Bad Boy's Shy Girl (New Version)

[ 42 ] - The One With No Coffee

"Dad?"

Fear lodged itself directly into my throat making it difficult to breathe as I tried getting my dad to snap out of his daydream. When my ruthless shaking wasn't getting his attention, and when my hand waving continuously back and forth in front of his face wasn't working I started calling for my mom; fresh tears brewed in my eyes from the endless loop of thoughts that I mentally broke my dad wouldn't go away- but it all stopped when he suddenly grabbed my shoulders and held tightly against his chest.

"You're dating... ?" He seemed to be talking aloud to himself, and since I still needed time to calm myself down, I didn't interrupt.

I could feel how fast his heart was beating and how clammy his hands were as they pressed into the back of my head, pushing my face further into him. "Of course.... that's why he's been so persistent on leaving. I should've known it was because of a girl- should've known it was Jamie."

My stomach couldn't have dropped further down hearing him murmur this nonsense to himself- I didn't dare move a muscle or even attempt to breathe. I was too cautious to miss a single thing he muttered to himself that I stopped my thinking process all together and focused my attention solely on him: how his fingers kept squeezing my arms and head like a stress ball, how his heart felt thudding against my ears and echoed inside my head. If I could I'd stop my heart from beating to make sure I was hearing right.

"Sweetie mentioned months ago that she was going to start tutoring someone- and he did tell me that he was going to need less time in the city for family emergencies. That had to be a lie so he could focus on school, because he knew that there was no possible way that they'd give him the time off for something like school.... the question is: why didn't he just tell me on the sidelines? Was he worried I'd tell the others the truth about his absence? Was he worried that word would get out by itself... or did he know about Jamie being my daughter and kept it a secret from me purposely?"

My world was spinning so fast I couldn't comprehend anything no matter how hard I tried. What the hell was this man saying?

What the hell was he implying talking to himself like this?

And about Noah- of all things?

It didn't make sense.

I blinked feeling my dad's hands on my shoulders pushing me back to see my face. "Don't you worry, Jamie. I'll fix this. I'll fix this for you, okay?"

Again my eyes filled with tears, my throat closing so tight that it hurt to swallow. Before I even had the chance to attempt to speak, Dad pressed a kiss to my forehead and rushed out the kitchen with his bags in his hands. I stayed frozen in the same spot, trying to teach my body the basic methods of breathing all over again and ignoring the hushed argument between my parents behind me- I gasped when front door slamming caused an echoing boom to go through the house; that's when my mind began to quickly process everything that had happened in the past five minutes so fast that the world started spinning.

Nothing made sense.

He said he was going to... fix it?

Hours had passed since the incident of my dad leaving after talking to me; Hannah, Carter, and my mother all tried asking me what the reason for him storming out was, but I couldn't say anything.

I didn't know what the proper motive was for his leaving because nothing made sense. Not how he knew Noah, not his reaction toward him being my boyfriend, not his nonsense muttering- nothing. And they wouldn't understand.

And it was killing me that I didn't understand.

Sleep was far beyond me, so I was curled up on my side under the heaps of blankets with Custord stretched out atop of the pillow above my head with his tail draping over my face after hours of being in here- thinking. The side of my face was drenched in the falling tears that kept coming, and my head felt so heavy that even if I wanted too, the pain reliever pills wouldn't do a thing.