Miles Away | Nick Mara

Forty Five

The next morning, I went back home. As soon as I walked through the door, I stopped in surprise. My dad had cleaned the house. For the first time in forever. The curtains were open, sunlight poured into the living room, making it glow different shades of orange and yellow. He'd moved the sofas back to where they originally were before they moved around, he'd thrown away all the takeout remains that were left of the coffee table, the shelves and counters were dusted and cleaned.

"Dad?"

He walked down the stairs and greeted me with a hug. He looked cleaner; he shaved, his clothes were more put together, and he smiled.

"Why'd you clean all of a sudden?"

He shrugged. "It's like a new start."

I nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, handing it to me with a big grin. I took it from his hand slowly, hesitating before opening it. It was two plane tickets. To California.

"Dad..." I sighed.

"I'm okay." He gave a warm smile. "You can't stay here forever. Go live your life."

I looked at the tickets with a frown. I didn't want to leave him. But he was right. I couldn't stay here forever. My home was still in California, all my friends were in California. It wasn't something I could just leave.

"One for you and one for Nick." He said. "His parents mentioned that he wasn't sure when he was going back, so he hadn't bought one yet."

I gave him a hug, and called Nick to tell him. He drove over immediately, saying that he'd kill me if it was a prank. As soon as he walked through the door, he hugged my dad. I handed him the tickets with a smile.

"No way." He laughed with a wide smile.

He hugged me, asking if I was really going back, and if I was sure. I nodded, glancing at my dad to look for a glint of hesitation in his expression. But he genuinely looked happy.

"The flight leaves later today. 10:00 PM." He said.

Nick whispered a "yes" to himself, excited to be going back. I smiled. I was just as excited, but it seemed wrong to leave my dad alone, despite his determination to get me to go back.

I ended up agreeing to go. Nick picked me up and carried me to the sofa, flinging me down with a laugh. He pulled out his phone and texted his mom that we were leaving later today. She yelled in happiness, glad that we were doing okay. Nick pulled me up the stairs once he'd hung up the phone, heading to my room and sitting on the floor. He grabbed my suitcase and started to stuff all my clothes into the bag.

"Nick!" I laughed, stopping him. "I'll do it."

He kissed me gently, and grabbed my laptop. We watched a few episodes of 'The Office' while I packed, and time passed quickly. Soon enough, after we ordered and ate some takeout, it was time to leave.

Nick had called an Uber in advance. I stood by the door with my suitcase in my hand. I hugged my dad tightly, promising that I'd call him every day to make sure he was okay. He nodded with a smile and told us to go quickly before we missed the flight. We waved goodbye from the car and headed to the airport.