(This may not be the most interesting of chapters, but I do hope you enjoy it. It tackles his maternal family, with a flashback! Enjoy!)
EVERYBODY LEFT.
I suppose that it is what people do at funerals, at one point people have to leave. They have lives to go back to, their world had not stopped spinning. There was still light in their life and they would not have to go back to home shrouded in darkness and pain.
They did not lose their mother, an angel who had returned home.
I wanted to be furious with everybody else. They even managed to crack a few smiles during the memorial service. I was angry that they were not feeling the same pain as I was, that they had no inkling of how this was tearing me apart and my father. They were able to get on with their lives. Then, I realised that they did not know her the way we did and that I could not expect them to mourn the same way, even though all I wanted was for everybody to have their heart ripped out.
I was in my room, staring at a picture of the three of us. I realised then that we would never be that happy again. our smiles would never stretch that wide again. It broke my heart to imagine how my father would survive without my mother. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see my uncle Derek. He also sported red eyes.
People had always said that we looked alike, that I had gotten his best features as well as my father's. I had always taken it as the highest compliment. He and my father were the strongest men I knew, and I took my similarities to them as a source of ambition.
"Hey kid," he says.
"I don't want to live without her," I whisper and he chokes back a sob.
"None of us do, Diego, but we all will. It is what she would want from us. Can you imagine how hurt she would be if she saw that we put our lives on hold because of her? It would break her. So, I want-need you to carry on fighting, for her."
"You guys will always be here right?" I ask shakily.
"Of course. You will never face anything alone. I promise to be by your side until my dying breath."
He pulls me into a hug, and for the first time in two days, I don't cry.
"HOW ARE YOU holding up, kid?" Derek asks on the phone.
"Okay. Are you still coming over?" I ask hopefully. There's a pause before Derek answers, his voice strained.
"Of course. I promised you."
I smile and we talk for a few more minutes about school. I was not focusing as much as I could have, but the teachers understood the situation. The question was how long they would be this lenient with me. I shrug the thought away and say my goodbyes to Derek. I finish some homework, there was not one day that we did not get homework and it was tiring.
"Diego, would you come to my study, please." I check the clock and see that three hours had passed since I had spoken to Derek.
He should have been here by now.
I walk to my father's study across the hall and find him sitting at his desk, his glasses perched on his nose. He glances at me over the top of his glasses and he takes them off and puts them to the side. His hands were clasped together and he had a stern facial expression. It was not quite the way he had broken my mother's death to me, which could either mean it was much worse or much better. He gestures for me to take a seat.
"As you well know, your mother's death has taken a toll on every person in this family. On the two of us and your mother's family. We, Hernandez men, will continue to live our life because that is exactly what your mother wants and we will always respect her wishes. We will stay strong knowing that she is watching over us. However, your mother's family does not possess the same resolve."
My fingers flew up to my ears and blocked them. My father clenched his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be in pain because I was. He gets up and when he gets to my side, he pulls up to stand next to him. He embraces me and my arms wrap around him as I bury my face in his chest.
"Dad, please," I cry, begging him to tell me that all of that was a lie.
"They're gone, Diego."
When I lost my mother, I didn't think there was a worse agony, that all of the possible suffering I could ever feel in my life had already been felt. I was wrong. I was so bloody naive to think that I would be able to resume my life without her because I would have my mother's family, the closest thing I would ever to her.
"He wouldn't. He promised me!" I yell through tears.
"Some promises are made to be broken."
I thought back to my conversation with Derek a few hours ago. He was a heartless bastard if he could talk to me, hear my hope and still leave me. He knew that I was counting on him and he knew that he had promised me to stay.
I realised that this was the height of my torment. I lost my mother, so my world stopped spinning. I lost somebody who loved me unconditionally. Then, I lost people who gave their word that they would stay. Their honour was now nonexistent.
They abandoned me.
"WHAT IS WRONG? You said the dinner went well? Or at least better than expected" Dr Dufre asks.
"I just can't shake the pain I felt when they left me. There's a part of me that will never forgive them, even though Letta wants me to," I admit and he nods.
"I don't think anybody will blame you for that. They betrayed you and you were already in a vulnerable and fragile state. Have you forgiven your father?"
"My father and I have a complicated relationship. Recently, he has done nothing but hurt me. Even her, she may be a blessing but she was a curse when it began. Despite everything he does, I will never be able to cut him out of my life. He's my father, the only family that I actually care about. He's been traitorous, but he is my father. When you love somebody like that, you can't exactly switch it off. Besides, I know who my father was before my mother died. I know who he truly is and I know that one day he will be able to bring that Gregorio out of the dark," I say.
Being with my father again would be a dream come true.
Hey! Hope you liked it! Did I just give you a hint of what's to come? Yes, yes I did. Remember way back when he and Gregorio had this meaningful conversation but I cut out the last five minutes?
Yep! That's it! The last few minutes are about him and Violetta. All of the issues between Gregorio and Diego themselves was sorted out in the actual chapter (C54). You can reread the end, if you want. It picks up EXACTLY where I left off.
Ahhh, so excited. Also, there are only four until the end...
Thanks for reading 🙈 Sorry for any errors 💚
~Lexy 😈