Polar (Erejean)

Surprise Visit

Shopping with Jean was actually kind of nice. I mean, okay, there were a few times that we ended up bickering about things, but overall it was enjoyable. It was nice to spend time with someone other than Mika or Armin.

I kept my gaze set on Jean as we left the store together, watching his expression. I never really seemed to know just what he was thinking. I wondered if he remembered all the details of our conversation last night, or if he regretted saying any of it. He was usually so reluctant to opening up that I wouldn't be surprised if he did regret it.

"You okay?" He asked, looking back at me with his head tilted to the side slightly.

I gave a quick nod, looking away for a moment as I dragged myself from my thoughts. I stayed quiet for a moment before slowly asking, "do you think I could stay over at yours again tonight?"

He raised his brows at me. "Yeah, of course."

"Thanks," I said, looking off in the distance for a moment before returning my gaze to Jean. "Do you mind if we go to mine before heading back to yours? I just need to grab some schoolwork."

"Yeah, that's cool. Is it far?"

I shrugged. "Not really. Just up Rose Hill," I directed, starting to make my way in the right direction. Jean just quietly nodded, following on beside me with a grocery bag in each hand. I offered to carry one for him, but he just shook me off.

It didn't take too long to reach my apartment building. Jean and I mostly just talked about school on the way there, avoiding any real talk just like we usually did. Something told me that emotional topics were going to be a rarity with sober Jean.

"Do you really walk to school every day?"

"Usually, yeah" I answered, glancing up the rest of the hill before walking up the stairs to the second floor of the building. Armin sometimes gave me a lift in, but I usually tried to just make my own way there.

"I could just give you a lift in if you want. Must be killer walking up there when it's raining."

"Really?" I asked, looking back at him and smiling a little. "Yeah, that'd be cool. Thank you."

"No problem," he said, following me along to my apartment. He watched as I pulled my key off from around my neck, and reached over to unlock the front door.

I furrowed my brows slightly when I found the door to already be unlocked, my hand freezing on the handle. It was unlikely that someone would have broken in - that just wasn't really something that happened in our town. Still...

With my heart beating loudly in my chest, I carefully opened the door and stepped inside. For a moment, everything looked as it usually did. The half living room, half kitchen was just as I had left it, with unorganised mess splayed across the tables. I turned back around to look back at Jean, jumping when I saw someone walking out from where my bedroom was.

I swallowed thickly when I saw who it was. Part of me was relieved that I recognised them but, at the same time, it only made me feel more anxious.

"Dad?"

He offered a nervous smile - well, as much as a smile as he seemed to be able to give - and made his way over to me. The action only made me feel more nauseous, my arm snaking around my waist from nerves. I hadn't seen him in person in well over a year and, even though we weren't on bad terms or anything, his unannounced presence still caused an odd feeling to run through me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, watching as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. I'm fine," he assured, though I wasn't sure how much I believed him. "I just thought it was finally time that I came up to check on you - and it's a good thing I did."