Then Came You (23 page)

“If you say so,” he sighs. “Your father has been arrested for procession of drugs, alcohol abuse and he’s also being charged for attempted rape.”

I gasp, feeling sick to my stomach as the words register.
“What?”

He cringes at my reaction. “It looks like he’s going to plead guilty. But I just thought I’d come round and tell you because it means the social services will have to get involved due to your age. You can also visit your father at the station any time you like so long as it’s a reasonable time, of course.”

“Right,” I nod stiffly, and he sighs before turning and leaving the house.

“Have a good day, Ma’am,” he says, looking like he regrets it, but saying it all the same.

I meet my
friends
eyes and smile, knowing that they’ll be there for me. “Thank you, I will,” I tell him firmly, before closing the door behind me. Tyler comes over and wraps my in a tight hug, and Dana’s eyes begin to water as she looks at me.

“I can ask Meg if you can stay with me, if you want,” she offers. I nod sadly at her and smile. Remy jumps over and envelopes me in a bear hug, and Joey strokes my back gently.

“Thanks guys,” I smile weakly at them. “But there’s somewhere I really need to be right now, and I need to do it alone. It’s the only way I’ll be able to move on.”

They understand, and we wave and say our goodbyes, and eventually it’s just me and Tyler, standing face to face at the doorway. “You’re going to go and talk to your dad?” He guesses.

“Yeah,” I croak, smiling at him. “I really need to do this.”

“I know,” he smiles. “I can give you a ride if you want…?”

I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him deeply, and I open my eyes to look at him when we pull away. “That’d be great. Thank you.”

“I’ll be right here,” he promises me, and I nod and squeeze his hand, before hopping out the car and heading to the station entrance. It’s a very strict looking place, with a formal blue and grey colour scheme and men in uniforms walking around briskly.

I nervously approach the desk and tell them why I’m there, and they tell me to take a seat and wait. I look at the people in the seats already – a scary looking woman, an old man and a guy with tattoos and a crazy glint in his eyes. I sit as far away from them as possible, and stare at my hands on my lap for the next twenty minutes, before a man walks out and tells me I can go and see my dad.

He’s sat in a bare room, his hands on the table as he waits. His eyes look up when I enter the room, but he avoids my eyes as I walk over and sit in the sit in front of him, both of us trying to ignore the police officer standing guard on the other side of the room.

“Darcy, I’m sorry,” he starts, breaking the heavy silence that had grown between us. I look up at him and frown. “I’ve let you down big style and there’s nothing in the world that will ever make up for that.”

“I want to know why,” I croak. “Why did you try to rape someone?”

He cringes and looks away, “I was drunk and I was – ahem – high. I didn’t even know what I was doing.”

“I’m sure she did,” I spit out bitterly, leaning over so he can’t help but meet my eyes and see the pain inside them. “You wanna know something,
dad?
I was raped back at our old home – I. Was.
Raped.
And I couldn’t even tell you because you were never there for me. I could stand the alcohol and the disappearances, but now?” I take a shaky breath and lean back from him is despair and revulsion. “Now you just make me sick.”

His eyes go wide. “I-I didn’t know, Darcy… I’m sorry.
Again.”

“Whatever,” I scoff. “I came here to tell you that I don’t blame myself anymore, and that I’m letting go so I can actually life my life. And also, I came to let you know that I never want to see you again.”

“I understand.” And when I look at him, I know that he does. He’s finally realised that everything he’s done was wrong, and he’s realising just what he’s lost. He looks at me in despair and guilt, and yet there also a spark of proudness in there – and that spark
is
coming from my old dad, the one I used to know. He’s proud of me for walking away at last and carrying on with my life.

I’m doing what Clara did – I’m leaving because that’s the only thing I can do now. In the end, I won’t regret it, because I know I’ve done the right thing. I take his hand in mine and I give him a sad smile.
“Goodbye, dad.”
And I turn and walk out of the room, and out of the police station.

Tyler is waiting in the car still, and I walk through the car park and climb in, startling him. He turns and smiles at me as he starts the car. “Is everything okay?” He asks me.

I smile and lean over to kiss his cheek. “Yeah,” I say honestly, and I feel like the weight of the world is lifted from my shoulders. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Epilogue

I stayed with Dana at Meg’s house until the end of the court case, and I waited until he was sent down. He ended up with 17 years in prison and he’d be given counselling sessions during his time.

