EL'S POV:
"Why in the hell is the sun up this early in the morning?" I hear my dad yell from down stairs, and I roll on my stomach, feeling Harry under me.
"Your dad won't be used to the time difference anytime soon I'm guessing." He mumbles, his voice gruff with the morning.
"Probably not, but that's beside the point." I look up to him as I lay on his chest. His phone starts vibrating, and I feel him patting the bed, searching for it. He picks it up, and answers quickly.
"Hello?" He asks, and I wait for his response. "Shit, really? Do you need me there? Now?" He asks, and I sit up causing him to look at me. "I'll be there in a little while alright?" He mumbles, and hangs up the phone.
"Studio?" I ask, and he nods.
"Studio." He confirms, and starts to move, but I pull him back.
"Not yet... Don't leave yet." I mumble, and he moves back to me. His chest is warm as he hovers over me, and I lean forward, wanting to connect us. I push his chest back, and find myself climbing back on top of him, rolling my body onto him. His hands find my hips, moving under his old shirt and onto my skin.
"Ellie Bug!" I hear my dad scream from down stairs, and I pull away sighing, and letting my forehead press to his.
"My dad also wont let privacy be a thing either I'm guessing." I mumble, and sit back on his lap, still straddling him. I sigh, and he moves me off of him, and throws his legs off the bed.
"I'll see you later on, I can meet the rest of your family if you want, or you can invite them all to my house... I'm sorry I'm heading off, you're not upset are you?" He asks, quickly dressing in different clothes than yesterday.
"It's fine... I'm not upset I'll just spend time with my parents for now." I tell him, and he turns back to me with a smile on his face.
"I love you, but I won't leave this room without you by my side meaning you need pants, so let's go." He tells me, and it makes me smile, knowing that he's afraid to leave without me walking him to the door. I get up, and as soon as I'm standing I have sweatpants thrown in my face.
"Jesus, chill out." I pull the pants over my body, and open the door, walking out first, and hearing him follow behind. I know he has his bag on his shoulder as well.
"There's my baby girl, and you." My dad looks at Harry as he gives a slight wave, and a smile. "Why're you all types of dressed up? Where are you going?" He asks Harry.
"I'm going to the studio to get some things done. What are you two planning to do today? And where is your mum?" He asks me, and I smile, and look to my dad, also wondering the same thing.
"Your momma isn't feelin too well, so I thought I'd be stuck with the two ah yah all day, but now it's just us two huh Ellie Bug?" He asks me, and I smile, wondering what the hell is going to come from a day with just my dad and I.
"Well I'm going to show him out, and then we can figure something out." I tell my dad, and move with Harry to the door. I open it for him, and run down the stairs so I can lock the showroom behind him. We get down the stairs, and I walk outside, knowing how bad I look right now but not caring. "Just text me, call me, or anything." I tell him, and I hug his waist softly, not pulling too tight, knowing we want this relationship to be somewhat quiet. He backs away from me, and gets into his car, a car that's yet again expensive as hell, but what can I say, I know he has expensive taste. I turn back and go into the showroom, locking it behind me, and going up to my apartment. I open the door back up, and my mom is sitting on my couch. "Hey momma, feeling any better?" I ask, and she looks to me with her eyes half peeled open.
"I think I poisoned myself with all that chicken last night." She admits, and I furrow my brows.
"I'm fine, and so is daddy... and Harry, I think you're just getting used to being on the west coast... So I guess it's just us today." I look to my dad, and he smiles, but then lets his smile fall.
"Does that mean I gotta go around this city and look at all the crazies?" He asks me, and I roll my eyes.
"I haven't done any sight seeing myself since moving here, but I've been here before. I can show you some things, bring you around town?" I ask, and he sighs.
"If I wasn't with you, I'd say no. Let me get ready and I'll follow you around Ellie Bug." He tells me.
"What about the rest of my family, have we all forgotten about them?" I ask with a laugh, and they look to each other.
