Fade {Harry Styles}

chapter 10

Kelsey followed her brother back into the main area, surprised when she turned around to see that Harry wasn't following suit. He gave her a nod when he realized she was turned around looking at him, almost as if to say 'It's alright. I'll stay here.'

The increasing beat echoing in Kelsey's ears was one greatly caused by nervousness. She hadn't talked to her parents in 3 years. What would they think of her now?

Her hands grew cold and clammy as Will wheeled her through around various tables and chairs until they finally arrived at the table with the family of the groom -- where she would have been sitting...

There was an abundance of chatter being exchanged at various levels and so Will and Kelsey's arrival was barely noticed.

Will, being the older brother he was, knew that his sister was probably frightened out of her mind, and he made it his business to grab her hand and squeeze it. She had tried to distance herself from him, but he was able to stretch his limb far enough to grab her and beckon her forward. The gesture drew the attention of a few guests seated at the table.

"And here he is, the lucky man! Congratulations!" A few voices called, but all seemed to stall once they recognized his companion. Kelsey's vision wasn't able to focus on any one thing. She found herself scanning quickly over the guests at the table, recognizing each and every single one of them.

But a thousand needles pierced her heart when her eyes fell upon her parents who were seated only a few chairs away from her. They hadn't changed at all. They were the same old, loving parents as they were 3 years ago, which one could only guess pinched Kelsey's heart even more.

Her father was the first to make a move. He stood slowly from his folding chair, his eyes never leaving his only daughter's identical ones. Kelsey's mother was one to act quicker -- she flew out of her chair so fast she could have won an Olympic medal for speed, and grabbed Kelsey by the shoulders, pulling her in for a hug only mothers could give.

"Baby." was all Kelsey could hear being mumbled into her shoulder. Her arms found there way around her mom's torso, it was so familiar to the younger girl who suddenly felt like a child once again. 

She buried her nose into her mothers shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of home as she eagerly fought back stubborn tears forming in her glossy eyes. 

Looking over her mother's shoulder, she could see her father was teary eyed as well.

Maybe they had missed her.

~~~~

The engine died from a rumble to silence as the keys were turned in the ignition and taken out. Marcel rubbed his calloused hands along his scruffy cheeks in hopes he could also rub away the exhaustion that was written in every crevice of his being at the given moment. 

It had been 3 days since Kelsey's brother's wedding. 2 nights since he was informed of the accident that changed her life forever. And not 1 minute that he was able to stop thinking about it.

Marcel had waited in the lobby while Kelsey returned to the dinning hall with her brother for what was correctly assumed as 'a talk between the family.' From what he assumed, Kelsey hadn't spoken to her parents for nearly 3 years. The time he had assumed she would be gone was cut rather short when she appeared, walking fast paced, ushering him out of the building and into her car where she proceeded to take them both home. "Would you like to talk about it?" He asked after a few moments of excruciating silence became too much to bear. "No." He didn't pester her further about what had happened or what they talked about. The distraught was clear on her face, and Marcel didn't want to agitate her. Kelsey had briefly talked to her family, which they were more than delighted to see her, but she quickly found the reunion to be too awkward and excused herself with the feelings of being sick and a promise to meet up with them soon. They fell for it so easily, she had thought to herself. She wasn't going to see them soon. She had avoided them for 3 years and would avoid them many more if she had to. Why? She was scared. After the accident in which she walked out with nothing but a scar and Will had walked, well, wheeled out barely alive, she couldn't help but convince herself that her family blamed her for all of it. She had become so paranoid in the weeks that Will was in the hospital. Conversations became hushed when she walked into the room, and she could have sworn her parents looked at her differently. She passed it off as them secretly developing a hate for her  when in actuality they were only scared. They could have lost their children that night. Kelsey didn't see it that way, however. So, when Will was safe at home again and settling in with the wheelchair, she ran. She got out of that house as fast as she could and never looked back. She found a job, whether it was a good one or not, the pay was good and she could live on it. Without her family. In her mind, they were better off without her, and she didn't need them.