Never Let Go

Chapter 15

~Chapter 15~

The door didn’t muffle their shouts as I sat on the porch. I wasn’t supposed to hear the yelling. My grandparents were trying to shield me from the fighting, but it was of no use. I was completely aware of what was going on and I could hear what they didn’t want me to.

My grandfather was the most upset. He was livid. He couldn’t stand the fact that my dad had been so cowardly to leave us, and then have the nerve to show up here suddenly. And then there was my mom, who allowed him to come back without any ramifications. He was angry and upset over the whole situation, but as long as he was my dad, my grandfather wouldn’t let him go anywhere.

 I put my hands over my ears to block out the noise. I wanted so badly to run, but the fear that surrounded Wes inhibited me from taking the chance of crossing paths with him. He’d left me alone the past twenty-four hours, but I knew that the separation wouldn’t last.

I wanted Marissa to be here more than anything else. Daniel was too confusing, but Marissa also understood me completely. She was and would always be there. But for now, she couldn’t be.

I didn’t know whether or not to be mad at my dad. Part of me was jumping for joy that he was back, that this must mean that everything would be okay again, but another part of me was still hurt and dented from what he’d done. It was that latter part of me that helped me to realize that although he was my dad, what he did was wrong. I had already wanted to forgive him, but I couldn’t let what he did go yet. His actions weren’t right and there was no excuse for them. He still hadn’t apologized or explained the sudden appearance, so for now, I let it be. I wasn’t in the state to make any decisions.

When the inside of the house fell silent, I finally went back inside.

I caught onto the last bits of my mother speaking. “…and that’s why we had no other choice. It made us realize that we both have growing up to do. We couldn’t sacrifice our family for our issues. This ch—” She stopped as I entered the room.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. My voice was deadpanned.

“Nothing, Addison, we have it all sorted out now.” My mother chided.

My father was silent next to her. All he did was stare at me, and I found myself staring at him too. He looked the same yet different. He looked worn out. Not in the way that he’d looked from a long week of stressful work, but as if he was worn from life. He looked weary. He looked as if he had actually been as much of a mess as my mom and I had been.

I heard my grandfather’s resigned sigh in the background. “Then I guess you can stay, but if you pull anymore of this bullsh—shenanigans, that’s it.” I caught my grandfather’s correction. They had a no cursing policy in front of me.

My father gave a grateful smile and murmured thanks.

And then things went back to normal, or as normal as they could be.

My grandmother almost had a clean bill of health, but my mother wanted to stick around longer. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her parents, and that homesickness had only grown deeper through the whole ordeal with my father leaving. She wanted the break to collect herself, even if he was back. Now that he was back for good, they’d decided it would be best to spend a little bit more time apart to settle things on both of their ends. The only problem was where it left me. If my mother was staying, but my father returning home, where or who did I go with?

School was an issue. I couldn’t leave forever, and I was homesick myself. I missed Marissa, Daniel, and even school. It was nice to escape, but I needed to get back to my life, and away from Wes. Those were the things that made us agree that I had to go back with my dad. He and I had to patch things up, too, I guess. That’s what everyone told me, at least. Deep down, it turned out he really cared about me. I always knew he did, but he never tried to be a prevalent part of my life. Now he wanted to be an important part of my life, so we were going to try and “bond” when we got home. It was a new start for all of us.