Of Scissors And Scooby Doo

Chapter 22

The sight that greeted me and Jade when we stepped through the front door of my home was less horrible than I had expected it to be but it still managed to tug at my heart strings. My dad was sitting at the kitchen table with his head hanging down, hands clutching his coffee cup. That man wasn't my dad. My dad was always happy, always greeted me with a smile when I walked through the door. Now, he didn't even realize that someone came home.

I exchanged a look with Jade. I could see that she had the same thoughts as me, that she was just as taken off guard as I was. But when she saw the fear in my eyes, because man, was this scary, she managed to reassure me with just a simple look and subtle nod of her head that everything would be okay. I took a deep breath and slowly started my way over, Jade thankfully close behind me. "Dad?"

His eyes snapped up, looking startled. He swallowed and straightened up when he saw it was me. "Oh... Tori. Morning." He glanced behind me, barely managing a smile. "Morning, Jade."

"Hey."

"Dad, um..." He looked at me. I didn't know what to say, then asked the first thing that jumped into my brain. "Where's mom?"

Did she move out already? Don't think like this. Don't. His mouth twitched. "Trina dragged her out of the house this morning. There's a sale at... some shop." I heaved out a relieved breath. Thank God. "How was... You should have told us you were going to stay at Jade's yesterday," he reprimanded weakly. I could tell he was secretly glad that I hadn't been here for... whatever happened after I left. "If Jade hadn't called this morning we wouldn't have known where you are, Tori."

"I'm sorry."

His eyes dropped back to his cup. "It's fine. Just don't do it again without telling us. You know you can stay at Jade's whenever you want, just... let us know first."

"How was I supposed to tell you? You and mom... I heard you yesterday." He looked up at me, wide-eyed. It shouldn't come as such a surprise to him considering how loud they had been. Huh. I wondered if Trina had caught anything yesterday. Before I spoke the next words I took a step back. My voice shook as I felt Jade's body close behind me. "I know what happened. I heard."

"So you know that your mom..."

"Yes."

"With..."

I nodded my head. He mimicked me and rolled his lips in while leaning back in his chair. Man, this was so awkward. I really didn't want to talk about my mom's infidelity, I didn't even want to think about it, but what else could I do? He was so sad and... I needed to understand what would happen to my parents. "Can we talk about it?"

"I-" He scratched the top of his head and sighed before he gave in. "Of course we can, Tor."

"I should leave you alone for that," Jade murmured from behind me. My hand shot out, tightly grabbing her wrist. I couldn't let her go, she couldn't leave me alone now, I-

"Tori..." I turned, my wide eyes meeting Jade's. She began to pry my fingers off of her, gently, then said, "You'll be fine. I'm going home now. I'll come back when you need me, kay?"

I inhaled deeply, letting my hand fall to my side. "Okay." She shot me a smile, said goodbye to my dad and all I could do was watch her leave. But Jade was right. It was better to do this alone, no matter how much I wanted her here with me.

"Are you and Jade back together?"

I ripped my gaze from the closed front door and turned to my father. Biting my lip and furrowing my eyebrows, I looked at his smiling face. "Your mom, she... told me that you'd been dating for a short time but broke up soon after so... I was just wondering. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."