Dear Stranger

Chapter 17

"I'll be back in a second" you informed Ricky as you walked out of his office. You saw him nodding and quickly answered the phone, "Hello?". "Y/n, darling?" you heard that oh-so familiar voice say. You rolled your eyes and answered "Mom".

"How are you? I heard you got yourself a new boyfriend!" she exclaimed. "Please don't pretend to care. It will be better for the both of us" you replied. Her fake caring annoyed you very easily. "Jen is with me, you know that right?" you reminded her. "Yes! I heard that from her. We assumed she went to a friend or something when we didn't see her come down for breakfast" your mother explained. You could already feel a headache growing just by talking to her. "Is Dad around? I have to talk to you both" you stated. "RICHARD YOUR DAUGHTER IS ON THE PHONE!" she yelled into your ear. Yeah, the headache was definitely coming around.

Once your father joined the conversation, you had to clear some things. "Jen wants to move in with me" you said. You immediately heard your father laughing. That fake laugh he always used against you; the same laugh that hurt you so much in the past. "Jennifer doesn't know what she wants. She's a teenager. She's indecisive" he replied. "Yes, for once, I agree with your father. I mean, she told us she loves girls and then the week after a boy came to visit. She's testing us and now she's testing you" your mother added. "Jen is bisexual. The fact that she might search for who she is isn't a way to test you. Don't make everything all about yourselves" you answered, now completely annoyed. "Y/n, let's be realistic. You are not capable of taking care of a 16 year old. Especially going through that... phase or whatever she's going through" your dad explained. You couldn't believe his words. A phase?

"Actually I didn't call you to have your opinion on it or to get advice. Believe me, you are the last people I would ask. I'm just informing you. I called 4 times in the last two days, and you never answered. Did you even notice that all of her stuff is gone? She left and she's going to move in with me. It's not a question, that's how it is. You did everything wrong. You never supported her, always screaming at her for no reasons. I lived it. I know what it's like. Except it's even harder for her because she's still trying to find who she is. So you both can go back at yelling at each other and care about everyone but your own kids, and I'll take care of everything else" you claimed. You could hear your quick breaths and your heart racing. "Sweetie don't get mad" your mother exclaimed. "Urgh" you groaned, "I'm done with you" you said before hanging up.

"Thanks for spending the day with me" Jen exclaimed and turned her head to Darren. He smiled at the road and answered "No problem, Jen. My pleasure". A song from the radio filled the car with a nice melody. "None of them did that before" Jen said after thoughts. "Who?" Darren frowned. He got off the freeway and tried to focus on the directions and follow Jen's thoughts. "Her ex-boyfriends. They never took me anywhere. I mean, some of them were nice, but they never actually cared. And somehow, I known you for 3 days and you genuiely take me to the beach" she chuckled to herself. "Do you think it's weird?" he chuckled back. The last thing he wanted was her to think something wasn't right. "No, not at all. It's just... I'm not used to it" she admitted as she looked at her hands in her lap. Darren took advantage of the red light to look at her. Her blue hair were hanging in front of her face and she looked disappointed, but not sad somehow. The light turned green and he took the road again.

"I know what you're going through. Nobody should ever go through this..." he clunched his teeth. No he didn't really know her yet, but his heart sank a little at her story. " And I wouldn't leave you alone at the apartment on your first week in LA" he smiled. "Well thanks. Not everybody would" she smiled back. "I'm not everybody" he winked and parked the car at the same spot you did a few weeks ago.

"So it's that beach?" Jen asked once she got out of the car. "Yep. It's your sister's favorite" he said with a biggest grin. She nodded, "I can see why she likes it". Jen turned to see Darren who still had the biggest smile thanks to the memories of this place. "You really care about her, don't you?" she said with a slight smile. He looked down and blushed immediately. "You don't need to answer that. Your face say it all. You look like a tomato" she joked as she opened the trunk. "Hey!" Darren giggled. "Just saying the truth!" she grinned.

They both spend the day there, getting to know each other and playing before you joined them once your day at work was done. You took a second to watch them, both laying on their towels. They looked perfect, like a little family. You thought you would never get tired of this view.

"Hi" you exclaimed joyfully and sat between their towels. "Oh hello" Jen said as she put her hat out of her face. "Hi" Darren said sweetly before kissing your lips briefly. "Your boyfriend sucks at volleyball" Jen took amusement in saying. "I'm not!" he replied. "Aaand a sore loser. I forgot that part " she giggled. "It's okay, you're still okay to be around" you joked as you put your hand through his wild curls. "How nice" he chuckled. "You're welcome" you winked.

"So" you fake coughed. You didn't want to break the mood, but no moment were going to be right anyway. "I had Mom and Dad on the phone this morning" you turned to Jen. "And?" she said anxiously. "Looks like we're gonna have to fight" you unfortunately said. She leaned her head on your shoulder and let the words get through her. "Thanks for fighting with me" she finally sighed. The sun was slowly going down in from of you. "Always" you kissed the top of her head.

You felt Darren's arm behind your back and you knew how symbolic the small gesture was. He will always have your back. No matter what.