Blind Date

Disclaimer: … plot… that is all…

Chapter 6

This past week has been emotionally draining. Everyday is a constant reminder of what happened between me and my mom.

The kids at school say the haircut looks nice but they were so used to me having long hair that it took them by surprise.

I could understand that and I was just glad that it wasn't a repeat of middle school.

I was glad that Roxas and Tom wouldn't really bring my hair into the conversation… talking about my hair made me uncomfortable.

Since that day, I have not seen or heard word of my mother. I would make sure to come home late every day so that if I see her car parked in the driveway I would just sleep on Tom's livingroom couch.

I loved Tom's parents, they were so kind to me and if I needed anything, they would always try and help me out.

Saïx told me I was being a coward… and I knew I was. But I just couldn't face my mother right now. When I close my eyes to sleep I can see her running at me with scissors in her hands and rage in her eyes. I'd wake up in tears sometimes and I'd stay awake for hours until I was finally tired enough to return to sleep.

My father calls me whenever I'm at Tom's house asking me to come back and talk to my mother. He says that she's been extremely depressed without me around. But how could he say that? She was always just fine when I wasn't around before… she was just guilty and until I was comfortable enough to forgive her, she would just have to live with that guilt.

I was bitter and I was just tired of dealing with a mother that wanted to do nothing but scream and yell at me and thinks I'm a slut-whore.

I was just happy that it was Friday and the student's were getting out early because of teacher conferences.

I just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up until late in the afternoon that Saturday.

I sighed and got into the back seat of Tom's mother's car. Tom turned back to me.

"Aren't half-days just the greatest?" Tom asked with a satified sigh.

I smiled. "Yeah… I'm ready for a nice, long nap." I sad.

"In your own house this time?" Tom said looking at me.

I frowned and Tom's mother, Mary, smacked the back of her child's head. "Thomas that was rude!" she snapped.

"What?" Tom said and looked back at his mother.

"Rinoa is always welcome in our house and you shouldn't hint otherwise!" Mary said firmly.

"No, no… Tom's right. I've been taking advantage of your kindness just so I could avoid my family problems… I'm sorry." I said softly and looked out the window.

"Shit, Rinoa that was not what I was insinuating?" Tom said.

"Then what were you insinuating, Tom?" I asked and looked him in the eyes.

"I wasn't insinuating anything! I was trying to joke with you." Tom said exasperatedly.

"It's okay, Tom. I don't care anymore." I said and folded my arms in front of me. I've been doing that a lot more now that my hair is short.

The rest of the car ride was quiet and when they pulled into their driveway I got out of the car and took my stuff before crossing the street back to my house. I frowned at the sight of my mother's car but I stuffed my discomfort down and entered my house.

I moved straight for the stairs so that I could get to my room but it was too late. My mother had already spotted me and she was running towards me.

"Rinoa! Baby, please talke to me. Talk to me, please. We need to talk." She begged and grabbed my wrist.

She sounded so desperate and when I looked back at her, her eyes… the one's I had inherited, looked so miserable.

I sighed and let her pull me into the livingroom. We sat on the sofa and she let go of my wrist. We looked at eachother for a second and when she reached for my face I couldn't stop the yelp that escaped my mouth.

I trembled slightly when her hands ran through my short locks. I wanted to slap her hands away and tell her she had no right to touch my hair like that but the look on her face prevented me.

"I'm so sorry, Rinoa. And I know that doesn't make your hair grow any faster but what I did was horrible and I needed to tell you how sorry I am about it." She said and pulled me into a hug.

It was at that moment I realized how much I missed being embraced by my mother. I wrapped my arms around her tightly and sighed. She smelled just like she always did and I found myself lost in the smell.

"I love you, Rinoa. I love you so much." She said.

I closed my eyes to stop whatever tears that wanted to spring forth from doing so. "I love you too, Mom." I said, my voice a little shakey. "I don't want us to fight… I hate fighting with you." I said honestly.

"Me too." My mother said and I pulled away from her and smiled.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Yes, sweetheart." She replied.

"You don't think I'm a slut, do you?" I asked tears coming back again.

"No… Rinoa… I just worry that the wrong person might come along and hurt you. You are the most beautiful person I've ever seen… and I'm not saying that because you're my daughter… I'm saying it because you are so beautiful." My mother said looking me in the eyes.

