We Stitch These Wounds

It was now day; Christian had taken Scarlet to a hotel nearby, following her instructions, of course, and they had slept in the same room, same bed even. They were father and daughter – strangers, in fact – and they didn’t want to be apart, now that they had found each other; actually, Christian didn’t want to let his daughter go, after all she had been through.

The morning had come unwelcomed; both of them wanted to sleep forever, as a matter of fact. Christian, because he had been a bad father for sixteen years of his daughter’s life, and Scarlet because she still hadn’t gotten through what had happened with her; unfortunately, they both had to wake up, ‘cause Christian had already booked the flight for them, so they could go to the States, where Christian’s band mates awaited him, unaware of the fact that he was a father, and that he was planning on bringing his daughter on tour with them; he couldn’t leave her alone, again.

“CC?” She asked, while waiting for her father to get out of the bathroom, where he was dressing.

“Yes?” He asked, opening the door and walking to the bed, sitting down beside her.

“What’s my full name?” She asked; Scarlet looked up from her hands to her father’s face, expectantly.

“Scarlet Dannielle Mora” he said, smiling slightly at her; just after that, he realized something. “Wait, how do you know my nickname? I didn’t even tell you my name…” He said, confused.

“Black Veil Brides fan” she said, taking her cellphone out of her pocket and showing him the collection of pictures, videos and songs she had saved, there. “Why do you think I got in that car with you so easily? I trust you” she explained, snuggling her nose against his shoulder.

“Oh, I see. So you’ll like what we’re gonna do for most of this year, then” he said, smiling from ear to ear; then, he got up and offered her his hand, which she took, swinging their arms as they walked out of the hotel room.

After they were done checking out the hotel, they got inside the rent car and CC drove them both to the airport, where they waited two hours for their flight, in blissful silence; well, it was not as much as silence, since CC was suavely drumming on the bench, and Scarlet was listening to music on her cellphone.

“Scarlet, it’s time to go” the older man said, looking through his deep brown eyes to his daughter, whom was mouthing silently the lyrics to some song, which CC could only get some words, like ‘savior’, ‘there’, ‘through’ or ‘harm’, but that was enough to tell him she was listening to one of his band’s song. “Come on, before the plane leaves without us” he called her, one more time, tugging on her arm so she would pay him the attention he was seeking for; when she looked at him, taking one earplug out of her ear, he repeated his calling. “We gotta hurry; the plane is ready to leave.”

This time, Scarlet actually heard him, and instantly got up, her bags in her hands, as she followed her father around; she had no experience in any type of airport, let alone a plane, so she just stuck to imitate her father with anything he did; she put her luggage right after her father’s, the same way he had, she followed him through the metal’s checkers, or whatever it was called, and was glued to him when he walked to the plane and sat down.

As soon as she was sat in her place, between the window and her father, Scarlet grabbed his arm, actually scared of flying, now that she had a chance; she had always wondered how it’d feel to be on a plane, above everyone else, just flying through so many different places, but, now she was there, ready to do it, she was deadly nervous.

“Scarlet, are you scared of flying?” Christian asked, looking at her daughter’s fearful face.

“I don’t know, this is my first time, so… I guess I’m just nervous” she confessed, loosing the grip on his arm a little bit, fearing that he might think she was a coward.

“Oh, I was like that on my first time, too; you can hold my arm, if that makes you feel safer” he offered, smiling down at her; she looked up at him, holding onto his arm again, this time even leaning her head on it.

Soon, the plane got off the ground, more smoothly than Scarlet had imagined, and she didn’t even feel the difference between being on ground or in the air, which meant that, soon enough, she loosened the tight clutch she had on her father’s arm, daring to look out the window. When she saw she was already high up in the sky, she felt a tiny stab of fear, but that quickly went away, when she saw the view; it was even more beautiful than she had imagined!

“So, you like it?” Her father asked, when seeing her smile, which surprised her, but didn’t make her turn her eyes away from the outlook.

“Yeah, thanks; it’s beautiful” she stated, finally deciding to leave that amazing vision and get back on the plane. “It’s better than I had imagined.

“It always is” was the response she got from her father, who had a dreamy look on his face.

He was, in fact, reminding the first time he had gotten on a plane; Ashley had to hold him, because he was trembling from fear, but as soon as he had seen the outside view, he had forgotten everything else, totally lost in the clouds and the tiny houses he had seen, at first.

The rest of the flight went by easily and quietly; Scarlet and Christian talked, from time to time, commenting on the view, or talking about some aspects of their life that they hadn’t covered, yet.

“You look better without all the make-up; no offense” she said, smiling slightly to let her father know that she meant no harm.

“I’ve heard that lots of times before, kiddo, so, no offense taken; but I have to wear it for the band, right?” He replied, smiling widely; he loved his daughter already, even just they didn’t have many time to talk through deeper stuff than favorite colors or favorite bands.

