Elo! Here's chapter twelve for you, hope you like it! Please vote and comment; tell me what you think! :3
**
It was the best night’s sleep I’d had in days.
I’d not being woken up by nightmares or the sound of my mother’s sobs, or the feeling of three plastic chairs holding my body up. By the time Jason had managed to get us a hotel room, my eyes were pretty much shutting by themselves. I’d managed to drag myself into our room and quickly brush my teeth, before I then threw myself onto the first bed in sight, not even taking in my surroundings as I drifted to sleep.
Now that I was awake, as the clock was striking nine AM, I looked around the room in pure amazement. Jason had really splashed out on a hotel room for us—hell, this was near to being a suite.
It made me feel sort of guilty in a way; the fact that he’d taken my sudden arrival into his hands and spent obviously quite a bit of money on me. And what had I done? I’d just been rude to him.
It just made me even more unsure over what I was supposed to say to him today. I was planning to apologise, seeing as I was still pissed at myself for just running away from him like that last night. No; I was here for a reason, and even if he was going to turn me away, I planned to leave here knowing that I at least got to talk to him about everything.
Sighing, I rolled over in bed so that I was staring in the other direction. I realised that Jason’s bed was empty, and I couldn’t hear any movement anywhere. Wherever he’d gone, I was hoping I had enough time to jump in the shower before he got back and things got awkward.
I threw the warm covers off of me and reluctantly climbed out of the bed, grabbing my bag and shuffling my way into the bathroom. I didn’t want to look into the mirror, knowing I would still look shit. After all, my appearance had been the least of my worries since the whole situation started, and I’d sort of neglected how I looked and focused on finding Jason. My cheeks tinged pink slightly when I realised how much of a state I must’ve looked in front of the Avenged guys.
As soon as that thought was in my head, my mind quickly flickered to how Zacky had helped me last night. It wasn’t something I wanted to keep thinking about; not because I wasn’t grateful for what he did—I truly was—but because I knew myself too well. I knew that I’d start thinking too much into it, and that would cause a whole lot of other problems.
I turned the shower on and climbed inside it, standing underneath the warm water. It felt good to be properly cleaning myself, seeing as the nearest I’d had to a shower since I’d left for New York, was water from the tap. I scrubbed at my face, trying to clean every inch of my skin, and then began to wash my tangled hair.
I felt better already, by the time I was out of the shower. I dried myself and then got dressed, feeling relieved when I noticed the hair dryer hanging on the wall by the mirror. At least I wouldn’t have to wait ages for my hair to dry. I didn’t have a straightners, but it didn’t matter; I would just tie my hair up.
And for the first time in days, I did my makeup properly, like how I usually would. Even though I’d still been wearing the makeup I carried with me, I’d barely made an effort with it at all.
It was just as I finished getting ready that I heard the hotel room door open. I sighed and shoved my makeup back into my bag, preparing myself to speak to Jason. Grabbing my bag and then shoving my hands into my pockets, I made my way back out into the bedroom, dropping my gaze to my feet as soon as he laid his eyes on me.
“Hi.” I murmured quietly, not quite knowing what to expect. He was probably still pissed with me.
“Hey!” He replied somewhat cheerfully, surprising me in the process. When I snapped my head up to look at him, he was grinning at me. Before I could even think of what to say, he spoke again. “Wanna go and get some breakfast? I know this really great place.”
“Sure.” I smiled at him, placing my bag on the bed I’d slept in. I was pretty much ready to go, but I didn’t whether I’d have to take my stuff with me. “Uh...are we coming back to the hotel?”
“I’ve booked another night.” He nodded. “Because we’re due to leave tomorrow.”
The way he’d said that seemed like he was just talking about him and Avenged. I couldn’t help a little bit of worry entering my mind, but I tried my hardest to keep the smile on my face.
“Okay.” I said. “Let’s go then.”
Widening his grin, he grabbed his wallet from the little bedside table by his bed and then opened the door for me, allowing me to walk out before he did, and then shutting it behind us, ready to go for breakfast.
**
“Seriously, this,” Jason pushed my plate towards me, a smile on his face, “this is the best waffle you will ever eat in your life.”
“You swear?” I grinned back at him, cutting a corner off of the waffle and raising the fork to my lips.
“I swear.” He nodded.
It was weird how comfortable I was already feeling around Jason. We’d walked to the diner that we were now having breakfast in, and he’d chatted to me the whole way. It felt like I’d known him my whole life. Like I finally had a dad.
He watched, his smile not faltering as I placed the waffle in my mouth. I instantly understood why he believed it to be the best waffle I’d ever taste. The flavour was literally heaven.
“Didn’t I tell you?” He chuckled at my expression.
“You sure did.” I laughed along.
It went silent then, as he sipped as his coffee. He still had the smile on his face, but I could tell the conversation had taken a more serious turn. I knew it would at some point.
“So, uh...” He began to say, looking up at me, “We should probably talk. Like, properly talk.”
I nodded in agreement, also taking a sip of my drink. He looked like he was about to speak again, but I quickly realised I needed to get something off my chest.
“Wait.” I said, making him snap his mouth shut. “Before we talk about other things, I just wanted to say sorry for running off on you last night. That was a really stupid thing to do.”
