𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲

hot pink bikini

A week later, Lukas and I are in first class on an airplane heading towards Florida. It's still hard to look at him after what we did a couple of weeks ago, but I'm pushing through.

I'm pretending that it didn't happen, pretending that I didn't feel more than what I should've. "Have you ever been to Florida?" Lukas asks, looking up from his copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.

I smile a little, "No, but I'm so familiar with the idea of it that I feel like I've been before. My dad used to tell stories about when he used to live there in his childhood. He used to joke that Florida's weather was bipolar. Sometimes warm and out of nowhere, rainy or cold." I smile remembering my Dad.

He used to be my superhero. Sometimes thinking about all the good parts of him, I forget who he showed me he was in the end.

I still miss him despite it though, more than I miss my mom, more than I miss anyone. If he ever were to come back, I'm not sure how I would react. Would I cry, run up to hug him, go speechless, a mix of all three? I don't know.

"What you thinking about?" Lukas asks, he looks at me wondering. I'm silent for a little while. Why would he care? Still, after he apologized for acting the way he did that night we argued, a lot has changed between us. I'm not sure what that change is yet. "A whole lot of stupid crap." I breathe.

"Do you wanna share that stupid crap?" he asks comically, smirking as he says it.

"No, I mean unless you want to hear some depressing ass shit?" I know he'll change his mind.

But again, he proves me wrong, "I don't mind, whatever it takes to get that furrow out of your brow Sweetheart." He cannot be for real. Despite the nag, my heart flutters.

Oh shit, my heart flutters, not the lady downstairs. And I don't like it, because all there's supposed to be between us is physical attraction, and really we shouldn't even have that.

My mouth doesn't seem to acknowledge all those things, so I say, "Parents suck."

He laughs, "Yeah, parents do suck sometimes. I agree."

I sigh, "And even though both my parents were shit, I kinda miss my dad." My voice trembles when I whisper it, and I can tell that he hears it because his eyes soften. "I haven't seen him in so long, and I don't know if he'll ever show up again. I don't know if he's dead."

I take a deep breath, "I don't know how I'll even react if I see him again." I look up at him, "Is it wrong for me to feel like that?"

"No. Not at all. Going off the information you've given me about him, I'd say you're right about how you feel about him. Any reaction is acceptable when it comes to how he treated you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah Sweetheart, I know."

"Would you feel the same way that I feel if we were going through the same situation?" I ask.

"I would be the happiest man in the world if both my father and mother ran off into the sunsets, but hey, we don't always get what we want." I laugh at him, and he chuckles.

He places the book face down on the armrest, "Look Bailey, you're just upset about it, and there is nothing wrong with being upset. Do not let my experience with my parents dictate how you feel about yours."

"We come from different backgrounds, different mindsets, different parents, and we are not going to feel the same way about our relationships with them."

"Be upset, be mad, be confused. Sweetheart, you have that right. Besides, I'd never get to see that sweet little pout you like to do when your mind's going a mile a minute if you never got confused once in a while."