I sighed. "Harry's right, babe. It isn't up to me. It's his decision." I commented, knowing that I couldn't just skip out on the first five years, and jump back into her life whenever it was most convenient for me.. That would make me the shittiest type of person, and I wouldn't be that type of person in her life.
"Can't I live with you?" She asked, and I motioned for her to stand up.. I crouched down, meeting her gaze. "Your father and I's relationship is very complicated. One day, maybe he'll tell you why that is. But, I can't be involved in your everyday life unless he says it's ok. And, don't be angry at him for not wanting that, ok? It was something both him and I agreed on before you were born." I explained, and she slowly nodded. She leaned against my legs, placing her elbows on them..
A few minutes passed, and Harry still hadn't come back downstairs, which led to me assuming him and Jackie had gotten back into it. No surprise there..
"Alright. How would you like to spend the night at my house?" I asked, and Grace's eyes lit up. "Really?!" She exclaimed, and I nodded.. I stood up, going into the kitchen and quickly writing a note saying that I'd taken Grace, and would drop her off at school in the morning. After that, I walked back out. "Alright, you ready?" I asked, and she nodded.
"Wait. I need clothes for school." She said. I mentally cursed. "Is your bedroom close to your dad's?" I asked, and she nodded. "Then, no. We can go shopping." I commented, and she smiled, running over and grabbing my hand. She pulled me out of the house, and I made sure both of the gated doors latched and locked...
***
The next day, I dropped Grace off at school and made sure they knew not to let her leave with Ryan. I also showed her a picture of him, and told her not to go anywhere with him.. I briefly considered parking across the street and making sure he didn't show up. But figured that was over-protective parenting, and that she would be fine...
I was working from my place, when my phone started ringing. I grabbed it, hitting answer and putting it on speaker. I immediately went back to what I was doing. "Brynn?"
I hesitated, looking over at the phone. Jeff must've given him my number, which I certainly didn't appreciate.
"What do you need, Harry? I'm a little busy right now." I commented. "Of course you are.. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for last night." He said. I laughed. "Right.. Ok. Is that all you wanted?" I asked.
"What, no snarky remark?" He questioned. "As I said, I'm busy, and you simply aren't worth my time." I stated. He scoffed. "Alright. Well you had no right to take Grace again last night." He said. "Sure." I replied, knowing it'd be a waste of my energy to explain my logic to him.. Besides, he should already understand why I did it..
"Ok, so clearly you went from being extremely difficult, to absolutely impossible.. I mean honestly, Brynn. Why can't you just be like the rest of them?" He questioned. "Don't know, don't care. Gotta go." I said, hitting the red button and ending the call...
***
I remained extremely busy with work stuff. Jackson kept sending me jobs one after another, and I did them. I spent the next 12 hours working. I even forgot to eat..
Before I could go into the kitchen to grab something, the doorbell rang. I sighed, annoyed, but walked over, opening the door. My heart dropped in my chest as I met Ryan's gaze. He was holding Grace's wrist, and she looked like she'd been crying.
"Oh my god. Ryan, what the hell?" I asked, immediately regretting cursing in front of her..
He laughed, shoving her into the house. I moved fast enough and caught her when she tripped over her own feet. He came in, shutting the door behind him.. I helped Grace to her feet, and she grabbed onto my leg, hiding behind me. By doing so, she unknowingly was making it impossible to get away from him if he tried to hit me.
"You know, it was really quite rude of you to tell the entire school that I was a threat. But, just because I couldn't get to her there, and I couldn't get to her at their house.. Doesn't mean that the father of the year is always watching her. You know, he seems a little distracted recently." He commented, changing his tone to the more aggressive side of his sociopathic personality..
"But now I have both of you. And we can all just live here and play happy family. Doesn't that sound fun?" He asked, crouching down to Grace's height. She whimpered, tightening her hold on my leg and moving so she was completely behind me..
"You need to leave." I stated, looking at him when he stood back up. "Oh really? Because I think you need to show Grace to her room." He said. "She needs to go back to her house, with Harry. He doesn't want me to have her." I commented. He rolled his eyes. "Do you want to know how easy it was to get to her? He wasn't even watching her when they were in the store. He was too distracted by that super hot girl he's been fucking." He stated.
I glared at him. "Don't use that language around her." I said, and he smirked. "She'll learn it eventually. Might as well be now." He commented. I scoffed. "You know what, fine. If you're going to force her to stay here, and you insist on staying here as well, then I'm laying down some ground rules." I said, knowing there was no way I could make him leave. Especially with Grace holding onto me.
He shrugged. "Ok. I have a few of my own too. Should we write them down or are you going to make me memorize them?" He questioned. I glared at him. "What are your rules?" I asked. "Well, I don't think they're appropriate for her to hear." He said, glancing down at Grace. I rolled my eyes. "Ok. Um.. Grace, I'm going to let you stay in a spare bedroom I have. Ok?" I said, turning around.
"I don't want to sleep alone, mum." She replied, looking up at me. I sighed. "He won't hurt you, hon." I commented, grabbing her hand and walking down the hallway. I pushed open the door, and she let go of my hand, walking over and managing to climb onto the bed.. "This bed is hugeee." She commented, standing up and then falling onto her back. "I'm glad you like it." I said, jumping when Ryan appeared behind me..
He placed a hand on my lower back, and then walked past me, setting down two duffle bags on the floor. "These are for you, Grace. Clothes, art supplies.. Anything you could need. Now, Brynn. Let's go talk." He said, turning and walking out of the room. Grace sat up, meeting my gaze. It was like looking at a younger version of myself in the mirror..
"Let me know if you need anything, ok?" I asked, and she nodded. "You have your own bathroom, it's right here." I said, going further into the room and opening the door to the bathroom..
Ryan walked back into the room, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the room. He shut the door, and then turned to face me.
Before I could react, I felt his hand make hard contact with the side of my face. I brought my hand up, holding it. "Seriously?" I asked, glaring at him. "Why do you think you can do whatever you want, Brynn? Like breaking up with me? Again? That isn't your choice to make." He stated, stepping towards me and tightly gripping my throat with one of his hands. He shoved my head against the wall, and I reached up, trying to get him to let go. But it would definitely bruise..
An idea suddenly popped into my head, and I let my arms fall back to my sides and kneed him as hard as I could in-between his legs...
