My dear little broccolis💚💚💚,
💚 So, this is me doing a favour to the same someone who PMed me and asked to upload two of my stories with the FSOG names. I already did it for Forbidden Fruit, and now, here comes the second. The original fic is published under the Mortal Instruments franchise. If you're one of my old readers, well, you already know this story, so only read it if you want to read it with other characters in mind; if you're a new reader, well hang on and let's see how this Ana and Christian work in here.
Chapter 24 ~ Shoulders To Cry On (3,5K)
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Ana's PoV.
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When I wake up, the morning after the whole mess, the bump on my head still hurts a little. But I don't really focus on that and just go to the bag that the social worker brought me yesterday night. She said that Franklin brought it with him, and strangely, the picture of Christian and me is missing. Not that I want to linger on that.
Alice and I had a long talk after Officer Banner left with my deposition, and a part of me wonders if she's been paid by Franklin to plead for his cause. I mean, she did a very good job to convince me to go with him in the morning instead of being placed in the system. Though, the reason I agreed on that, is mostly because, like she pointed out if I get a family, I am taking someone else's place. Someone who doesn't have any parents could get a family when I already had one.
So, as soon as the clock strikes nine, I will have to leave with Franklin as his daughter. To be honest, it's just a year, then, I'll be able to go wherever I want. It's not the end of the world. It could be worse-I would have had to go back to Michael, and that would be plain horrible. Especially after what Officer Banner told me.
I am still completely shocked about what I learned, and I honestly don't know how I didn't know of that myself before. I had an excuse when I was younger because when you're a child, you're rather oblivious. But then … I grew up. And I still didn't know. I feel so terribly ashamed about that. I should have known.
Suddenly, someone knocks on the door of my hospital room, and when I look up, I recognize Kate peeking by the door. Her blonde hair falls against the doorframe. She smiles at me as she asks: "Can I come in?"
"Of course. What are you doing here?"
Really, what is she doing here? Did the police contact everyone in my small social web? She walks in a white stuffed teddy bear in her hands and then sits on the edge of the bed. That small gesture warms my heart. she sat on my bed, to be closer to me than the proximity that the chair provided.
"You're the first person except for my Dad that I've visited in a hospital. I didn't know what to bring you," She explains as she hands me the teddy bear. My heart swells; Kate is so nice.
I smile, taking the teddy bear in my hands while I have this strange and warm feeling fuzzing in my heart. This isn't the first time that Kate and I have exchanged gifts. But usually, her gifts to me are more about being useful, than being plain gifts.
"Thank you, Kate. You didn't have to," I tell her, though I am far from complaining. Suddenly, she yanks the bear out of my hands and hits me with it.
"Yeah! If you had come to me instead of sending a stupid sorry text, I wouldn't have had to come to visit you in a hospital! What are friends for?"
She stops, glaring at me with all her might, and making me look down on my hands. We stay like that for a couple of minutes, before she says in a pained voice:
"I thought that we were more than coworkers. I thought that we were friends. And when you had a rough time, you didn't even think of coming to me?"
"I'm sorry, I was scared," is all I can find to say.
"Yeah, I figured. So, what happened?" She asks, and contrarily to the times she pried into my relationship with Christian, she is very serious today. I shrug, wrapping my arms around my knees as I tell her the truth:
"Ugly things. One ugly thing that lead to an awful lot of other ugly things."
"Is it true that the DA is your father?"
"Uh? How do you know that?" I ask, wondering if Christian went all around town to spill even more of my secrets.
"Lily told me. She came to the bar yesterday night and to make it short, she said that you were at the hospital, and that you were going to go to court, and that Franklin was your father and Christian was going to defend you, and … Ana … what's wrong?"
"Franklin is not going to represent me?" I echo, shocked by this new piece of information. I mean, how much can he try not to be involved? He just wants to recognize me now because he had no other choice.
"I don't know, Ana. I'm actually still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you'll go to Court. Why are you going to have a trial?" Kate insists, but I don't answer. I still can't get my head around the fact that Franklin is so determined to keep me at bay all his life.
"You know what, men are just horrid creatures. Mother Nature shouldn't have created them," I tell her, and she frowns as I let my heart speak. "All the men I've known ended up destroying me. Whether they forgot about me, or did whatever they wanted to do with me, or betrayed me, or straight up lied to me. I hate them."
"Why would you say that?" Kate asks with her blue eyes big with shock. "You have Franklin who's been coming to see you twice a week without missing a single time. And you have Christian who treats you like a queen."
