Woody entered the room quietly even though he knew Hannah was awake. He walked over and sat in the chair that he had sat in so many times before and looked at her. She returned the stare but neither of them knew where to begin talking.
"I know I let you down and...I'm sorry for that," he started. "But I don't think I am the only one who needs to be apologizing here." She just stared at him.
"Oh, you mean me," she replied. "I'd like to know what I am apologizing for. I think they are meaningless if you don't know what you did wrong in the first place."
"Well for starters, running away from me and not to mention Jordan. We spent the evening looking for you and we were damn well worried. I'm not the only one who cares about your welfare," he said.
"Now that I know what I am supposed to be sorry for, I'd like to hear what you're sorry for," she replied.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell my other friends about you, but in my defense, I told Garrett," Woody said.
"What good are friends if you can't tell them your secrets. If you can't tell your friends, who can you tell?" Hannah replied.
"I know. I'm sorry for that and I have no good excuse for not telling them about you. But I can't keep apologizing for that. You either can forgive me or you can't, but I won't let you keep throwing that in my face. Decide right now. Am I forgiven for that? 'Cause I can apologize 'til the end of the earth, but I don't want to waste my breath if it won't make a difference," he said sternly. Hannah was quiet for a moment, contemplating how she should say what she was thinking.
"I was never mad at you Woody. But let me explain. I wasn't mad that you hadn't told your friends. I only convinced myself that was the reason, but there was an underlying matter at hand," she said.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"When I found out that you didn't tell your friends, it made me realize that as much as I wanted it, I would never be your 'little girl'. You will never know where my childhood scars came from, or what I got for my 5th birthday, because you were never involved in that part of my life and that angered me. It made me mad at my mother for never telling you. Then I felt guilty because I was mad at my mom. Then I became mad at you because you made me realize that I was angry with her," she said.
"I know what you mean. But the thing is, you can be angry with her even though she's not here anymore. I felt the exact same way when my father died. I was angry at him because he left me in charge of Cal, and I always resented him for that. I mean I was only a kid myself. So instead of being angry with my father's memory, I became angry at Cal. But as I grew older, I realized that those feelings toward my dad were okay to feel," he replied.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked worriedly.
"No. In fact, I was never really mad at you. I just thought I should be because you were mad at me," he replied. "I was so worried about you, Hannah. I was sick when I found out myself. what had happened. All I could think was 'What have I done',"
"You didn't do anything. I'm more mad at myself for not listening to you. If I had, I wouldn't be here right now," she said looking around.
"I love you so much kiddo," he said sighing, and gave her a hug.
"I love you too," she replied. They smiled at each other and stared laughing, knowing that everything between them had been forgiven.
XIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIX
Woody came out of the room smiling as Jordan approached him.
"So things went okay in there?" she asked noting the smile on his face.
"Yeah, we're good," he replied. "She's sleeping right now," he said as he saw the questioning look on her face.
"Oh. Well, I'm glad everything worked out okay. I hated seeing you so sad," she said.
"Yeah. Hey, thanks for everything Jordan. It really meant a lot. Hannah likes you, you know," he replied.
"I should say so. I'm a pretty likeable person," she said smiling. "And it wasn't a problem," Jordan replied as the answer to his question.
"So, do you want to get some coffee...Mrs. Hoyt?" Woody asked smiling.
"I suppose you want to hear the story behind that," Jordan said as she returned the smile.
"Oh yeah!" he replied, laughing, as they walked down the hall.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who read my story and reviewed! It really motivated me to keep writing. I hope you liked it, and I hope the ending is okay. As always, criticisms and opinions are always welcome and encouraged by me!