Right Here in My Arms

I groaned and rubbed my eyes as I woke up from the deep sleep that I was in. I grabbed my vibrating cell phone off of the nightstand and hit answer, pressing it to my ear. “Hello?” I mumbled.

“Rowan, sweetheart, I feel terrible about this, but can you please bring me some files I left at the house? I need them today,” my dad’s voice came through.

I squinted my eyes and looked at the clock on my nightstand and sighed, seeing it was ten sixteen, “Yeah, dad. I will. When should be bring them?”

“No later than noon... I have a meeting at twelve twenty and I need those files. I left the files in my bedroom on the bookshelf by the door,” he replied.

“Alright,” I mumbled and rubbed my forehead.

“Please don’t be late, Ro... I really need those files for today’s meeting,” he said.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, “Dad, I won’t be late... I got it.”

I heard him let out a long sigh before replying with, “Thanks Rowan. See you then.”

I hung the phone up and laid my head back down on the pillow, sighing. I knew that I should get up now, but ten more minutes wouldn’t hurt, right? I closed my eyes and sighed. I lifted my head off the pillow to check the time once more and flailed off the bed onto the floor. I jumped up and ran over to my closet and immediately got dressed into the first pieces of clothing I found. “Fucking twelve thirty four!? What the hell!?” I shouted, shimmying into my pair of jeans and slipping a pair of shoes on. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and put it in my pocket before running into my dad’s room and grabbing the file folder on his bookshelf. I ran out of the house and down the street, not even bothering to hail a cab down.

How in god’s name could I have overslept that long!? That has never happened to me before? My dad is going to kill me...

Luckily we didn’t live too far from the company and I only had to run for about five minutes to get there, and once I got there, I tore into the building and ran into my dad’s office; about tearing the door of the hinges in the process of opening it. The only thing going through my mind was how angry my dad was going to be if the meeting was over and he never got the files for it. I was scared for what he’d say, because I knew this meeting was important for the company and to him.

“Dad?” I said quietly, looking at my dad who was sitting in his chair with his head in his hands. I was stunned that I had any voice to speak with because of how scared I was.

My dad took his head from his hands and narrowed his eyes on me. He slowly stood up from his chair and took a deep breath, staring at me.

I pursed my lips and took a few steps towards him. I held the folder out towards him and chuckled quietly, “I b-brought the... Files.”

My father grunted and ripped the folder from my hands, causing me to winced. He slapped the folder on his desk and shook his head at me, “Rowan, Rowan, Rowan.”

Oh, shit... The triple ‘Rowan’... I am in deep trouble. “Is the meeting over?” I whispered.

He raised a brow and crossed his arms over his chest.

I pursed my lips and let out a slow breath. I could see how mad he was. His body was tensed and I could that he was holding back from screaming at me. “Dad, I am so sorry. I can explain,” I mentioned.

He lifted his hand and shook his head, “I have nothing to say to you, Rowan.”

I looked down and closed my eyes.

“Sit down and be quite whilst I call a cab to take us home,” he snapped.

I turned and sat in the extra chair in his office. I folded my hands in my lap and pursed my lips again. I listened as my dad called a cab. I could still hear the anger in his voice even while he spoke to the cab company. I was truly terrified to get back to the house because I knew my dad would unleash his rage then and it wasn’t going to be pretty. I tried to convince myself that it wouldn’t be bad, but who was I kidding... I would be terrible.

After about fifteen minutes, the cab arrived and my father and I climbed in, driving to the house in silence. I tried to build up the courage to say something to my dad, but I couldn’t do it. I was too scared and I begun to shake the closer we got to the house.

I took a deep breath as the cab driver stopped in front of our house and swallowed the lump in my throat. I got out of the car while my dad paid the driver and I rushed into the house. I wasn’t going to try to hide from him. It was going to be easier to just get this over with and just have it done.

I took my shoes off and set them by the door and walked over to the couch, sitting down on the middle cushion and waiting.

My dad walked into the house and looked at me on the couch. He took his shoes off and slammed the door behind him. He walked through the living room and into the kitchen without saying a word.

I looked down at my hands that lied in my lap, waiting for him to begin to scream and rant out on me, but nothing... He just stood in the kitchen without saying anything or doing anything. Was he actually going to say something or was he just going to keep quiet? I took a deep breath and looked at him. I stood up and walked near the kitchen, looking at me dad as he stared at the tiles on the floor. “Dad?” I said quietly.