"Eileen, we were gonna tell you earlier on but since your boyfriend was here we decided to wait." My mom speaks up, pulling herself up, and pulling my blankets around herself. "We asked the rest of the family to celebrate in Georgia without us this year. We wanted to have this with just you, just our little family." My mom speaks again, and I furrow my brows. My family hasn't celebrated christmas apart in years, I mean they've always been without me but not each other.
"I feel bad now, I didn't want you guys to leave everyone." I tell them, sitting down.
"Don't feel bad Ellie Bug, we wanted this to be special for you. We ain't had a christmas like this since before Haley passed... I know we'll have your little boyfriend tagging along, but I think he makes this all the better. We missed seeing you for the holidays, and now we have it even if it's just this once." My dad tells me, and I smile ,standing again.
"It won't be just this once. Not if I can help it." I tell both of them, and move towards the stairs, not missing the glance they give each other, and the soft smiles on their lips as well.
"Sometimes things don't work out though, sometimes it goes in ways you can't predict. We're just happy you wanted us here Eileen." My mom tells me, and I walk up my stairs.
"Alright, I'm going to get ready, and we can leave alright? How does coffee sound Daddy?" I look to him and he raises an eyebrow at me.
"You think your big city knows how to brew a cup of coffee like we do in the south?" He asks, and I take it as a challenge.
"I think my big city can damn well try." I mumble, and move into my room quickly. I take my hair down, and brush it out, pulling half of it back again, and then moving to my face, and work there. I do the normal makeup routine, keeping it light as usual, and then throwing on loose fitting jeans, and a tank top along with my tennis shoes. I reach for the same Gucci purse, the one that's practically falling apart at its seams right now, and then I'm out of my room, and down the stairs again.
"Ellie bug, you didn't have to show up your old man like that did yah?" He asks, motioning to me, and I roll my eyes.
"You look great, now let's go... Momma, are you sure you don't want to go? You look like you're feeling fine." I motion to her as she sits on the couch, looking like her normal self.
"Oh no, I'm alright Ellie, I think stayin in today'll do me some good." She nods with a smile, and I know she's feeling fine, I can tell she is. It's odd that she really doesn't want to go, but my parents don't do things without reason, I know them. I don't question my mom anymore, and follow my dad out of my apartment and to the street, clicking the car key to unlock it.
"I think it'd be best if I drove. I know you've been in Atlanta traffic, but it's nothing compared to the traffic here, and I don't think I'd wanna see your road rage here." I joke, and he waves his hand for me.
"That's alright by me. I taught you to drive so I know you ain't half bad." He jokes, climbing into the car. I pull away from the apartment, and drive toward a place I've only been a few times, but a place I know will have great coffee that will hopefully impress him. It takes some time to drive there, and normally my dad would be the one to yell at idiot drivers from the passenger seat, and talk about every passing sign that he didn't agree with, and people watch from his seat as we pass strangers on the street, but he was silent the entire way. He glanced out the window, appreciating the city as it passed us by, and I've never seen him this way, something seems off. We pull into the cafe, and I get out of the car.
"Harry showed me this place a few months ago, he loves it, and I see why. I hope you love it too." I tell him as I join him at the front of the car. We move together from the car, and to the entrance.
"You seem to really like that boy don't you?" He asks me, and I find myself smiling.
"I love him daddy." I admit, feeling odd talking about my feelings to him, knowing I skipped out on this my entire life because I was never one for conversation at all.
"And when did you figure that?" He asks as we walk in the Beachwood Cafe. He takes a big whiff of the air, and nods. "Smells good." He mumbles, mostly to himself.
"I don't really know when I figured that out, it kind of just happened. We were working together, and I saw him in ways no one else did, ways you haven't seen him." I tell him, and he nods.
"Did I ever tell you how your momma and I met?" He asks me, and I shake my head no.
