Always Yours | ✔

Chapter Forty Four

"It starts with being willing to risk your heart again. Even a little bit. And those bits will remind your heart what love is, the hard exterior breaks away and you find yourself again. The self love that knows you don't need anyone else to survive but you need someone else to feel fulfilled. That's not admitting weakness, that's admitting you're human. We need love and to be loved."    - Leo Christopher

Chapter 44 - Back To You

Four Years Later

I pulled my luggage off the baggage claim and heaved it onto a cart. It's amazing how much junk you can accumulate in four years.

My phone rang and I scrambled to get my phone from my coat pocket.

"Are you here?" I questioned him.

"Yeah, in the lobby."

"Okay, give me ten minutes."

I ran into the lobby, pushing my cart as quickly as I safely could.

I could spot his wrinkled face from a mile away.

"Hi dad." I ran up to him, arms open wide.

"Hey kiddo." He squeezed me tightly. "I missed my little girl."

"Dad, you just visited me over Christmas break." I shook my head, chuckling.

"But you're home now, for good." He smiled and I inhaled deeply. It was almost as if the air had a different aroma here. It felt cozy.

I hadn't been home in four years. I hadn't visited even once. I was so content and focused while away, I just saw no point in it. Not when my dad could so easily jump on a flight to see me. He didn't have school work to rearrange like I did.

"I am, and I can't wait to see the new house." My dad and Amber wanted to get a place of their own when I left. They also helped me get out of my apartment lease early, and with minimal fees. Once I was gone for a few months, I knew I wouldn't need that place anymore.

"Well then let's get going." My dad grabbed hold of the cart and started towards the doors.

-

I looked around the cute little one bedroom house. "It's nice." I set my bags down by the doorway. "Very cute." I chuckled at the pink throw blanket on the couch. Amber very clearly was in charge of this place.

My dad cleared his throat, "What she wants, she gets." Amber deserved it though. She's been great to my dad and he seemed truly happy with her. "So, are you going to let him know you're in town?"

There it was. The question I knew he was dying to ask. "Dad."

"I was just wondering." He shrugged.

"You know how things are with him." And by that I meant that we hadn't really kept in touch. The first year went smoothly but keeping in touch over the phone got hard after that, and Parker never seemed to be able to carve out time to come see me. So we eventually drifted apart. It wasn't on bad terms, but it made this whole thing feel awkward. I'm older, he's older. We're adults now, and I didn't know if the things we wanted had changed. I also wasn't sure if I even knew how to talk to him anymore.

"I know, but the graduation is in an hour, so if you don't let him know now, he's going to find out when he sees you there."

"Maybe that's best." I shrugged.