The Unexpected Path

Chapter 30 - Lucas

I knock on the door a little too quietly, almost like I don't want him to hear. And maybe I don't. But it's irrelevant because the door swings open before I can make up my mind. Fuck.

"Hey," Dad's surprise is obvious. He clears his throat and he looks as uncomfortable as I do. Carbon copies, right?

"I need to talk to you,." I scratch the back of my neck self-consciously.

I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I wasn't even going to say anything.

After my talk with Uncle Cameron, I headed back in the house and tried to brush off everything he told me. It was too much. Olivia thought my reaction was about her and pulled me aside to make sure I wasn't tapping out of our relationship until I kissed the fuck out of her and told her to shut up. She did.

Then we all had dinner and I couldn't find it in me to look anyone in the eye. Olivia sat beside me and held my hand under the table the whole time though I could tell she was still concerned. I finally fessed up what Uncle Cameron told me and she agreed—I needed to fix shit with Dad. When I saw him go upstairs to quickly check on some things for his gym I saw an opportunity and pounced. Problem is I didn't think of what the fuck to say which brings me to now, shuffling in his rom and drawing up blank after blank.

"What's going on?" Dad asks after a solid minute of silence.

I sit on the bed and stare at him dead-on. "You were arrested."

A frown turns his mouth down. "Cameron. He told you, didn't he?"

I shrug. He blows out a breath and grabs his desk chair, pulling it away from the desk and sitting down in front of me. My eyes narrow. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"No." His bluntness reminds me of my own. "No reason to."

"You really believe that?"

"Of course. My parents were assholes, Lucas. They didn't even do the bare minimum for me and acted as if I owed them something for being parents. It was their job to be parents just like it's my job to be your father. What I do for you is not up for debate. It's my responsibility and you owe me nothing."

My eyes shift downward. I don't know what to say.

"That also means I make choices you won't always agree with and that's not up for debate either," He says it firmly but with no malice. "I know you didn't like that I hid your mother's cancer from you. I know you didn't like that I made you go to school instead of skipping out. I know I've done a lot of fucking things that have pissed you off but I won't take any of it back. I did these things because it was my job to do them. Whether you're willing to understand that or not is up to you."

I smile briefly despite myself. Figures that Dad wouldn't hesitate to lecture my ass even after months of us not speaking. If there's one thing he can't stand it's fake niceties, just like me. We both prefer the truth even when it stings. He won't pretend he's not mad at me and I won't pretend I'm not mad at him.

"Fine," I relent. "I was an asshole. Big surprise. But so were you. It felt like you kept sending Mom half the time to cover your ass instead of just coming to me yourself. Everything she told me about how you felt bad and how you wanted to fix shit...it should have came from you. That means more and you know it."

Dad frowns. "You wouldn't take my calls and—"

"I get that. I'm not saying I didn't make it hard. I'm a class A dick, okay? But, fuck...I kept waiting for you to come to my room and check up on me whenever I came home. I waited for you to corner me and force me to talk to you or some shit. I pushed you away, yeah, but you walked. You're my dad. Why did you walk?"