Inferno Part 2

~198~ Disgusted By You

Emma's POV

Mom and dad, and Alex and Lilah, have been spending every waking moment they can over at Liam's. After the first night home, it was very apparent that Jaxson needed to stay at home. Ripping him away from his environment wasn't healthy for him any longer.

So, people are always over. Even the other adults. They have all coordinated with each other and there are several people over there at all times. Not only are they helping with the kids, but they're also cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry.

The support they are getting is unreal. I, however, expected nothing less from this family.

Sasha and I have been shopping all morning. This is her last year of college, and this year she is a student teacher at the school. She's beyond nervous and stressed. She's so stressed, Mason gave her his credit card so she could buy some "teacher clothes."

After lunch, I get home with a bunch of stuff for me too. I walk in the house, and mom and dad are actually here.

"I can't believe you're home!" I say as I put the bags down on the table.

Mom gives me her signature smile, but dad doesn't. He's been acting weird with me for months.

"Mason and Sasha took our place so I could get some work done here," she says as she puts some dishes in the dishwasher.

"You guys have a nice time?" She asks as she closes the dishwasher and starts it.

"Yeah. Sasha is pretty nervous about Monday."

Mom nods. "I have to admit, it's going to be weird having her at the school again...As a teacher."

"Student teacher," I correct with a smile.

Dad gives me another funny look, but says nothing.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"What?"

"Why did you look at me like that?"

"Like what?"

I shrug. "Like I've made you mad."

"Sorry, Emma. I'll make my face behave," he snaps as he goes upstairs.

"Is he mad at me?" I ask, surprised. I haven't seen much of dad this summer. I'm so busy at the gym that I'm not home a lot. He hasn't been home much either now that the twins have been born.

"Ask him yourself," mom says simply as she goes into the laundry room.

I hate that. Why can't she just tell me?

That evening I'm working on some boxing in the creepy basement. Dad had hung a punching bag up for me months ago. I'm trying to get my timing faster, because one of my clients is getting really good, and I don't want him to be better than me one day.

After a while, I go upstairs and grab some water from the fridge. Dad is working on one of his files at the table. He sees me, and looks back down at his file.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I blurt out.

He looks at me, and shakes his head.

"Nothing"

"You've been acting weird all summer. Why are you mad at me?"

He looks up from his file again and stares at me hard. "Emma, I'm disappointed that you're asking me this right now."

"What?"

He shakes his head. "You're not a selfish person. You've never been selfish. This summer, though, I've been disgusted by your selfishness."

"Care to tell me why?" I ask with an attitude.

He chuckles darkly and shakes his head. "The fact that you have no idea is even more disgusting."

"How about you stop with the riddles and just tell me?"

His face gets darker. "Want me to spell it out for you? K...Here it goes. You got mad at Luke and you left. I begged you to come back, and you said you wanted to live with Jake. You and Luke make up, and you just waltz back in here like nothing is wrong. Your mom cried every single night for almost a month. We don't even get an apology? We did NOTHING wrong, yet we got punished. You never even apologized."

"I didn't realize I needed to apologize"

His eyes get wide.

"What planet are you from? In what universe is it acceptable to do what you did?"

"Dad, I stayed with my uncle for a while. I came back."

"You came back because you and Luke quit fighting. If you guys never would have made up, you never would have came back. How the heck is that fair to us?"

I just look at him. I had no idea I made them this upset.

Dad rolls his eyes. "Night Emma," he says as he leaves and goes upstairs.

I roll my eyes and finish my water. Then I take a shower. When I'm done and dressed in comfy clothes, I knock on their door.

Dad opens the door. He still has on jeans and a t-shirt. They must have just been watching TV, and not ready for bed.

He looks at me hard, and I take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I was beyond stressed with finals. Then you tack on feeling like a horrible person/girlfriend because your brother says so, I snapped. At first, I was just trying to get through finals. Then I started having fun over there. It was selfish. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry I'm not as fun as Jake, Emma," he says sadly as he shuts the door.

I roll my eyes and open the door, walking in. He looks at me surprised. We don't EVER just walk in their room. Even when we were little. If we needed something, we knocked.

"So now you're going to be a martyr? Jake is fun. Sarah is fun. Doesn't mean I love them more than you guys."

Dad looks at me hard and blinks a few times.

Then he looks at mom and shakes his head.

"I'm well aware that I wasn't able to give you what Jake could."

"So what? You were able to give me Jake. You knew I needed him, so you always let me have access to him whenever I wanted. I still need you. I don't love Jake more than you...He's my friend. My buddy. YOU'RE MY DAD. Dad trumps friend."

His shoulders relax and he closes the distance between us, bringing me into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Emmy. I've just been feeling really bad these last few months."

"I was wrong not to apologize. I was wrong not to come back until Luke and I made up. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Dad sighs and kisses my head. "Always, baby girl."

I look up at him and smile. "I'm glad you're my dad."

"I'm glad I'm your dad too," he says, bringing me in tighter and kissing my head softly.