You All Along

Chapter 33

SONGS FOR THIS CHAPTER

Where do broken hearts go (One Direction)

Girl Almighty (One Direction)

Heart Attack (Demi Lovato)

Steal My Girl (One Direction)

Illusion (One Direction)

Change Your Ticket (One Direction)

Layla’s P.O.V

Today was the day. The day I was going to see my father who left me even before I was born. I had told my mother everything that happened. She let a few tears escape her eyes, and she told me to be strong and that was it. I slipped on a pair or plain jeans and a fitted white tank top with a red plain button down shirt. I tied my hair into a ponytail and slipped on a pair of black converse. I quickly prepared three sandwiches for my mom, Jeff and me. We ate our breakfast in silence before I kissed my mom goodbye and left the house with Jeff.

“You don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to, you know?” he told me for the fifth time. I held his right hand with both my hands and played with his fingers until I finally told him, “No, I have to. I want to know what he was so afraid of that he left us. I grew up without a dad, and why did he have to fake his own death,” and Jeff nodded. He kissed my knuckles and dropped my hand. And with that we were on our 1 hour drive to see my dying dad. Father. Not Dad, my subconscious self reminded me again. I let myself doze off because I’d like to give my mind a break from all the thinking.

Jeff’s P.O.V

When Charles told us to meet him at the hospital I froze. Why you may ask? That’s the day I planned to take Layla on her first date. I had to rearrange everything quickly and adjust the time to fit in with her meeting with her dad. I had texted Akshay and Adam, to help me set up everything for the date, and they agreed to do so with the help of Irene and Elsa. Layla, was asleep now, her head against the window but her hands still holding on to mine.  I shifted slightly in my seat to change gears without waking her up. This is going to be a long day.

We pulled into the parking lot of the hospital 10 minutes after Layla stirred in her sleep and finally woke up. She adjusted her ponytail before getting out of the car. We took our time to walk inside. Charles was seated at the couch beside the reception. He was wearing a white button down shirt and gray dress pants. His hair was messier this time. He smiled and stood up to greet us and led us to the elevator. “Good morning. Hope you had a good drive down here. Layla, your father is awake and I’ve arranged for you to meet..” he paused before clearing his throat and continued. “To meet his family later,” he said, looking down. “HIS WHAT?” Layla practically shouted. I stiffened and put my hands on her arms and rubbed her back. “Erm, yes. Your dad…he remarried a year after he left you,” Charles said, beginning to feel uncomfortable. “What he wasn’t scared anymore after a year? He could have came back,” Layla said and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “I’ll leave that to you to discuss with your dad,” Charles said and pressed the ‘UP’ button on the elevator. “My father. Not dad,” she retorted and Charles nodded. We rode the elevator in silence. I heard a tiny beep and looked up to see that we reached our floor. We followed Charles down the long hallways that had charts and graphs of medical stuff. I held Layla’s hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Charles came to stop in front of a heavy wooden door, and nodded towards us before pushing it open. Layla took a few steps back and pulling me with her. “I don’t want to go in there,” she said, her voice cracking. “What? Why not? Don’t worry,” I said, holding her shoulders and looking at her straight in the eye. “What is doesn’t know me, I know nothing about him. What if I say something I shouldn’t?” she spoke, relatively fast. “Lay, don’t worry. I’m going to be with you. Just breathe. We can leave when you want to,” and she nodded. I pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the forehead, and stayed there for a few moments, before pulling away and walking inside.