𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐞

Chapter 24

The sound of children's laughter and the smell of fried food greeted me as we entered the fair. It was a fairly warm, clear night. We ended up arriving over an hour late because Pepé decided to hide Willow's keys to keep her from leaving. It took us a while to find them and in the end we brought him along with us even though I wasn't too sure pets were allowed.

"First things first. I need a smoked turkey leg and funnel cake in that order and you bitches better get your own cause I'm not sharing." Sheldon announced. The girl could really put it away.

We headed for the nearest food stand, weaving our way through the thick crowd. "So Lake, does your aunt know about Keiran?" Willow asked. I wasn't expecting her to ask me that considering she shied away from questioning our "relationship".

"Uh, somewhat. He came over once and met her but she doesn't know anything. I feel guilty actually. She trusts me to keep my head but I've been keeping secrets."

"Yeah and so has every other teenager to ever live. She knows what it was like to be eighteen."

"Yeah, but –"

"Talk to her when she gets home. Lay it all out on the table. She still has no idea the house was broken into?" Sheldon asked.

"No. I didn't want to ruin her tour by stressing her out.

I'm worried she may not trust me again."
"Disappointing parents is a part of the circle of life.

You could have done much worse, if you ask me."
"It's just new territory. With sex in the equation, I'm no longer sure of the rules and boundaries. The law says I'm of legal age but the circumstances make everything skewed."

"And isn't it ironic that the very person who kept your love life non-existent now consumes it?" Willow let out a wry chuckle before purchasing a turkey leg and soda.

We grabbed our food and quickly found seats to eat. "Is Keenan talking to you yet?" I asked Sheldon.

"No. Strangely enough I haven't heard from him this afternoon. I think he mentioned his dad coming home earlier this morning."

"What does his dad do that keeps him away all the time?"

"He does construction work for his company and takes jobs all over the country for the right price, but I think it has more to do with him wanting to be away. I've been with Keenan for over two years and have only seen him a handful of times. He makes sure Keiran and Keenan are taken care of but mostly he stays away. I know it hurts Keenan but he ignores it. I actually heard that John used to be a very outgoing man long ago but after Keenan's mother ran off, he shut down."

"But there has to be more. Keiran doesn't care for his uncle and I don't think it is just because he is an absentee parent."

"You may be right but neither of them are willing to talk. Keenan doesn't seem to know much anyway."

"But Keiran does. I know he does."

"And his parents are dead, right?" She shrugged and bit into her turkey. "You don't think so?"

"There was never any proof. They both just vanished."

"Vanished?" Willow asked. I thought about the articles Jesse found a couple of days ago. He was still searching for any trace of his father with no luck so far.

"Yeah. Keenan once told me that Keiran's father was disowned by their family and ran off years ago. He's probably never even met Keiran if his mother was a one-night stand. He's been with his uncle for years with no sign of his father."

A disturbing thought popped into my head when she'd said that last part. "Wait, so he'd just moved here when I came to Six Forks?"

"Yeah, about three or four months before, I think." "Talk about Lifetime."
"I wish I could get Keiran to tell me about his past. I feel like it has everything to do with why he is this way." "You ever think he might just have a really dominant personality?" Sheldon asked.