Every Little Thing

Chapter 13

My thoughts kept haunting me in the night. Another fight with my mom wasn't going to end her relationship with Frank, and it wasn't going to leave me with permission for tomorrow. I just didn't understand how she could get back in the ring after what happened last time...

*eight years*

"Jack please...you can't just leave us." Her eyes were red and glistening with tears. Her throat hitched every time she spoke. The world was falling right in front of her and she couldn't stop it. Cassie couldn't begin to understand how things went down hill in the first place. He seemed happy with everything his job, his two kids...and with her, or had he been faking it all along? Had he even loved her from the start, before having his kids, before moving across half the country for him, before he had to go away to Ireland? The more she thought about it the more she felt herself slowly break.

"I've never really been happy here, with you. I stayed this long for the kids, but I can't take it anymore. I want to go find what actually makes me happy. Don't blame yourself Cassandra, nothing you did or said led to this, it was all caused by how I fe-"

"What am I supposed to tell our kids! They look up to you, to them you couldn't be a more perfect dad, how could you lie to us. " Her emotions kept changing back and forth from fear to anger. How was she going to support both her kids with her current salary? What would they say once she told them? They would grow up fatherless, always asking what could have been.

A soft sneeze interrupts their conversation. Both their eyes spot a little girl of seven years, she shines a sleepy smile on them. She runs over to her dad and hug him tight. The innocent look on her face breaks me all over again.

"Daddy why does mama look so mad? Did chase do something wrong?" 

He coldly pries her little arms off his hips, he kneels down with a placid look on his face. A frustrated sigh escapes his mouth, let's see how he explains to his fist baby that he's abandoning her. "Carter you're a big girl. Darling you and chase have done nothing wrong, it's daddy that's done something wrong." 

"What did you do?" 

"Sweetie I hid my feelings for a very long time, I let people get attached to me. Now that I'm choosing to leave I'm hurting them. What I'm trying to say is I'm leaving you guys and I'll be moving far away." She couldn't stand to see her baby being hurt. Seeing him bluntly explain he didn't want them anymore was shocking. How was a seven year old going to underst-

"Daddy did you ever love us?" Both their eyes wet wide. He stood up and grabbed his suit case. He gave his daughter a broad smile. He opened the door and clutched the door knob. His eyes grew red and he blink rapidly. "My dear, I didn't even what your existence." With those last words roaming the air he left.  

*morning*

An unfamiliar heavy metal song began playing, looking around I saw my phone's screen light up. I grabbed my phone and turned off the load music, the time was five thirty in the morning. After a hazy minute I remembered about today. My mind still went back and forth, deciding whether to go or not. The memory of my mom yesterday crept in to my mind. The decision was made: I was going.

Slipping on gray sweats and a maroon shirt, I grabbed a pair of sport shorts along with a bikini. Checking the time I had about ten minutes until Dylan came to get me. I snatched my sunglasses, some spare clothes, money, sunscreen and stuffed them in a small duffel bag. Making my way downstairs I quickly wrote a note to my mom and subtly made my way out the door. 

"Sneaking out of the house? Tsk, tsk." Stunned, I turned around and saw Josh. 

"Are you stalking me?" He laughed and leaned against our mailbox. If I expected anyone to be outside of my house it would be Dylan. What Josh was doing here was beyond me. Glancing at his clothes I'd have to guess he went for a jog, he could't have been back from a trip to the gym since I didn't live close to one. "Like what you see Cart?" 

I raised my eyebrow at him? "Bringing back the nickname I see? What are you doing here Josh." He took a step closer to me and smirked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see my favorite nerd. What's with the get up anyways? I don't take you as the type of person to work out." Looking down I realized I was dressed as a morning jogger. It must be the sweats. You wear a pair of name brand sweats and suddenly you're confused with an athletic person. 

"Not that I don't love you visiting me, I have somewhere to go. My boyfriend is picking me up."

He laughed and raised both his eyebrows. Rolling my eyes I walked past him and began my walk to starbucks where I was supposed to meet Dylan and the others. 

"Cart you don't expect me to believe you're actually dating that guy. Hey Cart slow down. Cart!" I was so busy ignoring him I didn't realize a cyclist was coming my way from another direction. Before I knew about it I was on the ground and Josh was on top of me. He looked at me with worried eyes, I felt a light rain drop on my head. Looking up I saw Josh bleeding from his forehead he was talking but I couldn't hear the words coming out of his mouth. He was shaking me and suddenly the world was off muted all at once.

"Are you okay? Carter say something! Carter...Carter."