His Darling (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8: The Call

"Because of you I try my hardest just to forget everything; Because of you I don't know how to let anyone else in; Because of you I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty; Because of you I am afraid..." - Kelly Clarkson

THE NEXT DAY

"So are you giving me a tour of Los Angeles soon or what?"

"Yeah, I plan on giving you one. I've just got to find a day out of the studio and we're set."

"I can live with that. Party Pupils or just you?"

"A little bit of both."

"Where are your parents at anyway?"

"I believe they're both at work, or at least mom is."

"Is she still an attorney?"

He nods. "And a damn good one, too."

It's been two days since I moved to Toluca Lake from Tupelo, having to leave my family to get away from my mom's pursuit. I'm just glad dad's plan didn't put me with complete strangers. Ever since I found out I'd be reunited with my best friend in the midst of all of this, this predicament isn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

The landline suddenly goes off in the midst of me grabbing an apple, but Max beat me to it first. I don't really pay attention to the conversation at first, not wanting to invade his privacy just in case it's a business call, but I become wary when he suddenly hands the phone to me.

"It's your dad." Max answered. At this I swipe the phone from his hand and put it to my ear.

"Hey, dad."

"Hey sweet pea. How's Toluca Lake?"

"Surprisingly, a lot better than expected."

"And your hosts?"

"They've been amazing. Thank you, dad."

"I know you've been wanting to see him again, dear. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I had their contact information sooner. I literally found Charlotte when I was looking for attorneys when-"

"It's okay, dad. Really. How's mom and Stevie?"

"They're doing great. Stevie is being home schooled through k-12 this time around with everything going on. And Ellie even found a job at a small 50's diner just a few blocks from where we're staying."

"That's great, dad."

"Well, I have to go, baby. Can't keep the call too long with the situation we're in..."

"I wish we could talk a little longer..."

"I know, sweetheart. I promise I'll call again soon, okay?"

"Alright. I love you, daddy."

"I love you, too." And with that the line clicked and he was gone. I stood there staring at the phone in my hand for a minute, wondering how the life of my family ended up like this. One day everything was just great and wonderful, and the next my dad, sister and I are forced to bounce across the country the millisecond that bitch finds us.

"Everything okay?" Max asks, snapping me out of my trance. I don't answer him. I can't really. Instead I just rush to my room like the coward I am.

It's hard to face anyone knowing what I have to go through. No one even really knew the story outside of my family and Ellie until now. Now the Schneider's and the family that dad, mom, and Stevie are staying with know about it, too. Max didn't really find out until after I showed up, but I believe he was impacted by the news the hardest.

I don't know why my life has to be such a mess. It seems as if nothing in my life is tangible anymore, to be quite honest. The closest thing I can imagine to having a perfect reality seems way too out of my reach. There have been a lot of days where I just wish I could have a normal life, Ellie was my actual mom rather than the bitch that half of my chromosomes actually came from, Stevie had no traumatic experiences, I never met Ryder... Honestly, the only thing I wouldn't change is meeting Max.

As my mind goes from changing my life to memories with Max, I suddenly feel a presence to my left. I automatically know it's Max when I look over at him from my peripheral vision. He doesn't do anything about his presence, though. For a while we just sit together in the silence; most likely waiting to see who will speak up first. But I don't think I can form any words right now without getting overly emotional.

"I'm here for you, Mikey." Max said, breaking the silence.

And that was all it took for the walls I started building to crumble as I began to cry. Immediately Max scooted next to me and wrapped his arms around me, allowing my head to fall into his chest and my arms to wrap around his torso. He started running his fingers through my hair as I blabbered how sorry I was about anything I could think of. Whether it be everything wrong with my family, to something stupid from our childhood, he just sat there and listened. After a while my tears finally started to subside and my breathing started to calm itself again. When Max realized this he leaned back to look at me, wiping my tears away.

"You don't need to apologize for anything anymore, okay?" I nodded in response.

"Good. Then how about I take today off and we just sit around watching kids cartoons all day?"

"But what about work? And Ryan?"

"They'll understand. Ryan may give me a hard time about it, but they'll understand."

After Max called into work explaining partially what happened, we huddled up on the couch with the fuzziest blankets, a bunch of junk food, and began binge watching SpongeBob.

Nothing gets better than this.

I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but this is only a filler. The action should start back up again next chapter, if not entirely.

I also apologize for this being so late. I have decided to take my laptop to work and get some writing in then. Hopefully this helps me get some chapters out to you guys sooner.

Lastly, the song from YouTube relates more to a message to Mikayla that helps her later on in this story rather than Mikayla and her childhood. For those wondering how, there's only one way to find out. ;)

Stay tuned!