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(Eve's POV)
Elsword brought me to his place, and sat me down on a couch. Breathing has become remarkably easier for me, but I still feel like throwing up all the contents in my stomach. Elsword went into the kitchen to fetch me a glass of water, leaving me sitting awkwardly alone in the living room.
I look around the room-since I had nothing better to occupy myself with- the living room was trashed with tissue paper, old wrappers, dirty socks; it looks like a tornado hit here. I'm quite suprise Camilla hasn't forced Elsword to clean this place up.
"Oh Eve," I look up to see Camilla looking straight at me. "Nice to see you here, sorry about the mess honey."
"Oh er no problem." I reply sheepishly.
Camilla looks horrible-no offence. Her hair was a total disaster, large bags sat under her bloodshot eyes, she had on a dirty stained T-shirt, and jeans. I've known Camilla for quite sometime now, and she is the type of person who rarely ever looks like a mess.
"Well I'm going to go out for a bit." She says while slipping on her jacket. "Thanks for visiting Eve."
"Where are you going?" Elsword suddenly pops out of no where. He looks at his mother with bitter eyes, his hand clutching the glass cup tightly.
"No where in particular." She shrugs. "I might be back late, but I left some dinner for you in the fridge so you won't have to starve."
"Mom please don't break your promise." Elsword says quietly. "Think about me, think about sis! How would Elesis react if she was here with us right now."
Elsword's word's caught me off guard, immediatly my heart dropped to my stomach and my mind jumped to a terrifying conclusion.
Elesis is dead.
My jaw slightly fell at the thought of it. I glance between Camilla and Elsword, scared about what's going to happen next. Camilla simply shook her head with tears trickling down her cheeks. Elsword looks at his mother pitifully as she grabbed her purse and walked out the front door.
"Els?" I whimper. "Is Elesis-"
He quickly walks over to me and hands me the glass of water," shh, I'll tell ou everything soon." He says warmly. "I first need to make sure you're okay."
Nodding I slowly gulp down the water. I asked Elsword several times to tell me what's wrong but he refused and continued to tell me I needed to be well first. Knowing I'll get the same answer each time I stopped asking. As much as I want to know I won't force him to tell me. He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to.
"She's still here." Elsword suddenly said. "My sister, she's not dead if that's what you're thinking."
"She isn't?" I ask with shock.
"Well I guess all of this has to do with sis in some way." His voice sounded cold now. "He found out about my sister's injury, and decided to pay her a visit. He called my mom and wanted to see us again."
"He as in-"
"My poor excuse for a father." Elsword said through clenched teeth. "That man wanted to have dinner with us. He wanted to talk things over with us, and worst of all that man has another wife and children."
"That explains everything." I thought outloud.
"He wants to bury the hatchet with us." Elsword continued. "When he told mom about his current life mom lost it, I can't bame her. That man ditched her for other women and now is married to another one. He abandoned his family and kids, and yet he expects us to go out to dinner with him being all happy." Elsword laughs bitterly. "I bet he wants me to meet my step sublings."
"So are you two really going to go?" I ask.
Elsword shrugs and leans back on the couch," mom wants to." He says bluntly. "She wants to see him again, but as you can tell from earlier she's really hurt due to the fact he has a new wife now. We're going tomorrow night, but I don't think I'll be able to keep my cool when I see him."
I sit back and say nothing, what is there to say? I have no idea what he is going through, and I have no idea what I can do or say to make this better.
"Eve, can I ask you something?" He says quietly. I nod without making eye contact with him. "Will you come with us tomorrow night to meet him?"
His request made me flinch," wh-what?" I stutter. "W-why me?"
"With you there I'm sure I'll be able to keep my cool." He looks at me softly. His eyes reflecting anger and hurt. "Please? Will you come?"
He sure seems like he needs the extra support.. As a good friend I should help him!
"Alright." I said with a smile. "Do I have to dress fancy for it or anything?"
"No, you don't have to be all fancy for this dinner." He leans in and hugs me tightly. "Thanks Eevee."
"No problem." I hug him back.
Today Elsword didn't show up in school-again. Everyone seemed worried about him, and there was a couple of times where I was tempted to tell them why he isn't here, but knew better than to tell them about his family issues.
Add invited me to go hang out with him at his place after school, so I lied to him about having a doctor's appointment. He fell for my lie no doubt about it, but I'm sure he'll be finding out the truth quite soon since he does live right beside me.
When I got home I took a quick shower and debated for quite sometime on what to wear. I know Elsword told me not to dress too fancy, but I can't help it. I'm going to go out for dinner with Elsword's family, and because this dinner is so important I need to make sure look nice.
After what felt like hours of searching through my closet I ended up wearing something simple, a white summer dress, along with the necklace Elsword gave to me, I tied my hair back into a messy ponytail, and slipped on some flats.
I did a last minute check up on how I looked on my phone's camera. I briefly check the time, only a few more minutes left before he comes to pick me up,
"Oh Eve you look so cute!" I hear my mom from behind me. "Going out on a date?"'
