I'm a Loaded Gun (Part 2)

I realized what street we on. My old street. I almost began to hyper ventilate at the thought of my old home and my parents. I clung to Andy's hand as I counted down the number of houses left until we reached mine from my memory. There it was. The house with tan siding and green shutters. This internal earthquake began, but I didn't realize this until Andy reached over and rested a hand on my bouncing knee. Once he secured it, he released my hand and rested his on the back of my neck.
"I wanted to give you this opportunity. I love you and I know that you miss them. You don't have to do this, but I'm here for you and I will stand beside the entire time," he cooed.

All I could do was nod. With a swift kiss he released me and came around to open my door. I took a shaky breath as he guided me to the small porch. His long arm reached out to the front door and firmly rapped it a few times. My world was frozen. I was incapable of moving at all. The air wouldn't go in or out of my lungs. I was only aware of two things: I was holding Andy's hand with a death grip and I could feel my hearts every rapid pulse in my chest. The handle began to turn. The green front door swung open. There stood my father, but he looked very different from the man I left here in Illinois four years ago. The blood drained from his face, which I don't remember having so many wrinkles in his forehead. It looked as if I was the grim reaper itself and he was literally standing in deaths doorway.

Andy cleared his throat and held out the hand that was usable, "Hello Jack."

It took a few moments to register with my father. Slowly, as if robotic, he took Andy's hand, "Hullo Andy."

My father and I stood face to face. I'm not sure who made the first move, but I find myself clutching onto my dads body in the tightest hug I've ever felt. I didn't feel like he was real. he held me for a few moments, until finally releasing me, but holding onto my shoulders as he looked as if he was going to cry. His whole face radiated a smile. He waved us into the house and silently, Andy followed us, closing the door as we stepped into the sitting room. My father took a seat on the chair beside the couch that Andy and I took rest on. It seemed to take a lot of effort for my father to find words.

He almost choked out, "So how are you Reyalie?"

"I-I'm great...dad."

"I've-I know I missed a lot. How have you been doing? What have you been doing?" he asked, glancing between Andy and I.
"I'm not sure where to start," I huff. "Well, I guess I'll go chronologically. When I left...the first time to go to St. Louis with Andy and the label, the company gave my band and Andy's band neighboring apartment quads. We both spent a lot of time writing with our own bands and then we went on a short tour. The label didn't know Andy and I were together and one of the administrators revealed it to the board at the final decision to sign the band. We got rejected. I moved to Florida and lived with Brandon for awhile."

"Your brother?" he asked.

"Yeah. Then Sirens mom had a position offer at an art school so she found me a scholarship. Siren and I went to a few semesters of college classes and doing online classes I got an associates in business specializing in design. Andy and I tried to stay together and some things happened and we separated." Andy flinched at the memory, but I just squeezed his hand. "I dated another guy from a different band for awhile and he dated another girl who was a musician. Siren and Ash split too, but they got back together and ended up getting us back together. And we've been together since. I ended up moving with him to LA and we got a house together and he proposed."

The comment turned my dads eyes to the ring on my left hand. "Congrats," my dad said dryly.

"Well, we moved all my stuff and we've visited his parents and now we are here visiting with Sirens family. They were only renting out their house here and decided that they would rather live here once Siren and I left. They found a different buyer for the house Siren and I owned. And Andy convinced me to come here."

My dads face broke into another smile, "Andy, I can't thank you enough for taking care of her through all of this."

"It wasn't for you, but I appreciate the thought," Andy said with a smirk.

"You sure went to work on decorating her," my dad laughed. "Can I see?"

It was actually kind of touching that my dad wanted to know my tattoos. "Uh... Well the first one I got was the one on my ribs." I pulled up the side of my shirt, happy that I actually had on a very simple bra, it would have been a bit awkward to have a lace bra peak through the roll on the shirt, not that I was flashing it, but the side strap was visible as I showed the cross tattoo. "It needs touched up actually, but I got this in St. Louis the first time. The lyrics are from one of Andy's songs, the ribbon used to be white and it says "We'll brave this storm"." I lower my shirt back into place, then take off my jacket, since I had a dress on that didn't have sleeves. I showed him the wrapping tattoo on my left bicep that read "Amour me garde de ravaillement" which means love keeps refueling me in French. I also had on my right shoulder the praying hands holding a rosary, and a dove behind them with a bough of holy in its claws, and it was nested in red black and white roses. the most recent one I had gotten read, "Amor vincit omnia" in calligraphy on my left arm from wrist to elbow which meant Love conquers all in Latin.
My dad carefully inspected each tattoos details. "They are beautiful. I see you got into the piercings too."

I smiled. "Just my ears." I had piercings all the way up both ears. "I tried to get my lip pierced and couldn't do it. However Andy has his nose pierced, ear, and just one side of his lip now."

My dad looked at us with a smile, "I forgot that when I first met you you had those...what are they called, something bites?"

"I did, and they got too much. I don't mind this side but the other kept getting in the way," Andy joked. "I wanted to get you guys together to give you this," he pulled out a white envelope with black lace border.