"I know you worry Mom, but you don't have to. I'm eighteen years old, if I don't know how to deal with men now then something is wrong with me. And besides my boyfriend can protect me." I said with a smile.

My mother smiled as well. "Tell me about this boyfriend of yours." She said eagerly.

"He's the best! He's a very respectful and responsible person. He was quiet at first but now he's talkative and playful, which sometimes gets on my nerves, but he's supportive. He's always someone I can talk to and he gives great advice. And the reason I say you don't have to worry about other guys when he's around is because even though he's a firemen and he loves his job, he might as well be a body guard. He's huge and if you piss him off he can be pretty damn scary. He's also got the coolest car-"

"Wait, wait, a firemen and a car? How old is this guy?" my mother asked.

I winced but I promised I would be honest with her. "Twenty-five." I said softly.

My mother's warm exterior suddenly turned cold and I watched her face pale. She shook her head. "Unh-unh, absolutely not! Twenty-five! That's way to old for you!" my mother yelled.

I frowned. "I don't want to argue with you anymore, Mom!" I yelled.

"Break up with him and we won't have to!" My mother yelled back.

I shook my head. "No… no matter how many times you tell me to… I won't do it." I said calmly.

"I'm sure he's just using you for now! Men, his age are like that. They get what they want and then they throw away what's left!" My mother snapped.

"Saïx isn't like that!" I cried.

"I don't want you seeing him!" my mother yelled.

"I won't! I won't leave him! I'd sooner shave my head bald ten times over before I even think about leaving him!" I yelled.

"Does your father know about this?" she asked angrily.

"Yes! He likes Saïx a lot. They hang out sometimes!" I said in reply.

My mom scoffed. "You two sure pulled the wool over my eyes. That Saïx is a bad influence on both of you! He's made you keep secrets from me! I don't want you dating someone so conniving!" my mother yelled.

"HE'S NOT CONNIVING!" I yelled angrily. "He's been nothing but helpful and sweet! And most of the time, he provides refuge from YOU!" I screamed angrily and the next thing I felt was the sting of my mother's hand across my face.

I gasped and touched my cheek… there was blood on my fingers. Her wedding ring had cut my face.

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME LEAVE HIM! NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO ME!" I screamed at her and stood.

"YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT YOU MOTHER SAYS, RINOA!" My mother screamed back.

"NO! I WON'T!" I replied and moved to leave the room. I yelped when I felt my mother grab me by the hair.

"Are you gonna cut the rest off, Mom?" I asked bitterly and struggled to get out of her grip.

"Y-YOU ARE NOT MY DAUGHTER! RINOA WOULD LISTEN TO ME AND WOULDN'T BE DATING AN OLDER MAN WITHOUT MY CONSENT!" My mother yelled and grabbed my arm painfully tight.

"YOU'RE NOT MY FUCKING MOM! MY MOTHER WOULDN'T HIT ME!" I cried and tried to push her away from me.

"YOU'RE A WHORE!" My mother screamed and pushed me onto the couch.

"AND YOU'RE A BITCH!" I screamed and got up to push her back.

The woman in front of me hit my face again and I hit her back. There was no way I was just going to let her abuse me.

We hit and smacked and pushed and pulled and kicked and screamed. I soon found myself over the mother imposter and hitting her only for her to grab my arm and flip me over before pulling at my hair.

I screamed before biting her arm. I wanted this bitch off of me! I turned us over again and I was about to punch her in the face when I felt myself being hauled away.

"RINOA WHAT THE FUCK HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?" I heard my dad yell angrily.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAS GOTTEN INTO YOUR FUCKING WIFE!" I screamed and then he put me down.

"I know I tought you better than to hit your mother!" Dad hissed furiously.

Tears fell down my eyes with the rage I was feeling. I couldn't lie to myself… the woman I was fighting really was my mother and my family was falling apart."I didn't want to! S-she hit me f-first!" I cried angrily.

"Julia! Why would you hit your own daughter?" My father asked as he helped my mother up from the floor.

"You two have turned against me! That twenty-five year old boyfriend is no good for her!" she screamed.

"Saïx is a good man, Julia. You trust my judgement don't you?" my dad asked.

"I can't trust you when he's turned my daughter into a slut!" she said.

"I'm not a slut!" I screamed at her. Everytime she said that I could feel my heart break.

"Then break up with him and find an appropriate partner!" My mother yelled.

"I can't do that, mom! I love him!" I let out a sob before taking a deep breath to calm down.

