Dark Desire

Chapter Four

The next morning, if one could call it morning, he heard a slight knock on the door. "Who is it?" He managed to croak out.

"It's me." He heard Gwen say. "Can I come in?"

"If you must," He said to her through his headache.

She gently opened the door and closed it behind her. "I figured when you didn't come home last night that I would find you here sleeping. Long night?" She asked him.

He didn't look at her, he couldn't look at her. "Does it matter?"

"If that's what you needed, then I don't mind." She said to him.

It was hard to suppress the sigh, "What do you want Gwen?" He managed to ask, still not turning to face her. "If you're here for some money just take what you need out of the pouch on the table and leave."

There was a bit of silence, "I deserve that." She managed to say. "I am not here for money. I am here for you. I thought we should talk."

"That's what you said last time." He said, stopping himself from saying out loud "before you drugged me." His body shuddered at the thought.

Gwen quietly walked across the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked at him, "I am sorry." She finally said.

It was then that he looked at her. He wasn't expecting an apology.

"I am sorry for the way I have been acting. You deserve better than that, and Arianne deserves better as well. There are no excuses for what I have done, and I hope that can I start mending the relationship between us." Her eyes locked with his and he felt some sincerity from them. "If you will let me."

Andrew was at a loss for what to say, and it took him a moment to find words. "Why the sudden change in heart?"

"Let's just say I have seen the error in my ways. I overheard that you are planning on leaving this town. I don't want to be the reason why you leave. It made me stop and think about what I have done and what I have been doing. I will work on my behavior moving forward and do as requested of me." She said to him with a little smile. "Will you let me do that? Will you stay here with me and give me another chance to prove to you that I am worth staying for?"

"I don't think I am the one that needs convincing." He said to her. "You should first mend the relationship with your daughter. She doesn't even seem to realize that you even exist." Andrew finally said to her.

Gwen nodded, "Very well. Do you think you can help me with that? I am afraid I don't know what I am doing in that regard, but I am willing to try."

Andrew gave a slight nod, "Very well. We can all spend some time together."

"Would you like to go with me to pick her up from my mother's house? We can stop by the market and pick up a few things and go home and make a meal together? You can help me make something simple that I can learn to make when you aren't around." She said.

He looked at her skeptically, and he couldn't help himself. "Okay." His body ached as he slowly got up and cleaned himself up a bit. A lot of water was needed to help clear the headache he had. As they left his father's place, his father was no where to be found. Outside the sun was high in sky, how long had he been asleep? Gwen was walking close to him and he looked around a bit. Did he fall asleep and wake up in some alternate reality or something? He was especially confused when she walked up the porch with him and stood by him when he knocked on the door to her mother's house. Typically, she would hide off to the side of the house so she wouldn't have to confront her mother.

Merinda opened the door and looked between the two of them a bit confused herself, but still didn't acknowledge Gwen was there. She ignored her and looked at Andrew, "Good afternoon."