Back to You (Sequel to Take Me Away From Here)

Chapter 6

Tim POV:

Faith sits quietly in the family room with a blanket around her shoulders, while the girls sit on either side of her. Gracie can't stay still, and instead paces behind the couch with her arms crossed. Police officers wander around the house, searching for more clues or evidence, while we all sit in shock. 

Faith lied to me... She lied to me for decades, about something huge... How can I just overlook this? On the scope of bad things she's done, this is probably the new defining edge. I feel betrayed, to say the least. At the same time, I can't really punish her for it... not now... not when the safety of our children is at risk. 

A tall man with dirty blonde hair walks in the room. His shadow of a beard seems somewhat familiar, but I can't quite match where I've seen him before. Faith stands up and rushes toward him, wrapping her arms tightly around him as he embraces her. 

"What happened?" He asks, pulling back slightly. She crumbles once more, breaking down into tears as her mind reenters the event. 

"He came and shot out the windows... He shot at the house..." Faith cries, while he nods slowly, seeming to be quite unnerved by it. "My dad... My dad shot..." She stumbles around with her words. He holds her once more, trying to soothe her anxiety. I look down at my shaking hands, realizing that I never once thought to call Sara. Sara would probably ask what happened, and tell me that everything will be okay, but she wouldn't rush over here and hold me. We aren't like that anymore. 

I stand up, allowing them a moment. I walk into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me and locking it. I feel like my head is spinning... I feel my stomach enter the back of my throat, before I hang over the toilet and start throwing up. My legs shake, as I cling to the counter. I hover for a moment, unsure if I'm finished. Everything inside me feels tight, like a clenched fist. I place the back of my shaking hand over my mouth, as I flush the toilet. I stagger to the sink, running cold water through my fingers, before splashing some onto the back of my neck. I take a few deep breaths, gradually finding the power to reach for the door handle. I swing the door open, taking a step out, before bumping into her. She takes a step back, looking down at her feet for a second. It becomes clear that she was listening in. 

"Are you okay?" She asks quietly, looking in my eyes. I nod, trying to at least fake some sense of sanity. She narrows her eyes, before looking down at my hands. "Hold out your hand." She says. I do without thinking, revealing my trembling to her. She winces, before grabbing onto my hand and dragging me to the basement stairs. We walk down, until we reach a back room, and she shuts the door behind us. "I didn't tell you... I lied, because... because I knew that as things grew more serious, his presence was going to interfere. I could tell it was starting to get to you, and he was so sick at the time, that we all thought he was going to die anyways. Nobody thought he'd get better. So I lied..." She says, although I feel like she's leaving parts out. 

"He was going to interfere whether I knew or not. The fact that you didn't tell me, and just let me go on like... like we were safe when we weren't... it's insane... Faith, what if he had done something to the girls?" I ramble, feeling a bit hysterical. She takes a few deep breaths, seeming insanely anxious. 

"I don't think you would've even had them had I not lied..." She releases quietly, confusing me for a moment. 

"What?" 

"I don't think you would've had children with me, if you thought he was still out there. I felt like his presence would've curbed any shot we had at starting a family." She confesses, making me laugh with how ridiculous it seems. 

"Are you fucking serious right now?" I let out, watching her nod. "Do you understand how insane that sounds?" I argue. 

"If he had pulled a stunt like this when we were engaged, you wouldn't have married me. You would've told me that 'for my safety' you should go. You wouldn't have ever started a family with a woman who's father wants you dead.... you wouldn't have, okay? So don't patronize me." She fights, starting to get choked up. I stare at her, feeling almost offended by the accusation. 

"What if he pulled this stunt when we were engaged, and killed me? What if he pulled this stunt when we had the girls, and he killed one of them... or hell, all of them? Lying to me, puts us all at risk, alright? I don't want to hear this bullshit about how I would've ran the other way, because we both know that's a load of crap." I reply, feeling anger start to boil over inside of me. "It was a selfish decision, Faith." I continue, seeing her stare at me, anger seeming to be inside of her too. She opens her mouth, before shaking her head. "There's no justifiable reason why you should've lied to me... absolutely none..." I finish. 

"I understand that, Tim. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to put you at ease, because he was so damn near death anyways... When he got better, it wasn't like I could've gone and told you the truth." She replies. What's the use in arguing about this right now? What's done is done, and the past is already in stone. We should be thinking about what's ahead. 

"What should we do now?" I release, feeling helpless. What is there to do? We can tell the cops his name, his description, and a vague recollection of what his truck looked like, but then what are we supposed to do after that? Just go home and pretend like it never happened? I honestly don't want to leave the girls' side, nonetheless, leave them inside the house that they were shot at. Faith slowly exhales, before biting her lip. 

"You should go..." She says, making me feel sick to my stomach. "He's... He doesn't want you and I to see each other... That's why this happened. So, I think the best thing for us to do is just carry on and stay far away from one another until the cops find him." She decides, while I feel like I've been gutted. That's the exact opposite of what I want to do... 

"Faith, I can't just step away from this..." I release, watching her shrug. 

"You're going to have to, until the cops track him down. I don't want to risk something else happening, okay?" She replies, crossing her arms in front of her. I stare for a moment, before reluctantly nodding. She nods back. "Alright." She confirms.