••••
Auburn had left for work early in the morning, leaving Caroline to her own devices. She took up time in the library, skimming over some of the books filed under favorites. Auburn seemed to be a big fan of old classics. Time was ticking by slow until she'd have company again.
Her fingers hovered over her dad's contact name. She missed him and wanted to talk to him. She was lonely which made her want to hear his voice. She hadn't been home in almost a year and she hadn't spoke to him in weeks, simply just sending a text here and there about her plans to travel. She really wanted to talk to her mom, but parenting advise her mom had etched into her father's mind would have to do. She clicked the FaceTime button, waiting for him to answer. After it rang a few times his face popped up.
"Hello?" He answered, slightly chuckling and looking down at his phone. Caroline smiled, feeling less guilty for not talking to him for weeks. At least one of them was happy.
"Hey, Marky." Caroline waved.
"Good to hear from you, princess! What's up?" He cheered, he got up from wherever he was and began walking. Caroline didn't recognize the place, but with him recently moving to a new house with his girlfriend, she hadn't expected to recognize the place.
"I just wanted to hear your voice." She replied. "I miss you."
Her father sighed loudly on the phone. "So you didn't call to tell me about your plans to transfer?"
"H-how'd you know?" Caroline asked. She suddenly found it harder to breath and her heart rate sped up.
"I got papers in the mail about it since this is your permanent address." Her dad replied. "Were you not going to tell me?"
"No, I was. I'm not transferring anymore. I was only doing that to have more time with Brandon." Caroline sighed.
"Why wouldn't you transfer now?"
"We got into an argument about him not being over his ex and we, well I, decided it would best best to not be together right now." Caroline replied. She hadn't planned in telling him about the whole ordeal but she was looking for a tiny part of her mother to come out when he gave her advise.
"I never did like that kid after what he did, but you clearly saw something. You were always so crazy over him." Her dad chuckled, reminiscing over the past.
"I thought I did, but he's not over his ex so I'm not pursuing a repeat of Levi. They only split up because of distance and if she comes back I have a feeling he'd run back with open arms." Caroline quipped.
"Honey, you never get over the good relationships. You think I'm over your mom? Madeleine is still helping me move on and put that pain of your mothers death behind other things. You can't expect him to move on so quick." Her dad explained.
Caroline cringed at the mention of Madeleine. She wasn't trying to take her mother's place and Caroline knew that, but she couldn't bare to be around her. She was the reason she hadn't been home in months. Home wasn't even the same home anymore. Home was a empty house filled with memories of her parents and her in Denton, Texas; not whatever home he had built with Madeline in Dallas.
She also thought about what her father had said. Perhaps she had overreacted out of fear he'd cheat like Levi. She knew she needed to take it as an adult and talk to Brandon and voice her concerns. She was just too worried about getting hurt again.
"Also, do not ignore him like you did Levi. You had Levi calling me and even uncle Luke." Her dad added on, rolling his eyes.
"Speaking of Uncle Luke, how's he?" Caroline asked, smiling.
"Athe gym like always." He dad stated. She nodded her head. Her dad and uncle had always been gym rats, but her dad had slowed down over the past years.
"When are you going to come home?" He asked suddenly.
"Christmas break for sure." Caroline smiled. Her dad smiled back at her. He would be so glad to get her home.
"Good. You need to come home. You look hideous. You look like that when you don't sleep. You got like that when he cut you out his life last time." Her dad pointed out. Caroline tolled her eyes.
"Do you have to be so mean about him?" She asked.
"Yes. He left you high and dry shortly after your mom got sick. You needed a friend and he wasn't there, so yeah sorry if I'm not a big Brandon Arreaga fan." Her dad said, looking at her through the phone screen.
"Tell me how you really feel, why don't you?" Caroline chuckled bitterly.
"I'm your dad anyway, I'm not supposed to like your boyfriends." He smirked.
"Touché."
"Hey, I gotta go, I'm supposed to be meeting Uncle Jack at the gym in a few minutes." Her dad said.
"Bye, dad. I love you! Have fun!" Caroline yelled.
"Bye, sweetheart! I love you too. You should stop shutting me out and start talking to me more. I miss our talks." He smiled sadly.
"Me too." Caroline whispered.
The screen went black leaving her alone again. She felt awful for not talking to him like she used to before she moved off for college.
As if Brandon had knew what she was thinking, he called her. She thought back to what her dad had said, even though he didn't have her dad's number she knew she couldn't ignore him.
"Hey." She answered.
"Oh, hey. I wasn't expecting you to answer." He replied.
"Well I did." She quipped.
"Right." He chuckled. "Come open the door. We need to talk."
Caroline hung up on him and walked to the door. She hesitated before opening the door. When she finally opened it, she found Brandon holding a bag full of stuff with a smirk on his face.
"What kind of talk requires all that?" She asked, bitting her lip to keep from laughing. He was glad to see the sadness in her eyes gone. He was thrilled she wasn't ignoring him like she had done for two days. He hated not getting to here her voice.
"I figured we'd be here a while and we'd get hungry so I figured I'd attempt to also make your favorite food while I'm here. I even called my mom to get the recipe." Brandon smiled, holding up the bag.
"No way in hell you can make her chicken tacos." Caroline said, shaking her head with a smirk.
"I will die trying." He replied, walking past her and into the house.
"Auburn will kill you if you burn her house down." Caroline retorted.
"Already cleared it with her. I have to leave the leftovers in exchange for me coming to cook here." Brandon said, walking into the kitchen.
Caroline nodded and followed him into the kitchen. He began unpacking all the groceries he had bought. He made sure to tell her Edwin helped him pick everything out so he knew he at least had the right ingredients. Caroline was more shocked that he even knew that his moms chicken tacos were her favorite food.
"So, I need to apologize first I guess." Brandon said, looking at her. She was sitting at the counter on a barstool l, staring back at him.
"No, I do." She breathed.
She was mentally trying to prepare herself for the lengthy talk they were about to have. She was making a mental checklist of everything to lay out on the table. She hoped by the end of the night she'd know where they stood in terms of their relationship.
••••
So I'm adding a pic of Caroline's dad who we kinda met today, but he'll pop up in a few chapters. His name is Manu Bennett but he plays Mark Mclaren.
Also here's your mandatory pic of Brandon