Uncharted: The Girl Who Changed Me (High School AU)

Knowing the Truth Part 2

Whether you believe me or not, I'm not one for missing school. Even back when I didn't care much about work, I still wouldn't mind coming to school. So yeah, it sucks that I had to miss at least five days of school. But I had no choice. 

I rather stay home than go to school with you know who's face still stuck in my head (my dad if you didn't get it). All this time and he decided to show up now. I don't know what him and Sully was mainly arguing about, but I bet it was something to do with him being short of money. You won't believe how many times he comes to our house and ask for money. It's never "I came to see my sons." Never! 

I don't know why, but I always seem to be shaken after he visits. It's like he triggers some sort of PTSD in me, but it was that triggering that prevented me from going to school. Sully had to tell the school that I was sick because saying "his dad came to visit" isn't the reason the school would want to hear. Sam wasn't as shaken as me since he was more used to it than I am, so he was able to go school himself. 

Honestly, I felt bad having to tell Elena to go home without an explanation, but there was no way I could tell her what was going on in the state that I was that day. Of course, she was worried about me since she kept on sending me messages, asking if I was OK. One of the texts she sent, I told her to come over during the weekend. I didn't tell her why, but I was ready to tell her what happened when my dad came over. 

She needed to know. She had the right to know. 

So it was another Saturday afternoon. Sully was in the house, watching whatever he would watch on a Saturday and Sam was hanging out with his friends so he wasn't in the house. My mind was all over the place, thinking about what to say to her. 

"Should I tell her everything? Should I still keep some secrets secret?" I thought. But those thoughts stopped when I heard the knock on the main door. I didn't get up straight away, as I was expecting Sully to open the door. I heard the door opening and I heard Elena. They had a quick chat before I heard someone going up the stairs. Then a knock on my door. 

I took a deep breath. "Yeah?"

"Nate, It's me." Elena answered. I took another deep breath before allowing her to come in. I was lying on my bed, so I got up and sat on the edge of it. Elena did the same. 

"So, is everything OK?" she asked firstly, in a way like she wasn't sure if she should ask it or not.

I sighed and then smiled at her. "Yeah. It's just.." I took one more deep breath before continuing. "I guess you're curious about what happened that day."

She made a confusing face before realising what I meant. "I guess so. I mean, I never heard Sully shout like that before. And I never... never seen you so upset like that before either." I never like seeing Elena so worried like this. It's not something I like to see in her since she's normally so happy.

Anyway, I concentrated back to the reason why she's here. "Yeah, I thought so. Well, I feel like you should know what's going on."

"Are you sure?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah." I said with surprised confidence. Not only would it be best for her, it would be best for me. To get these secrets off of my chest. They always say if you talk about your problems, your problems would get better. Let's hope they're right.

"OK, where to start?" I thought before I directly started talking to Elena. "Where do you want me to start?" I asked her.

She made a thinking face before answering. "Maybe you could start by telling me who was that man Sully was shouting at?"

I sighed. "That man.... was my dad." Elena was about to say something, but I had to stop her before she did.

"I don't want to seem mean, but I want to say everything first before you could say anything. OK?"

Elena nodded. "OK. I understand."

"OK. So, yeah. My dad came over to ask for some money from Sully. He normally does this, so I wasn't that surprised. But still, I just wish he would, for once, come over just to see us. I don't know, it's just.... " I stopped suddenly since I didn't know what to say next.

"Is it OK if I can ask a question now?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. It help me know what to say next."

"How come your dad doesn't take care of you?"

"Because... well..., my dad doesn't have custody of Sam and I." Elena made a confused face before I continued. "Sully brought my dad to court so that he can get custody over us since my dad didn't really, you know, took care of us probably. As you can see, Sully won."

"But that doesn't mean your dad is banned from seeing you, right?"

"Right. But he never comes over to see us. It's always 'I need money from you, Sully. I'll pay you back, I promise.' It's never for Sam and I!" I felt my anger returning again, so I stopped talking before I lost control.

"I hate to ask this, but what happened to your mum?" I knew she was going to ask that.

"She's...not here anymore. She died when I was 5. I don't want to go into details."

"No, no. It's OK. It's just... I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything that happened." Elena said sincerely.

"It's OK. I'm just glad I could tell you." I smiled.

"I'm glad too." I felt a sight warm feeling when she smiled back. I realised I've been feeling this way for a while. It's like.. I have feeling for her.

My train of thought was interrupted by the knock on the door. "Yeah, come in."

The door opened and Sully came through. "Hey, Nate. Elena."

Elena smiled. "Hey, Sully."

"I made pasta, so if you kids are hungry..."

"Sure." We both said. I couldn't help but laugh at what happened. Elena did the same before we both headed downstairs to eat.

I guess the saying 'if you talk about your problems, your problems would get better' was right after all. I realised even though I experienced bad things, I still have family and friends and honestly, that's all I can ask for.