Tears are forming in my eyes as I try desperately to stay composed, but all I can think of is the betrayal I suffered. Christian promising to not repeat a word of what I told him, and still spilling it all to his boss, Franklin pretending to be my friend when he knew he was more, … I don't know. It seems like too much right now. This, plus the fact that I finally pressed charges against Michael. This is all too much for me, right now. I can't deal with all of this.
"No. I … I just want to be loved like any other person. Not in some twisted and weird ways. I just want a normal family with a normal life and no drama in it. I just want to matter to someone because I am me, not because it is convenient for them at some point, or because they feel like they have to."
This is something that kept me awake for a good part of the night until the nurse came in and gave me drugs to force me to sleep. Why did Christian and Franklin try to be involved in my life? And the answer is actually simple. Out of a sense of duty. Franklin feels like he has to be part of my life, because he is my biological father, not because he wants to. And Christian was sweet to me because he feels responsible for me since I hitchhiked in his car.
I hide my face between my legs and cry like the baby I am when I feel Kate leaving the bed. Which makes me cry even harder because now I feel like I've made my only friend run away because of my stupid tears.
But then, I feel someone wrapping their arms around me and rock me in their arms, giving me all the comfort they can. I keep on silently crying, accepting this sudden warmth Kate is giving me as she holds me in a tight embrace. When my tears finally stop spilling and turn to dry sobs, she gently takes my face in her hands, and tells me:
"I love you, Ana. Don't think about Christian or Franklin. Don't think about whatever happened in your past. Just think of this. You are my friend, and I love you as such. No more, no less."
"You really mean it?" I hiccup between two ugly sobs, and she smiles to me from the bottom of her heart as she assures me:
"I do. Why would I have come otherwise?"
She looks deep into my eyes, her green eyes screaming sincerity, and I'm sure she has no idea how much her words mean to me. She literally just warmed me up with a ray of sunshine, and so I tell her:
"I love you too, Kate. In a non-lesbian kind of way."
"Damn, here go all my plans of marrying you and all that," She teases, snapping her fingers with fake disappointment, and making me laugh a little, a small tear escaping from my eyes.
"I have to go. You'll keep me updated for your trial?"
"I will. I'm sorry for bailing on you about work."
"It's okay. After all, Pandemonium is a bar before all," She reassures me with a little wave of her hand as she gets up. She starts to walk away, and I look at the teddy bear that is still in my hands before she tells me:
"You know, I used to name my teddybears when I was little. Well, the few I had."
"How about Nate?"
"Nate?" She questions, trying to understand how I came up with that name.
"Yes, a little bit of Ana, and a little bit of Kate. Nate."
She smiles, nodding her head with pride as she agrees: "Yeah. I totally ship this. Nate, it is, then."
She leaves and so I get up to take a shower and be ready when Franklin comes to pick me up in thirty minutes. I still don't know how we'll manage to actually stay together when he clearly didn't want to be that involved in my life. To be honest, this is a bit depressing to me. I mean, I did like Franklin a lot when he was my friend, and now, I don't even know how I feel about him anymore. And most importantly, I don't even know if I want him to be my father.
When I'm ready, I leave the hospital room, not even the slightest sad about it; and I go to the reception to wait for Franklin. Isn't it weird that I still can't call him my father, even though I know he is? But he's nowhere to be seen. I'm not even disappointed, just anxious because I know the nurse will never let me go on my own without legal adult supervision.
I'm about to look in my bean bag to fish out my phone, hoping that the battery is not dead when I see Lily walking to me. She gives me a little smile, closing the distance separating us as she explains:
"I just discharged you, Ana. Is there somewhere you would like to go for breakfast?"
I shake my head, looking around for Franklin, and she seems to read my thoughts as she tells me: "Franklin couldn't be here this morning. But we'll be with him this evening, don't worry."
"He doesn't want to see me?" I paraphrase, wondering if it's worth it, after all, to go live with a man who is so determined to be so little involved in my life. I mean, I can tell when I am not wanted, and if I'm such a bother to him, he can just emancipate me and we will both be happy.
Lily takes my bag in her hand and caresses my shoulder as she says: "No, Ana. Don't think that. I know Franklin handled the whole situation very poorly, but he only tried to do the right thing for you."
"Sure," I say scepticism evident in my tone, not the slightest convinced. She is his wife, of course, she is going to find excuses for him. The thing is, he is not here when he was supposed to be here to do that simple thing that is to take me out of the hospital. And now, all I want to do is go back to my own little apartment and cry in my bed.
"He couldn't be here for you this morning, Ana. It's not that he doesn't want to, it's just that he has a lot to do before midday, to get sure that everything goes alright for you. Yesterday night, he filed a paper to legally recognize you, and then flew to your hometown to arrange your hearing as soon and as fast as possible. He knows the judge of your county and is negotiating with him to not postpone anything concerning the trial."
