The Buddy System Fail

4. Moving In With Daddy And His Husband-Stealing Fiancée

4. Moving In With Daddy And His Husband-Stealing Fiancée

The door to our apartment stuck, as always, when I went to push it open. But with a hard budge made by my shoulder it flew open, revealing the most shocking thing I'd seen all day. Even more shocking than waking up naked next to Ryder. 

My mom and dad talking over coffée. 

Now to all you people out there with parents happily married or happily divorced or whatever, this may not seem like a big deal. But considering when my father usually came round, which he was smart enough to not do very often, my mother would weep and scream and throw things. Coming home to find them having idle chit chat was a real shocker. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a not-so-welcoming tone. So this was what Old Mrs. Darrow meant? Thank you so much for the heads up. I dropped the keys onto the breakfast bar and poured myself some juice from the fridge. Something strange was going on here, it's not like my mother to just sit there and drink coffée while my father sits next to her. She should be begging him to come back to her by now. 

And there was something different about her. She didn't look as bad, she still looked ill but she didn't look drunk like she usually did at this time in the day. Don't get me wrong it was nice but... it was also weird. 

Her brown hair, that some-what resembled mine, hung lose in waves, her green eyes looked lifeless as always and her skin was pale and splotchy, but it looked better than usual. Like she'd actually bothered to wash herself and try to look better today without encouragement from me.

"I asked him to come here" mom said, setting down her mug onto the coffée table and nervously, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear "come sit down, Teagan, we have something to tell you".

Questionably, I did as I was told. I dropped down into the recliner, sitting on the edge ready to bolt if anything was to happen. I don't know why, nothing has ever happened before but it seem appropriate given how strange this situation was. 

"Right, so, me and your father have to an agreement" she said, looking at me like her stare could hold me in place. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this. "I'm sorry for the way I've acted ever since the-" she paused, visibly swallowing down tears "divorce. I shouldn't have turned off the way I did, I still had you but I couldn't see that, though I can now and I want to get better for you, Teagan, and in order to do that, to keep you from seeing anymore of my lows, I think it's best if you... If you go live with your father for a while" 

My eyes widened as words left her mouth and I gaped at them. Live with Dad? Live with dad and Sally, his fiancée (a.k.a the woman he had an affair with)? I couldn't do that. I'd end up killing one of them by the end of the week. 

I searched my mind for possible reasons as to why I couldn't go. 

"What about school?" I argued lamely. 

"We don't live far, Teagan" Dad told me, speaking up for the first time since I'd entered the apartment "in fact, our house is closer to school. Your mother and I both agree this will be better for you, this last year has been hard on all of us but I assume it's been so much harder on you" 

Like hell it's been hard on all of  us?! You got to go skip off into the sunset with your new girlfriend while I had to look after a mother who had to have a bottle of vodka in her hands just to get through the day!, A voice screamed in my head but I resisted the urge to yell this in his face. It would make this situation all the more harder than it needed to be. 

"When am I moving in?" I asked emotionless, there was no way I was getting out of this so I might as well not bother even fighting it. But that didn't mean I wasn't gonna be bitter about it. No, my dad was gonna get an earful of my snide comments and sarcastic remarks, after all I had been said to be the best at bitching.