I Can't Make No Promises˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

8

After what felt like an eternity, I finally got home. Dad was on the couch, engrossed in his show. He looked up when I walked in and said, "Hey, sweetheart, you came in early." I didn't even acknowledge him; I just headed straight for the fridge, grabbed my pills, and swallowed them with a quick gulp of water. My hand trembled slightly as I put the pill bottle back, and I felt a dizzy wave hit me as I climbed the stairs.

Blake bedroom

When I reached my room, I kicked off my shoes, dropped my bag, and collapsed onto my bed. The room spun a bit, and I had to steady my breathing. A few minutes later, I heard Dad knock on the door before coming in. He must have noticed how pale I looked and how I was rubbing my temples. He walked over and said, "Everything alright, sweetheart? What happened? Are you having headaches again? Do you want to go to the hospital? Are you hungry? What's wrong?"

I tried to brush it off. "I'm fine, Dad. Just tired." But then he spotted my broken phone and his expression turned to concern. "What the heck happened to your phone?"

"Nothing," I mumbled, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Nothing?" He took the phone from my hand and inspected it. "Sure doesn't look like nothing to me. What happened?"

"Someone accidentally threw it," I said, hoping he'd drop it.

"Someone accidentally threw it? What a horrible liar you are. I taught you better than that. Try again."

I sighed loudly, my head throbbing even more. "Nothing happened, Dad!"

He muttered under his breath, "Fucking liar," before saying, "Alright, fine. We'll talk about it later. Right now, we gotta go fix it. Come on, get up."

I groaned, feeling another wave of nausea. "Ugh, Dad, I'm tired..."

"Just give me five minutes to rest, please," I said, feeling the exhaustion weigh down on me even more.

Dad studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I'll be downstairs." He left, and I let myself sink deeper into the bed. The darkness behind my eyelids was comforting, the headache easing up just a bit.

I must've fallen into a deep sleep because when I woke up, it was dark when I looked out the window. I sat up, groggy and disoriented, my head still aching. I looked over at my nightstand and saw an Apple bag sitting there. Confused, I reached for it, peeking inside. There was a brand-new phone, a case, and some screen protectors. Dad must've already gone out and gotten me a new phone while I was knocked out.

Feeling a mix of gratitude and guilt, I got up and headed downstairs. I found Dad in the kitchen, making dinner. He looked up and smiled when he saw me. "Hey, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" he asked, plating some food.

I rubbed my eyes, still waking up. "Yeah... Sorry, Dad, I didn't know I slept for that long."

He chuckled softly. "It's alright, sweetheart. I know how tired you were."

I walked over and wrapped my arms around him in a hug, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Thanks, Dad," I murmured.

He hugged me back tightly. "You're welcome, baby girl."

When we pulled apart, he gestured toward the phone on the counter. "I already transferred all your photos, messages, and contacts to your new phone, so everything should be there."

"Thanks again, Dad," I said, appreciating his thoughtfulness.

He gave me a warm smile. "Alright, now go take a shower and get comfortable. We'll eat in a bit."

"Okay," I nodded and made my way back upstairs. As I climbed the steps, I couldn't help but think about all the things Dad's done for me. Sometimes I pray that I'll live long enough to repay him for everything. I want to take care of him the way he's always taken care of me.

I reached my room and grabbed my things for a shower. The hot water felt good against my skin, washing away the tension and fatigue. Once I was done, I slipped into my pajamas, feeling clean and a bit more refreshed. I headed back downstairs, ready to enjoy dinner with Dad, grateful for moments like these.

After my shower, I went downstairs and sat down to eat dinner with Dad. We talked and laughed a lot, the kind of easy conversation that made everything else fade away for a while. After dinner, we decided to watch "Scary Movie 2." I hadn't seen it in a long time, and the ridiculous jokes and slapstick humor made us both laugh until our sides hurt.

A couple of hours later, Dad stretched and yawned. "I'm going to head to bed. I've got work tomorrow," he said, leaning over to kiss my forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Dad," I replied, watching him as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom. Once he was out of sight, I turned off the TV and went to tidy up the kitchen and living room, making sure everything was in order before I headed up to my room.

I sat down on my bed and picked up my new phone, flipping it open. As promised, all my stuff was already there. Photos, contacts, messages-it was like nothing had happened to the old one. But as I scrolled through, I saw a bunch of new messages from Alex and Riley. The one person who hadn't texted me was Marissa.

I stared at the empty space where her name should've been. It was like a punch to the gut. I couldn't believe she still hadn't texted. Did this mean we were broken up? Were we on a break? I didn't know what to think. Every time I opened up our text thread, my eyes started to sting, the tears threatening to fall but never quite making it past my lashes.

I tried to tell myself it didn't matter, that I was fine without her, but it was hard to believe. The silence from her felt like a heavy weight on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I took a deep breath and closed the messages, trying to push the thoughts away.

But even as I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted, something I wasn't ready to deal with yet.

took my phone and opened the messages app. I scrolled through the texts from Alex and Riley, my thumb hovering over the screen. started typing responses, trying to catch up on everything l'd missed.

With each message, I could feel a bit of normalcy returning, even though my thoughts kept drifting back to Marissa's silence.