I shake my head," nope, I'm just having dinner with Camilla and Elsword." I explain. "I won't be gone for too long."
"The snow may be starting to melt but you should still wear a jacket." My mom says sternly. "We wouldn't want you to get sick."
"Don't worry mom, I'm getting a ride so it's all cool." The sound of the doorbell chiming made us both jump. I quickly open up the door to see its Elsword. "Alright mom I'm leaving, and yes I'll take the blame if I get sick."
My mom's smile brightened," alright you kids have fun now!" She waves us off.
"You really are casual looking." I blurt out. Elsword was in a red hoodie, and an old pair of jeans. He looks like he's going to school, not some kind of family dinner. Well if you consider this a 'family' dinner.
"And you really are fancy looking." He says while eyeing my outfit. "You and my mom look way too nice for tonight." He adds on while opening the car door for me. I thank him as I step inside.
"Hi Camilla." I greet while putting on my seat belt.
"Hi honey, thanks for joining us for dinner." She said cheerfully. She looks much more human like today. Her once monstrous hair is now tied back into a bun, she has on a black sleeved dress, some heels, and a couple of diamond earrings.
Now this is the Camilla we all know and love!
"Okay lets go." Elsword says from beside me.
The ride to the restaurant was quiet, no radio was on, no one said a word; everyone was lost in thought. I picked up on a few things while watching Camilla drive. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as we gradually got closer to our destination, her body was more tensed up now, and her eyes appear to be more blood shot as well.
Camilla is definatly stressed and scared about how this night will go. I really hope we'll be able to get out with our heads still attached to our body. I could feel the tension in the car thickening as we pulled into a parking lot, Elsword inhaled sharply as the car went off.
I quickly grab his hand and gave it a light squeeze. Camilla took off her seatbelt, and leaned back into her seat. Elsword held on to his breath as his mother continued to breathe in deeply.
"You don't have to go mom." Elsword spoke up. "We can ditch him, and his family if he brought them here. We'll just ditch him, like the way he ditched us."
"No." Camilla responded immediately. "I would like to know why he did what he did. We need to confront this man."
Elsword nods and holds my hand tightly, as if he was trying to say to me 'please stay by me.'
We get out the car and walk into the building. This resturant wasn't anything too fancy, the walls were painted black, several paintings hung here and there, red carpet covered the floor, and light jazz music was currently playing.
"He's there." Camilla pointed to the table at the far corner. There sat a man with spiky long hair, and a small girl beside him. I could feel both Camilla and Elsword stiffening up at the sight of the child.
We walk over to them silently, the little girl turns around and widens her eyes at us. She has her father's hair, her eyes were a shade of blue, she had on a frilly pink dress with little ribbons on it. She tugs her father's sleeve and points at us.
Penensio stands up and smiles warmly at us. He extends his arm out to Camilla," Camilla, it's nice to see you again." He greets with a smile.
Camilla hesitantly accpets his hand shake," nice to see you too Penensio." She says coldly.
Penensio walks over to Elsword, he studies his son closely and smiles," you've grown alot son." He looks at him warmly.
Elsword snorts, not bothering to greet his fater back. Penensio then walks to me, Elsword shifts closer to me and stood my me protectively. I sheepishly look at Elsword's dad and gave a small nod.
"H-hi sir. I'm Eve." I awkwardly greet.
Penensio nods" ah yes I remember you. You and that purple girl-I believe her name was Aisha. You two girls would always come over to play."
"Y-yeah."
He walks over to the little girl," this is my 5 year old daughter Vana."
"Hello." She says quietly, her rosy cheeks making my heart melt. "Daddy, who are these people?"
Penensio bends down to his daughter's height and smiles," the red haired boy and the lovely lady in black is family." He explains. "The young lady with silver hair is a family friend. Go say hi to your brother."
Penensio gently pushes Vana towards Elsword. The little girl looks up at us, her blue eyes twinkle at Elsword.
"I always wanted a big brother!" She sang. "What's your name big brother?"
Elsword looks coldly at her," my name is Elsword." He mumbles.
"Cool, big brother is cool!" She gives Elsword a tight hug. Elsword glares at his father for a second, before returning his gaze to the little girl; his expression softened.
"Sit down kiddo, we still have dinner to eat." He pats her on the head.
Well at least he's being nice to her, things are at least starting off light and fluffy.
We all sat around the table in silence. Vana is the only reason why we even bothered to say a single word, the food came pretty quick. Because no one was really talking while eating we all finished the meal in very little time; well I finished first as usual. Vana and Camilla played a few games together, but the little girl soon became drowsy. Camilla allowed the little girl to sleep on her lap, and that was our queue to talk.
"I see you really love your new daughter." Elsword began once Vana sounded asleep. "I guess Elesis just wasn't too good for you now was she?"
"Elsword!" Camilla hisses.
"Well it's true, this man is more than willing to abandon his own daughter. Heck he's already abandoned her, and he even has a replacement for her."
"Elsword enough!" Camilla snaps. Vana turns at the noise, but thankfully she didn't wake up; not yet anyways.
