Fall From Grace

I had to hold back tears the entire drive over to Johnny’s. I didn’t want to cry anymore because I didn’t want to risk wrecking my car on top of everything else. After what seemed like hours, I reached Johnny’s house, praying that he was there.

I got there just in time to see Johnny on his way to his car, keys in hand. I was so glad I caught him. I quickly turned off my car and climbed out of it. Johnny looked at me a little confused before walking over to meet me.

He seemed to instantly notice the tears in my eyes because he just pulled me into his arms without another word. I rested my head against his chest and let the tears I’d been holding back fall freely. We stood there like that for a while until he let go of me just enough to wrap an arm around my shoulders before walking me to the door. He unlocked it and let me walk in front of him into the house.

“Let’s go up to my room,” he said quietly, taking my hand in his.

I gave him as much of a smile as I could manage as I let him lead me up the stairs. Once we got to his room, he plopped down on his bed and pulled me down with him. At least an hour passed and not a single word was spoken. Johnny just held me tightly in his arms as I cried until I could cry no more.

“Thank you,” I said, breaking the silence that seemed to stretch on for hours.

“For what?” Johnny asked, leaning forward and pressing a tender kiss to my forehead.

“Most guys would demand to know why I was crying like that, but you just held me and let me cry. I needed that.”

“There’s no reason to thank me, I’m just doing my job as your boyfriend,” he said.

Johnny smiled down at me and I couldn’t stop the small smile that miraculously found its way onto my lips.

“I’m sure you want to know why I’m so upset,” I said quietly.

Johnny smiled at me again and pulled me closer to him.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he said.

My smile faltered as I thought about what I had witnessed. Trying to put it into words was the hardest part of it all.

“I went to see my asshole of a dad, like I told you I was going to, and I walked in on some slut fucking him on his desk. He tried to tell me it wasn’t what it looked like, but I saw it. He was cheating on my mom, Johnny. How am I supposed to face either one of them now?”

“I’m so sorry baby. My mom divorced my dad after he cheated on her, so I know what you’re going through. It’s a bad situation any way you look at it. You’ve got to decide if you want to keep it to yourself or if you want to tell your mom. It’s not an easy decision any way you look at it,” it amazed me that he always knew the right words to say to make me feel okay.

I could feel tears springing to my eyes again as Johnny spoke. I was thankful that I had someone there for me who had been there before.

“I think my dad should be the one to tell her. The bastard deserves to look into her eyes and see the pain he is inflicting on her. I’m going to find him and I’m going to try my hardest to make him come clean to her. I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell her, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to keep his secret for him. I will tell her if he won’t.”

By the time I finished speaking, I was shaking like crazy and tears were pouring from my eyes again.

“You do whatever you think is right. Just know that I will be here for you no matter what happens,” he assured me.

“Thank you, Johnny.”

With a sigh, I crawled out of Johnny’s bed and made my way into his bathroom. I splashed some cold water on my face, hoping that it would make me feel a little better. The sight before me in the mirror wasn’t pleasant. My eyes were all read and puffy and I looked like I’d been crying for hours, which I had.

After drying off my face, I walked back into the bedroom to see Johnny sitting up on the edge of his bed waiting for me. He stood up once I entered the room and gave me a small smile as he pulled me into his arms. Fighting back more tears, I buried my head against his chest. I stepped back from him and pressed my lips against his gently. I was terrified of what I was going to do, but I knew I had to face my dad eventually.

“Good luck, baby. When it’s all said and done, you can come back here if you don’t want to be home.”

“I’ll probably take you up on that offer. I love you, Johnny,” I said. I’d never get tired of saying those words to him.

“I love you, too.”

With one final kiss, I turned and left Johnny in his room.

~x~

I decided to go back to my dad’s office to look for him and I was glad that I chose to go there first. He was sitting on top of his desk with his head in his hands when I arrived for the second time that day.

“Melanie, I’m so glad you came back,” my dad said quickly, jumping off the desk to stand before me. He actually looked relieved to see me and I almost laughed when I thought about how I was about to rip that away from him.

“You have to tell mom,” I said simply, rolling my eyes at the look of shock that crossed his face.

“There’s no need. I ended things with Diana right after you left,” he said.

“I don’t care who you ended it with. I will not sit back and pretend like I didn’t witness anything while you continue to pretend that you love my mother,” I said, my voice shaking. I was so mad at him. I don’t think I could ever look at him in the same way.

“Melanie, you don’t know what you’re saying. I do love your mom, very much.”

“Well you have a very fucked up way of showing it and I don’t care whether you love her or not, you were still cheating on her. She has a right to know. Now, you either get your ass home and tell her or I will.” Under any other circumstances he’d be yelling at me for my language, but there were far more important things going on right now.

Anger washed his face as he started at me for a few moments. Eventually, the anger changed to sorrow and he let his shoulders sag, accepted his defeat.

“You’re right. Let’s go home,” he finally said.

I waited as my dad grabbed his briefcase and keys and locked his office up. I wasn’t doing it to be nice, I just wanted to make sure that he was going home with me. Once in the parking lot, I didn’t say another word to him, I just got in my car and waited on him to do the same. I pulled out onto the road behind him and followed him through the streets and back home.
The entire drive there, I could see him glancing up at me in the rearview mirror. The closer to home we got, the more nervous he looked. That was good, I wanted him to suffer at least a little bit after what he’d been doing to my mom.

When we both pulled into the driveway, my mom came out to greet us with a smile on her face. She ran up to my dad and pressed a kiss to his lips that made me want to throw up right then and there. He wouldn’t meet her eyes and I knew that he was going to go through with it.

I turned around and headed straight for the front door. I didn’t want to be anywhere around for his confession and the fight that was surely going to take place afterwards.

“Honey, there’s something I need to tell you,” I heard my dad say faintly before I slammed the front door. I took the stairs two at a time and rushed into my room. I turned on music and turned in up really loud before throwing myself on my bed. I had no idea what all this was going to lead to and I was honestly afraid to find out.