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Malachi Azure
Scarlet’s first heartbreak…
Shutting the door behind her, Scarlet couldn’t contain the tears welling up in her eyes any longer, before collapsing onto the couch and burying her face into a pillow. Her gaze only returned upward at the sound of her father’s voice as he sat next to her. “Scarlet, what happened?” he asked, worried. Scarlet sat up, tears streaming down her face. “Boys are f^^^ing a^^holes.”
“What do you need me to do?” Scarlet shook her head, moving to hug her father and let him just hold her the way he had for as long as she could remember whenever she was hurt, sick, upset, or just needed a moment to be close to him. It didn’t take more than that for Kai to know the answer was nothing, she just needed comfort. “I know. Even the good ones can be, and that won’t change when they get older either.” Kai said, pulling his crying daughter close. He knew better than most that there were a lot of people out there that would hurt someone, and how even the ones with good intentions can cause just as much pain. He hated seeing her crying and upset, especially if it wasn’t because of something he could take into his own hands to fix. How long it had been, neither of them really knew, but nothing outside of that moment mattered to Kai, he just cared about comforting his little girl. She hugged him tightly, no words leaving her mouth for what felt like a long time before she finally spoke up with a question. “Daddy…? Have you ever been in love?” She had heard stories about her mom, but she never had the chance to know her, or really what the relationship between her parents had been like, so whether or not they were in love before she was born, wasn’t even a certainty in her mind. She thought she was in love, but she wasn’t even sure what being in love was supposed to feel like. The most she could do was see if her dad had ever felt the way she felt before, if he knew what heartbreak felt like, what love felt like.
“I have, twice actually.” Kai answered honestly. Not the early crushes that may feel like love at the time, not the unimportant flings, but actual love, he had felt twice in his life. “First, your mother became my best friend, she made me feel more like myself than I had been in years, and the more I was with her, the more she meant to me. I liked the person I was when I was with her, and with her I felt like I could be a better man, one that she deserved.” Kai spoke about Skye, and it was clear that Scarlet wanted to know more, about her mother, and about this other person that he had loved, Jess. “You said twice… when was the other time?”
“I was a little older than you are now, a senior in high school. When I first met her, she was nothing like what I expected her to be, and everytime I was with her, it was something new. I wasn’t interested in her at first, but she forced me to open up when I was with her and over time I didn’t want to be around her because I had to, but because I wanted to, because she made me realize everything I wanted to be. I fell in love with her, but in the end I still hurt her. I didn’t treat her as well as she deserved.”
“What happened with her? Where is she now?” She asked, curious about what her dad had done to hurt someone he loved, and why he hadn’t tried to be with her again. “When we were together, I lied to her, and I was never able to keep my promises to her. I did my best to protect everyone, but my best wasn’t enough and I failed her. I kept letting her down. She has a family of her own now, a husband, kids close to your age. She has a life that’s better than it was when I was there. I haven’t spoken to her in years, but I know she’s happier now. I just wish I could have been better back then.”
“Do you still think about her and mom?” Scarlet paused, thinking for a moment before adding a follow up question. “Did you ever stop loving them?” Scarlet knew her mother’s death was sudden and when her parents’ relationship was growing, but would he have stopped loving her after she’s been gone for so many years? What about the other girl he once loved, she moved on, and he was with her mother afterwards, but did he ever stop loving her? “I still think about your mom every day. I still love her, and I miss her, but I see some of her in you all the time. And I do still think about the other girl I loved sometimes. There is a part of me that will always love her, and wonder what could have been, but she is also a reminder of the person I want to be, and should have been.” Kai softly kissed the top of his daughter’s head. There was no denying who he had been in the past, but all he could do was continue to be better, to be a good father to his little girl, and to be a good example for her. “When there’s someone you really love, not just someone you think you love, but someone you truly love, a part of you will never stop caring about them, and losing them is always going to hurt, but it will get easier, even if it doesn’t feel like it”
@benitz786 - Jess mentioned