Wanted

•Atticus•

~This chapter does have a short time jump~
    {•Edited•}

                         ~Bex's POV~

       "Is he coming?" Connie asks, standing behind me to button the back of my dress. I stare at myself in the mirror. I let my grandma put very little makeup on me despite my dislike in it (it makes my face feel gross) and have my hair straightened. My hair is naturally very wavy with some curls, so it feels weird to see my hair fall straight down perfectly. My hair is a lot longer than I thought it was.
    "We'll see," is all I say; it's all I can say. I'm praying that my dad will come to my graduation, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. My mom is more expected about it than I am, so there's no doubt that she'll show up. "I feel weird."
    "Why? You look great," she says. I turn around once her arms fall to her sides. My eyes start watering out of nowhere. "Why are you sad?"
    "I-I'm not," I lie. She tilts her head at me. "I just really want him to be there and I don't think he will come. This is important to me and he could probably care less. If anything, he'll come but only for Alaric... I just want him to feel proud of me today."
She gives me a sympathetic smile, but not the kind that makes me feel like a kicked puppy. "We're all proud of you. You've gone through so much this past year, terrible things, that no one knows about, and you've made it through. He'd be an idiot not to come."
"No one ever said he wasn't an idiot."
•••••••
Connie's mom pulls Connie and me into a hug, kissing the tops of our heads. Coming out of her grasp her dad holds his hand up for me to high give him. Connie looks like the best thing that's ever happened to her just happened.
"You're finally adults. You only got four more years to go," he says. I don't even want to think about college at the moment. It's been on my mind so much that thinking about it makes me nauseous. I'm going out of town for school whether my dad approves or not, but I wish I was going with him being happy for me. Maybe he is happy but just doesn't know how to show it? That's probably not the case, but I can hope it is.
"Bexxy!" Alaric tells from the stairs. Connie steps up beside me and smiles dramatically at him. Rolling my eyes, I look down at my diploma, reading over everything it says. "Your mom and dad are in the back with my mom." I look up, nodding my head.
"I'll call you tonight," I tell Connie, giving her one last hug before walking with Alaric to the back of the school. For someone who constantly said how much he couldn't care less about graduating, he is pretty damn happy he did.
   Alaric starts running to our family holding his diploma in front of him proudly. My dad and he wrap their arms around each other, the bright smiles on their faces. Pulling away from each other, Dot grabs his arm and pulls him in for a big hug.
    "I'm so proud of you," my dad tells him, slapping a hand on his broad shoulder. I awkwardly step forward, clenching my diploma to my chest. My mom claps her hands together excitedly, pulling me into a big bear hug. I smile into her shoulder, hugging her back.
     "You've done so well!" She says loudly. My dad and I lock eyes as he steps closer to my mom.
    "Good job." At least he showed up. I force a smile at him, trying to stay positive. Why would he tell Alaric he was proud of him but not me? Why would he hug Alaric but not me? What did I do to him to make him be so foul to me?
"Thank you."
••••••••
{Three Months Later}
"At this point, I don't care about you letting me go or not, because I'm going either way," I say, standing in front of my dad with my arms crossed, so he can't see my shaking hands. "I thought you would be happy for me."
He stays silent, looking away from me. I hate that I start to cry when I get upset in any way. If I blink tears will start coming down my cheeks. At first, I wanted to have this conversation with him while my mom was home, but she's been working more than often and I was running out of time.
"Then there's no point of you telling me that, because whatever I say you won't care about," he says. Tears start escaping my eyes. Why do I have to be such a sensitive bitch?! "I don't want you going at all, but if you don't care then go. I know you'll be safe."
"I will be." Turning around, I walk to my room, wanting to start packing already. Opening my door, I'm welcomed by Alaric laying on my bed, clenching one of my throw pillows to his chest. "I will beat your ass with a fucking bread roller if you don't get off my bed," I tell Alaric, leaning against my door frame with my arms crossed. He just crosses one leg over the other, placing his hands behind his head. I reach behind my dresser and grab my bread roller.
He shoots up, getting off my bed in record speed. "Why the hell do you keep a bread roller in your room?!"
"You don't?" He takes deep breaths, fixing my pillows to how they're supposed to be. "What are you doing in here?"
"I came to ask what day we're leaving?" We're? He isn't going anywhere with me. Don't get me wrong, I love him, he's like a brother to me, but I would love to get away from him.
"What do you mean? You're not going anywhere with me," I tell him, my brows furrowed. He shakes his head, crossing his arms.
"I got accepted into the same college as you and that was my choice, so we're going together," he explains. That's why my dad wasn't pissed off at me this time when I brought up college. It's fine if I go if I have Alaric to watch over me. I can do things for myself and protect myself, for some reason he doesn't understand that.
