got to spend time with him again after all this time.
But I am pretty sure I hurt Matt. I don't know if he's mad about me seeing Dan or me keeping all of it a secret but...I don't like it. I don't like when he's mad at me.
I spend a few minutes contemplating what to do when I eventually decide to go to his room and talk to him.
I head to his room and knock on the door.
No answer.
I knock again and after a few minutes he answers the door.
"Yes?" He asks.
"Can I talk to you?" I ask.
Matt hesitates but nods and opens the door more for me to go inside.
I head over to sit on the bed and he comes to sit next to me.
I take a deep breath and start talking.
"Matt, I'm so so sorry I lied to you" I say looking at my hands that are in my lap.
He doesn't say anything for a few seconds.
"Why did you?" he asks looking at me.
I shrug "I was scared" I say honestly.
"Scared? Of what?" He asks.
"Of hurting you" I say finally getting the courage to look him in the eyes.
Matt's eyes widen at my words.
"Hurting me?" He says but it comes out more as a question.
"You thought that you meeting with your family would hurt me?" He asks with a look of hurt in his eyes.
I nod at his words.
"Francisca, if you told me your brothers were here, if you told me you wanted to meet up with them I would've never told you no I would hav" I cut him off . "But you still would've been hurt!" I say raising my voice a little. "It would seem like I was choosing them over you, and dad would want custody of me and I would have had to leave you all alone! Of course you'd be hurt!" I continue.
Matt just stares at me stunned.
"Francisca" he says slowly. "That doesn't matter, the only one that matters in this situation is you, if you want to go back to your family then" I cut him of again.
"But you're my family too, Matt!" I yell as I stand up and turn to him. "I don't want to leave you just as much as I want to reunite with them!". "You've been my father for the past couple of years now and...i don't want you to lose me and I don't want to lose you".
Matt quickly stands up and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug.
His hand is on the back of my head and he's shushing me, and I realize that I'm crying.
"You could never lose me Sweetheart" he whispers in my ear and I cry and sob harder.
He tightens his hold on me even more to comfort me.
After a few minutes I'm done crying and see that I've totally ruined Matt's shirt.
We sit back on the bed in silence, and I cuddle up to Matt.
"So what now?" I ask.
Matt takes a deep breath and I feel his chest rise and fall.
"You can tell me where they live or a phone number or anything and I'll reach out to your father, I'll talk to him and hopefully we'll set something up, and together we can figure out what to do in the long run, something that should satisfy all of us". He says.
I nod.
"I haven't really asked for a phone number yet, and I don't know where they live. Today was the first day Dan and I properly talked and Ivan and dad don't know about me yet". I say.
"Oh" Matt says. "Are you gonna talk to them soon?" He asks.
I nod "that's the plan" I say.
After a few more moments of silence I speak again.
"I'll ask Dan about their phone number and address when I see him tomorrow at school" I say.
"Oka—wait, you and your brothers go to the same school!?"
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Hey guys! Sorry if the update came a little late than usual and if this chapter is a bit shorter than the others but I felt like this one should end there.
Feel free to comment your thoughts! And don't forget to vote!