𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 ~ 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘹 𝘖𝘊

Chapter 9

Trigger warning: beginnings of a panic attack and possible verbal abuse.

9. Her

After what seemed to be hours Alex rounded the corner onto Reya's street. She was fast asleep in the passengers seat, she was exhausted he didn't blame her. Alex was quite sad to have left the rest he had had such a good time with them he never wanted it to end. But at the same time he was glad to be at home with his family.

As he pulled outside her house he nudged Reya in attempts to wake her. She made a sound of protest and tried to swivel into a more comfortable position.

"Reya, mi querida, we are home now you have to get up," Alex said sweetly. Reya was definitely not a morning person. Slowly but surely she woke up. She rubbed her eyes trying to adjust to the bright light outside. She really is beautiful, Alex thought to himself.

She got out the car meeting Alex around the other side infront of her house. She gave him a warm embrace and a quick kiss.
"Goodbye mi amor." He spoke sweetly She smiled brightly. She was elated, she had the time of her life at this trip, nothing could possibly bring her down in this moment.

She opened her front door expected to be greeted with hugs from her family, but instead she was greeted with silence. Peculiar. She walked through the hall towards the lounge but no one was there. A noise from the kitchen broke her train of confusion. Behind her was not what she expected in a million years.

***

"Why the fuck are you here?" She spat.
"Reya, my darling, haven't you missed me? I've missed you so much," the woman said coming around the counter to pull Reya into a hug.
"Don't touch me, I haven't missed you at all. Not after what you did to us"
"That was just a misunderstanding, everything has been solved now." She cooed with a sickly sweet smile.

Reya was in complete shock. What was that supposed to mean. 'Everything has been solved now' was she crazy? There's no way her mother was actually stood in her kitchen. She must be seeing things after that nightmare.

From the corner of her eye she could see her dad and brother come down the stairs. Reya didn't know how to feel. Why did no one tell her anything.

"Reya... you're home!" Her dad said nervously. He knew this would be her reaction he wished to tell her sooner but he didn't want to ruin her trip. She had been so excited for weeks.
"Why didn't you tell me? What's going on!" She questioned at lightning speed. Her breathing quickened and tears pricked in the corner of her eyes.
"Well you see your mother and I have settled our differences and decided it would be best to try again." He spoke calmly trying to calm Reya. Elias stood behind her dad equally as pained by this.

"Even after what she did? She broke us! She doesn't deserve to be back here not after how she tore this family apart!" Anger rushed through her veins.

"Reya, please just accept this. She is your mother after all."

"That woman is not my mother." She spat throwing emphasis on her words. She wasn't going to let her mother just walk back into her life after 4 years of trying to heal the wounds. She wasn't going to let her to open them all up once again. But she already had. Her heart hurt, just when her life was starting to get good.

"Reya please be kind. She will be staying here so you'll just have to accept. Please just give her a chance." Her dad coaxed trying to make Reya agree.

"I'm not giving her a chance, no way in hell would I ever."

She quickly rushed out the room to her bedroom. Following suit, Elias came to check on her. When he opened her door she was laying in her bed, tears running down her cheeks. Her breathing shaky and fast paced. When she saw him she broke into sobs. He couldn't help but hurt for her. The two siblings sat in each other's embrace until they were bother silent, tears stained to their cheeks. Reya thought about what had happened over and over again. She wished it could all be a terrible nightmare and she'd wake up back in the car with Alex. Elias tried to be strong for Reya, being the oldest he had to protect her. But he too was hurting, when he found out he shut himself in his room for 2 days feeling angry and betrayed.
The door opened once again revealing another crying sibling. Thalia had overheard everything that had happened, she never fully  understood what happened 4 years ago. She was too young at the time and no one had the strength to tell her now. She hated when everyone argued.