Start All Over (On Hold)

26. Betrayal

"Elliot, you shouldn't be here," my mom finally broke the silence, and I could tell that she was fighting to keep her voice even. 

It'd been eight years since she last saw him. Eight long and hard years of her learning to stand on her own two feet while raising a ten year old, a teen, and trying to put her oldest daughter through college. It was eight years ago that she kicked him out and never looked back.

She was right, he shouldn't have been there.

This was our new house after the divorce, Mom's version of starting all over to get rid of anything negative lingering over us in our old home. She didn't want any remnants of my father or his betrayal, she wanted a clean slate.

Now here he was, tainting the pureness of this house. Allowing the darkness of his secrets to seep into the white walls and stain them. This was our escape, our fortress of solitude, our solace, and the enemy was attacking it.

There wold be no getting past this; Paige thought I was disloyal? She needed a reality check.

The older man cleared his throat and turned his attention to his older daughter, trying to whisper but with how quiet the room was, we could all hear him perfectly, "You told me that she wanted me here. That she knew I was coming."

"I knew you wouldn't come if I didn't..." My sister softly replied and I heard a sharp intake of breath from my mother who was still standing beside me. Her hands were now clenched into fists and I knew she was only seconds from breaking. That the confidence she built back up over the past eight years would come down shattering down if he didn't leave.

My father furiously shook his head, and he looked toward me and Derek, tears making his sky blue irises shine even brighter in the light. He opened his mouth and I thought he was going to say something to us.

Something that he thought would fix the past eight years of him never contacting us; never giving us his number or address, never showing up to any graduations, never proving that he wanted us after all.

For eight years I hadn't seen this man.

I couldn't say the same for Derek, but he looked genuinely appalled, but that didn't mean I could assume he hadn't seen our father prior to now. He could've just been in shock that Paige would bring him here.

The man's jaw snapped shut before he muttered an apology then hastily left the hallway, the house, and once again-- our lives.

It was too late, his presence loomed in every corner of the dining room. The tension was still in the air, and I could barely feel my hand still in Niall's, his other hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles on it.

Bile burned at my throat as what just happened began to replay in my head non-stop. Nothing was going to be able to fix this.

My body was frozen. I couldn't tear my eyes away from where Elliot Miller previously stood, and I couldn't move a single one of my muscles to try and relax or even comfort my mom.

The only person who seemed to be moving was Niall, and no one was even able to notice it except for me. He was quiet though, somehow understanding of what had occurred.

"Mom!" Derek called, and my head shot up just in time to see her stalking to the kitchen, leading her long the way to the stairwell. The shortest way was through the hall, but I couldn't see her walking through it ever again.

"Mom?" I also worriedly called out, standing with my brother.

The echo of her bedroom door slamming shut was all we needed to know that she wanted to be alone.