“You know what Rowan? I relied on you and I trusted you to get those files to me on time. I need those files and you knew damn well that I did. They were important and you knew that. You knew how big of a meeting that was for me and for the company and you slacked off,” my dad barked, looking up at me, “I don’t get how you couldn’t have just done this one thing for me. I don’t ask that much from you, goddamn it.”

I frowned and shook my head, “I knew that they were important... I overslept... I’m so-”

“You overslept? Rowan, you have responsibilities that you need to take care of - big responsibilities – and you let that slip. You can just drop your responsibilities to just go and fucking oversleep. That shit doesn’t get you anywhere in the world, Rowan,”

I sighed, “I’m sorry, Dad. I swear it won’t happen again.”

“It better not happen again. You’re jeopardizing both of our jobs and I can’t loose my job because of your fuck ups. You need to get your act cleaned up before you slip up even more. Neither of us can afford these major slip ups,” he barked at me. He shook his head at me and sighed, “I’ve never been so disappointed in you, Rowan.”

I felt like his last words literally broke my heart. I could feel my heart hurting inside my chest. I was just about ready to burst out crying right then and there. I’ve tried so hard to make sure that my dad could rely on me and that I never disappointed him, but I had completely let him down today. I looked to the ground and sniffled, “I’m sorry, Dad... I won’t screw up again... I swear I won’t.”

He sighed and pushed passed me, walking into his room and slamming the door behind him.

I wiped my eyes and slowly made my way into my room, quietly closing the door behind me. I walked over to my bed and lied down, beginning to crying into my pillow. I was sobbing so hard that I could barely breathe, but managed to get some oxygen in between my slight hyperventilation.

I probably cried for a about an hour and a half before calling Ensio for comfort, but having no luck with him answering. After that, I fell asleep for a couple hours and woke up to the sound of the front door slamming shut and my dad leaving. I started crying again and then decided to try calling Ville, whom I hadn’t seen or spoken to in a few days.

“Hello?” Ville’s deep voice came through on the speaker of my phone.

“Ville,” I sniffled and rubbed my hand across my face to wipe the tears away.

“Rowan?” he questioned and paused for a few seconds, “Are you alright?”

I bit my bottom lip, feeling tears form in my eyes and dribble down my cheeks. I shook my head and put my hand over my mouth, “No.”

He was quiet for a little while before questioning me, “A-Are you crying?”

“Yeah,” I sobbed and sniffled, trying to pull myself together.

“What’s the matter, love?” he asked, concern filling his voice.

I wiped the tears away again and took a deep breath, “I screwed up, Ville... I screwed up big time.”

“What happened?”

I sighed and looked down, shaking my head. I didn’t know how to tell him without sounding completely pathetic.

“Hold on, love. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be there. Don’t do anything, okay?” he suddenly said.

“Okay,” I replied.

“I’ll see you in ten,” he mentioned and then hung up.

I set my cell phone on the bed and sighed. I felt bad for kind of dragging Ville into this. He sounded concerned over the phone and I didn’t want to concern him in anyway. I knew that he cared and the he wanted to know, but I still felt bad for him having to drive all the way over here to see me so I could explain what happened.

I stood up when I heard and car pull up in front of the house. I walked out of my room and to the front door where I slid into my shoes and walked out front. I met Ville halfway up the sidewalk and pursed my lips.

He immediately wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug and sighed.

I hugged him back and began crying onto his chest. I thought I was going to be able to hold it together and not being crying like a baby, but something about his hug just made me start crying again. I stood there for about maybe five minutes just sobbing onto his chest while he held me. In some way, I was relieving but it another it was weird.

“Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly.

I sniffled and shook my head, “N-Not right now... Thanks though.” I pulled back from the hug and wiped the tears from my eyes, “I feel bad f-for making you drive all the way out here.”

He laughed, “Number one, you didn’t make me drive out here. I wanted to be here. You sounded hurt and like you needed someone and I wanted to be here for you. Number two, it’s not all the way out here.”

I sighed, “I st-still feel bad.”

He shrugged, “Don’t. It’s okay.”

I sighed again and looked at him, “Thanks.”

“It’s really no problem. What’s the main reason you’re upset?” he questioned.

I looked at the ground, “My dad... He’s upset with me and yelled at me.”

