Hidden Away

Twenty-Three: Dad

A/N: Hi! I applied some changes to my writing because I wasn't really happy with how I would always use past tense and present tense at the same time so I'm gonna work to try and only write in present tense!! Enjoy! <3

I wake up again, but my eyes are having a hard time opening. They feel so heavy that I'm unable to open them for minutes on end. I rub my eyes with my fists and it relieves some of the heaviness. My eyes finally open and I am relieved when I see that I'm back in my room, except I realize that it's now dark. How long was I asleep? I ask myself.

I stand up from the floor against the door and open the door to go downstairs to get a glass of water. Anything to avoid having to lay in my bed and think about everything. When I leave the room and close the door, I'm half expecting Evan to be sitting, laying against the other side of the door as if it's some cheesy romance movie. It sounds like something he would do. My expectations are cut short when I realize he isn't there like how I had expected—or more like hoped.

I let out an amused breath when I realize that I'm hoping for too much. I'm hoping that my life will just go back to normal and be perfect. I'm hoping that my relationship with Evan will fix itself and I'll go back to the life I had before all while living here with my real family. I'm hoping for all of that, yet I don't do anything to make it better. My stubbornness isn't going to let me just give in and forgive him. I shake my head in amusement and go down the stairs. From about the middle of the stair, I can see some light coming from the direction of the kitchen. My heart drops at the thought that it could be Evan, but I go down anyway. I'm not going to spend my life hiding from him.

As I enter the kitchen I feel relieved to see that it's Rowan instead of Evan. He was leaning on the island with a mug in front of him. Steam was coming off of it so I assumed it was a hot drink of some sort. "What are you doing up so late?" I ask as I go over to the cupboards and open them one by one until I find a glass.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he says. I shrug and take my glass over to the fridge to fill it with ice and water.

"Can't sleep."

"That makes two of us," he says, taking a sip of his hot drink. After getting my water, I go over to the island and lean against it on the opposite side that he's on so we're across from each other. "Did you and Evan..." he makes a hand motion, allowing me to fill the blank with the words I think he was going to say.

I shake my head and let out a small breath. "No, we didn't make up," I start, picking up my glass from where I had set it down and taking another sip of my water. I set the glass back down and sigh, not sure how to explain our overly-complicated situation. "I'm honestly not sure how I can recover from everything that he hid from me. The fact that I now know that I could've been with you guys sooner if he had just told me is unsettling." Rowan nods after taking a moment to think about it. He takes another sip of his drink and places the mug back down.

"I understand," He finally says. "But have you taken his side of the story into consideration?"

I already know what my answer is. No. He's explained himself and why he had to do what he did so many times and I haven't thought about it at all. "No."

"I suggest you take time to take his feelings and his side of the story into consideration first. Then, think about how you feel after you've done that." I don't think he understands how big the situation Evan and I are involved in is.

"This isn't just something I can forgive and forget—"

"Mom did," he interrupts me. "Even after everything Dad did to her, she still found a way to forgive him. And in my opinion —not that it matters to you right now— forgiving someone for doing the things that Dad did to Mom is much worse than keeping life changing information from you for two years." There's a moment of silence that consists of me staring at Rowan and him staring back at me, trying to drill his words into my head. "All I'm saying is that if Mom can forgive and forget, so can you."