Troubled One (Wilde #2)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

       Laughlin invited Dad over for dinner and this time, I was actually going to talk to him instead of ignoring him. I shouldn't be holding a grudge of him anymore. I shouldn't be holding a grudge over anyone anymore.

       Well, except my mom, but that was a different story.

       As soon as Dad walked in, Nick walked over to him and gave him a hug. "Hi, Dad," Nick said.l

       Dad hugged him back. "Hi, Nick. How is everything?"

       "Good," Nick said. "I got a lot of praise for the props and sets I made for the play, so I got asked to do it again. This time, we're doing Alice In Wonderland and I'm really excited to make cool sets."

       "That's great," Dad said.

       "Dinner is ready, by the way," Laughlin said.

       We all went to the dining room and sat down at the table. Laughlin already set the food on the table, so we all began digging in.

       "Laughlin, how's your manager position at the gym going?" Dad asked.

       "Great," he said. "It took a while to get used to the job because I'm a very young manager, but I really like it."

        "It's not stressful?" Dad asked.

       "No, not really," Laughlin said. "Whenever it gets too hard, Elliot's dad just helps me out since he owns it."

       "That's good," Dad said. "You're lucky for it not to be stressful when you're raising two kids. Well, technically four. Thank you again for taking in Nick and Munro. I know I haven't been the greatest dad, so I am really thankful that you were able to raise them. And you're doing a great job. I mean, Nick skipped a grade and is doing amazing with his art. And Munro...." Dad couldn't really finished, but I didn't really blame him.

       "He's a great actor," Laughlin offered. "Everyone loved him in the first play and I believe he's in Alice In Wonderland."

       "Yeah," I confirmed. "I'm the Mad Hatter."

       "I thought you hated it," Dad said.

       "Well, I did," I said. "But I grew to love it and I'm planning on taking it in university. I never thought acting would be my passion. You....You should come to the play, when it's on."

       Dad smiled at me. "I would love to. Just give me the date and I will make sure my schedule is free that day."

       I faintly smiled back before looking down at my plate and began eating my food.

       We all talked about how everything was going for us. Dad even talked about Mom and told us we didn't have to worry about them getting back together. He already met with her and both of them agreed it would be best if they just stayed separated. Mom was the reason Dad acted the way he did.

       After dinner, we had dessert, then Dad had to leave shortly after. When he was at the door, getting his shoes on, I walked over. "Dad?" 

       Dad looked at me and I rushed over to him, wrapping my arms around him. He was shocked for a few moments, but he hugged me back.

       "Promise you won't leave us again?" I asked.

       "I promise," he said. "And I promise I'll come to the play. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

       "Thank you," I said. "I'll see you then."

       When he left, I looked over at Laughlin and Nick, who looked a bit shocked. "You....Forgave him?" Nick asked.

       "Well, yeah," I said. "I can't stay angry at people my whole life. I don't want to keep all this anger inside of me."

       "You made the right choice," Laughlin said. "Trust me, letting go of your anger will help in the long run."

       A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. Seeing as I was the closest, I opened the door. Kamille was standing there, a few tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "Hey," she said, her voice cracking a bit. "Can I stay here?"

       "Yeah, of course," I said. "Come here." I pulled her into a hug and she dug her face in my chest. "What happened?"

       "My parents," she replied, looking up at me, so I wiped her tears away. "Well, mostly my mom. She started yelling at me over nothing and....and she hit me. Over and over. My dad did nothing. He just stood there and let it happen. I can't stand to live there anymore, Munro. I do nothing wrong and she freaks out on me all the time for no reason."

       "Did you bring anything over?" I asked.

       Kamille nodded. "Yeah. My parents had to go to this banquet thing, so I packed up all my stuff and left. My eighteenth birthday is in two weeks. If they don't do anything about it until then, I'll be fine."

       "But Christmas is in a week," I said. "You sure you want to be away from your family then?"

       "What choice do I have?" Kamille asked. "I don't....I can't live with them anymore. Please."

       "I already said you could stay," I said. "I'm not going to force you to go back there. I'll go tell Laughlin and Elliot while you get your stuff out of your car, okay?"

       Kamille nodded and went to her car while I walked over to Laughlin and Elliot in the living room. I asked if Kamille could stay here. I didn't tell them why, though. I just told them that she really had to get away from home.

       They allowed it, of course, so I helped Kamille bring her stuff in and to my room. After everything was set on the floor, she laid down on my bed, soft sobs escaping. I laid down beside her and pulled her closer to me. She rested her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around me. "Sorry for being such a burden," she said.

       "You're not a burden," I assured. "We both had to go through some pretty rough stuff, so no matter what, I'm always going to be here for you, okay?

       Kamille nodded. "Okay."

__________________

I wanted to get this up before I leave and now, I have to continued packing and it's currently 11:30 PM. cx

And next chapter, we get to see more Popson and Ryder and some more characters from the Protector series. Wink wink.