Malachi Azure
It being a “long story” clearly wasn’t the right thing to say. But certainly it had to be better than dumping the information on them. What was he supposed to say? “Hi I just found out about your existence an hour ago, but I’m your father. And you exist because your birth mother decided to take advantage of the fact that I was too drunk to know it was her, so much so that I’ve never been able to recall what happened, and have sex with me just because it would p!ss me off and it would hurt her sister.”
Saying it was a long story barely began to cover that situation, and this was not the time or the place to have that conversation. Especially without knowing if they knew anything about him or not. Though, both girls’ words made things very clear, they were realizing exactly who he was to them. Kai wanted to come in and fix everything, make everything right, but nothing was that simple.
Annie… they had evidence against her. A mountain of evidence, or one small piece, it didn’t matter. Even the smallest piece against her could be damning. Kai knew the family she had grown up with would take care of her, that they would do everything in their power to ensure the accusation against her would be nothing more than that, but that doesn’t mean Kai couldn’t do something. That was one perk of who his family was, he had contacts. It wouldn’t be difficult to call in a favor with one of the best criminal defense attorneys one could find, just to make absolutely certain she wouldn’t get stuck in a situation with no way out. She would come out of this fine, there was no way she wouldn’t.
However, it was then that the dynamic shifted. Annie had to go, her father, Jordan the man who raised her, needed her at the hospital. Kai didn’t know much about the situation, but he understood enough to understand her need to go. One of the young men left with her, taking her to see her father, leaving Kai alone with just Paige and the nervous boy. For a moment, there was silence. Though it may have just been a few seconds, both seemingly unsure how to proceed with this situation, it felt far more significant. Kai watched Paige’s actions, her pulling out a joint, pausing to give him the opportunity to light it. Though, the look on his face likely said it for him, he was not going to do that. Either way, just as soon as the words left her mouth, she changed her mind, grabbing her own lighter and doing it herself while not only bringing up how he hadn’t been in her life, but adding how she didn’t need anything from him.
If you had asked Kai beforehand how this was supposed to go, he wouldn’t have been able to tell you, but this certainly wasn’t it. For a mere second, Kai watched as Paige turned and began walking out, with the boy quickly following behind her. There was only one thing on Kai’s mind to do at that point, he had to follow them out the door.
Could someone give Eddie a recap on everything that had happened in the last few minutes? He was right there watching the whole thing and he felt like he was still missing something. There was this guy that came into the police station, a put together but completely disheveled demeanor at the same time. There was something about the guy Eddie couldn’t place, but he didn’t know what. The man appeared to be someone who had been through a lot, despite appearing to only be around the same age as the Taylor-DeLoughreys, Amie’s parents. But the way Paige, as well as Annie were reacting to the man who had apparently bailed her out implied there was much more to the story.
Eddie wasn’t a part of the situation, so he stayed out of it, but soon after Annie and Enrique left, Paige turned and walked out the door. She had his keys, and she wasn’t leaving without him, so he followed her out to the car. “Paige, its my car. Let me have my keys, please.” It was his car, he should be the one driving. He could take her home, or back to prom, or wherever else she wanted to go, but it was still his car. She had to give him back the keys at some point. Couldn’t she just let him drive now?
Malachi Azure
As the three of them approached the car, it was clear that Paige was ready to drive off who knows where and leave them both behind. However, as they got outside, the person with her was trying to get the keys from her, stating how it was his car. “I know you don’t need anything from me, but not everything is what you think. Give your friend his keys, and we can talk.” Kai wanted the chance to explain. He didn’t know what he would say, but shouldn’t he at least try to say something? Apologize for not having anything to do with her for her entire life, even though he never knew about her or Annie? At the very least, he knew he couldn’t just let her drive off like this, alone and smoking a joint. Would most say he was a good father? Not really, but he still tried, and letting her go like that without even trying anything wouldn’t make him any better of a father.
@benitz786
@novella - Annie mentioned