“Yeah, that’s true; oh, well. Did you dye your hair, or it was originally that black?” She asked, taking a lock of his long raven hair on her hands, carefully so she wouldn’t mess with his bandana, analyzing it closely.

“Originally black; but I’ve dyed my hair a couple of times before. And you, have you ever dyed your hair?” He asked, even though he was mostly sure the answer would be no; her hair didn’t look worn out.

“Never had the chance, even though I’d love to” she replied, looking out the window once again, still playing with her father’s hair softly.

“Then, we’ll make sure to buy the hair dye and everything so you can do it; I don’t want you missing any experience in your life” he replied, watching as her face lit up when she looked back at him.

“Thanks, dad!” She said, excitedly, even hugging him tightly for a couple of seconds; when she let go, her face was quite red, and her eyes widened; she had finally let her emotions take over her.

“No thanking; you deserve it” he said simply, shrugging it off as nothing; then, he put an arm around her and leant onto her, falling asleep a little bit later.

When CC woke up, Scarlet had fallen asleep against his chest, and he made his best to get comfier, yet not waking her up; when he was done, he arranged her unconscious body on his, getting her on a better position to sleep. Right after that, he fell asleep again.

Some hours later, Scarlet woke up and saw the sign to buckle their seatbelts on, and woke her father up smoothly, warning him; he woke with a smile on his face, acknowledging that they were almost home. He still didn’t know how he’d tell his band mates what was going on, but he guessed he just had to tell them the truth; they surely would understand.

“We’re almost home” he whispered, the smile growing in size, on his brightened face.

“Yeah, I guess we are” Scarlet replied, while fastening her seatbelt tightly; once it was done, she looked at his father, who was still smiling, and an idea quickly passed through her mind: what would he do with her when he had to go on tour?

She settled for not dwelling on the thought; he’d know what to do, for sure. He’d probably leave her with a close friend while he was away or something like that, and she just had to be cool with it; she had no right to complain, when he had saved her from the orphanage.

When the plane landed, Christian hurried out of it, almost dragging his daughter along with him; once they had their luggage, he almost ran out of the airport, taking his cellphone out of his pocket instantly and dialing someone’s number on it.

“Hey, Ash” he said, and Scarlet calculated that he was talking with Ashley Purdy, one of the guitarists of the band her father was in. “Yeah, I know. I wasn’t even in the States, dude.” He replied to what the other man must’ve said, while walking slowly towards the parking lot nearby. “I’ll explain later; please, get all the guys at my place by three, ‘kay?” He asked, taking a glance at his daughter, who was glued to his side, and then looking at some car in the parking lot. “Thanks, Ash; see y’all later.”

Once he had hung off, he took one of his daughter’s hands, and walked with her to a shiny black porshe, that she couldn’t help but admire; it was a beautiful car, indeed, and she felt special for getting to ride on such an expensive and amazing car.

“This is yours?!” She asked, unable to believe it.

“Yep; my uncle’s gift for my twenty-first birthday, actually” Christian replied, throwing his little bag on the back seat, motioning for his daughter to do the same, and, after she was done, telling her to sit beside him, in the front, to which she complied instantly.

Soon after, he started driving, and Scarlet had never felt more amazing in her life; he drove fast, and she liked it, even though all that had happened; she trusted him. The wind against her hair felt better than anything she had ever tasted, and the music that he put on the radio just went greatly along with that feeling; she felt as if she was reliving, after all the time she had been dead, inside.

Quicker than she thought, the stop arrived, and she noticed they were in front of a mall, and immediately started wondering what they were doing there; maybe he had a friend there who could take care of her while he reunited with his friends and band mates?

“Come on, Scarlet; we’re buying your hair dyer now” he informed her, while jumping out of the car; this simple sentence made her eyes lighten up and she followed him eagerly.

Christian knew the exact place where they had to go to get her hair bleach and hair dye and, as soon as they got inside the store, he saw his daughter’s eyes widen at the amount of colors there were around her; this store was dedicated solely to hair products, hence why the rainbow of tones that filled it. He gave her permission to go around and get whatever she wanted and needed for her hair change, and just stood by the counter, watching her take the things out their shelves, even though fearfully; she always looked at him before picking something up, and only after he had nodded at her she would take it with her.

When she was finished, she had in her hands a kit for hair bleaching, red and black hair dyer, and the instruments needed for the hair change; he took it from her, put it on the counter and quickly paid for it, leaving the store with her afterwards. He decided that, once they were there already, they could go on a quick tour to Hot Topic, knowing she’d want to take some band shirts from there, most likely; and he was utterly right.

As soon as she got inside the store, her eyes bawled at a My Chemical Romance t-shirt that was exposed, and he went with her to it and gave it for her to try; then, he went around with her, asking her which clothes she liked and giving her everything she said she liked, so she could try and, more than hopefully, take home. He wanted his daughter to have everything she wanted; she more than deserved it.

