Page 159 of Aftersome
I tried distracting myself for as long as I could with scheduling a doctor's appointment, singing to the radio, listening to an audiobook, but it was all useless. All I felt like doing was crying. Ugly, desperate tears until I was finally numb to the pain.
I even checked my phone every few minutes for a call or text message from Mal, but would always be disappointed to see no new notifications.
That only made me want to bawl my eyes out even more.
It was getting late, the sun was sinking, and my chest felt like it had a heavy weight strapped to it. I hadn’t let Shelia or Gregknow that I was coming home and I knew I’d be in for it once they saw me pulling up into their driveway.
I wasn’t their child.
I wasn’t even their daughter-in-law, but in my heart, I knew they saw me as much more than either of the two.
And that’s what killed me about this whole situation. I was too afraid to tell them that I had fallen in love with their other son, the one they no longer had contact with and the one they thought I’d be bringing back home.
I wasn’t just a failure, I was weak.
Finally, with the crunch of the gravel driveway signaling my arrival, I immediately noticed the front porch light turning on. I wasn’t prepared for them to react so quickly, but once I had my car in park, Shelia was running out of the house and toward the driver's side of my car.
“Wren?!” she shouted frantically as she threw open the car door and reached for any part of me. “What… where… Oh my god, I thought you… I thought…” she rambled through her tears, causing me to jump out of my seat and throw myself into her awaiting arms.
Immediately, a sense of warmth and home hit me.
“I’m home. I’m here and I’m an idiot for not returning any of your calls or texts,” I admitted on a string of confessions.
She tugged me in closer as sobs began to pour out of us.
“Shhh… I’m just happy that you’re here. That’s all that matters right now, okay? Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter, we can talk about it later.”
Caressing the back of my head, I cried even more from how quickly she’d forgiven me. Without any question, without any doubts.
“It does matter and I can’t lie to the two of you any longer. You don’t deserve to be left in the dark when all you do is love me and make sure that I’ll always be okay.”
“Wren, it’s okay. Let’s just get you inside, okay?” She pulled away from me to look at my tired face and frowned.
“Wren? Is that you?” Greg's voice then appeared and in a matter of seconds, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching us. It sounded like he was running and when he finally stopped beside us, I lunged at him on a cry.
“God, Wren, where the hell have you been?” He tugged me into his hammering chest. “Why haven’t you reached out to us?”
“I’m so sorry, I should’ve called you guys every night, but… I…” I trailed off as my thoughts drifted over to Mal. “So much… So much happened.”
“Let’s get her inside, Greg,” Shelia urged, and soon we were all headed for the house where immediately I felt like I was home.
And that’s when I told them everything.
How I had fallen in love with Mal and how I lied about everything.
How I was scared to tell them the truth.
And how in the end, I had lost him.
55
MAL
Any ounce of happiness that I had was now stripped away from me, leaving only an empty shell of a man who barely had the strength or gumption to wake up in the morning now.
Hockey was now turning into a chore and my mood had taken a severe hit after I had walked out of the hospital.
Looking back, I never should have left Doe there all alone. I fucking hated myself for doing that to her, but with all her truths finally out in the open, I felt like I had no idea who the woman I had fallen in love with was anymore.