I carried on working with Clara, and I told her about everything that was going on, and she told me funny stories about her siblings. We grew closer every day and she was one of my closest friends. I honestly don’t know where I’d have been without her.

Joey and Carl were still together and growing strong – he called me every day and we’d gossip about how great being in love was. We hardly saw Remy as much since her boyfriend stayed down. She told us she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before he had to leave again, and we understood that. We all knew what it was like to be in love.

Tyler smiled sadly at me as I folded the last of my clothes and put them in the suitcase, before zipping it up. I was packing for good now, and the social worker would be here in half an hour to take me to a foster family a few towns over. I was both anxious and afraid, and I was sad to leave everyone behind.

In the end, I knew I’d have to leave eventually. Staying with a friend and her non-relative was never an option, and I was advised by a social worker to go to a foster family who could take me in and show me how a true home feels like for once – I could also get counselling sessions where I could talk about my mum, my dad and the night I was raped.

Yes, in the end, I told the police officer about what Jason did. I didn’t have any proof, but they went down and checked it out. Turns out, there were a few girls he’d hurt and abused – he was being trialled and would no doubt be sent down by the end of the month.

Moving here was never an option, and yet it turned out to be just the thing I needed. I found friends that I would never forget, and I found love. It was here I learnt how to stand up to my problems and to get over my fear – it was here I learnt how to love.

There was a horn downstairs, and I looked up at Tyler in panic. No preparing could make this moment any easier. He took my hand and pulled my downstairs, carrying my last suitcase in the other. He put it down with the rest of them in the hallway, and turned round to smile sadly at me.

“Darcy!” A pink haired girl runs at me and throws herself into my arms, and Tyler stepped back so Remy could say her goodbyes. “I don’t want you to go! I’m going to miss you like crazy,” she sobs. I agree with her entirely.

“I’ll miss you too, Remy. I don’t know what I’ll do without my pink, crazy unicorn-girl.” I joke, squeezing her tightly.

“Alright, alright – my turn,” Joey pushes her out the way and smiles innocently at me.
“A hug for old times?”

“Oh, Joey!”
I envelope him in a huge bear hug and press my face to his chest. “I’m going to miss you too. Take care of yourself, alright?
And Carl, too.
He’s your something special in life, and you need him by your side.”

“I know that,” he murmurs, smiling at me. “Thank you for everything, Darcy. You’re my best friend.”

We hear someone clear their throat behind me. “Um, excuse me? She’s
my
best friend, thank you very much.”

I laugh, and I turn around to see the most amazing person in my life. Dana smiled sadly and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “You’re not my best friend – you’re my sister, silly.” And I give her one of the biggest hugs ever.

“Yeah, yeah,” She teases. “I don’t even know why I’m crying – we’ll be visiting each other whenever we can. Sleepovers every weekend, right?”

“Of course,” I smile at her.

 
A pair of arms pull
me away, and I fall into a muscular chest, a pair of sparkling golden eyes looking down at me. ”I hope I get an invite to these sleepovers as well. You know I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

“I love you,” I breathe, leaning up and giving him one of the most passionate, desperate kisses we’ve ever shared. “And I’m going to miss you too. I’ll phone every night, and I’ll visit as much as possible.”

“I know you will,” he whispers. “You know, I used to be so… empty before. I missed my dad and I was filled with blame for myself. I hid behind a player façade and I just existed with the crowd – and then came
you,
Darcy. You’ve changed my world, and I’ll always love you.”

“I know,” I whisper.

Someone clears their throat, and we all turn around to see the warm and kind social worker smiling at our goodbyes, the bags and suitcases already loaded in the car and ready to go. All that’s left is me. “We have to make a move, kiddo – if we don’t leave now traffic will be hell.”

I nod at her and smile brightly.
“Alright.”
I take a deep breath and pull away from my friends, and look at them one by one. “Don’t think of this as a goodbye,” I warn them playfully. “I’ll be back – and it’ll be like I never left!”

They laugh, and with that happy sound playing in my ears, I hop into the front seat and I close the door behind me with a
thud.
The social worker turns and beams at me. “All buckled up and ready to go, Darcy?”

“Yeah,” I breathe. “I think I’m ready.” Because I know that it won’t be for long. I’ll be seeing those guys again soon –
very
soon; because not all goodbyes last a lifetime. I guess that’s just another crazy thing about life that I’ll never understand; all I can do is
live
it. I know one thing’s for sure: I’m not just going to exist anymore…