Disharmony

Jar of Hearts

He wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

Of course Xavier had heard of Rocky Stevens. There wasn't a single person who was remotely a part of the music industry who hadn't seen the video of the lead singer of Flux, what was supposed to be the next greatest rock band, stand up on a table during their album release party and list off everything he hated about his label president. Apparently that had been the last straw for his bandmates, who later that evening decided that replacing the lead singer was in their best interest as a group. And that was the last the world had really seen of Rocky Stevens.

Xavier had heard all of the stories, but that didn't mean that he'd formed any sort of prior opinion of Kasia's father. Despite still being fairly new to the business, Xavier had learned quickly that people's reputations weren't often accurate, so he avoided making judgments until he'd met someone in person. That's what he'd done with Kasia and he was pretty pleased with how things there had turned out. At least, he had been up until he'd screwed up what they had by bringing her father back into her life.

Thus far, Kasia seemed to be handling her father's reappearance pretty well. The pacing had stopped, most likely because she'd run out of Peanut M&Ms, and she was now sitting cross legged on the couch, inspecting her recently curled hair for split ends.

"How are you feeling?" Xavier asked cautiously, not entirely sure how she felt about him at this particular moment in time. On one hand, she had asked him to stay, but on the other, this entire situation was his fault in the first place and it was possible she would hold that against him later.

"I don't know," she shrugged, allowing her hair to fall from between her fingers. "Weird? I don't really know what to say to him."

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "You've never thought about it? For closure?"

"Nope," she shook her head, popping the 'p'. "I guess I didn't think I'd ever get closure. I figured that if he wanted to be in my life he would have stayed and it's as simple as that."

That was fair enough. More than anything, Xavier wanted to tell her that he would never leave, but he knew now wasn't the right time. And he also didn't want to make promises he couldn't keep because the truth was that he had no idea what the future held and how things would pan out once the tour was over. Besides, she hadn't told him she loved him yet, which meant that just because their relationship was deep and emotional to him didn't mean that she would want it to continue once they no longer saw each other every day.

"Do you want him stick around this time?" Xavier asked, genuinely curious.

She tilted her head to the side as she mulled over this question, eventually settling for lifting one shoulder in a half shrug. "I have no idea. I mean, I've learned to live without him – without either of my parents – and I like where I am right now and I'm so afraid that letting him back into my life is just going to screw that up."

"Maybe he's changed?" he offered, hoping that something good might come out of the mess he'd made.

Kasia let out a bitter laugh and rolled her eyes. "I doubt that. But even if he has, I'm not sure it'll be enough."

He was surprised she wasn't huge on second chances, given her own career trajectory, but he decided not to comment. He was kept from saying anything at all when there was a knock on the dressing room door and Henry poked his head in, his eyes conveying a mixture of confusion and uncertainty. "Hey, Kas, you have a visitor."

"It's alright, Henry," she nodded in assurance, inhaling deeply as she uncrossed her legs and swung them to the floor, shaking out her arms once she was standing up straight. "You can let him in."