"Did you tell my dad you're going?"
"Yeah, he's happy." Of course, he is. "Why were you crying?" For some reason, I lost my lid.
"Because my father doesn't give a shit about me, but does about someone who isn't even his kid," I snap. "What do you do, huh? Put something in his coffee in the morning to make him love you so much? I don't understand." He says, shoulders slumping. His eyes narrow, but not in a mad way.
"He doesn't love me more than you," he says. "He's proud of you, trust me. I don't know why he does the things he does and I'm not gonna be the one to question him."
•••••••
My arms start to burn as I carry two heavy boxes in them down the hall to my dorm. Alaric is behind me carrying another one with my dad behind him. I'm surprised my dad didn't try leaving before helping me. My mom is being overly emotional, making my dad ask twenty times if she's pregnant again, which just makes her want to slap the hell out of him.
"It's that one," Alaric says. I stop in front of a door on my right, setting the boxes down to get my key out. Alaric complains about how heavy the boxes are as I unlock and open the door. My dad and he go in before I do, thinking about how much I don't want to lift those boxes again.
I bend down, struggling to pick them up again from my arms being too sore. My dad walks back over and grabs them from me, carrying them like they're only a few pounds.
"Thank you," I say. He sets them on the left side of the room.
"Are you sure this is everything?" My mom asks, eyes red from crying the way here. I nod, looking around to make sure. Alaric came earlier and brought some boxes for me, so we wouldn't have too much to do in the afternoon.
"Yeah, thank you guys for helping," I tell them. She wraps her arms around me for the millionth time today, letting down my hair in the back. Someone knocks three times on the door, grabbing our attention. A short girl with blonde hair stands in the doorway holding a plastic box. We all move off to the side for her to get in. She sets it on the bed across from mine. 
    "I'm Marissa," she says, extending her hand out to me. I shake it politely, smiling uncomfortably.
    "Bexley," I reply. Turning to my family I wait for one of them say that it's time to go. Alaric walks back to the door.
    "It's getting pretty late," he says loudly to get my parents attention. They snap their heads in his direction. "You guys should leave before it gets dark. Crazy people out on the streets, you know?"
    "Shut up," my dad tells him. My mom walks over and kisses my cheek.
    "Don't forget to call and text me every now and then," she says. I nod, anxious from waiting to see my dad will tell me anything.
    "You sure about this?" He asks me, tucking his hands in his pockets. I nod, wrapping my arms around myself. "Just don't do anything stupid and be smart."
    "I know," I tell him. He nods, looking at me like he's deciding if he wants to hug me or not. I can't remember the last time we hugged or said that I loved him. They follow Alaric out of the room, closing the door behind them.
     "They seem nice," my roommate says from her bed. I sit down on mine too, rubbing my hands on my legs. "The boy, is that your brother?" I'm happy she's trying to make conversation because it would be awkward if we didn't talk. She seems like someone I could get along with.
    "Something like that. He's my cousin, but he's more like a brother," I tell her. She nods, leaning back on her arms. We continue talking for a few minutes to get to know each other before someone knocks loudly on the door. She gets up, her straight hair falling around her. Opening the door, I'm shocked to see a tall, muscular man with tan skin, making his green eyes pop.
     "You could have left the door open," he says, breathing heavily as he comes on holding a few boxes. I can't help but stare at his flexing biceps. He sets them down next to her bed and straightens up, shaking his arms out.
     "This is my roommate, Bexley," she tells him, gesturing to me. He looks over at me, his expression remaining flat.
    "H-hi," I say, giving him a small wave. Why the hell do I have to be so awkward? "I'm Bexley."
    "Yeah, she said that," he says. I look down, my face turning red and hot. "I'm Atticus." The name fits him well.  He turns his attention back to Marissa.
    "There are only two more boxes left. After I bring those in I have to go to work," he tells her. She nods, sitting back down. He walks out, leaving the door open.
      "THAT'S your brother?" I ask in shock after he leaves the small room. She nods with a kind smile, placing her hands on her hips. "You-you didn't mention having a brother. Will he, um, will he be around a lot?"
   "He shouldn't be much trouble," she says, sitting down on her bed. I would as well, but my bed is covered in boxes. She was smart and put hers on the floor. "He's working all the time and lives like thirty minutes away. If anything, he'll only be around at night."
    "That's great."
     "What?"  
    "What?"

     AN: They've met! He's kind of a douchebag at first, but I promise you'll come to live Atticus. I really hope you guys enjoyed!
    ALSO! Please go check out my story Súton! I would REEEAAALLLYYY appreciate it; I'm very passionate about this story.

     Question: What do you think of Marissa and Atticus?
    Please check out my other stories, comment, vote, and share! Believe in yourself -Vaeh