Let Me Love You Again

Chapter 24: I still love her!

"Do you really still love her?" My mom asked as she grabbed my hand from across the table. I closed my eyes as I gave a simple nod. My eyes flew open as she squeezed tightly and gasped loudly. "I knew it! I just knew it!"

"We both knew it." My dad said. I raised my eyebrows in question as I looked at the both of them as I pulled my hand away.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mother and I always talked about if you were still in love with Deanney, because you would always avoid coming home for every holiday." My dad explained. I looked at them strangely as I ran a hand through my bangs.

"We knew you were busy dear, but honestly? Every year you get at least a Christmas break from school and we knew that you had a vacation built up with that awful company you're working for." She said with a scrunched up face.

"Yeah man, I agree with mom and dad. You should seriously go see her.... I'm sure she feels the same way if she dreamt about it, ya know?" I heard Lauren say as she walked in from the kitchen, two mugs in her hand. I gave her a half smile, saying thanks as she handed me one.

"I don't know... this seems a bit intense for only being here not even one night..." I have laughed. "Besides, I don't want to go against what Alexis told me..." I sighed once again. I watched as Lauren pulled out her beeping phone, a smile growing on her face. "Are you texting James?" She looked up at me and blushed. I couldn't help but automatically feel better.

"Yeah... he was really sweet, don't you guys think?" She asked as she looked between the three of us.

"Uh... sure." My dad laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. I couldn't help but feel a lot better as we started cracking jokes, telling each other how we've been and what we've been up to lately. I felt happy now, despite the fact she kept creeping up in my mind.

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"How was your sleep?" I asked Nico as I noticed he had finally woken up; 10 am. He gave me a tired smile as he stretched, the needle going into the side of his neck. I cringed at how numb he was to it. But I just gave him a smile as I patted him on the leg, cleaning up the medical kit and putting away all of his medication till later that day.

"I slept great! I'm still a little tired though." He yawned as he got of the bed and slid his shirt back on. I smiled at him as I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Are you hungry?" I asked as we headed into the kitchen. I helped him up onto the island stool. He gave me a huge smile.

"Heck yeah!" He smiled as he looked over to see my parent's walking in. He became shy as he said hello to them. My mom gave him a warm smile though, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as she kissed the top of his beanie.

"How are you, Nico?" My dad asked as he pulled out the newspaper, sitting next to him. I pulled out a skillet and pancake mix. My mom came around, taking them from me, telling me to go sit next to them so she could make it for me.

"I'm alright; I'm just really hungry..." He said shyly as he cupped his hands in front of him. I smiled as I poked his sides. He laughed as he looked back over to my dad. "Are you reading the politics section?" He asked randomly. My dad looked at him and smiled.

"Yes, I read it every morning." He said as he turned the page. I looked over to my mom and smiled as she smiled at me.

"Do you think they're doing enough about the health insurance?" He asked. My dad gave him a shocked expression as he looked back at him then to me. I shrugged my shoulders as I smiled.

"No, I don't." He said with a frown.

"Me either..." Nico said with a frown as he leaned his head on my shoulder. I frowned as I looked at my parents, but all my dad did was smile as he pulled out a crossword puzzle.

"Nico, are you any good at these?" He asked Nico as he placed it in front of him. Nico looked at it and smiled.

"Yeah!" He said as he took the pen from my dad. I felt... a lot better now. They were actually bonding with him and he was enjoying it too! A few minutes passed and my dad and Nico were engrossed in their little crossword project.