The Wrong Address | COMPLETED

21. A Surprise

Ashlin

After practice, Zion drove me home. Well technically... He drove us to his home. It was the same as I'd remembered with the flowers by the windows, the mint green color and the stone path leading up to the front door. It was still beautiful, a decent size and unique in a few ways.

Zion had helped me out of the vehicle, and I followed him as he got the house keys out and walked up to the big dark brown door. He scanned through the keys swiftly before he found the right one and proceeded to open the front door. Then he turned to me and gestured for me to enter first.

I smiled at him shyly, before slowly stepping in, letting my eyes wonder around the hall. Zion locked the door behind us and kicked his shoes off, pushing them to the corner of the room as I pretending as if I hadn't been capturing every little detail of the hall. I'd even seen some photos of his aunt and his mom smiling together.

Which made me want to ask a few questions but I withheld myself.

"Are you ok?" Zion asked as he found his way to my side.

Ofcourse he noticed my jitters and anxious demeanor. He was one of the most observant people I knew. He was too good for this world.

If I was going to help him in anyway...I had to be honest with him. I'd have to voice my thoughts. I had to get the full picture.

"Zion, may I ask you a question?"

He looked at me at bit suspiciously before giving a hesitant yes.

"Why did your aunt keep the picture with your mom up?" I asked, as quickly as I could to get it over with.

"I'm not sure what you mean, she's her sister and she loved her regardless of her flaws" He replied as if it was the simplest thing.

I smiled at him before shaking my head and I watch as his brow raised instinctively.

"No, I meant... Why would she keep it up when she knew how rocky the relationship with you and your mom was at the time? Like didn't she know it could trigger a breakdown?" I asked again but in a clearer manner.

He seemed to finally understand and so he sighed before gesturing me to follow him to the living room.

As we sat down beside each other on the couch, I waited patiently for his answer.

"Well, you see my Aunt wasn't one to really think about me being triggered by photos. She wanted me to deal with the problem head on." He started, sounding as if he was about to tell a story.

So I got a bit more comfortable in my seat and listened intently.

"My Aunt was different from my mom, she was a woman of faith, with a kind heart and a bold personality. The absolute best really. She believed in forgiveness and always tried to get me to forgive my mom." He chuckled at that moment, then he cleared his throat and continued.

"She took me to church with her every week. Not in a forceful manner but for me to have a place to relieve my stress ... to feel loved. She always told me that God loves me and he'd never abandon me."

"I started to feed into it and actually believe that someone really did care. Even though my mom left and I almost killed my dad. I felt loved and forgiven. Then of course my Aunt died and now I don't really think God loves me... He took away the one person who had wanted my best interest." He relayed, trying his best not to crack from the emotions he was feeling.

I guess we all had faith of some sort. Some more than others. Some in God and some in the Universe. Some in the seen and some in the unseen.

At times our faiths are tested and circumstances cause us to doubt. It's all apart of our journey. If our faith does more good than harm, we'll eventually find our way back. I knew all about it but it wasn't my time to share.