Lullaby

Chapter 35 - Confusion

 I was panicked, I was confused… how on earth could it have been weeks? How could it have ever been weeks? Surely it was a day tops… but weeks? What must my father be thinking… what on earth had happened “Weeks?” I repeated, but my head was spinning, my heart beat accelerating… how on earth did this happen?

“Yes, weeks” his voice was stern, unfriendly… angry even

“But… But how?”

“I don’t know, you tell me” He said with the shrug of his shoulders, why was he being so cold?

“Leo, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong!?” he snapped at me, his chest heaving as his breathing increased, the vein in his neck throbbed as his face went bright red “You have been gone for weeks! I haven’t slept, I didn’t bother eating… I just searched” his wing weren’t the same bright blue as I had seen before… they matched his standard normal eyes… his eyes were normal too now I looked!

“Leo.. you look..”

“Tired. I know” he cut in, I bowed my head... recoiling almost “I’m sorry Jen..” his voice was softer now but still I did not look at him, I couldn’t.. my eyes stung, tears were threatening to fall but I bit them back

“You shouldn’t have to be, I should be sorry”

“No..” he breathed, I felt his arms reach around my shoulders as he drew me close to him, locking me in his warm embrace, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to listen to the heartbeat I have been aching for “Jen, I don’t understand how you didn’t know how long you were there for…”

“I just… don’t” I sighed and rubbed my head in his chest, his hand reached for the back of my head and began to rub it absentmindedly as he spoke

“Jen, I have no idea what has happened… but know you’re ok now… and… and we are getting out of here”

“You can’t fly, I can tell you’re too tired”

“Watch me” his hands went around my waist and with a beat of his wings, we began to soar and fly upward into the sky. The icey cold wind hit my face hard as I looked up, it was lovely to see light again… but I didn’t want it right now, so I sank my head into Leo’s chest.

“Leo..” I breathed “What about my father?” his body tensed “Leo?”

“I… I had to tell him Jen…”

“Tell him what?” he sighed at me

“I showed him my wings Jen… he even knows what you are”

“You did what!” I barked, pinching at him… which almost made him loose his concentration

“I had too! You’ve been gone for fucking weeks!” I began to scowl through my teeth, “Don’t!”

  I didn’t say a word to him after that, he held me tight but the distance between us spanned miles long. I don’t know why I felt betrayed but I did… I didn’t want to talk to him. I thought about my father a lot whilst we were in the air, thinking mainly about how he was going to react once he saw me, was he going to feel different towards me? Was he going to hate me? I tried to push the thoughts away but they only came back stronger. I closed my eyes and clenched Leo’s shirt, biting back the tears that were once more threatening to fall… I couldn’t cope with this…

“Jen…” Leo whispered “What’s wrong?”

“He’s going to hate me” I sniffled

“No. he won’t”

“You don’t know him” I scowled

“I spent these past few weeks with him, trying to get him to understand everything… he’s stubborn, I’ll give him than Jen… but he knows everything and he doesn’t hate you”

“He will, once he sees…. He will” his body stiffened again and I heard him scowl through his teeth “Why are you so angry at me?” I questioned

“I’m not angry” he bluntly said

“Don’t lie to me… your cold towards me… ice cold even” I bit my lip, mentally scowling at myself for not shutting up

“Well… you’ve been gone for weeks. I have done nothing but search for you… I think I have a right to be” my heart dropped and my eyes began to water, I didn’t look up at him but buried my head in his chest. I still didn’t understand how I could possibly have been gone for weeks, there had to be some sort of a mistake… there had to be

“Leo…” I croaked

“What?”

“Have could I have been gone weeks? It doesn’t make any sense” he just sighed

“We’re nearly there now… let me land and then I’ll explain what I know” I said nothing but waited as I felt the icey wind hit my face at a low angle, that was how I knew we were really descending. It wasn’t long before I felt earth beneath my feet again, relief washed over me… I was close to home… yet so far, I even saw Leo’s wings evaporate… he had been practising. We walked over to a nearby bench and plonked our bums down, the cool touch of the metal was not well welcomed as it sent a rush of Goosebumps all over my body, Leo reached over and grabbed my hand.

“Now, it is true that you have been gone for weeks, three to be precise… but as soon as you disappeared I panicked, didn’t know what to do, what to think, what to say. I ran around outside to look for you, jumped in my car and even DROVE around looking for you… when you didn’t come back that night I waited outside for your father to come home, played the dumb card and asked if he had seen you… of course he hadn’t, which evidently made him panic… he began calling everyone Jen, he even began searching for you… I couldn’t hold it back anymore… I sat him down and told him what I was and what you were…. He laughed at me, asking if it was some kind of sick joke… I assured him it wasn’t, which made him stand up… yell a few years and told me to get out… that’s when I proved it, I made the taps in the kitchen burst from water pressure… froze the spurting water in mid-air and even MADE wings in front of him…” He began to chuckle to himself “He thought HE was crazy then Jen”

“What did he think about me?” I asked him sheepishly

“Well… he thought it was a gift, but wanted to know how… and was he really your father”

“He thought it was a gift” I rolled my eyes, that was certainly not what I would call it “And he doubted he was my father… well that’s lovely” I said cynically

“Well he was going to at the mention of hybrid isn’t he?” he raised a brow

“So he doesn’t hate me?”

“No..” he laughed “I don’t think that man has it in him to hate anyone” he ended, smiling at me.

“I’m sorry that this has happened…” I bowed my head “but I don’t understand how”

“Pen contacted me… she told me where you were… but…she also told me she thinks that it may be her fault… when she was bestowing the gift on you… “ my head shot up and I looked at him in the eyes, why didn’t she just tell me all this? “Jen, what happened back there?”  I tried to think about the test… but all I could think of was the pot, Aphrodite merging with Pen in one body… holding her hands over the pot and wanting to let go… surely there was nothing missing? Was there?

“I’m… I’m not quite so sure anymore” I chuckled

“Jen I…”

“Take me home Leo” I cut in, turning to smile at him. We didn’t fly anymore after that, instead we walked arm in arm and in silence, and for once there was no need for conversation… I was just glad to be near him, it was too long  of a time to be away from him… and learning that I had been gone weeks made me want to cling onto him even more. He was a little different but like he had, he had done nothing but search… for me… never once giving up, knowing he loved me that much… well it tugged on my heart strings. Eventually we approached my street… that’s when the nerves began to sink in… that’s when my knees wanted to crumble beneath me… I was afraid to see my own father again…