Just Friends. (A falling in love with my best friend story)

Chapter 32: Apologies accepted

     Genna's POV:

Needless to say, my showing up at the Tomlinson's front door was a shock to Mary; whom had answered it. Her face practically went from questioning to 'OH MY FUCKING GOD ITS YOU' in about a half of a second as she yanked me towards her for a bone-crushing hug.

        "OhmyGodGenevieveyouhadussoworriedIthoughtyouweregoneforgooddon'teverleaveusagain!!!!" She said, squeezing me tight. 

        "Yah!" I could barely manage with a wheeze. But she took it for a yes, and that was good enough for her because she loosened her hold on me for a moment. I saw Wes coming out of the hallway to see who was here, and he took one look at me and while his face stayed impassive, his eyes teared up.

I could've sworn I saw the name "Toby" come from his mouth, but maybe I was mistaken. I gave him a tentative wave and he nodded. He muttered to Mary that he was going to get Parker.

Mary sat me down on the couch and took in the sight of me, my natural brown (and unfortunately very poofy) hair, my makeup-less face and arms, and Carter's old shirt and shorts.

Parker ran out and hugged me, nearly tackling me over.

        "I knew Carter's plan would work!" He exclaimed happily, hugging me. I laughed and hugged him back. He righted himself and sat next to me on the couch, an arm protectively behind me if needed for reassurance. Wes was surprisingly calm towards me, he didn't seem mad at me anymore. In fact, he smiled at me and nodded at my hair. I smiled back, rolling my eyes. Our silent conversation was starting to agitate Mary so she started.

        "Now, young lady, what do you have to say for yourself?" She asked. My cheeks heated up in embarrassment and I felt Parker's hand gently on my back.

        "I shouldn't have run away." I said dully. On the way here, I realized that while my actions were stupid and selfish, they were necessary. If I hadn't escaped and given myself time to cool down and realize how far worse off I was without them, I would never have gone back.

        "Well duh." Mary said, practically showing the teenager inside of her. I giggled. Mary looked at me as if to start ranting on how stupid I was for leaving and how I worried her sick and stuff but Wes lay a hand on her shoulder.

        "I'm guessing you want to skip the speech and just settle on the fact that we're glad to have you back and knowing you won't run away again?" He asked. I nodded, feeling relieved.

Mary glared at him but looked at me and gave me a small smile.

        "You'd better go talk to your father." She said. I nodded and got up, kissing Parker on the cheek before running outside and down the street to my real home. I burst through the door to find no one there.

        "Dad?" I called, immediately expecting the worst. But no, he came out from down the hall, looking normal as ever, but there were light brown rings under his eyes, signifying he has lightened up on the alcohol, but hasn't quit.

        "Genna. Oh my God, you look so different." He said softly.

I wasn't in the mood for talking about how I looked. I ran towards him and wrapped my arms around him, sending the drink that was in his hand flying as he quickly hugged me back.

I havent' hugged him in a long time, and for the longest time I've been so pissed at him. For rehab, for everything. But now I understood why he did it. He didn't want me dead like mom.

        "I'm sorry." I said into his shirt. He scoffed.

        "You're sorry!?!?!? I was the one that's been neglecting you dear. I shouldn't have done all those therapy sessions and the rehabilitations. I should've been there. More importantly I should've remembered that you were a vegetarian. You've been wasting away before my very eyes and..." He grabbed my hand, pulling my arm up towards him.

        "You haven't stopped. I'm going to fix that. Trust me Genna, we'll turn out okay. But no more running away." He said. I nodded, feeling a few tears slip out. He was acting like the old dad again, the one who was full of life and music and fun and love.

***

I later invited Chelsea over for a sleepover, which dad said was perfectly fine since  he knew I was lacking in time with girls. I had welcomed her with a tub of icecream and movies, and I even ran out and got us friendship necklaces which might've been overly cheesy but she seemed to love them.

I explained to her my whole situation, one Carter knew because I had called him over the phone and explained it earlier, just so he'd be in-the-know. She seemed to forget any anger at all that she had with me and I was now her best friend for life.

Right as I was going to sleep, I got a text message from Parker.

        Glad to have you back sis! By the way, I think you should talk to my dad and stuff. You two were always pretty close.

Parker was right, I did love Uncle Wes because he seemed to know exactly how to talk to me and how to be around me. I remembered back to our conversation, where he told me he was my mom's best friend in highschool.

I scooched closer to Chelsea, who was snoring away on the floor and linked my arm through hers for comfort.