I know that she says that for me to understand that Franklin is trying to do something for me. I mean, yesterday night, Officer Banner told be that he would only take my statement when I was back home. When I tried to argue against that, saying that I didn't want to go back there, he explained that to me that death penalty was something legal where I used to live, whereas it is not here.
To be honest, I don't know how to feel about that. But I'll definitely reflect on it later. Right now, I have more pressing issues to work on. Like knowing why Franklin doesn't want to represent me for my trial. I mean, if Christian decides that he doesn't want to represent me either, I'll have to find a lawyer on my own, and I know they don't come cheap.
"Is it true that he doesn't want to be my lawyer?" I ask Lily as we finally leave the hospital, and she hails a cab for us as she tells me:
"No. He wants to be here for you. As a father, not a lawyer. He wants to do what he failed to do before."
I nod, entering the cab and feeling her brown eyes on me. Strangely, I can't find it in myself to be angry with her, I mean, it's obvious that she knew all about Franklin's lie, but I can't just be angry with her. Maybe it's because she is so nice. Or because I am not good at holding grudges.
As the cab drives us through town, she hands me a piece a paper with a phone number on it, and I frown looking up at her for an explanation. "This is your mother's phone number. In case you want to call her."
At this, I stay silent, still confused by the whole thing. Still, I take the paper and shove it in my bag before looking through the window as the cab takes us to a part of town I've never been in. A very posh part of town. Franklin lives among the snobs.
I hear Lily sighing slightly next to me, and I try to ignore her. Let me just say that getting stuck with a shrink isn't the best thing to do when you're still trying to read through all the confusion you're feeling at the moment.
I know that to her, it looks like I'm just acting like a bratty child who is just being moody, but … Really? Why didn't Franklin tell me that he was my father? And why did he come to see me weekly if he didn't want me to be part of his life? I mean, am I that bad a person that he doesn't want to be more involved with me than a few visits a week?
Yeah, maybe it's all my fault. maybe I'm a defective person, and no-one really wants to actually live with me, if they can't get anything out of it. Christian would have gotten a case if I had agreed on pressing charges when he asked me to\o. Michael … well, Michael got what he wanted. My mother didn't actually have a choice in the matter. I mean, even Ray stopped writing to me when he moved away. So maybe I'm not worth it to try and make a real relationship with people.
No matter how hard I try, there's a tear escaping my eye, and so I quickly wipe it away, hoping that Lily didn't see it as I look with even more attention through the window.
But I'm not so lucky. She rests a comforting hand on my shoulder and says:
"I know I can't empathize with you, Ana. With how hard and confusing your life must be at the moment. But … Don't close yourself in a bubble because of how things have been handled. Yes, Franklin should have told you sooner that he was your father, and that he wanted to take you in as his daughter so we could start a relationship as such, … but he's only human."
I still don't look at her, not sure of what I should do or say. Let's be honest, I did lie to him as well. I did tell him that I had a perfect family who loved me and all the fluffiness that it included. So, maybe he didn't want to step in that family. I mean, this is one of the reasons I gave up on trying to find my father. Because I was scared of crashing his perfect life.
"Maybe you should try giving yourself a go at this relationship he wants to have with you. Franklin has never been good at expressing his feelings, and his wants. But he loves you, Ana. He really does, and he's always so concerned about you. There hasn't been a day when he did not talk about you since that day he first met you. Maybe it took him time to legally recognise you as his daughter, or even tell you, but I can assure you that you are his daughter in his heart. He did many things for you that only a father does because he wants his daughter to have a safe and bright future," Lily continues with kindness in her voice, and I ungracefully sniffle asking that question that has been bugging me ever since I learned that Franklin wanted to legalise his paternity toward me
"Does he really want to recognise me, or does he do it because he has to?"
Lily lifts my chin up, with a gentle smile on her lips, and I just look back at her, hoping that she will be truthful. Then she tells me: "I'm not the one you should ask. Franklin is not even the one you should ask. What are your instincts telling you?"
"To run," I bluntly retort, regretting the words instantly. What if she repeats this Franklin and he decides that he won't even put the slightest effort with me anymore since I don't even want to stay with him.
But she just keeps on smiling to me, her eyes travelling all over my face with a little sadness before she says: "Of course you do. You're only human as well. But… what is your heart telling you?"
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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚
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~ I really hope that this chapter made you all very happy. It made me, personally
~ Anyway, question times:
` 1. What did you think of Kate?
` 2. What did you think of Lily?
` 3. Why did Franklin's reasons as exposed by Lily?
` 4. What was your favourite part?
Anyway, E.L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.
Love, Mina 💚💚💚