The Other Side of Life

Chapter Ten

The Other Side of Life: Chapter Ten~

When Willow woke up the next morning and joined her uncle in the kitchen, the awkward tension was thick in the air around them. Well, at least it was to Willow. She wasn't sure if she was going to be lectured again or if last night when he came into her room had eased things between them. Was she in trouble? Was he mad at her?

As Max placed her breakfast in front of her, pancakes doused in Nutella, a regular Sunday occurrence, she hesitated in picking up her knife and fork, wondering if it was a good idea to sit through the whole duration of breakfast with him. The less time she spent in his presence, the less time he had to lecture her.

"Whatever you're thinking about, kid, I suggest you stop," her uncle's firm voice filled their air, Willow's eyes snapping up to meet his. "You're staying here and you're eating your breakfast."

Willow rolled her eyes at the way he spoke to her, like she wasn't almost seventeen. "I wasn't thinking anything," she denied, taking her utensils in her hand.

Max hummed in the back of his throat, coating his own pancakes in chocolate spread. "Then you can stop staring at the door like you're going to make your great escape."

Willow's eyes left the exit with a sigh. She didn't bother answering her uncle, not wanting to admit he was right but also not wanting to deny it any longer. She really did not want to be here. This had been her first argument with her uncle and she didn't know how to act.

"So..." he began, causing Willow to tense up momentarily. "How was your date?"

"Do you even care?" Willow shot back a little defensively, her tone soft— her throat was feeling really sore today. She hadn't meant to be so snappy with the question, but truthfully, no one had ever really asked Willow something like that. Nobody ever cared enough to ask about how she was doing or how a specific event in her life had turned out; no one but Tammy and Luca. Add that to the fact that her uncle wasn't too pleased that she had gone out with Elliott, she guessed he was just asking to be nosey, to try and find a reason to say 'see, I told you so', like she believed he would if she were to tell him about Elliott's friends.

"Willow," he warned her, his tone not one she'd heard before. It sounded like her dad's did when he was being stern. "Of course I care."

Her facial expression softened, "Sorry," she told him simply, avoiding his confused frown. She really didn't mean to get so defensive over such small things, but she couldn't help it. "It was good. I had fun."

"Oh..." her uncle looked down at his plate. "I thought you would've had more to say." Willow just shook her head.

She couldn't help but feel sick at the memory of last night, the way Elliott's hand held hers or how he threw his arm around her shoulders so casually. She felt utterly and completely like shit just thinking about how much she enjoyed herself the previous night.

Guilt. That's what it was. She felt so guilty for having fun with a guy that wasn't her Luca and all she wanted to do was lay in bed and sulk. Her heart clenched painfully with every breath and she knew today was going to be one of those days; one of the bad ones.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night," her uncle's apologetic voice shook her from her thoughts. "I shouldn't have said what I did, but you need to understand I was worried about you, Willow. You're my responsibility now and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." She avoided meeting his eyes as he continued. "Do you understand why I was angry?"

Willow nodded her head. "Yeah, I understand that and you have every right to be mad that I missed curfew. But it really was an accident." Despite being known for her rebellious behaviour, Willow genuinely hadn't meant to break her uncle's rules— not this soon, anyway. "But I don't agree with you constantly badmouthing Elliott, and I also don't agree how you blamed him for me being late."