"Let's get some coffee first, and then you can tell me, alright?" I ask, and we sit down, ordering our coffee, and some food to share as well. "I'm glad we're doing this, I feel like I never talk to you anymore dad. You remember when I was younger, and me and you and Haley would go on daddy daughter dates? To the movies, or to get food?" I ask, and he smiles as he nods, remembering my memory.
"Your sister wasn't the biggest fan, I think she was more her momma's daughter." He tells me, and I agree, knowing she was a mommy's girl. I wasn't though. I clung to my dad like my life line when I was a kid, and it all changed when my sister died, everything changed. "Ellie, your momma and I we went to highschool together but good lord that woman hated my guts. She told me I was gonna ruin her life, that I was gonna take her off her track to become what she wanted to be." He tells me, and all of this sounds familiar. "I didn't give up hope though. I think your momma was the most beautiful girl I ever saw. She still is Ellie bug, and I'm not just talkin about how she looks on the outside. Her heart is made of gold I swear it. That's what real love is, findin that beauty that you can cling to forever, even when things aren't the same." He tells me, and though he's acting like the wise owl right now I see through this. He wouldn't be saying this without reason. "Your momma finds that same beauty in me for some reason, and ever since she gave in she always has." He tells me, and he smiles, holding his coffee cup tight in his hands.
"You and her were meant to be, I always knew that... Is this the part where you tell me that you don't think Harry is good for me? Or you tell me something about how I'm too good for him or something?" I ask, and he shakes his head.
"I actually think he's perfect for yah darlin. I really mean that... He's the one who ain't never gonna give up on you, just like I did with your momma. He's a good man... I'm telling you this because change always happens. I know you never thought me and your momma would be out here, hell I never thought I'd be here either bug, but we knew we had to." He tells me, and I feel a sinking in my chest.
"Are you and momma getting a divorce?" I ask, and he shakes his head no.
"No, our relationship is healthy as a horse El, but your daddy ain't anymore." His voice is somber, and soft as he speaks the words but my mind doesn't comprehend the bomb he dropped.
"W-what do you mean?" I ask, waiting for clarity.
"I ain't been feeling the best lately, and your momma got all worried, just like mama's do, and she made me go to the doctor. I didn't wanna go, but you know how your momma gets. So we went and they asked me some questions, and then they started doing all kinds ah wacky tests on me, and they found it then." He tells me, and though I've been sipping on my coffee it feels like my tongue is made of sandpaper, like I can't swallow at all.
"Found what...." I ask carefully, though there's no dancing around what I know will come from his mouth.
"Ellie Bug, they found cancer, I've got the pancreatic kind." He tells me softly, and his eyes haven't left me as he speaks the words, but I find myself looking down to my hand.
"They're going to fix it, they're trying to fix it, aren't they?" I ask him, trying to not speak as quickly as my mind is going.
"They are, they're doing what doctors do, but that don't change anything. This kinda cancer is aggressive from what they've been tellin me, hard to fix, harder than all the others on those lists." He tells me, and there's no getting rid of this heavy feeling.
"I can move home, I will, to make sure you get better, to help fix things, and -" I start, but he puts his calloused hands over mine.
"Ellie Bug that's the last thing I want you to do... I know you like to do what you want but I'm tellin you now, I don't want you movin back to hang around me when death comes a knockin if it does. You made it bug, you made it big.... Keep it that way because I'm proud. I can die knowing I'm a proud daddy who watched his daughter move out, and make somethin of herself, I can die knowin you're in the big world doin things me and your momma, and Haley never got to do. I don't want to die knowin you're sittin there watchin me do it from the side instead of doing whatcha dreamed of." He tells me, and I move my hands away, knowing he's put a lot of thought into what he was going to say to me in these moments.
"How long have you known this?" I ask, and change the question. "When did you find out?" I speak up this time.
