Love me, love me not(EDITING)

Chapter 13

                 A few days later, I made phone calls. Plenty of them too. Cassie is filling out everything for me, and she has help too. They refuse to let me come back up to Seattle. Dalton came over to spend time with me last night, but he's mainly over at Gray's. I found a small beach house with a few pom trees in the front.
       I bought it with the money I had saved up. Right when I put everything down for a second. My phone started ringing. It was my brother. That's weird, I just talked to him this morning. If he ever calls twice, its in the evening or because something is going on that's eventful, like a party.
   I quickly answered it, "Hello?"
He growls, "I need you to come over. Now."
             "Uh..okay." I hung up the phone, grabbed everything and quickly rushed out.
"Where are you going?" Hope ran towards me from her room.
             "My brother needs me."
"Is he okay?"
I shrug, "He sounded mad."
                        "Is everything okay?" Connor comes up behind Hope wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Courtney besides him wearing the same thing, just different colors.
"Going to the gym maybe?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at them as I walk onto the elevator.            
    They were all practically wearing the same thing.
"Running", Connor replies.
              I look at Courtney, "Mm."
She smiles,rubbing her stomach. "Walking." 
         I look back at the doors and walked off as they opened. I run outside and catch a cab, telling the driver the address.
                 "Speed on it", I hiss.
       The driver nodded, hitting the gas pedal. Only took us 15 minutes to get to my brother's. Paid the driver extra, and got out, rushing to the door. Jennifer opens the screen door allowing me in. Destiny was in the living room playing with barbies. Nick was on a recliner, and our  aunt was in the other.
           I look at Jennifer and Nick. There's something terribly wrong.
  Jen coughed, a few pieces falling out of her messy bun, "Chris, take a seat.." Her voice was kind and low, but demanding.
        "Why? What's going on?"
"Chris, you're going to want to sit down for this one", Nick looks at me, his eyes wide.
                  "Dee, come play with mommy", Jennifer reached out her arms, walking towards Destiny's room on the other side of the house.
            After we heard the door shut, Chrystal leaned forward. Nick had fear and rage in his eyes. You could tell he kept messing with his hair. He does that when he gets mad. Chrystal just wore jeans and a white tank top, her hair down. She was actually really young, only 42, but she sure didn't look like it. She's one of those people who marries men who are older. My uncle is like 50 something.
             Nick opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him, "First off, why don't you tell me how you found us."
Chrystal nervously looked at Nick. So he already knows what I'm fixing to know.
      "Well...uh......", she kept pausing.
                     "Spit it out!" I hissed.
   "Your father came to me about a week ago.." Her words were slow.
"What?!" I shouted, grabbing onto my freshly straightened hair. "How come he came to you first and not his own fucking kids?"
           She shook her head, "He thought you two would be mad, getting contact with you guys out of nowhere. He lost custody of you two. That's partly why you moved from family to family. Your dad was in rehab for years. He didn't leave you guys, he wanted to get better because he knew Christina would hate seeing him this way."
          We were fostered for a month, then we moved from my mom's cousins, her other cousins', then my dad's side. Chrystal is my dad's younger sister. This has to be a joke.
    "You've got to be joking." I put my hands behind my head, taking deep breaths. "Where is he now?"
"Back in Minneapolis."
           "We leave tonight. I can get us plane tickets", Nick says sternly.
I nod, "Airport in two hours?"
           Chrystal nods, "Okay, fine."
"See you guys later.." I sigh.
                   On the way back, I stopped at Gray's to tell Dalton bye.
"When will you be back?" Dalton frowns, his hair all messy.
        "Three days. You won't even know I'm gone", I kiss his small forehead.
    He nodded, "Okay..."
           I quickly left to go put everything in my suitcase. Right before I got in an elevator, I decided to go tell Connor.
   I rolled my suitcase with me to his room. I knock hesitantly.
           "Oh, hi", Courtney greets me with a smile as she opened the door fully.
    "Is, uh, Connor here?"
             "He's in the shower", she replies, her hand on her hip.
   "Do you need something?" She asked snottily.
I shook my head, "Just tell him I stopped by."
           "Okay", she shuts the door in my face.
Well okay.
        I rush to the elevators, out of the lobby, and I hurry to catch a cab. Then I was off. Once I caught a cab.
   I roll my suitcase slowly across the sidewalk of Chrystal's and Uncle Blake's house.
       Nick put his arm around me, taking a deep breath in, "Ready?"
            I look at the white trash dark place. I'm surprised this old dump is still in one piece. My parents, were never trashy. Never. We grew up in a really good home, in a good environment. We even went to the best schools.  Then, my mom died, and my dad just was never the same after that. But why would he surface now? 10 years later? 
            Chrystal opens the door, holding it open for us. I take another breath in. It smelled like cigarettes in here. Uncle Blake greeted us with a hug. It looked like he wore rags. But just shorts and a dirty navy t-shirt. His hair covered by a torn up old red baseball cap.
He hugged Nick and I at the same time. Not like a 'Hey! Haven't seen you in over ten years! How have you been?' More of a 'Hey! Only getting in contact with you because your father came to us!'  The kitchen was to the right(flies in that direction), living room right in the middle(old torn up furniture that smelled like smoke), and a bedroom to the left, door closed, bathroom and two more room upstairs.
        Nope. Has not changed by any means. Not one bit.
We only came to visit them every now and them because this place was so trashy and my parents didn't want us around this environment. Nick and Dad got into a fight hours before he  disappeared, so Nick is extremely Nick nervous. I stood right by him, arms folded, and I looked down blankly, while chewing on my nails. 
        My jeans and shirt are never going to get rid of the smell. It's stench is horrifying. We stayed quiet. The only thing to be heard was the sound of breathing as I walked nervously back and forth. Uncle Blake waddled his way towards the kitchen, having to slightly turn sideways to get through the door. I sigh, my heart racing.
The day that Nick and Dad got into a fight was horrid. Nick was yelling at Dad about how he needs to stop drinking and to get a job. That him and I can't pay the bills alone. They were in our living room, between the coffee table and couch. Dad's hair was all shaggy and greasy, and he hasn't shaved in forever. His clothes smelled like alcohol, cigarettes, and b.o. .
    I shook my head, clearing the short memory, as the stairs creaked. A man scrubbing his hair with a towel.  Chrystal and Uncle Blake pushed him to the living room.
        "We'll be in the kitchen", Chrystal rushes into the kitchen, pushing Uncle Blake in front of her.
My father, gulps. He looks generally shocked, like he didn't expect us to come. He hasn't changed since the last time I saw him, except for a few more wrinkles in his face. He kept in shape though, minus the beer belly.
             He looked at my brother first, walking over to him, "Nicholas, my son.." His voice was quiet, but smooth.
   He walked a few inches towards me, grabbing me by my shoulders, and hugged me tighter than anyone ever hugged me.
              He then whispered, "You look so much like your mother."
       I, at the moment, hugged him tightly back, my chin resting on his shoulder, my eyes looking at Nick.