See My Tears.

Ch 14: The Way.

When we went home, my dad invited Kels in. "You've been spending a lot of time together, and I thnik I should have a talk with him," My dad explained. "So go to your room."

I sat in my bedroom for at least twenty minutes, imagining that my dad was telling him to stay away from me or something along those lines. But eventually I heard laughter, so I walked out to find them looking at my baby pictures. I thought that was something moms did with their son's girlfriends, but nope, my dad was doing it. Kels was laughing a picture of 3 year old me in nothing but a diaper, neck deep in chocolate pudding.

"Dad!" I gasped, sitting beside him. "What are you doing?"

My dad was still laughing, but Kels grinned, "You were so cute!"

"I know, what happened, right?" I winked.

"You got beautiful," He said seriously.

I blushed looking down, and my dad cleared his throat, "I'm still here, you know."

"Sorry, my bad," Kels nodded, flipping the page and revealing a picture of me riding my old, huge dog with a pot on my head. I was holding a wooden spoon up in the air like a sword. "Holly, god damn, you were so adorable!"

I hid my face behind my hands, thoroughly embarrassed now. I'd get my dad back for this.

After Kels left that night, my dad pulled out his seasons of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and we watched our favorite episodes. I headed off to bed at almost two, and Kels didn't knock on my window. I was a little disappointed, but it was nice to get a full night of sleep.

When I woke up, my dad had already gone to church. I got right out of bed and went next door without even glancing in the mirror. I knocked once and his Aunt answered, letting me in. "Holly, hi! That boy is still asleep," She tsked. "Get some breakfast and wake him up if you'd like."

I thanked her, grabbed a blueberry muffin and walked to Kels room, where he was snoring up a storm. I sat on top of him and started eating the muffin. His eyes fluttered open, seeing me devour my breakfast. He wiped his face, "This is a weird ass dream."

"Shh, just enjoy it," I laughed, getting off of him and laying down. "How'd you sleep?"

"Awesome, before ya know, you fuckin woke me up."

"Don't you want to wake up to this every morning?"

"You mean your smudged make-up and bed head?" He smirked. "Totally."

"I didn't even look in the mirror," I laughed.

"Obviously," he said, going for a bite of my muffin.

"Fuck you, get your own."

"My aunt made them!"

I shrugged, "Your aunt likes me more."

We spent most of the morning eating all the muffins and watching Hey Arnold, then I went home to get ready for the day. By the time I got out of the shower, my dad was getting home and he got his first paycheck in his account. "You guys wanna go out to lunch?"

"You guys?" I asked skeptically.

"Go get Kels," He smiled. I did.

We went to the open mic diner and took a booth by the stage. "This is where you go on Saturdays now?"

"Yeah," Kels nodded. "It's pretty cool."

The manager came up to us and he grinned, "Kels, Holly! You guys eat free, and who's this?"

"My dad," I told him. "We eat free?"

"Are you kidding me? Yes!" He gleamed, "Every since you started coming in, business has doubled on Saturday nights. We made more money then we made all week last night. His raps and your singing appeal to everyone."