"Then go stay with him! I DON'T WANT YOU IN MY HOUSE! GET OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" My mother screamed.

"JULIA!" my dad yelled.

I looked at my mom in shock… she was really telling me that I had to leave. She was kicking me out. I looked to my dad.

"Dad?" I whimpered, what was I supposed to do?

My father walked my mother to the sofa and she sat down. She was glaring at me so sharply.

My father walked over to me, pain in his eyes. "Rinoa… pack about a weeks worth of clothes. I'm going to call Saïx to see if he can keep you for a week… I'm going to try and get some sense back into your mother." My dad said.

I sobbed again. "You want me to leave too?"

"Rinoa, stop it! Do not make this harder for me." My father said tears in his eyes.

"It's really happening… our family's falling to pieces." I whispered mainly to myself before slowly making my way up the stairs and over to my room to pack.

I quickly grabbed basic shirts from my drawer, along with some jeans and shorts. I grabbed some school uniforms and bras and underwear. I grabbed a couple pairs of shoes and socks. When that was done and everything was set, I put a hand on my heart.

It literally felt like someone had it in a vice grip but if that grip were to let go, my heart would bleed out before tearing itself apart.

Maybe I really was a different person… maybe it really wasn't my family falling apart… it was just me.

I was falling apart and pulling my family down with me.

My mother was right… I really should just leave.

I pulled my suitcase out of my room and down the stairs. I moved to the front door and stood there quietly.

My father walked over to me and we left the house.

"Saïx said that you could stay with him…" my father said softly.

I sob slipped from my mouth and I bit my now swollen lip in an attempt to keep quiet. "Okay." I squeaked quietly.

I felt my dad pull me to him and I held onto him tightly. "I don't want to go!" I cried.

"Oh God Rinoa, what the hell is going on with this family of ours? How did it get this bad?" My dad's voice shook as he asked.

"I don't know! I thought I had fixed it… mom and I were smiling and talking normally so I wanted to be honest with her so I told her about Saïx and she just… she started hating me again!" I cired and clung to my father.

"You're mother doesn't hate you." My father said.

"She thinks I'm a dirty whore." I sobbed.

"Rinoa she was angry! She knows who you are deep down… she's just lost sight of herself as everything except as a doctor." My dad said.

"Well, bring me my mom back. I just want my mom to come back and stay back!" I said and started to take deep breaths to calm down again.

"I will Rinoa and you'll be back here as soon as possible. I would never kick you out of this house… think of this as a week off from family life. Just chill with your boyfriend and don't think about this at all until I come to bring you back."my father said and kissed my forehead.

I nodded. "And if I feel too distraught to go to school?" I asked with a small smile.

My dad laughed. "No… you're still going to school." He said and I whined.

"Let's go, sweetheart. And I want no funny business going on at his house either. Behave like the good, young lady you are." My dad warned.

"I'll be good… I don't want to trouble him. He's already doing me a big favor." I said and placed my suitcase in the back of the car before getting into the passengers seat.

I couldn't believe it felt weird to open car doors now. I really had gotten used to Sai opening them for me.

The ride to Saïx's house was a little awkward. Part of me kind of felt like I was being passed on to be someone else's burden and that hurt a little. So when my dad pulled in front of a little blue-gray house, I couldn't help but feel like I should just ask to live in the car… that way I could just deal with myself and no one else had to.

I had really become a burden to everyone I know. My parents need me out of the house, I've already taken so much from Tom's family. Trying to squeeze myself into Roxas' home life would just be wrong… but now I was about to enter my boyfriends home to dump all of my problems on him.

"Rinoa…" I heard my dad's voice so I looked at him. "You know, I really don't want to do this… I really wish I could just snap my fingers and make everything better but nothing comes that easy… please just bear with it for a week and then we can go from there." He said.

I nodded. I didn't want to guilt my father any more than he already was… I could tell he was aching inside and if it felt anything like mine… I didn't want to bother him anymore.

"I'll see you…" I said softly and moved out of the car. I opened the back and pulled out my suitcase.

"Do you want me to come in with you for a few minutes?" my father asked.

I shook my head. "It's not my first day of pre-school, Dad. I'll see you around." I said and started to moved up the pathway to his porch.

"Rinoa, you can call me anytime, I don't care how late or early it is okay?" my dad said.

"Yes… I know. Goodbye, Dad." I said and gave him a very small, small smile.

My father nodded and drove off.