"We found out right before Thanksgiving honey... That's why we were so bummed you got under the weather, we knew we had to tell yah. That way when you invited us out here we jumped on it, knowin that there's a chance this might be my last christmas time I get with you." He tells me, the southern dialect never leaving his tone as he sits in the cafe. He hasn't let go of his coffee cup yet, except to steady my hands in moments.
"Daddy, I can't stay here knowing what's going on back at home. I can't do that." I admit to him, and he puts his hands flat on the table.
"You can, and you will. I don't want you comin back to that state unless it's work related or I'm long gone from livin. You ain't gonna stop your life for me especially when we don't even know if I'm gonna die bug... I could be fine just next year, life is full of surprises... Eileen I know you're gonna be fine, and do you want to know why?" He asks, and I nod my head, feeling my eyes burn as he speaks.
"Because bug, you've got plenty of support right where you are... If I didn't have to tell you I wouldn't have, I don't want this to change a thing alright? That boy, and all your friends you've got, I know they're gonna help you out, they're gonna figure this out with you because that's how things are... I'm a man, I can do this on my own, but you, where you are now, you need to stay where they are. Ellie Bug, you look like you're gonna cry...." He mumbles, and I sink into my chair.
"What else would I do? My dad just told me he might die, and that he has cancer but he doesn't want me to be with him during that... Daddy, I can't... I ca-" I start, and he stops me again.
"No... Eileen that's what we're not gonna do. We're not gonna give up on the life we already got, and say things like I can't, or I won't because that's not what God intended us to do. Eileen you're gonna live your life normally, you're gonna live it up here in this dumb blue state, and you're gonna love it for me alright?" He asks me, and his tone is serious, and stern. I notice the small tears falling from his eyes, and I know he's only crying because I am, but he wipes them away quickly. "It's alright to cry, and to be sad, but you gotta let that be your motivation to keep on keepin on. This ain't your death sentence... Everything is gonna be fine." He assures me, and though I don't believe him our coffee is out now. My heart is heavy, along with my mind, but he reaches forward. "I know I just told you a lot, and I know you probably don't want to but Ellie Bug I want to spend my day with you, I want you to show me what this place has to offer, though I know it ain't gonna be a lot.. Can we still do that?" He asks me, and though he's right, though I don't want to do anything but curl into a ball, I also know that I want to give me dad a good day, a fun day, knowing there's a chance he might not get very many more.
"Let's get the damn thing done.." I give a soft smile, knowing I don't have it in me to give a full one right now.
"That's my Ellie Bug." He smiles, and I leave money on the table, walking with him back to the car. Have fun now, and feel later, let everything sink in later.... Right now it's going to be fun, we're going to have fun. "You gonna invite that boy back for dinner tonight?" He asks, and I shrug.
"Momma's not feeling well, I don't want her to be surrounded by too many people." I tell him, and he shakes his head.
"Your momma ain't sick, she told me she was gonna say that so I could talk to you bout this all alone... You should have him over, and if you want to let him know about your pops, I ain't gonna protest, I want him to be here for yah." He tells me, and I look to him as he climbs into my rental.
"Daddy, can I ask you a favor? Can you please not mention it to him? I don't want anyone to treat you differently, to look at you like you're not the same now that you've got cancer... I don't want him to know yet." I tell my dad, and he nods.
"As long as you promise me you'll tell him? I know you learned from the best, the best being me, but being quiet like we are it can be a bad thing. You gotta talk to him, even if he is british, and talks all funny." He tells me, and somehow with all of that I can still find it in me to laugh. I can't find it in me to tell him now though, and I don't know when I'll be able to.
—————————————————
Song: Even My Dad Does Sometimes by Ed Sheeran.
YOU ARE READING
Trendsetter (book 2) - H.S
Fanfiction"They say insanity is trying the same thing but expecting something new" - Anson Seabra. SEQUEL TO STYLIST El kept telling him it was only meant to be for one night. She kept that mentality, or tried to. Harry didn't believe one bit of the front she...
