Under The Spotlight || UNEDITED

2 0

|William|

When I finally woke up, it was just me and the cat. Cress stared up at me, almost as if she was about to scratch, when I moved. She meowed before laying her head back down, shutting her eyes.

I carefully removed myself from the comforts and warmness of the bed and looked around the room since I really didn't get a chance last night due to the jet lag.

There wasn't a lot of things in here. Her bed was pressed up against the wall. The once cleaned and neatly placed yellow covers were all over the place and a fuzzy gray pattern blanket laid on the floor. Next to her bed was a white wooden end table holding a futuristic looking lamp that spiraled upwards. Her black dresser matched the black book case, standing high on the other side of the room. I scanned in the books, touching the ones I couldn't resits gently. Fairy light hung around the entire ceiling edges of her room, connected​ to an outlet she his with a fake plant. I didn't realize it was fake until I got close to it, not I kind of feel like an idiot. There was a small scratching post in the corner of her room, next to a white cat stand fir Cress to jump onto once she gets bigger.

When I walked out into the hallway, I could smell the sweetness of probably my favorite breakfast food.

Chocolate chip pancakes.

"Well then." I said with a chuckle , taking a seat at the barstool as I watch Cassie dash around the kitchen cleaning up the messes.. "You should of woke me up earlier. I'm a pro at making chocolate chips pancakes." I grabbed one off the plate and took a bite. There were just enough chocolate chips and pancake combined. Absolutely perfection.

"You needed your sleep, besides I wasn't even planning on make anything besides cereal but Clarke explained to me your so called obsession," she mimicked quotation marks with her fingers, "with chocolate chip pancakes."

"I feel flattered and kind of creeped out." I joke.

"Same for both ways." She grins, grabbing herself a pancake and taking a giant bite.

"How's your dad?" I ask.

She lowered her pancake and looked down at the counter. Which was not a good sign according to everything I've seen.

"I've never seen him so broken before." Softly she said. "It's like his life was shattered into a million pieces eight in front of him."

Just by the way Cassie described it, I knew her father adored her mother. Probably would do anything to make her happy. I can't imagine what he mist be feeling right now, seeing the person he loved (and probably still loves) doing all these awful things with their life. It must be a toll on them and their heart. Doing everything they can to hold onto that tint piece of happiness left inside them.

"How are you about this entire situation?" I then ask. Keeping a steady eye on her.

She looked up just for a second before looking back down. "I don't know. To be honest I just feel numb. I know I should be heartbroken that that's what my biological mother is doing with her life, but I'm not. There's just a bottle of hate inside and I just want to scream at her. Make her feel the way I've felt for the last two years of my life when she decided she didn't want us anymore."

"If you don't mind me asking," I gulped, regretting everything instantly. "What happened two years ago exactly?"

"You might wanna go sit down on the couch for this one." She explains.

She followed me to the couch and sat down next to me. I rested my hand on hers and she smiled slightly at my touch. I could already since that this isn't gonna be a happy story, and I know for a fact that Cassie gonna need someone to comfort her during this time.

"When I was ten, that's when my parents officially split. I didn't really understand it at the time, no matter how many times they tried to explain it. Telling me things like it's gonna make us all happier and all that crap." She gulped. "My dad wasn't given full custody so Clarke and I would always have to spend our time in Europe. That's where she lives with her parents before they died. Already we knew she had an alcohol and drug problems, but it wasn't that bad. She restricted herself to only one cup of wine or a can of beer when we were there. Well one night, she took us along with her to one of those adult parties and bad way too much to drink. Clarke and I didn't exactly know how much she drank cause she acted fine the rest of that night." She bit her lip hard. "Uh, she past out at the wheel and hit a car head on. The windshield shattered and a large glass shard barley missed my eye." I always assumed that scar was from a dog bite. "I dislocated my shoulder damaging all the nerves and muscles inside and I slammed my head against the side window. Cutting up my head and giving me a massive concussion that almost killed me. I remember waking up in the hospital and seeing my dad hovering over me. Eyes puffy. That's when he explained to me that I'll never have to see my mother again and I was extremely glad. I guess that's what a near death experience does to you." She jokes and I chuckled slightly. "After the accident my mom swore she'll never touch alcohol again. It worked for a year before she relapsed and her addiction gotten worse than the last time I've heard from her."

She let out a deep breath before looking up at my eyes. My mind was processing all the information I was just given. I had to say something but my mind came up blank.

"I always knew Dad wasn't over my mom. He loved her so much even after everything." She then says. I focus all my attention back onto her as she continues. "But he loved Clarke and I more and despite how he felt. he put us first. He never let us see him cry and have a break down. He chose to be strong for us and right now I feel like it's my turn to return the favor."

"He's seriously lucky to have you in his life." I say, placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." She whispered with a smile.

Just like that, the world has stopped moving on it's axis. As I stared at the girl before me I started to see her in a brand new light. My heart quickened when she smiled and I was completely lost for words. My mind wanted to say a million things, but I just choked on everything.

Then it hit me. I no longer feel like this is a fake relationship from a signed contract. Yet because of that contract and Cassie gonna break my heart and I won't even have to fake it because I'm gonna physically feel each piece break off in my chest to the point where there's no more.