Hell Hath No Fury Like the Devil's Daughter Scorned [NaNoWriMo 2013]

Chapter 12: Forgive

Dedicated to LovingPARIZ for reading, commenting and fanning me :) for the rest, sorry I don't have time to do dedications for y'all! More dedications coming soon~

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered under my breath as I pressed the Goodwins’ doorbell.

The next morning, I decided to apologise to the Goodwins, since I did owe them one. And that was how I found myself standing in front of their door, wrapped up in one of Belliah’s old coats. The door was flung open after a few short moments, surprising me. I hadn’t expected anyone to answer the door that quickly.

What surprised me more was being greeted with Cayden’s haggard-looking face. He brightened up when he saw me standing there. “Keela! You came back!” he exclaimed joyfully.

Why is he so happy to see me? Shouldn’t he be angry at me for making Amber injured? I wondered, confused as I followed him into the house. On the couch sat Jeremy and Amber, who both looked relieved at my appearance, adding to my mystify. What’s going on?

“Keela! You’re back! I missed you!” Amber shouted, jumping up from her seat and rushing over to me, clinging on to my jeans.

I smiled at her, and said, “Of course I came back, my adorable little angel! How can anyone stay away from you?”

Amber grew even more delighted with my response and practically hugged my leg, causing Cayden to bend down and pick her up. I looked at him, then Jeremy, and back again. “Why do all of you look so tired?”

“We were out looking for you and Oria last night!” Cayden replied. “When you rushed out there without any winter coat, I was so scared that something bad might happen to you two, especially since you didn’t tell me why you left so abruptly. I even wanted to call the police, but since you left with your suitcase, I don’t think that constitutes to being missing, right?”

“All of you looked for us?” I asked, genuinely touched, but still wondering why they even bothered after what I’d done.

“Well, me and Jeremy. Amber wanted to go, but she fell asleep less than half an hour after we left, so we decided to bring her back and let her sleep while Jeremy and I took turns looking after her and finding you. Why didn’t you pick up my calls?” Cayden asked.

"What calls?" I gave him a puzzled look, fishing out the phone that I'd bought during the trip to the supermarket. I pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened and the screen remained blank. "Eh? Why isn't the screen lighting up?"

"Must be out of battery," Jeremy said matter-of-factly. Cayden then took my phone and went to charge it, and Amber followed him, leaving me and Jeremy alone in the living room. Well isn't this awkward, I thought.

I decided to break the silence and speak first. “I’m surprised you still went and looked for me, despite what happened.”

Jeremy looked down, not meeting my eyes. “I realized I was too harsh. I was supposed to be looking after Amber, not you; I shouldn’t be blaming you for what happened. Nobody expected Amber to reach for that kettle, after all.”

My explanation of what truly happened was on the tip of my tongue, yet I couldn’t open my mouth and tell him the truth. He’ll never believe me, I thought. In the end, I decided to go along with what he’d said. “I’m sorry, I should’ve kept a better eye on Amber instead. If I hadn’t been negligent, she wouldn’t have been hurt,” I said apologetically.

After hearing what I had said, Jeremy stood up and looked at me. “What’s done is done. No use blaming ourselves over and over again. Keela, would you forgive me for saying those harsh words to you?”