Every New Beginning... (Chris Evans AU)

.139.

Chris POV

Abandonment: 'The act or fact of abandoning or being abandoned.'

Abandoned: 'Having been deserted or cast off.'

Abandon: 'Cease to support or look after; desert.' 'Give up completely.'

  Each and every form of the word was represented by the man in front of me. And by the look on his face, he doesn't seem to regret it, but yet shocked that I know who he is and what he's done.

  I stare at the man, waiting for him to speak, my jaw tight as well as my fists that clench behind my crossed arms. I watch as he swallows, his mouth opens and closes repeatedly, as if he's trying to decide what to say. 

  "Speechless?" I ask him. 

  He opens his mouth again, "I, I uh-"

  I hold one hand up to him. "You have no words, because there are no words to excuse or give reason as to why you'd walk out on your four year old daughter." 

  Phillip backs up further from the desk and away from me. I counter and step towards him. "Chris," I hear my mother's voice behind me.

  "You walked away from Opal after she'd already lost her brother, then her mother. What kind of diluted individual puts themselves above their own toddler?" I question him, ignoring my mother's voice. 

  The man stares me down, ready to make a come back. "I was broken, it wasn't fair to her."

  He thinks his comment excuses his behavior. He's got another thing coming. 

  "You were broken? You were broken?" My voice raises slightly as I repeat the words. "You were a grown man." He opens his mouth to interrupt me. "A grown man who lost his wife and unborn child, but you still had flesh and blood to take care of!" I take another step forward, now realizing I'm a foot taller than the sad excuse of a human being. "You never deserved her."

  "Christopher!" Ma scolds me. I hear Scott whispering to her as he stands next to her. 

  "And what was it you told Laura when she found you online?" I challenge him to answer the question that will support the scum that he is.

  He gives a small chuckle, and a smile. "My daughter was getting married and I couldn't risk not being there for it." He reaches for his phone in his pocket. "She was a beautiful bride, I have photos if you'd like to see?"

  I'm completely taken aback by his actions. "You really did walk away without another thought, didn't you? You disowned her, a four year old who worshipped the ground you walked on!" My chest rises and falls, my breathing becoming difficult. "Your first born was battling for her life and you didn't care! Did you even bat an eye when you were told she needed a transplant?"

   He's flipping through photos on his phone as I speak to him, completely oblivious and unaware of the severity his actions created so long ago.  

  My head shakes as my hand involuntarily snatches his phone from his hand, tossing it onto the couch that sits in the foyer area. "What are you-"

  "You are going to listen to me. You are going to give me the respect you haven't given Opal her entire life," I huff with anger. "Do you understand?"

  "No, I'm not.," he says, smirking at me. "I don't have to listen to anything you have to say. You are no one to me."

  "How in the hell did you turn out this way? I met your father. I loved the man your father was and I have no idea how you turned out the way you did. It's almost making me thankful you left her all those years ago."