My dad took it. I didn't even know what it was. Carefully, my dad pulled the black bow sticker and opened the top. He pulled the small card and scanned over the neat print. His eyes teared, "You want me at the wedding?"

"We do," Andy said for me. God only knows how I ended up with such a perfect man. It's true, I did want my dad to walk me down the aisle and give me away to Andy. "It'd mean a lot to both of us and we thi-"

The front door slammed shut. "Jack whose here?" My heart stopped. It was my mother.

Andy leaned into my ear, "Babe, breathe. I won't let her hurt you."

I let out a shaky breath and tried to force in the air. She stopped in doorway. If looks could kill, I'd be pinned against the wall, crucified. "What are you two doing here?" she seethed through her teeth.

"Sage," my father said in a sing song voice, "Reyalie and Andrew stopped by to visit."

Her face grew dark, "What do you want?" she said throwing up her hands, "I'm not giving you any money so get out."

Andy quickly gripped my hand in a harsh squeeze, the pain in my hand tangling the words in my mouth. He took advantage of lapse, "Mrs. Chance, we have no intentions of wanting any money. I'm perfectly capable of supporting both of us. We only came to visit."

She crossed her arms, "Well your company is not welcome."

"Mrs. chance, I-"

"No Andy," I interrupted. I gripped his hand, and looked into his eyes, trying to tell him that I could handle myself. I took a deep breath, "Mom, I came back just to tell you guys that I love you both. I'm not here to ask for money or any favors. I just wanted to see you both and talk about how you two have been in the past four years. But, if that is too much trouble for you to deal with, Andy and I will gladly return to California and never bother you again."

She didn't answer, we only sat in silence for a few minutes, her expression locked in a grimace, and arms folded over her chest.

She wasn't going to talk, so I grabbed Andys hand and stood, "Fine, we're leaving."
Andy followed me silently, still holding my hand as we made our way to the door, Andy reaching ahead of me to grab the handle.

"Wait."
We paused.
"Sit," she sighed.

We walked back into the living room and resumed our place on the couch as my mother paced the floor unhappily. "Certainly you are here for a reason or explanation of some sort."
I was honestly pissed, "No we-"

"Actually I do," Andy interjected.
My mothers face twisted, her mouth mashing into a fine line. I had no idea what he was about to say.
"I've already settled things with Jack, but I do want an explanation," he paused. "What was your purpose or prerogative in telling Reyalie that I would leave her? That I was only wanting her for sex? That she was no longer welcome in her own home? Why is it that you never tried to contact her because I don't know how you slept at night not knowing where she was or who she was with. You have no idea just how much pain you put her through. You might have just thought I was-"
"That... Is enough." I could tell that she was beyond angry. "You have THINK for MOMENT how I saw it. Put your mind into the eyes of a parent. You're daughter leaves for St, Louis with a group of friends and her long term boyfriend. You get a call that your daughter is in the hospital and no explanation as to why you show up and see this dark being hovering over her to find he's some punk in a metal band that looks like he hasn't washed or had a hard cut in months. She gets back and is messed up suddenly and infatuated with this boy and then runs off with him because he'll make her dreams come true!"
Andy chuckles to himself, "You had no idea, did you?"

"Of what."

Andy looked her in the eyes. "Things weren't right even before I came into the picture. Yes your daughter came to St. Louis to be the opener for my band on a very low level stage when we were still uprising in the scene. How do you think I felt when I met this very talented and beautiful girl only to find that her boyfriend was not only mentally and emotionally but physically abusing her?"

"Excuse me?"
"You didn't know did you? Yeah, Seth, the kid you adored and wanted to be your future son in law was hurting your daughter in any ay possible. How do you think I felt when I break into her bus one evening to find him basically trying to rape her? And then find a razor blade on the floor by her bag?"

I closed my eyes. My mother never knew I cut. That I had tried to commit suicide. That Seth ever struck me. My hands began to tremble as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

"My daughter would never-"
"I did." I choked, "I cut myself since I was 15. I tried to commit suicide twice." I couldn't look at her face.

"The next day the son of a bitch tells me that unless he gets some ass from her he'll move onto the next girl in school who will give him the satisfaction. That day he disappears and so does she. I hunted him down and-"

"If it wasn't for Andy I would be here," I whispered. "He took me to a hotel, and tried to rape me with his friend. Andy found me and broke the door before he could hurt me. Andy saved my life...more than once."

"I wanted what was best for her, and obviously your idea and her idea where different. Yes, she ran away from home to be with me, because she had no support here. I helped her write and release her emotions into music because I knew she had amazing potential. And yeah, I'm not perfect I've made a lot of mistakes, but I will never let her out of my life again. I love your daughter with my entire being. You'd have to murder me to think about hurting her because as long as my hearts beating ill be fighting for her. I'm going to marry her on September 7th, with or without your blessing," Andy finished.

The tension was enough to choke someone. His strong arm wrapped around me pulling me into his body while I rested my forehead in his shoulder. Not a word was said. After five minutes of silence, Andy pulled me up with him and without a word. We left the house and drove away, my face in my hands in my knees, Andy's hand rubbing my back as the tears cascaded down my face.

Notes

Sorry for the long wait, it's taken awhile to really think out