“I’m sorry, love. Are you going to be alright?”

I shrugged and looked up at him, “I don’t know... I really just don’t want to be here.”

“Oh,” he replied and nodded at me. He looked up at the dark sky and shrugging his shoulders, “Well, do you want to come to my house to get away for a while?”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean I didn’t want to be at my house... I meant that I wished I wasn’t here... Like, existing,” I replied, shaking my head at him. I didn’t mean for it to sound the way it did.

“The offer still stands,”

I pursed my lips and shrugged, “If you don’t mind?”

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, “I wouldn’t have offer if that was the case, love.”

I slightly chuckled and nodded, “Right... Well, l-let me write my dad and note and grab a few things and we can go, okay?”

He smiled and dropped his arm from my shoulders, “Alright, I’ll be here.”

I ran inside and wrote a note to my dad and set it on the tables. I grabbed a jacket from my bedroom and my cell phone before I walked out of the house and locked it. I then followed Ville to the cab that was still parked out there and climbed inside with him. I leaned up against him as he mentioned to the cab drive an address.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“For a while,” I shrugged my shoulders. I knew that I was over emotional right now and that I’d probably cry a few more times tonight, but I hoped that that wouldn’t be the case while I was with Ville.

He sighed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders again, “Well, I’m here if and when you want to talk about it.”

I looked over at him and smiled, “Thanks, Ville. I really appreciate it.”

After a little while, we arrive at Ville’s house and we got out after he paid the cab driver. I followed him up and into his house and as soon as walked in, I was flooded with emotions again. I was almost certain that the emotion was a mix between frustration from the last time I was here and from what happened today. Before I knew it, tears were spewing out of my eyes uncontrollably and I was sobbing.

Ville grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me over to his couch. He wrapped a big blanket around my shoulders and then slipped into his kitchen for a second.

I cocooned myself in the blanket and continued to cry for a little while into my hands. I pulled my hands away from my face when I felt the couch move a little. I looked at Ville as he sat in front of me and I rubbed my eyes, “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head and scooted closer, “No, no... Don’t apologize. You’re fine.”

I nodded and sighed. I scooted towards him and cuddled up to him in which he wrapped his arms around me and cuddled back. I sat there and was finally able to stop crying and now I just got lost in my thoughts. I admit that I was thinking about Ville, but I was thinking about the last time that I was here. I still hadn’t gotten an answer from him of whether or not we had slept together, but honestly I didn’t care. I knew that I wasn’t going to get an answer from him and I wasn’t even going to bother asking him again. I pulled back when Ville yawned.

He looked over at me and tilted his head, “What?”

I gently pushed him and sighed, “Go to bed. You’re tired.”

“I can’t sleep,”

“Well, that’s because you haven’t tried, Ville,” I mumbled.

He laughed and shrugged, “I haven’t slept well for as the past couple weeks.”

“Go to bed,” I demanded.

He tilted his head the other direction and raised a brow, “And what about you? Are you going to sleep?”

“I’ll go home,” I shrugged.

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around me to pull me close again, “You can stay here tonight.”

I laid my head on his chest and sighed, “Ville.”

“Rowan,”

I sighed and pulled away from him again.

“Stay here, please?” he begged.

I looked at his pleading face and sighed, slowly shaking my head. I really didn’t want to go back home because of my father but I didn’t know if I wanted to stay at Ville’s house. Would that be the best thing to do or not? “Alright, I’ll stay,” I told him.

He smiled and nodded, “Good.”

I pushed him again, “Now go to bed.”

He stood up and looked down at me, “Come with me?”

I shook my head at him, “No. I’ll be okay down here.”

He frowned at me, “Are you sure?”

I nodded.

He sighed and set the palm of his hand on the back of his neck. “Alright, if you’re sure. But if you need me, you know where to find me,” he mentioned.

I smiled and nodded, “Alright, and thanks again, Ville. I appreciate it.” I lied down and got comfortable on the couch and watched wall walk to and up the stairs.

It was going to be rather weird sleeping at Ville’s house, but I was going to have to get over it. I suppose that I’d be okay just as long as what happened last time didn’t happens this time... I haven’t had any alcohol, so things so go alright.

Maybe it’d talk to Ville tomorrow about what happened today and get some help and advice from him and then maybe I could convince him to tell me what happened the last time I was here... Maybe... Probably... Not.