27. Lie

Sky.

✙ ☠ ✙

I hang up the phone after talking to Aron. He was worried sick yesterday after my mom called him. I assured him I'm fine now.

I make my way down the stairs and to my surprise my dad's not there.

"Good morning, dear." My grandma kisses my cheek.

I chuckle. "Good morning, grandma."

She's already plated a bunch of pancakes for me.

"Where's dad?" I sit down at the table.

"He went for a walk." She sits across from me. "He feels bad about yesterday."

"There's no need for that, I seriously feel normal." I laugh.

"Well, you are now but.." Grandpa looks at grandma for a second. "He's always been a bit reckless. That always gets him into trouble but he never thought it would be nearly fatal."

I can relate to the reckless part. I guess I have issues with that too.

I get up. "Where is he? I don't want him to feel bad. It happened, there's no point in worrying so much about it now."

Just as I say that, my dad walks in.

"Dad!"

"You're up." He says quietly. He looks terrible. I guess he didn't sleep much last night. "Where's your ma? I want to talk to you two about something."

"We'll just leave you two." Grandma and grandpa make their way out of the room.

My mom comes in a little while later.

I don't like the look in dad's eyes. Regret. Fear. Sadness.

"What's this about?" My mom asks. She still seems pretty pissed about yesterday.

"I want to talk to you about yesterday."

"Dad, seriously—"

"Sky, please. Let me say this."

My mom looks just as confused as I'm sure I do.

"Yesterday was.. terrible. I'm sorry. I should've looked out for you and I didn't. I should've known you would get lost. I should never have let you go on your own. So I want you to know I'm sorry about that."

He takes a deep breath.

"There's something else I want you to know too." He looks down at the floor.

He looks kind of nervous.. scared even. Then his eyes harden in determination.

"I lied." He says.

I give dad a confused look.

He takes another deep breath and looks out the window.

"I lied about being sick. That's why I never told you what disease I have because I don't have one." He shrugs. He starts fumbling with his hands "I knew you wouldn't let me into your lives again otherwise so.."

Mom covers her face with her hands.

Dad looks back at us.

I don't know what to say. I'm frozen in place trying to process what he's saying. Please let this be a stupid joke. He can't be that heartless and cruel.

"I'm sorry." Dad shakes his head.

I feel a lump rising in my throat. "You lied about this? What else did you lie about?"

"Sky—"

"No! What is wrong with you? All you've ever done is hurt us! I was beginning to think you weren't as bad as I always thought but of course I was wrong."

My dad doesn't say anything. He just stands there, defeated.

If he could lie about this he can lie about anything. And what for? Why did he want to be back in our lives all of a sudden?

"Do you love us at all?" I look into his eyes. Deep inside I'm hoping he'll say yes because maybe there's a chance that he's just an idiot that doesn't know how to behave like a normal person. Maybe he lied because he thought there was no other way.

Dad looks just as broken down as I feel right now. He opens his mouth to speak but no words come out.

Or maybe he thought he wanted us back but changed his mind. Again.

My heart breaks in two. My own dad doesn't love me. I don't know why I thought that had changed.

He seems pained to see me like this. But he doesn't move. He just stands there.

I can hear my mom crying to herself but she's not saying a thing.

"You know, I wish you really were dying." I say before walking out of the room.

I go up to my room and sit on the bed trying not to cry. I don't want to cry over him. I don't want to care, he doesn't deserve it.

Not long after, my mom comes in and tells me to pack my bags.

× × ×

"I am so sorry." Grandma says as we stand by the bus stop.

We're ready to go. Never coming back again. Dad isn't here. He was gone when we came down the stairs. It's really over now. The last time I'll see my dad. My mother and I are both done with him.

"It's not your fault." My mom smiles. She's acting brave but I know she's in pieces. I'm worried about her. Worried she'll get like before. Crying all the time. Disappearing. It's like everything's happening all over again. And I.. I naively thought I had my dad back. He hadn't changed at all. And now my mother will go right back to who she was. And I'll lose my mom too.

We say our goodbyes and get on the bus.

Mom grabs my hand.

"I am so sorry, Sky. I really thought this time would be different."

I look into her eyes. They're filled with regret and pain.

"It's not your fault. So did I." I put on a brave face and try not break in front of her.

She leans in and kisses my forehead.

× × ×

I turn the key and walk into my apartment.

"Aron?" I call.

No response.

I go into the study.

Just as I thought. He's typing on his laptop with headphones in his ears. Probably doing school work.

I'm happy to see him.

I wrap my arms around him from behind.

"Sky!" He smiles as he takes off his headphones.

"Hey." I sit on his lap.

"How was it?" Aron asks.

"Fine." I kiss him. I try to hide my sadness. Though, knowing Aron he'll see right through it.

"How did your project go?" I try to distract him.

"Great. I think we'll get a good grade. But more importantly, how did it go with your dad?" His eyes probe into my soul.

His expression changes from happy to worried.

"Sky.."

I sigh and lean on his shoulder.

"Not good?" He caresses my back.

I shake my head.

"Wanna talk about it?"

I shake my head again.

He just keeps caressing my back.

I start to kiss his neck.

He's quiet for a while.

"...Are you sure you wanna do this right now?" He asks.

"Yes." I whisper in his ear.

He holds me close. I find comfort in his arms, in his kiss. I feel less alone. I feel less hurt. I take off his clothes and the closer I get to him, the further away I get from my thoughts and my broken heart.