Asteraceae

TWENTY SIX

It was exactly like how she left it all those years ago. She was a bit surprised that he kept almost all her belongings, but there was no need for them anymore, she wasn't the same little girl anymore that enjoyed drawing, or bright colors. She didn't like purple or Mauveine as the fancy people called it, but she bit her tongue when she saw how worried Charlie was about her opinion.

He cares

Something new, but not unexpected. Her father was always a people pleaser, and she knew she didn't develop her personality from him. She was selfish, she'll admit that, but was it so wrong to only want the best for yourself? She wants the best things, the best life, and the best man to live alongside her and maybe if she was feeling up to it. A child. A perfect child that she would raise in a much better setting than what her parents gave.

"It's nice." She sat her backpack down and the mere thought of sharing a bathroom ran shivers down her spine. She had snuck a glance at it when she was first making her way up the stairs and the mere thought of her father's mess left her in shambles...He was disgusting-nasty, hadn't even bothered cleaning up before she came over and that already left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Didn't have time to clean," He didn't seem to notice though, her twisted expression at the sight of her 'new' bedroom, and the judging gaze that pierced that back of his skull, "was in a rush to get you, and didn't want to leave you waiting." She hummed, not bothering to reply as she wandered around touching every surface within the room.

Dusty but freshly painted

Disappointing, but there would come a time when she fully gets settled that she would fix the room up how she wants. Throwing away all her stuffed animals he thought she would like, and clearing her desk of all her memories she didn't care for...there was a reason she never came back once she was old enough to make the decision of whether she wanted to come or not.

"It's fine." She wasn't cruel, she knew how sensitive her father was, and her mother knew it also.

"Please don't give your father a hard time Bella." She had given her a tight hug before she had to board the plane, "I understand that you didn't like visiting, but your father knows nothing of how a girl should be treated so don't take anything he does to heart."

At that moment, she wondered why her mother had even batted an eye towards her father. The woman was gorgeous form her old pictures of her youth, and while her father didn't seem bad himself, he obvious was stuck in that small town mentality that both she and her mother hated. He didn't want to leave, and he constantly worked his ass off despite barely making a decent paycheck considering the town didn't have much funding to begin with.

Looking at him now, she wondered if she would turn out like him if she didn't leave this place the second, she got the chance. Stuck in this house, alone, and working some nine to five deadened job that didn't pay enough to raise a family of three. Sad, pitiful, depressing-any damn negative word that expressed just how pathetic his way of living was.

"I also managed to get you a welcoming present from a friend of mine." He awkwardly shuffled in his spot. Her short responses unnerved him like he had already done something wrong, but he didn't know what, "you remember Billy Black and his son Jacob right?" Like mother, like daughter he guessed.

"Sure?" She didn't, and she didn't care to remember. All she knew was that if they were friends with her father, then they must be just as sad as he was.

"Okay than." He shuffled again, his nails digging into the back of his neck as he thought of something else to talk about.

Though after an entire two minutes of pure silence, they were met with the honking of a car. Relief striking over the man's face as he smiled and beckoned for Bella to follow him. Despite the words that ranged throughout his head from all his friends' advice, he couldn't help but think that this still was his Baby girl that needed to be taken care of. He was a father first before anything else, and while he wished for a much better relationship with her, he knew that this was all he was ever going to get...for now at least.