all too well , jeremiah fisher

chapter twelve

!TW: mentions of physical and verbal abuse!

amelia's mouth went dry.

her father, her actual father. the man who said no male should ever lay a hand on a woman, yet did it to her anyways. the man who was the cause of everything that was mentally wrong with her. the man who unintentionally taught her what not to look for in a guy.

'he looks exactly the same', she thought.

"amelia, honey-"

amelia squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. "please- don't. why are, why are you here?" she asked, her eyes not meeting his, instead finding her shoes more interesting.

in the kitchen, belly and conrad had gone back to making their margaritas, while jeremiah noticed it took her a little too long to let someone in the door.

"i'll be right back." he informed the two who hadn't been paying attention to what he was saying before he left to check on his friend.

"mel, who's at the-" he stopped upon noticing amelia standing completely still, white as a ghost with a man that resembled her greatly.

"door.." he whispered. amelia didn't react, however. she continued standing stiff as a board.

"i wanted to see you." the man stepped forward, amelia immediately stepping backwards with a barely noticeable flinch. but it didn't go unnoticed by jeremiah.

"mel, who is this?" the fisher boy stepped by her side, grabbing her hand which only calmed her heart rate slightly.

"he's, uh.."

"i'm daniel, amelia's dad." he reached out his hand. jeremiah finally pieced it all together. he knew of amelia's past with her father, but he never actually knew who he was.

jeremiah pulled amelia behind him a little, staring at daniel's hand, the man sensing the obvious tension and retracting his hand.

"look, i just want to speak with my daughter." the man pleaded, eyes locked on amelia who was playing with her fingers.

"you shouldn't be here." jeremiah spoke through a clenched jaw.

amelia stood quite, thinking. there were a lot of things she wanted to clear up with him. like why did he treat her the way he did? what did she ever do?

"please, i just want a moment with my daughter."

jeremiah took a threatening step closer to the older man. "the nerve you have to even call her that after all of the shit you put her through." he pointed in the man's face. if that was amelia he would have hit her for talking to him like that, so why hasn't he done anything to jeremiah?

"now, get the hell off of my property." jeremiah spat, slamming the door.

he'd just defended her like no one ever has. he risked getting punched in the face for her, although jeremiah could probably take him. amelia stared at jeremiah, his eyebrows furrowed in anger, his jaw slightly clenched, his fist balled at his side. he'd do anything to protect her.

he turned to amelia to see tears threatening to spill from her brown eyes, his entire demeanor before forgotten when he looked to the girl. jeremiah immediately wrapped his arms around her shoulders holding her tightly against chest. she was still in shock about the whole situation that she didn't even hug him back, she just stood there.

"jere?"

"yeah?" he pulled back, staring at her. "thank you." a small smile lifted at the corner of her lips.