In the bustling city of Melbourne, Cassalia and Blake are excited to embark on a new chapter of their lives with the hopes of having a smooth and delightful first year, where every moment will be beautiful and unforgettable.
However, reality unfold...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Where's your dad now?" I whisper in Blake's comforting embrace, gazing up at him, my curiosity getting the better of me. His eyes meet mine, and for a moment, they hold a contemplative glint "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to"
A brief silence hangs in the air before he finally speaks, his soft brown eyes still tinged with a hint of sadness "The last I heard, he was in jail," he admits, his voice barely more than a whisper "I overheard Uncle Turner telling Mum and Aunt Stacey about it last year after Christmas dinner. Apparently, Father Dearest hasn't changed. He was arrested for beating up one of his girlfriends"
My curiosity prompts another question "Are you still in contact with him?"
He shakes his head, his expression growing more somber "No, but he is in contact with Uncle Turner, well, sort of. Before the truth came out about what Robert had been doing to us behind closed doors, they were close friends. Uncle Turner started distancing himself from Robert after the divorce."
"Even though they aren't as close as they were before, my father still contacts Unc Turner. And the only reason why Unc Turner still talks to him is that he feels like he owes Robert for when he was there for him during his drug addiction days when they were teenagers," he clarifies.
"Enough about Robert," he says, gently planting a kiss on my forehead. He shifts the conversation back to me "Do your parents know about what happened to you?"
I feel a lump form in my throat. Swallowing hard, I admit, "My family doesn't know," I break eye contact and stare down at our joined hands "The only person I told before you and Mrs. Clark is Eve," I avoid meeting his eyes "I didn't tell my family because, after it happened, all I wanted was just to forget and move on with my life. I didn't want to talk about it. I knew opening up would mean having to relive that night and explain what happened"
I continue opening up, the shivers running through me as I recall my past "I wanted to move on with my life and forget about everything, but the blurred flashbacks wouldn't let me. I hated how part of me wanted to remember what happened as much as the other part wanted to forget," I reveal, my voice quivering at the vivid memory of fifteen-year-old me rummaging through the medication cabinet for pills "I thought that maybe somehow, as the years went by, I would forget and move on, but I never did. It got to a point where I was willing to do anything to stop the nightmares and the flashbacks"
