I can do it with a broken heart (Lando Norris)

30. But Daddy I Love Him

I'll tell you something right now
I'd rather burn my whole life down
Than listen to one more second of all this griping and moaning
I'll tell you something about my good name
It's mine alone to disgrace
I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing

The arrival of her parents would've been enough to send her head spinning under normal circumstances. But on top of everything else, she found her brain wasn't working well enough to do anything other than gawping at the two of them as they sat on the sofa opposite her.

Her phone was vibrating like mad as Lando texted about a million questions wanting to know what was going on after she'd hung up on him. It was at this point she realised she hadn't ever actually mentioned her parents to Lando and she wondered if he'd just assumed they were dead or been too afraid to ask. She'd ask him later after whatever this was.

"So, how's it all going?" Her mum asked, returning from the kitchen having apparently made herself and her dad a coffee and not brought one for Hannah. "The new album is doing well from what I've seen?"

Hannah just stared at her for a minute, before repeating the only sentence she'd actually managed to form this far. "What are you doing here?"

Her mum rolled her eyes. "What a lovely way to greet your parents. We've come all this way to see you, because you never visit us by the way, and you look like you can't wait to get rid of us."

"Because I don't understand what you're doing here," Hannah repeated. They didn't even call or text her after everything that had happened to check she was okay, never mind actually showing up to check on her. She was briefly taken back to a couple of days she'd spent with Lando's family, finally getting an insight into what a normal functional family was like.

"We had dinner with Joe the other night and he said he thought you could use some company." Her mum said, as though it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I'm sorry, you were what?" Hannah stuttered.

Now, she probably should've seen this coming. Her parents absolutely adored Joe. She was fairly sure they loved him more than they loved her. But for some reason, it just hadn't occurred to her that they would stay in touch. Why would they?

"He's such a lovely man, Hannah." Her mum said, as though that answered the question of why they were having dinner with her ex. "He's worried about you, all this business with Cassie. It's not right. I know things have been a bit strained between you, but you can't mess with her career like that. She's done nothing but support you."

Hannah wasn't even trying to hide her disbelief as she looked at the two of them. Her dad at least had the decency to look at the floor and look a little bit embarrassed by what was happening.

"Did he send you here?" Hannah asked, already half knowing the answer. This explained why he hadn't continued to call her trying again to get her to help Cassie. He'd called in reinforcements.

"He didn't send us. We came to see if you were okay. We've seen the news." Her dad interjected, seemingly finding his voice for the first time.

"That's funny because you didn't seem to care when Joe left me and everything went to shit." She shot back before she could stop herself. She knew logically if she just stayed calm and avoided the argument they'd probably leave sooner but they'd always had this effect on her. She just couldn't help it.

Joe was well aware of the fact she didn't get on with her parents and yet it seemed he'd sent them there anyway.

"What story did he tell you?" She asked curiously when neither of them said anything further. "Did he tell you he was fucking Cassie behind my back the whole time?" She yelled, the frustration finally getting the better of her.