Him.

Chapter 22: Great!

I pull back from Braden in a jolt and turn around and see my dad standing in my doorway with his hands on his hips, and he is kind of slouching. My dad has normal sized head with a buzzed cut hair cut, he has eyes that are the color of the sky, and he is very tall. He's very intimidating when he wants to be.

"Daddy, I though you and mom weren't supposed to be back until tonight." I say with nervousness. I know, I know, I still call my dad 'daddy'. I just like it. 'Dad' doesn't sound right when I'm talking to him.

"Linda's flight changed, so we came him early." he says with his deep voice. My parents went to visit my dad's sister before she left for Spain for a job 'retreat' or whatever.

"Oh." I say dropping my head.

"And who is this?" my dad says gesturing towards Braden.

"Daddy, this is Braden." I say pulling Braden's arm meaning him for to shake my dad's hand. And he does. My dad's face changes when he sees Braden reached out to shake his hand.

"And why is he here?" my dad usually doesn't care about this kind of stuff. But he's being really weird. This is nothing like him. Crap!! I don't need him to know about my stomach. He'll never let me see Braden again. He won't believe me if I tell him the truth. Well he would. But not if I use the right tone in my voice.

"He's here helping me recover from a fight I got into." I say with the tone in my voice. It is full of sarcasm. So if my dad finds out I can say I told him. Bonus!

"What is he really doing here?" he asks sounding a little less mad.

"He is here hanging out. He is new to school and I thought I would be nice and invite him over." I say smiling.

"Oh is that why he was sucking on your face?" He asks.

I blush and am about to say something but Braden cuts in.

"I am also Claire's boyfriend." Braden says putting his arm around my waist right on the bruise. I fight through the excruciating pain, but I can't hide it on my face.

"Are you ok honey?" My dad asks.

"I'm...I'm fine daddy." I say. I'm lying.

Braden sees what he is doing to me, but if he moves his hand my dad will notice and really get suspicious. I look up to him and tell him it's fine. I'm still lying.

"Well, Braden, you seem like an ok guy. Would you like to come to dinner tonight?" my dad asks.

"I would love to come to dinner." Braden says pulling me closer, which hurts.

"Great. I will see you tonight." my dad says leaving slowly and closes my door on the way out. The second the door closes Braden takes his hand off of me and I lean up against him with very little balance. He holds me by holding my elbows to keep me standing. He then swoops me up and places me down on my bed.

"I don't know how I am going to make it through dinner, or school." I say straining my voice so it doesn't hurt.

"You can do it. You're strong, and I'll be with you the whole time." he says.

I look at my clock and see that it's 2:00. Woah. How did that happen?

"You need to leave." I say.

"No. I'm not leaving you." He says holding my hand.

"You need to leave. Now." I say.

"I'm. Not. Leaving. You." He says.

"You need to get ready for dinner. You need to change. You really need to shower, and you have to come in through the front door. I also need to get ready." I say.