Wrong Quarterback | ✓

31 | family reunion

          The doorbell goes off a third time just as Avery reaches the door, the wooden floor cold beneath the bare soles of her feet as she peers through the peephole. One look has her stumbling back with a breath of surprise. Brows etching together, she wonders if maybe she's still asleep. Wonders if her mind is playing tricks on her. Her mind must be playing tricks on her because there is no reality where her father is stood on their front step this Wednesday morning. But as she pulls a hand through her bedhead hair and unlocks the door, letting it open with a familiar click to the handle, there he is.

Robert Waters looks the same yet different. The few years it's been since she last saw him in person have left their traces. There's a grayish tone to the edges of his dark blond hair. A new set of wrinkles decorate his skin, giving a more hollow look to his cheeks and dimples. But his everlasting tall, proud stance is the same, never flailing.

"Dad," She manages, clumsily wrapping her arms around him as he greets her with a hug before taking a hurried step back into the front hall. "Hi."

The morning chill travels inside the house – leaving a trail of goosebumps up her bare legs to the hem of her pajama shorts and though she doesn't want to rush him, she wishes she could yank the door close to keep the warmth in.

"Hi sweetheart," He greets her, stepping inside and – finally – letting the door fall close behind him. Pulling at the dark scarf he's got wrapped around his neck as to loosen it, there's a flicker of amusement crossing his features as he gives her a look-over. "Did your mother finally come to her senses?"

Momentarily confused, Avery's brows knit together further as she glances down at her attire only to be reminded her shorts are paired with Ethan's East Ace sweater. Holding back the urge to squeeze her eyes shut, she manages to let her lips slip into a strained smile while mentally reprimanding herself for letting her boyfriend talk her into wearing it – not that it had taken much convincing. She pulls at its sleeves, letting them cover her palms.

"No, it's a friend's."

Robert raises his brows but doesn't offer up anything more, simply striding past her into the house as if it's his own. Rather dumbfounded – still confused as to how and why he's here, Avery twists her hands together and trails behind him on soft footsteps.

"Where's your mother?"

"On a morning hike with Tammy."

"Some things never change."

Reaching the kitchen, she watches her father shrug out of his coat. He hangs it on the back of one of the kitchen stools as his eyes gaze over the room, taking in every change – from the yellow wallpaper on one of the walls to the wooden shelves lining the ceiling with books and bowls – made to it in the past decade.

           Avery lingers right inside the doorway, too busy making sense of the conflicting feelings battling to take up space inside her mind to hear the light sound of feet running down the stairs until it's too late. Frozen, she watches as her father's attention is instantly drawn away from the photographs decorating the fridge as Ethan's voice travels through the house.

"You have to see what Jake just sent me," He calls, amusement lingered in his words. A louder thud echoes through the house, signaling he took the last three steps of the stairs in a jump and as he speaks again there's a note of confusion to his tone. "Hey, where did you go?"

Her mouth falls open only to close it again and she doesn't have time to respond before Ethan shows up in the doorway, brows etching together as he notices the man now stood leant against the kitchen counter. He tenses ever so slightly as his eyes flicker to Avery, slipping his phone into his back pocket.