I'm never gonna give up on you.

25. The absurd of our 'night talk'

„Jellybean, we better get going if you don't want to be late," FP shouted from downstairs to inform his daughter that she should hurry up. The bus to Toledo was about to leave in 15 minutes and they should've already been right on their way to the bus station.

He sounded exhausted after all that had happened that night. The truth was, he had been freaked out not specifically about the fact that JB left the house in the middle of the night, but that Alice let it happened.

After the sleepless hours, he saw Alice is not the only one guilty, even though Jellybean was only a child in his eyes. It was also about JB's unmatured behavior and the fact that something could've happened to her.

To be honest it with himself, he shouldn't let his daughter go to Toledo on her own after what had happened, but he didn't want her to miss the opportunity to visit Gladys. She was Jellybean's fucked up mother and had a right to see her although she had never paid so much attention to her kids.

FP took one last sip of his coffee once he heard Jellybean running downstairs with her backpack packed. She had also barely slept that night he could tell that from the look in her tired eyes. His eyes grew wider when he noticed JB's look.

She was wearing her leather jacket which was fine with FP, but with the rest of her skimpy and vulgar outfit, he was not. Normally, he would tell her to change herself into some other clothes, but there was no time to argue.

"Come on, we should go." He sighed and put his serpent jacket on leaving the empty cup after his coffee on the kitchen counter. He rolled his eyes seeing his daughter dressed as her mother once again.

"Dad, wait. Is Alice awake? I want to say goodbye." Jellybean stopped her father from going out of the house. He glanced at her little bit astonished He didn't expect to hear words like this after what had happened.

The truth was, that Jellybean realized how she had been treating Alice for the past few weeks. After hearing her confession about her feelings towards JB, she understood that she made a mistake and wanted so badly to try to fix it.

The girl was also worried about Alice's health. She suspected something had been wrong with her condition for some time and the last night only confirmed it. She wanted to check up on her before leaving the house.

"Alice is asleep and to be honest I don't know if she wants to speak with us," FP responded to his daughter watching her nodded slightly. He hurried her up one more time and they finally could leave the house.

***

Alice raised her phone to check the time. Even though she wasn't feeling well, she had to go to work. Thankfully, she had only to check the emails and confirmed a few meetings in support of her reports for the next week.

It was hard for her to get up from the bed after sleeping just four hours. To be honest, she could barely process what had happened last night, but she was mad at herself that she hadn't stopped Jellybean from leaving the house.

All of the thoughts in her head had been focusing on the girl for the past weeks. Alice had been making her damnedest to find out what's wrong with Jellybean, but unfortunately, her efforts had been abortive.

It was hard for an adult to understand the teenage world and she was aware of that fact. She was also worried about that JB couldn't manage her problems on her own and would do something stupid because of powerlessness.

Alice went out of her bedroom already dressed up and ready to go to work. She was about to knock on Jellybean's door when she got across her room, but suddenly changed her mind reminded herself how she had been treating her lately.

She went deeper into the kitchen to make breakfast and drink some coffee before leaving the house. Once she noticed the empty cup standing on the counter, she knew FP wasn't asleep, even though he should be sleeping after that whole crazy night.

Once Alice opened the fridge and smell the food, she immediately felt nauseous and closed it as fast as she could. She sat down onto the chair and purred herself a glass of water because she didn't want to drink coffee while feeling a little bit dizzy.

FP walked into the living room and saw her white as a ghost sitting at the table. Alice tried to stand up and ignored his presence as he came closer to check up on her, but she could barely stand on her own.

"Alice are you sure, that you are alright?" He asked softly while helping her sit back down. She stayed silent not wanting to respond. She knew that they should talk about a few things, but still she didn't want him to hurt her again.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you." He whispered while trying to stroke her cheek. She turned her face away not wanting to feel his touch on her skin because she knew that she can't forgive him too easily unless she wants it to happen again.

"Jellybean is on her way to Toledo. She asked if she can visit Gladys and I agreed. We have the house for ourselves so maybe I could make it all up to you." She chuckled in disbelief on his words while looking at the clear blue sky through the window.

Another decision that was made behind her back. Even though he had the right to let her go, there was something deep inside Alice's heart that told her that letting JB visit Gladys wouldn't have a good impact on the girl.

"I will pass over the other absurd of our 'night talk', but I want you to know, that you did hurt me." She found a strength to look into his brown dark orbs, but once she turned her head to face him, he glanced down.

In any other situation, she would probably act like a bitch and tried to dominate her opponent with her sassy character. It had never been easy to fight with her, because she had always won, no matter what. Now it was different.

Alice Smith decided to finally open up to him rather than fight back. She wanted to be honest with him remembering the moment once she entered the house and nearly begged him between her sobs 'no more secrets, no more lies'. It was the highest time for them to finally act like adults.

"When you asked me 'why should I care about Jellybean'." FP raised his head when he heard her voice cracked. Glancing in each other eyes he tried to touch her hand once again. She let him grab her hand into his trying to find the words to express her feelings.

"I want you to know, that she is like a third daughter for me. It has never crossed my mind to replace her mother, but I wanted to recoup to her all of the things that Gladys fucked up." Alice confessed calmly feeling his thumb stroking gently her palm.

They were sitting silently for a while not knowing what to add or say. FP broke the awkward moment pulling her into his warm embrace. She was in two minds about letting herself melting into his soft touch but the truth was, she could've never resisted him.

"I'm sorry, Al," FP whispered into her ear just before she rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes once she smelled his scent and felt his muscular arms softly tightened abound her.

"We will finish our talk later. I'm already late for work. I should get going and you're going to the bed right the hell now." She pulled herself out from his embrace pointed at him. His legs became weak once he heard her bossy voice.

FP kissed her cheek and watched her walking straight to the front door. He wanted to know if she can walk on her own after he saw her nearly fainted. She was feeling better than earlier but maybe it was the time to check what's going on with her health?