*Eli's pov*

"I just don't understand why I should be here." I argued. I was trying to convince my Mom that it'd be better if I wasn't here when my Dad got here. She wouldn't listen.

"Because he's your father Eli, and he wants to see you." She said as she hurried around the kitchen trying to get it as clean as possible. I didn't know why she even bothered. We both knew my Dad was a slob.

"Yeah but I don't really want to see him." I said as I handed her the plate she was reaching for.

"I know you're upset with you father. But it was three years ago. He wants to fix things between you and you're going to let him." She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. "He wants back in your life."

"Well I don't want him in my life!" I yelled. "And I sure as hell don't want him in our house!"

"Elijah go change your shirt." She said looking over what I was wearing. "I want your father to atleast think I did a good job raising you." With that she left the room.

I couldn't believe it. Did she just say she did a bad job raising me? More importantly, was she seriously trying to impress him? There was no reason she should care whether or not the house was clean. And she'd never cared about what I wore before. It made no sense.

I went up to my room and sat on the floor, leaning against my bed. I tried to forget that in 25 minutes the man who ruined my life would be here. Living under the same roof as me. I just hoped he wouldn't try to pull anything. Although I'd gotten in my fair share of fights in the past few years, my Dad was still bigger than me. I wouldn't be able to defend myself.

"Eli your dad's here!" My mom called from downstairs. I looked at the clock. 12:40. He was late. This didn't surprise me.

I took my time going downstairs. This was the moment I had been dreading for years. The moment I had prayed would never come. But here it was. I made it to the bottom stairs and turned the corner, I found myself face to face with my dad.

"Eli!" He said excitedly, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. I didn't return the embrace. Instead I stood with my hands to my side, clenching my teeth.

It felt like an eternity had gone by until he finally let go of me. We both stood there awkwardly looking each other up and down. He was the same as I remembered. Fairly tall, with pale skin and dark hair. He was fatter then I remembered but I figured that could be blamed on his love for beer and junk food.

After a moment of us wordlessly staring at each other my mom broke the silence.

"So Eli your Dad is going to take you out to lunch, so you guys can." She paused to think. "Umm…bond"

"I already ate." I said sourly. It was a lie but there was no way I was going anywhere alone with him. Especially not in a car. A car…that brought back bad memories.

"Well think of it as an early dinner then." He had a grin on his face. An expression I knew far too well.

There was no point in arguing. He always got what he wanted. Something I had inherited. Unfortunately it didn't work on my parents.

Less than 30 minutes later I and my Dad sat across from each other at a booth. After awhile of pointless small talk, mostly coming from his end of the conversation, he became serious. I knew this couldn't be good. I braced myself for what he was going to say next.

"I know I messed up. I hurt you and I'm sorry." He said looking down at the table.

"Hurt me?" I said trying to keep my voice down. "You molested me, you beat me, and then you left me." I snarled. I was going to keep going but I remembered what Clare told me about being the bigger person. I clenched my fists as he replied.

"I left you for your safety." He said quietly as he looked up at me. "I didn't want to hurt you anymore."

I wasn't buying it. I knew when my dad was lying and this was one of those times. Whenever he lied he ran his fingers through his hair. It was something I noticed when him and my mom used to fight. It came in handy later on.

"Elijah Goldworthy, I promise that I will never do that to you again." He still was looking at the table.

I wanted to believe him. I really did. But I couldn't. There was no way I would ever be able to trust him again.

"Well if you supposedly "care" about me, then leave." I began. "Leave. Go back to where ever it is you were. And stay out of my life. I don't want you here. I want to go on living my life the way I have for the past three years. I'm happy without you. I have friends. I have a girlfriend. And most importantly I have a home."

With that I got up from the table and left, leaving him speechless. I didn't remember until I got to the parking lot that I had driven here with him. I'd have to wait for him.

"Shit" I muttered to myself. This would be a fun ride home.

As I expected the ride home was interesting. It was mostly quiet. He tried to talk to me but every time he did I would turn up the volume on my iPod even more. I really needed to get my good headphones back from Clare. I forgot how helpful they could be.

"How'd it go?" I heard my Mom ask my Dad from the kitchen. I almost laughed. We all knew it wouldn't go well.

"I think it went pretty well." He lied. This did make me laugh. But what made me laugh even more was when my mom believed him. For a smart woman she was pretty dumb.

Tired of listening to them talk I went up to my room. After clearing off a spot on my bed I went and got my French homework I needed to do. French wasn't my best subject. I did better in classes that were actually in English. After awhile my phone vibrated on my bed next to me. It was Clare.

Clare: evrythng ok?

I'd been so distracted today I had forgotten to talk to her. I really hoped she wasn't pissed. I hated having her mad at me. But I just really wasn't in the mood to talk to her. I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

Eli: 4now….cant talk now….txt u l8r

I finished my French homework and was about to go put on a new cd I got and text Clare, then I remembered I had to review a paper she had written. She really was a good writer. I loved reading her work. Just as I was about to finish her paper I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in" I called. I really hoped it wasn't my Dad. He was the last person I wanted to talk to and I was pretty sure I'd made that clear.

My Dad stormed into my room. I could tell he was angry. "You told your mom!" He yelled.

Told my mom? I couldn't figure out what he meant. After thinking for a minute I realized what he meant. After he left. I told her what he did to me.

"It was a long time ago." I said as I slowly stood up from my bed and tried to make my way to the door. Unfortunately he was blocking my path to the door. I knew he couldn't do anything with my mom in the house. When I began to walk by him he grabbed me by the arm and twisted me back around.

Leaning down to my face he whispered "You will never do that again. Do you hear me?" I could only nod in reply. After that he turned around and left my room.

I went back and sat on my bed rubbing my arm where he had grabbed me. I was sure it had left a bruise. I grabbed my phone and sent Clare a text message.

Eli: C u the dot. 10am. love u. gnight

I smiled when she replied.

Clare: Ok. love you 2.