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Chapter 4

"We're not working today." Daniel said as Gabi came down from her room, dressed in a revealing denim outfit that he didn't entirely approve of. "Once you're dressed, we're going on a road trip." He explained.

"Dad, I am dressed. This is what people wear." Gabi said tiredly.

"People who aren't my daughter…" He lifted his brows, wondering if she always went out like this.

"I've been dressing like this for over a year, it's my style." She returned.

"And you wonder why you got attacked…" He muttered.

"You don't know anything about that!" She yelled, throwing down her bag to the floor.

He sighed.

"You're right I don't, you can tell me in the car, once you get changed." He suggested.

"I'm not changing." She folded her arms stubbornly, her words taking on a bigger meaning. She wasn't going to change for a father who had abandoned her. He had to begrudgingly respect that.

"Ok, fine, can we please just go?" He asked, picking up the cool bag full of food.

--

"How was the movie?" Daniel asked as he drove.

"It was ok." She replied.

"You sulking again?" He asked.

She squinted at him, her arms still folded across her small body.

"You just don't get it do you?" She asked.

"Honestly? No, I don't." He agreed.

"I was attacked because my boyfriend goes to a different school than me. Because some asshole…" She paused. "Sorry." She apologised quickly for swearing, searching for another word, "…some…moron decided that we had to be punished for that. It was his best friend, dad. He got beaten unconscious because of me. Because of us." Her tears fell then as she sniffled heavily and he cast a look over at her, pulling up at the side of the road.

He leaned toward her, knowing she wouldn't accept a hug.

"I'm sorry, baby girl. No-one deserves that. No-one deserves to be hurt like that." He agreed. "Not even the jump-start who decided to date my daughter." He muttered.

"He's not a jump-start." She said back, her eyes cool and calculating.

"Okay…" He gave in. "Okay, I'm being presumptuous. I need to get the whole story before I jump to conclusions." He guessed.

She nodded.

"He fought for me, dad. We had to fight so hard to be together." She explained.

"I understand, honey. I get it, you miss him. I've taken you away from him." He said, surprising her with his insight.

She looked at him, not sure what to say.

"I promise, you'll be back with him soon. You can call him whenever you like, just please, give me a chance to know you?" He begged, biting his lower lip.

"Can I call him now?" She asked gently, her voice shaky.

He sighed, knowing he had to support her on this one. Even if he didn't know anything about the guy or what his intentions were, he had to at least trust his daughter.

"Of course you can. We still have a way to go." He said and put the truck back into drive, pulling out onto the freeway.

--

"Where in the heck are we?" Gabi wondered as they pulled up at a viewpoint and Daniel collected the food bag.

"We are in the middle of heaven." Daniel stated, starting to climb down a worn pathway, holding out his hand to Gabi to help her balance.

She ignored his hand and went in front of him, her gladiator sandals not the best footwear for this trip.

"Is this where you try and convince me to stay with you?" She wondered, her arms striking back and forth angrily as she walked.

"No. I'm happy you're with your mom, she's a great woman." He said.

Gabi turned to him.

"Even though she lets me dress like this and have sex?" She challenged with her biting honesty.

"Even then." He agreed. "I've missed you growing up. I used to love your laughter, your smiles…" He reminisced.

"Isn't it about time you told me why you left? Why you didn't come back?" she beseeched.

He stopped her gently, catching her arm. He pointed to a spot where he lay out the blanket, going into his bag and peeking at her.

"Okay I got…coke, lemonade, some kinda new-fangled what-it doody drink that all you kids go crazy over…"

Gabi giggled at him, rolling her eyes.

"It's called Kwasherthirst, dad." She teased.

"Yeah, that's the one- you want that?" He asked.

"I like coke." She replied, telling him in the way she said it that she was prepared to let him into her likes and dislikes.

"But not this sugary stuff?" He tipped his lips downward.

"Not so much…But if I'm cheerleading and then skating straight after, sometimes it can help with my energy levels…" She offered.

"Is there anything you don't do?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I guess I don't always study so hard…" She admitted.

He smiled at her, seeing so much of himself in her. At her age, he was exactly the same. Always off doing something, being active, never able to sit still.

"Maybe I can help with that…" He said gently.

"Troy said 'hi' by the way." She ventured as she ate her sandwich.

"Did he now?" He asked with an arched brow. "Does he know I'm sick of hearing his name?" He joked.

"His mom is the same. She told him to get a flight out here." Gabi mused.

"Well that's good to hear." He said warmly. "Perhaps you'll let me meet him one day?" He suggested, looking to her.

The sun was highlighting her features; her hair was blowing back in the breeze. She looked so serene and happy and it wasn't because of him.

"Maybe if you drop me home instead of mom coming to get me…maybe you could then…" She hedged. His brows rose high on his forehead.

"I'd like that." He admitted. Gabi nodded, twisting her lips.

"I've shared dad, its time you told me your story now." She said with such maturity that he wondered if she ever got a chance to just be a kid, to just have fun. He swore to himself she would have time for that while she visited him.

"Well, I suppose you're right." He sighed, leaning back on his hands.

They sat there, until the sun was fading, until there were hardly any words left to speak and Gabi learnt about her father. That he had turned to drink after the divorce, that he'd been in a bad way- demanding to see Gabi, sometimes turning up drunk, violent.

He'd lost his job, his home, he'd hit rock bottom.

And then he'd started to build up again. He went to rehab, taken a mechanics course, opened his garage. And he'd kept it steady for two years. That had been Julia's test for him. To stay clean and employed for two years and then he would be allowed to see her. And finally that day had come.

Gabi watched her dad as he drove them home with a new feeling growing in her heart. It was one she hadn't felt since the day he had left and once she wasn't sure she would ever feel again. It kind of felt like love.