Have Faith In Me

"You can't just sit in my car forever, you know." Gavin said to his sister who was sitting in the passenger seat playing with her hands.

"I know that Gavin." Grace said simply

"G it really won't be that bad." Gavin said turning in his seat.

"Yes it will Gav. I hate him. He knows that I hate him. Its going to be way awkward, especially when you leave." Grace said looking at him.

"Well maybe if you stop being so stubborn and talk to him, he can explain things to you, you can vent and you guys can start over. That's all he wants Grace. Just try." Gavin said placing his hand on her shoulder. Grace just rolled her eyes and begrudgingly got out of the car.

"I hate you." Grace said angry that Gavin talked sense into her.

"Don't be mad. It's a god given gift that I have. The gift of persuasion." Gavin said laughing while grabbing her two suitcases.

Grace followed Gavin to the front door of her father's house. The same father she hadn't seen in eleven years. She doesn't know this man. He's practically a stranger. All Grace can think about is New York City. She wishes she could be home with her mom, her stepdad and her brothers. She really missed them. Grace was shaken out of her daze by Gavin who gave her a nudge in her arm. He walked inside the open door and she followed hesitantly. She was impressed by the house. It wasn't huge, probably two or three bedrooms at the most, but it had a homey feel to it, which Grace found odd since her dad lived by himself and she would exactly call him a "homey" kind of person.

"Aunt Michelle helped dad decorate….if that's what you're wondering." Gavin said heading towards the stairs.

"Ahh Aunt M. I miss her. How is she, Tanner and Gabriella?" Grace asked.

"They're good. You'll be seeing them soon. You know Aunt M is going come see you. Anyway this is your room."

Grace looked around the room that would be hers for the summer. It was filled with everything that she liked. Music, movies, games, a desk and computer, a flat screen television. She saw splashes of black and red everywhere, the curtains, bed sheets and accessories throughout the room. She had no doubt that her dad had help with this.

"Do you not like it?" Gavin asked sitting on her bed.

"Yeah its cool I guess." Grace said walking over to her window and sitting down on the seat.

"Gracie come on…" Gavin mumbled.

"Come on what Gavin? Come on what? I don't know what you want me to say or how you want me to act but I can't do it. I'm sorry. I hate him." she finished.

They heard the floor creak and looked up to see their father standing by the door. Grace could see the hurt, pain, disappointment and anger he felt towards himself in his eyes. But she didn't care. She wasn't forgiving him.

"I am sorry for hurting you Grace. I really am. That was never my intention. It kills me to see how much my actions have affected you. I wish I could take it all back. I would in a heartbeat. I love y-" he said getting cut off by Grace.

"Are you done? I really don't want to hear this. It doesn't mean anything to me." Grace said glaring at him.

Gavin shook his head as Matthew immediately closed his mouth and stared at his daughter. He could see how angry she was at him. It broke his heart. All he wanted to do was express how much he regretted leaving. How much he was sorry. How much he really loves her.

"I love you Grace. I just want you to know that." Matthew said before sending a look to Gavin and leaving the room.

Grace saw the sincere look in her father's eyes. It made her feel a little guilty. But she couldn't just forget about everything he had done to her, her mom and her younger brother. Gavin didn't understand. Their dad had always made sure that he talked to him. They had a good father/son relationship. But he didn't try to have a relationship with her nor her younger brother Carter. It was different for her.

"How can you be so cool with dad after seeing how he treated mom, Gavin? It seems like you didn't care about mom at-" Grace started before Gavin interrupted her.

"I can't believe you would say that shit to me Grace. Are you fucking kidding me?" Gavin said shocked and angry at what his sister was implying.

"I mean it wasn't my fault dad wanted to talk to me all the time. I didn't choose that. I couldn't just ignore him. Believe I wanted too. But he felt so bad about hurting mom. I could tell. He was so sad all the time. He just….he just changed Grace." Gavin said looking at Grace who was playing with her hands.

"G I know you are mad at dad. But you really don't know everything. You were too young to understand a lot of things." Gavin said.

"Oh yeah like what?" Grace said looking up at him.

"Maybe if you would talk to dad he could explain it to you. It would be better coming from him." Gavin explained.

"Well I'm not talking to him." Grace said looking out of the window again.

"God G you're so stubborn." Gavin said walking towards the bedroom door.

When he opened it he stopped and turned around to look at his younger sister.

"You want to know something?" Gavin said as Grace looked up at him with a torn face.

"Dad has a picture on his table next to his bed, of you and him. He looks at every night before he goes to bed. How can you think he doesn't love you if he does that? Dad just made a mistake Grace. Everyone does. You really need to try and get over it. Just imagine how it would feel if you messed up once as a mother and your kid hated you for it. It's not a good feeling." Gavin finished before leaving her room and closing the door.

Grace couldn't hep but feel guilty now. She ran her fingers through her hair and stood up walking to her bed she noticed a pair of keys sitting next to her bag. She quickly pulled out a black bikini and navy blue cotton shorts and a gray tank top and quickly changed. She threw on a pair of black flip flops and put her black hair up into a messy bun before grabbing her phone, sunglasses and wallet and walking out of her room and down the stairs. She passed the kitchen and saw her dad standing at the counter talking to Gavin. She looked at them quickly before talking.

"I'm going to the beach." Grace said simply.

"Do you know how to get there?" Her dad asked.

"I'll figure it out. Be back later." she said not giving them time to answer and walked out of the house.

She walked over to the black Nissan Altima that was sitting in the driveway.

"At least he got me a nice car." Grace said before getting inside and hitting the road.