I walked all the way up the sidewalk to the porch and knoked using the silver knocker on the door.

-Blind Date-

When I opened the door. Rinoa was looking down, her short hair acting as curtains around her face. She didn't say anything, she just stood there quietly and when I took her suitcase, she slowly walked into the house with her head down.

I always imagined Rinoa looing around everywhere when she first entered my house… but that certainly wasn't the case. Her head was down and it stayed down as she stood in the center of the livingroom.

"I'm putting your stuff in the bedroom, Pigeon." I said, hoping she would look up to me at the nickname.

She just gave a slow nod and folded her arms in front of her. I rolled her stuff into my bedroom and looked at the clock on the wall. It was around seven so I walked back to the livingroom where Rinoa was sitting on the couch, her face still hidden by her hair.

"Are you hungry, Pidge?" I asked and sat on the sofa next to shook her head, no.

"You should eat something…" I said and I reached to pull her hair behind her ear but she flinched away from me.

"Rinoa." I said softly and took her chin gently, she flinched again but I ignored it for the sake of looking at her face.

I frowned, when I heard she had gotten into a fight with her mother… I didn't think her father meant a fist fight.

"I can't believe she did this to you…" I said softly and Rinoa looked away from me. "We have to clean this up. C'mon." I said and stood. I offered my hand and Rinoa took it before I pulled her into my bathroom.

I sat her on the toilet and opened the cabinet under the sink to get the first aid kit. I pulled out the hydrogen peroxide and a cottonball. I put some of the peroxide on the cotton ball and started to dab softly at the cut under her eye.

Rinoa let out the tinyest hiss before quieting again. When the cut was clean I pulled out an ice pack. I crushed and shook it so that it would cool before I placed it gently against her swollen cheek.

Rinoa shied away from it for a second before she took it from my hands and placed it on her face.

She hadn't said a thing since she got here and it was a little worrisome. She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to eat, she'd flinch at my touch… she was not having good day and I was unsure of how to make it any better.

I placed the first aid kit back in the cabinet and looked at Rinoa again. I frowned when she had the ice pack on her arm. I took the end of her uniform shirt sleeve and she moved ice pack so that I could lift it. There was a nice bruise there too and I had to take a breath to calm myself before I looked at her again.

"Are there any other bruises or places that hurt?" I asked her seriously. I didn't want her hiding her pains from me.

She nodded.

I sighed again. "Can I please assess the damage?" I asked.

She seemed a bit apprehensive but after a second she stood and lifted her shirt a little and turned. There was four scratch marks on the left side of her lower back. It looked as if maybe her mother tried to turn her over during their fight and ended up scratching her in the process. They weren't bleeding but the skin was broken and the scratches had welted.

"Anywhere else?" I asked.

She sighed softly before lifting her skirt up to show me the bruise on the outside of her right thigh. She looked away from me again and I pulled her into a gentle embrace.

Rinoa held onto me, her hands grabbing handfuls of my shirt before I felt the wetness of her tears finally soak through my shirt.

She didn't sob or whine. She just leaned against me, her form shaking a little as she cried. I couldn't help but find this form of crying more upsetting than the wraking sobs she had a week ago after the hair incident.

It was almost as if she was so miserable that there wasn't a sound she could make that could give me an appropriate depiction of her sorrow.

We stayed liked that in the bathroom for a little less than an hour. When Rinoa finally pulled away from me, here eyes were red a bloodshot from the crying. I pulled her out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.

"You really need to eat something. I won't make you eat anything big, but you do need to eat something." I said.

Rinoa nodded.

I looked around my kitched and when I spotted the bananas on the counter, I pulled the one that had speckled and handed it to her.

She took it and peeled it slowly before beginning to eat. I moved over to her and planted a soft kiss to the side of her head. When she was finished the banana, I took the peel from her and threw it away.

"Are you tired, Rinoa?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Then why don't you just go to bed. The bedroom is to the right of the bathroom. Sleep well, okay. If you need anything, I will be on the couch." I said.

"I don't…" Rinoa started and I was almost surprised to hear her voice.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't want to take your bed…" she said and looked away from me.

I sighed. "Pigeon, you have had a very shitty day… just take the fucking bed." I said firmly and pushed her gently towards my bedroom.

I heard her sigh before she moved to the back and entered the room. She turned back to me.

"Goodnight." She said softly.

"Goodnight, Rinoa." I said and moved back to the livingroom.