“Thanks a lot for all this, dad” she said, a full smile on her face, when they were leaving Hot Topic with an immense amount of bags in their hands.

She had bought everything, from skinny jeans to band tees, bandanas and even hoodies; he knew she had just renewed her entire closet, and he didn’t even care; she’d need that many clothes for what he had prepared.

After that shopping session, Christian drove them to the house he lived in, since it was almost three p.m., and he didn’t want to be late to his own ‘meeting’; once he pulled on the sideway, he got out the car and picked as much as he could from the car, leaving his daughter to carry just two or three bags. He then led her inside, showing her around the house quickly, and telling her to leave all she had in his room, and to follow him to the living room, afterwards; she did as she was told, and sat in one of the couches, with her father beside her.

“So, I’m going to introduce you to the rest of the band now, okay?” He asked, looking at her hopefully; she couldn’t be happier that he had decided to do that.

“Yeah, fine; I’ll try to control my screams” she joked, and he was happy; she was finally letting her true self emerge, he could just see it.

Shortly after that, the doorbell rang, and CC got up to go and get it, leaving his daughter, filled with nervousness, in the living room; once he got to the door, he took a deep breath and opened the door, being met with all his band mates there.

“Fancy seeing you, CC” Jinxx said, while rolling his eyes; when his band mate didn’t reply, he quirked an eyebrow. “Not going to let us in?” He asked, still in a joke tone.

“Yeah, I just… I want you guys to meet someone, but it’s not just someone, okay?” CC said, while biting his lip; this time, Jake was the one to speak.

“What, don’t tell me you got married, you little mofo!” He said, his eyes wide as the moon.

“No, but… I have a daughter” CC said quickly, embracing the silence that followed his statement.

“How?” Ashley asked, seeing in CC’s face that he didn’t want to go deeper in that matter, but also knowing that he’d tell them.

“I’ll tell you guys later; I want you to meet her first, though. Just… she’s sixteen, and a big fan, okay? So, if she screams when she sees you, let her; she’s been numb since I’ve met her, and only now she’s letting her emotions out, so, yeah…” The drummer said, letting the guys in his house, after; he led them to the living room, where his daughter remained, in the exact same position as before.

“Hey, Scarlet; this are the guys… but you know their names already, right?” Christian asked his daughter, who looked over at him, again with that blank expression on her face and that transparent wall in her eyes. “Guys, this is my daughter, Scarlet.”

Scarlet took a second to look over at the guys, trying to find any differences between who they seemed to be in interviews, and who they were showing off to be, just then, even though they were all silent; she had grown to know how to analyze people’s eyes, though, so, she could read them all perfectly. As she expected, they were exactly the same; no fake shows, fake interviews, or fake tweet updates, like most stars did; they were genuine. One of the guys, though, had his eyes wide.

Andrew, the lead-singer, was mesmerized by the girl on the couch; her round-y face enchanted him, along with her almost dead eyes; her lips called for him, along with her body; if it wasn’t because she was one of his best mates’ daughter, he wasn’t very sure what he’d have done; he was hypnotized by her beauty.

“Hey, Scarlet; cute name” Ashley said, unable to think of anything else to say to break that silence.

“Thanks” she replied, leaving the blue-eyed singer even more enthralled by her; her voice was beautiful.

“Okay, guys, now that you know each other, I need to ask you something” CC said, getting the attention from his band mates, except for Andy, who was still captivated by his daughter. “Well, so, yeah, I just found Scarlet, and we’re going on tour soon, so…”

“This is it” Scarlet thought; “he’s gonna ask if they know of somebody who can stay with me.”

“I was wondering if she could come with us?” Christian asked, surprising Scarlet, who had been looking at the floor up until that moment; when she heard him, though, she lifted her head to him, to see him biting his lip while looking at his band mates.

For a single moment, no one said a thing; that is, until Andrew realized what the drummer had asked and was quick to reply.

“Of course she can” he stated, not asking for his band mates’ opinion, just thinking about that face of hers that had him awestruck.

“Really?” CC asked, a smile already showing on his face.

“Why not? She’s a fan, so it isn’t like she won’t enjoy it, and I think it won’t do us any harm to have her around” Ashley said, smiling down at Scarlet, who had a goofy smile on her face; Andy thought she looked even more beautiful when she was smiling and there was life in her eyes.

“Thanks a lot, guys!” Christian screamed, while hugging his band mates, all at once; he couldn’t be happier. Well, at least that’s what he thought.

The moment his daughter hugged him tighter than she had ever done, crying onto his clothes while mouthing unending ‘thank you’s made him feel even better than before; she could feel her tears soaking his shirt, but he couldn’t help himself but look at his band mates and smile; she was happy, and she was showing it.