{•Unedited•}
~Santi's POV~
When I walk in the house, I wish it wasn't as quiet as it is. The ride back here with Castel was long and silent. He only said very few words and that was about the way I was driving. I'll never understand how he knows how to deal with Bex so good and I don't.
The door opens in the hall when I sit down on the couch. Ida walks out with her arms wrapped around herself, peaking her head out to see whose here first.
"How'd it go?" She asks. My watery eyes meet hers. Bex's words keep replying in my head like a broken CD. Everything she said was true and it's all my fault. I can't blame anyone else for my distance anymore. My fear kept me from being the dad I wanted to me, the dad I knew I could be and I'll never regret anything more.
"I talked to her," I say, looking at my hands. She comes over and sits down close to me, looking her arm through mine. "I fucked up with her so bad, Ida. There's nothing I can even do at this point. She hates me."
She shakes her head at me, brows pulled together tightly, causing a crease between them. I don't bother trying to keep my tears at bay. "She loves you, and you know that. Things are just different between you two." I nod, choking on a sob.
"She doesn't love me," I tell her. "That's not even the part that hurts. She doesn't think I love her. I can tell by the way she talked, she can't see that. I thought she would still know how much I loved if I kept a distance. I just wanted to keep her safe from everything, but instead it pushed her away from me.
She said-I don't even want to recite it. Just, I feel so fucking bad for the way I treated her growing up. I should have brought her to school, taught her shit, told her I loved her more, went to that fucking dance with her."
Ida takes her arm away from around mine, resting her hand on my knee instead. I keep my eyes closed, taking deep breaths in hopes it'll help stop my crying. "She knows that you love her; I know that for a fact. You never left her, if it really came down to it then you would have been there with the snap of a finger. You can't expect her to see your mind or what's in your heart; you have to show her that. You did a terrible job at showing her, but I think it was enough for her to know."
"You know, right?" I ask. "You know I love her? I know I wasn't happy when we found out you were pregnant, and everything surrounding it was terrible, but I do love her and I'm grateful that you gave me what you did."
"I know."
••••••••
~Bex's POV~
"Please tell me you didn't hear any of that," I ask, wiping my tears away. Alaric is hiding behind Marissa, so I decided to stay out in the hall to avoid the awkward conversation. Instead of chasing after my dad and Castel, Atticus came out to the hall.
"No," he says. "Was it something I should have heard?" I shake my head, forcing a small smile. I'm almost positive it's not convincing. "Why're you crying?"
"I already told you my dad and I don't get along," I tell him, not wanting to give details. The last thing I want to do is to give him a reason to arrest them. "We got in an argument. I'm sorry for this." Truth be told, I'm embarrassed that this happened. We had just came back from a great night together, but it had to be ruined.
"It's okay. Everyone has a fucked up family in some way or another," he says, crossing his arms. I look away from him, not sure what to do. Should I go inside? Do I say something else? Anything I do or say will only come out awkward.
"I wanna sleep," I say, pointing at the door. What the hell did I just say?? He looks behind him, stepping out of the way. I place my hand on the knob, looking back up at him before opening it. "Thank you," I say. His brows pull together in confusion.
"For what?" I don't know how to answer, so I don't. I was thanking him for not doing what he knows he was supposed to do. "Well, I'll let you go to sleep."
"Goodnight," I say, opening the door. He gives me a small wave as I walk inside. Alaric is still laying behind Marissa as if she's a shield. "I'm not bad at you."
"I hid your bread roller so don't you dare try looking for it," he says, sitting up. Marissa pauses whatever was playing on her computer. "They showed up at my dorm and forced me to tell them if you were here. I told them you weren't, so then they grabbed me and led me here. You know the rest."
"I'm sorry all this happened with you here," I tell Marissa. She's so sweet. She's stayed quiet the whole time, not being rude or asking obnoxious questions. "It must have been weird for you." She laughs, straightening up.
"No, actually I'm used to it. My family isn't perfect either," she says. I only have some idea of wha she's talking about from what Atticus told me tonight. "Plus, your dads hot."
"Ew, don't say that."
••••••
~Atticus's POV~
"Anything?" He asks as I close his office door. I could tell him the truth, tell him I went soft and didn't do what I shouldn't have last night. When I seen her dad and whatever the man's real name is I knew I should have done something, it's my job to lock up criminals, but when I seen the look in Bex's eyes I couldn't do it.
I could tell him everything I heard on the other side of the door. How she lied at the crime scene to save the gang. How she's just as guilty as she is innocent. When she asked if I heard anything she said I immediately lied when I could have easily told her the truth. That would have given me another reason to arrest them, but I couldn't do it.
"No."
AN: The next chapter will be introducing a new character 😏 I'm really excited to bring this person into the mix. I really hope you guys enjoyed!
Question: What do you think will happen with Bex and Atticus after this? What do you think about him lying for her?