A-N- Hey all! So, Im sorry that the chapters have been kinda short....i guess I just have a place I want to get to and nothing else seems that important to me? I don't know lol
Anyway, the video in this chapter is posted on the side. I made it myself, so no harsh judgement, please! The girls don't all look the same but they ARE all supposed to be Nikola. It's the best I could do...
Enjoy! XXX
(Nikola's POV)
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" I put my hands up to Crash- Rhoan's chest.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just gotta go take a road test to see if I'm okay for driving. That's goona be a regular thing, by the way, every 6 months."
"Alright. Aunt Jordan is taking you, right?"
"Nope, I'm driving myself-"
"Rhoan! You can't drive yourself there-!"
"Chill, baby, I was kidding. Josh is outside to take me," his hands felt so warm on my upper arms.
"Good luck," I wave as he walks outside, looking so cute in his bomber jacket, fitted jeans and eye patch.
I close the door and lean against it, thinking. He was charming in that 'dont-come-near-me' way before we all knew who he was, but he had gotten even more charming after we knew who he was. That gave me the feeling that even if he failed his road test, he would still be coming home with a license. And then I wondered what we were. Before all of this happened we were pretty much boyfriend and girlfriend, but we never said so. And now he's technically my godfather. That was always the thing with us- I never knew exactly what we were. Is it too weird to want to date my godfather? Is it even more weird for him to want to date me? Its not like we're related...but still, I'm his best friend's daughter.
I sighed and went out to my brother. He was sitting on the back porch, watching the pool vacuum crawl around on the liner.
"Drew," I say, he turns his blue-gray eyes on me, "I'm going upstairs to the attic. I'm goona see if I can clean up some stuff."
"Kay."
"Are you goona be okay by yourself?"
"Fine."
Those one word answers were what made me think he wouldn't be okay. But I nodded and left him alone to go clean up. I'm not sure if I was just trying to organize or to say goodbye to mom and dad's things. But I opened the door on the second floor and climbed the winding stairs up into the attic. A blast of heat greeted me as well as a few cobwebs and what seemed like miles of cardboard boxes. I sat down and started sorting through a box. There were two piles: keep or throw out.
About two hours later I was at the back of the attic. I had a decent amount of stuff to throw out but much more stuff that I wanted to keep. I had reached the beginning of my life. All around me was mine and Drew's baby stuff. Bottles, bibs, clothes, shoes. And of course there were all of our old toys. I pulled out a floppy rabbit with a red vest- Cottontail. And a tan teddy bear with black circles around the eyes- Patches.
In Drew's stuff I found a raccoon- Bandit. And a snake- No Feet. And there was the monkey with one eye and a hole in his nose- Giggles.
I couldn't believe how much I remembered from then. Or how simple those days were. The good old days when the hardest choice I had to make was which toy to bring in the car. I pulled over another box of my stuff and went through all of the toys in there. There were so many. I paused when I reached the bottom of the box; there was a DVD. On the disc was written- To My Nikola. Mechanically, I grabbed the disc and wandered back to the second floor and into Mom and Dad's room. I set up the DVD player and popped the disc in. Sitting in the midst of the plush white comforter, surrounded by the smell of my mom's perfume and dad's cologne, I pressed 'play'. A menu screen appeared. There was a picture of me as a teenager as well as the title 'Gabriel's Last Gift'. I pressed 'play' again. The words 'For My Little Girl' drifted across the screen. I brought my hand to my mouth and tears slipped down my cheeks as a song started and a picture of my father's hand holding my baby hand appeared.
'She spins and she sways
To whatever Song plays
Without a Care in the World
And I'm sitting her wearing the weight of the World on my shoulders'
The video kept going. Pictures of when I was a baby all the way to just a few days before they had died. Some I had posed for, others I didn't even know he had taken! My childhood with my father captured in 4 minutes and 4 seconds. The last two screens he left me a letter-
'You Better Not Be Married Yet...
I Love You So Very Much.
You Are My Pride, My Joy, My Entire World.
The World is Yours, Nikola- Don't Be Afraid To Take It.
You'll Be Going Off To College Soon, I Can't Believe It,
Where Did The Time Go?
Just The Other Day I Was Afraid To Hold You- Afraid
That I Would Break You, But You're Stronger Than I Want To Believe.
Don't Forget Where You Came From,
And Never Forget Who You Are- It Will Save You.
Love,
Daddy'
The music ended so abruptly, I realized it was because he was never going to get the chance to finish it. In the song the girl asks her father to help her practice her dancing for her wedding- I was never going to get that. He was never going to get that.
I sat in the bed and cried. Everything that I had been hiding rushed out. This wasn't fair! He was the best! How could he get taken away from me?! I still need him, I'll always need my Daddy.
After I stopped crying, I realized I still had cleaning to finish; even though I really didn't feel like it anymore. But I put my DVD away safely and dragged my feet up the stairs. I had sorted through my stuff and was moving onto Drew's. At the bottom of the last box, just underneath some blankets and stuffed animals, I found three leather bound books. I flipped to the first page.
The book fell into my lap and my mouth hung open in shock.
He planned for this.
He left these for us in case he ever died suddenly.
I was definitely done cleaning now. I clutched the books to my chest and wandered back down to my brother. Surprisingly, I found him in the exact same place where I left him.
"Here," I hold the books out to him, "Dad left them for you."
-Nikola