"Elsword, Camilla; I want you two to know that I'm very sorry." Penensio began. "I was a fool back then, I didn't learn the harm I've done until a year after our divorce." He looks at Camilla. "I though about you having to raise two kids alone, I thought about you being abandoned by me; I thought about how the kids would be affected."
"Yeah, you hurt us quite bad." Elsword grumbles under his breath. Camilla sends him a look before gesturing for her former husband to continue talking.
"I assumed you moved on, so I didn't bother to contact you. I didn't want to hurt you again. "
"Well you assumed wrong." Camilla spoke up. "I've been hurting for all these years! You were and are still my one and only true love, I still can't figure out why you did that, and what I did to make you do that."
"You did nothing." He said calmly. "I was stupid, and I foolishly hurt you. Yes I remarried again, yes I had another kid, but no I never forgot about you and our kids. I moved here just recently and remembered about you guys. You see I work as a police officer now, and while I was studying a few cases I found out about Elesis. I began to worry about you guys again, and decided to call Camilla."
"I'm guessing you didn't expect me to remain unmarried, didn't expect me to cry over you; you must've been quite shocked." Camilla narrows her eyes on him. "Penensio I loved you so very much, and when you left me, you hurt me in many unspeakable ways!"
There was a moment of silence for the two adults to calm down.
"Camilla I know we can't change the past, but if there's anything I can do to repay you just tell me."
Camilla sighs and looks down at Vana," I want you to stay with your current wife, I want you to raise this little girl with love!" She chokes up. "This little girl needs to grow up with both her parents, she's so fragile and needs love. I don't want you to put her through what you put us through. Penensio I am so grateful you have changed your ways, but if you return to your old habits again I will never forgive you."
"Camilla." Penensio tears up. "Thank you, and I am sorry for everything."
"I forgive you, and thanks for changing for the better." Camilla smiles back. Vana stirs in her sleep and lets out a big yawn. She slowly sits up and examines Camilla and her dad.
"Why are you two crying?" She asks sleepily.
"Your daddy and I are just sleepy." Camilla lies. "Come on let's go use the bathroom before we go." She takes the little girl by the hand and guides her to the restroom.
Elsword, Penensio, and I sit in silence. Elsword glares at his father and mumbles a few curses under his breath," what's wrong with me and Elesis?" He asks. "Why couldn't you treat us like you do to that little girl?"
"Like I said son, I was foolish back then-"
"Cheating on mom and beating my big sister up is more than foolish!" He raises his voice. "It's sickening! You were and are still a sick man!"
"Elsword, calm down." I whisper to him, while placing a hand on his shoulder. Several heads turned our way after Elsword's little outburst.
Elsword apologizes and whispers a 'thank you' to me.
"Son, I know what I did was wrong." Penensio says with a sigh. "That's why I changed so I won't make the same mistakes twice."
Elsword takes a deep breath in," Penensio," Both Penensio and I were taken a back at how he addressed his father. "Even if your were foolish you must've still known that doing all that was bad. It's common sense. I bet you knew it was wrong, and yet you left us.
Mom works her butt off for us, and she hardly gets anytime for herself. Sometimes she'd cry about how things turned out for us, she'd cry about how her life is; you hurt her in many horrible ways.
Elesis and I did many regrettable things, because of the things you inflicted on us. We were scared about mom leaving us as well at one point, we lost many friends because of our anger; we just wanted both our parents, just wanted our family back. Of course we can never have it back because our own father ripped our family apart!"
"Elsword quiet down." I hiss. "You'll get kicked out." He exhales and mumbles a sorry.
"I really wish I knew why I did it I really do." Penensio hangs his head. "I'm a failure as a father and I'm sorry. Son, can you find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me?"
Elsword snorts and looks away from his dad," sounds like an impossible task." I punch him on the arm. "Ow what the heck-"
"Life is too short to hate on someone." I scold. "He's still a human, and humans make mistakes. Look he's changed now, at least now he's confessed to the horrible things he's done. You can't change the past, but you can at least suck it up, and make things good for the rest of your life."
Elsword stares at me with wide eyes; speechless. He sighs and turns to his dad," I'll try, and I guess I'll put in a few good words for you when sis returns."
I smile at Elsword's maturity, now things are starting to smoothen out. Penensio smiles and turns his gaze towards me," Eve I think you're good for my son. Stay with him, he needs you more than you can imagine." I blush at his father's compliment.
Elsword needs me more than I can imagine? Now that one line there makes the butterflies in my stomach dance. I highly doubt that, though it is a nice though; oh gosh pervy me is back.
Camilla returns with Vana shortly after and we begin to say our goodbyes. Vana sleepily holds onto her dad's hand. The former couple exchange a few words before parting ways again. Elsword pats me on the back, and links his arm with mines.
"Glad you came Eve." He says softly. "I'm even more grateful to have met you now."
I blush at his statement," I'm glad I met you as well Els."
And I really hope my New Year's resolution won't be the thing that tears us apart.