A look of recognition crossed his face, almost like he’d forgotten that part of the night, but his expression was soon replaced with a kind one.
“Forget about it.” He merely said, waving his hand like it was nothing. “I probably would’ve done the same in your situation.”
I smiled at him gratefully then, relieved that I’d obviously not pissed him off as much as I thought I had. It made me feel the slightest bit more comfortable about talking about everything.
“Where should we start?” He then asked brightly, trying to keep a light-hearted feel throughout the conversation.
I’d not thought about it in enough depth to know where to start with such a topic, but I kept reminding myself that Jason didn’t actually know why I was here. He was probably completely confused.
“I guess...why I’m here?” I suggested, earning an instant nod from him. I couldn’t just jump straight into it, so I gave myself a minute to think over what to say. It wasn’t something that usually just popped up into conversations.
And while I was thinking, Jason sat patiently, not pushing me to hurry up. There were no comments that my mum would’ve said by now if I’d been taken so long to say something to her. She’d grow impatient within thirty seconds and tell me to spit it out.
“I...” I began to say, now pushing the rest of my breakfast around the plate with my fork, “I didn’t know...that you were my dad.”
I watched as his expression turned from interest, to confusion, and finally to shock in one split second. He looked like he wanted to question it, but he waited for me to speak.
“My mum lied to me my whole life.” I explained. “She’s married to this guy—Robert—and she told me that he was my father.”
He visibly became quite put out by that fact, so I quickly continued before he made any assumptions.
“But...growing up, I never really had a dad.” I frowned, remembering how much it had always upset me. “Robert never really showed any care or affection and my mum was always too wrapped up in her own problems. I guess I just had to grow up by myself.”
I was obviously no way near done, so Jason kept quiet, though he reached forward and squeezed my hand sympathetically.
“And then about a week ago, I found the photo.” I continued. “I didn’t have a clue who you were, but I knew something wasn’t right. I asked my mum, but she put it off at first, told me you were just an old family friend. Then Robert left and it was just me and her in the house. I eventually got it out of her.” I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then carried on. “I needed to find you. To at least talk to you, and I’m glad I did find you.”
I stared down at the table then, as I felt a sob creeping up my throat. Although, for some reason, I felt like I could cry in front of him.
“Hey, come here.” Jason said, leaning over the table and enveloping me in a hug. “I’m glad you found me, too.”
I was sobbing too hard to say anything yet, but he kept hugging me, rubbing my back soothingly until my tears halted. They were tears I’d kept in for a couple of days, and I was glad they were now out of the way.
“I’m sorry.” I pathetically said, wiping my eyes.
“Don’t be.” He smiled kindly.
I continued to stare down at my hands for a moment, trying to compose myself. There was something else I needed to say, but I was slightly scared of the response I would get.
“Listen,” I finally said, forcing myself to just come out with, “I know that this is probably not practical for you, what with me turning up out of the blue like this, and I totally understand that you’ve got your own life and you’ve been without me for nearly seventeen years, so if you want me to go, I’ll go and I’ll just try and find an apartment or something back in England.”
I was refusing to look at him, waiting for him to tell me that he did want me to go. But that moment never came.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” He said incredulously, making me look up at him. His eyebrows were raised in pure surprise, his mouth slightly open. “Midge, I just got you back! There’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight again. That is if you want to stay, of course...”
“Of course I do!” I instantly said. I could even restrain myself from quickly reaching over and bringing him into a hug this time, to which he hugged back and let out a chuckle. “It’s as easy as that? There’s no catch?”
“Why would there be a catch?” He pulled away, frowning.
“Just...so much shit as happened. I wasn’t sure if this would go wrong as well.” I sighed.
“I promise there’s no catch.” He smiled again. “And you’re gonna get along with everyone great. Your personality is so much like Charlotte’s, it’s unreal.”
As I sat properly back in my chair, I tilted my head in interest.
“Who’s Charlotte?” I asked.
“Oh, Charlotte is Matt’s kid.” He casually said. “She’s sixteen.”
I blinked at him in utter confusion, trying to think back if I’d ever been aware that M Shadows had any kids. I’d never known before.
“Whoa, wait. We’re talking about the same Matt, right?” I asked, wondering if he might’ve meant his brother Matt, who I’d eventually been introduced to late last night, but had been told to call “MB or Berry”, so that there was no confusion between him and the other Matt. “Matt, as in...M Shadows?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, again in a casual manner.
“He has a daughter?” I was still completely surprised. “I never knew.”
“It’s not like...a big secret or anything. Matt was the only other young dad out of all of us; he and Val had her when they were just fifteen. I guess they just prefer to stay out of the spotlight.” He explained.
“Who’s they?” I frowned. “Are there any other Avenged kids I should know about?”
“Only Linds.” He chuckled, I was guessing at my expression. “She’s also sixteen. Brian and Michelle adopted her three years ago. Poor kid’s had a tough life.”
I knew then that it would be a lot to wrap my head around, but at that point, I really didn’t care. I was just glad that Jason hadn’t turned me away. He wanted me to stay with him.
“You done with breakfast?” He asked me, eyeing the plate that had a little bit of food left on it. I nodded in reply. “How about we spend the day around the city, just the two of us? We’ll be going back home tomorrow.
I loved the way he said that.
Home.
Already, I knew Huntington Beach was where I belonged.