𝑰'𝒎 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 (𝑩𝒊𝒈𝑻)

𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆

{1049 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔}

"Don't you want go see her?" Tanner asked placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Yes, but I'm terrified." She admitted looking up at him.

"Why? It's your mom I'm sure she'd love to see you." She shook her head sighing before she began to explain with a weary voice.

"I've called her everyday since I moved here. It's always a voicemail. I leave one in hopes she'd listen to them and call back. In hopes she'd tell me why she stopped talking to me. Why she just abandoned me. That's why I freaked when you stopped talking to me because so many people have left without warning. Including my own mother." She sniffled realizing she was crying. Tanner wrapped his arms around the five foot nine girl just holding her close. He knew how badly she needed it. His hand rubbed small circles on her back as she softly cried into the fabric of his shirt. After a few minutes she pulled back and looked in the direction of her mothers room.

"We can wait as long as you'd like. There's no rush." Tanner comforted her. She shook her head.

"No, I need to do this." She said before grabbing his hand and walking towards her mothers room. Once her mother saw Ophelia her smile dropped.

"Why is she here?" Her mother whispered to her father.

"She's your daughter." He said sternly. 

"We'll give you guys a few minutes." Nicole said pulling her father and Tanner out of the room. Ophelia sat down in the chair near the bed. It was silent and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Not even a knife. A fucking spoon.

"Why are you here?" Her mother spoke not bothering to make eye contact.

"You're my mother. Why wouldn't I be here?"

"Because you've left once. You'll just leave again."

"I left because I needed to live my life. You wanted me to live a life that wasn't mine." She spoke calmly. Not wanting to raise her voice so her mother wouldn't get upset. Silence was in the air as Ophelia contemplated on asking the question she wanted the answer to. Did she really want to know why her mother hated her? Would she like the answer? Or would it cut so deep the scar would always be visible from the outside? Taking a deep breath she asked it. "Why do you hate me?" Her mother chuckled lowly.

"You were a failure. Never did what you were told. Your grades were always shit. Refused to go to college. You were a bad influence on Nicole. You were a bad kid. A bad teen. And a terrible adult. You ruined my life when you came along. I wanted the best for you. I wanted a happy family but you just couldn't give me that, huh? I never got a break. And when you left it gave me a chance to forget you. It wasn't that hard to do. Just mostly ignoring your fucking calls." Her mother said and Ophelia was in shock. Her mouth ajar, no words able to be formed. Nothing. Just tears. "I didn't do anything to you to deserve this shit life I got after you came along." Ophelia stood up and left the room to find Tanner.

"I got a hotel room if you'd like to stay here with your mom." He said not looking up at her to realize the state she was in.

"Just take me home." Her voice barely above a whisper, scared if she brought it any higher that it would break and she wouldn't be able to form a sentence. Tanner's head snapped up and saw her puffy eyes, red nose, and tear stained cheeks. "Please." She squeaked out. He nodded, not wanting to push her to say anything she wasn't comfortable with.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tanner took her home and she asked him to come in. He did. Currently they were sat on her couch in silence. Tears falling down her face. No words spoken. Just oxygen converting to carbon dioxide. "She called me a failure. Said I ruined her life. She even went as far as telling the hospital she only had one child." Ophelia finally spoke. Tanner pulled her into his arms. "She's right."

"No she's not." Tanner said looking down at the sulking woman.

"Yes she is. I never had good grades. Always went against what she told me to do. Never did anything right. Never cleaned the house correctly. I should've gone to college like she asked but I chose to go to Brighton. My life sucks. People leave me all the time. I understand why she doesn't want me as a daughter." Ophelia wiped her eyes looking up at Tanner.

"I'm still here."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because everyone leaves me eventually."

"I didn't plan on leaving any time soon or at all. I'm here for the long run. Your mom sounds like a bitch in my opinion. You're not a failure by the way. Grades mean nothing, they don't determine how smart you are. Everyone went against what their parents said as kids. If you were cleaning the entire house then who gives a fuck how you did it as long as you got it done. If you didn't think college would benefit you then you just saved money and years of your life from being in torturous hours of school. As for the daughter part, I don't understand why she wouldn't want you around. You're the most kind and sweetest person I've ever met. I'm lucky enough to be your very good friend. I'm glad I walked into that café, I'm glad Larry did me a favor and got your socials for me and I'm glad you let me take you on that date the other day." He comforted her. She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head in the crook of his neck. The sudden movement caused him to lay back onto the couch with her on top of him. He rubbed her back as he held her close.

"Thank you for all you've done for me." She said softly as her fingers played with the longer hairs on the back of his neck.

"Thank you for working in that café."