He Has a Heart

Chapter Sixteen

"Surprise!" Was the first thing I heard as I entered my home. I jumped a little as I saw my three other siblings and my father, I also was surprised to see Jared standing next to my second youngest brother, Samuel.

My father and three other siblings (excluding José) had went to visit my grandparent's before this all went down.

I laughed at the fact that they did indeed surprise me and I smiled at everyone, not knowing how to even speak at this moment.

There was cake sitting on the table and my family grinning, standing around it.

I took a deep breath and walked into the dinning room, smiling at everyone. This moment couldn't have been better.

And at that moment I spoke for the first time in a long time in front of my family, "h-hey guys," I said quietly and I watched as one by one, my family hugged me. Starting with José. Next was Samuel, the second youngest at eight. Then the third to last, Rosa at twelve and her twin Rosy. My mother was next and I hugged her as tight as possible, squeezing her to me and trying to not let the tears fall.

As she pulled away, I saw my father slowly walking towards me, a smile of apology on his face and his arms outstretched. I ran into his embrace and shoved my face into his chest.

I remembered the confusion I felt after the incident happened and I would question myself whether or not he still loved me. But at this moment, I knew. He did still love me. He always did.

"I'm sorry mi princesa," I heard him choke out and his nick name for me broke me down. The tears finally broke from their restricting dam and rolled down my cheeks and into his shirt. My princess.

I know it wasn't his fault. but for a while, I blamed what happened to me, on him. He would always tell me that he would be there for me and that day he wasn't and that's what hurt me the most. I had thought that he lied to me, but I know now that he didn't lie to me, there are just some things you can't prevent from happening and that was one of them.

I felt as my dad kissed my head softly and pulled away slowly. I notice my tear stain on his blue shirt and I looked up at him.

"It's okay," he whispered and I smiled at him. He pulled away and the last person to come hug me was Jared. It was kind of awkward, but I hugged him back and although no words were exchanged, I felt the comfort and I basked in it.

I haven't felt comfort in so long. Most days I was terrified of the thought of him watching me and other days I was just numb, but I haven't felt comfort in so long, and it felt good.

Finally, Jared pulled away and smiled down at me, but I could see the storm raging in his eyes. He was still angry that this happened to me and he didn't know how to react to it. Heck, I didn't even know how to react to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

That day was spent around my family. And Jared. Speaking of Jared, we were both standing outside in the backyard, eating cake. It was in silence, but for once it was a comfortable silence.

I looked down at my half eaten cake. It was my favorite kind of cake, chocolate, with purple frosting. I let my fork sink into another section of the cake and I guided the fork to my mouth. The flavor was fantastic and I loved it so much.

From the corner of my eye, I could tell that Jared was looking at me, but I continued focusing on my cake. Jared slowly moved closer to me and I tried to ignore the proximity, but it was hard not to.

I heard him take a deep breath and reach out towards me. As his finger touched my chin, I tried so hard not to flinch. I was still having a bit of trouble with the whole touching thing, but I was slowly getting used to it.

He grabbed my chin and turned me to face him. I let my eyes reach his and they were looking, digging into my own. His hand then reached higher to cup my cheek and he pressed his lips to my forehead.

"I won't ever let anything happen to you, ever," and with that, he set both of our plates down and pulled me into a hug. I melted into his embrace and accepted the comfort he was giving. I felt him run his fingers through my hair.

This moment was perfect, and nothing could ruin it.

"NINA GURL, ARE YOU OKAY?!" I suddenly heard and I jumped as I felt another set of arms wrap around me. I was a frozen statue as Jared pulled away and I noticed who the person was. Deb.

I smiled slightly before turning around and hugging her back just as tight. The last time I saw her was at school a week ago, before the whole incident at the park and I will admit that I missed her.

So that's why at that moment I decided to speak to my first friend for the very first time.

"Hey Deb."

Her eyes widened and in my mind I was proud that I hadn't stuttered that time. What I hadn't expected was for Deb to faint in my arms. Barely able to hold her and keep her from falling, Jared reached out to help and I looked at him in worry.

I motioned for the grass and he laid her down and we waited for her to open her eyes.

"W-why do you think sh-she...?" I trailed off with the question in my voice. Why did she faint? I looked up at Jared and watched as he thought about it before shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't-" he was cut off when Deb suddenly started gasping and sitting up. I quickly rushed to help her up and looked into her eyes with worry.

"A-are you o-okay?" I asked her and again she looked at me with shock.

"Nina, you did not tell me you could talk girl! Why do I find out now?" she exclaimed and I could tell by her voice that she wasn't angry at me, just shocked.

Jared and I shared a look and he nodded at me. I guess Deb didn't hear what happened, even though it was all over the news. It looked like I would have to tell her.

With that being said, I opened my mouth and began the long story.

By the time I was finished, Deb was seething and she cracked her knuckles and gritted her teeth.

"I will kill him! Where he at?" my eyes widened at the anger laced through her voice and I quickly shook my head at her.

"N-no he's being q-questioned and investigated.." I trailed off as a look of realization crossed her features and her mouth formed an 'o'.

"Well, he better be found guilty and put in jail."

I sighed and nodded, I hope so too Deb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sorry readers for not updating yesterday, which was Monday, like I promised to do so. I had a terrible head ache and I couldn't finish writing the end of the chapter. I want to let everyone know that the book is in fact almost done. But! I also want to let you know that I am planning to write a sequel just in Jared's POV so you all can see his background and what he's going through and all that good stuff. So....

COMMENT

VOTE

FOLLOW (if you please)

AND UNTIL NEXT WEEK FOLKS!