Be My Mascot

Chapter 52

Thank you for all the name suggestions!

Bailey's POV

I take a long, deep breath before walking into the living room. My dad is sat on the couch, newspaper in hand. He doesn't make eye contact with me, but I inch closer in hopes that he'll notice my presence.

For the past hour, I've gone over everything I will say to him so I don't freeze up.

Once I'm directly stood in front of him, I clear my throat.

"Can I speak with you?" My voice comes out softer than intended so I cough loudly as if I had something in my throat.

"About?" He mumbles irritably.

My first instinct is to roll my eyes at his behavior, but I stop myself from doing so. I must act proper and strong.

"About what happened when you showed up at my dorm room uninvited."

Dad's face stays hidden behind the grey newspaper, but I can tell he's glaring right through at me.

"Bailey, I already talked to your mother about this. I saw what I saw and I'm willing to look past this. End of story."

"Except it's not," I surprise even myself by saying. My tone is empowering and I love it. "I want to talk to you about this. I want you to hear my side of it, not Mum's own opinion on something she did not witness."

Dad rolls up the paper, his face now visible to me.

"Fine, then. Speak."

I cross my arms, now becoming angry. How dare he speak this way to me.

"First of all, I'd like to point out that you just showed up at my dorm room without any communication or notice of your arrival. A little call saying that you're here to visit would've been nice."

"I don't need an invitation to visit a room I'm paying for. But now that you brought up the dorm room, why don't you enlighten me in your decision to let a man sleep in the same bed as you every night?" His sarcasm is thick and it infuriates me.

"I let Niall stay with me because his roommate was no good for him. He pressured Niall into various things and was overall a horrible person. Nor him or I were comfortable with him staying there so I let Niall come live with me where he'd be more relaxed and at ease. May I add, he was doing this to keep me away from him as well."

"You both are far too young to be doing that! How long have you even known this boy? Yes, Bailey, he seems like a nice man, but your relationship with him is going very fast and you're going to regret it."

"You don't get to decide what I do in my relationship, it's my relationship. I have enough common sense to know what I should and shouldn't do."

"I'm not saying you don't, Bailey. Just look at it from my perspective. I'm your father, when I see you like that with a man I'm going to be harsh and protective because I love you and care about you. I don't want my little girl getting hurt."

"I'm not little, Dad."

"I know." He stands up from the couch. The anger and frustration in his face has disappeared.

"You're growing up into this wonderful and intelligent young woman. I realize that you get to make your own decisions, that's a part of life that you're now experiencing especially with being in university. I'm sorry for all the horrible things I said to you in your dorm room. It was not my place to be there uninvited and it was unacceptable for me to have acted that way. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're still my little girl and I just want what's best for you. I want you to be safe and if you feel safe with Niall, then so be it. You get to make the calls now. I'm sorry."