I sat at the table looking at mum and dad while they sat quietly. Ryder had dropped me off home and it took a lot of convincing for him to leave. It was really sweet how concerned he was about me but I knew that this was something I needed to deal with on my own. Plus now that dad was home, I was hoping that he would help with resolving all of the drama and that we could all go back to at least pretending to be a family. 

When I walked in the door I saw dad and mum sitting at the table quietly and dad smiled at me reassuringly before he nodded his head towards a chair. I sat myself down and have been waiting for the last five minutes for this to play out. 

"Sweetheart" my dad's voice broke me out of my reverie. I looked at him and smiled grateful that at least my dad was the calming force in our family. 

"Sweetheart" my mum scoffed and I looked at her, she had bags under her eyes and her face was in a scowl that had been there ever since I walked in. She had been staring down at the table and had not made eye contact with me ever since I walked in. Even now when she scoffed she was looking at the table without even lifting her eyes up to look at either dad or me. 

Mum scoffs again and continues " Do you have any idea what she's been up to, she's been running around with some vile guy all covered in tattoos I won't be surprised if he was a drug addict or if he's been drugging her...."

" Mum" I interrupted her annoyed "You don't know Ryder he's the nicest boy ever you've not even given him a chance, you're just judging him based on whatever you assume "

Mum ignores me and looks up straight at dad " Can you talk some sense into her she's run away and staying with him, god knows if she's pregnant or what, that disgusting boy came into my house and threatened me..." she poked her index finger into the table twice as if to emphasize her point. 

Dad raises his hand to silence her " Did you hurt her ?"

I watch as mum's face falters and she stutters "No... Yes ... I didn't mean to ... ''she says meekly.

This was the first time I'd seen mum falter to my dad. She usually was the one who was strong and argumentative and dad always took it and walked away. In many ways dad was like me, he would rather walk away from a confrontation than get into an argument. 

Dad glared at mum who visibly winced. He growled at her" Look I've not said anything when you wanted to move here, in fact, our entire life you've dictated the rules and you've made the decisions, all I've been is the money maker, but I absolutely will not let you hurt my daughter in any way. ''

I watched as mum's face grew angrier as she heard my dad go on. I could tell that she wanted to interrupt but she was controlling herself for some reason.

''Annabeth is old enough to make her choices'' my dad continued in a softer tone ''she has never let her grades slip and I am sure that even if she's dating this boy, it's because she sees something in him, I trust her'' he looks at me and smiles reassuringly. 

''But..'' mum starts to interrupt but dad was not having any of it. He silences her with a hand wave, which surprisingly made mum stop talking. 

''Look Anna'' dad looked at me and smiled ''Do you promise that none of this will affect your grades and that you will not do anything with Ryder that would make us disappointed'' 

I shook my head in agreement and dad smiled at me again ''In that case bring the boy over someday, I want to meet him, I'll be here for another week and Anna'' he stood up and came across to where I was sitting and hugged me ''Please don't run away again, you've always got me to talk to'' 

Dad then looked at mum ''She will stay here, and you will fix your relationship with your daughter, and let her live her life. I will not allow you to hurt her, if I ever hear that you've hurt even a single hair on her head, I will personally call the cops on you and we will be leaving, and by we I mean me and Annabeth'' My dad looked at her sternly ''Is that understood?'' 

Mum nodded her head mutely and stood up and went to her room, I could hear her sobs as she closed the door behind her, and although mum and I had never had a very strong relationship, it still hurt. I promised myself to try and mend my relationship with mum, maybe from now on she would be different. I looked at dad who was watching the door that mum had gone through with a tired look on his face. 

I stood up and walked over to hug him ''Dad you're tired you've had a long trip in, you should rest, I promise I will never do anything that would make you or mum upset'' I whispered while I hugged him. 

I could feel dad sigh over my head '' You've always been such a good daughter Anna, I wish I was here more, and that I protected you from your mum, she.. .sometimes ... she can be...''

Dad paused and I tightened my arms around him ''I know dad, it's ok, we'll figure it out'' I pull out of his hug to look at his tired face ''You're here now and I'm sure we will be better as a family going forward '' 

Dad holds me back by the arms and quickly kisses my forehead ''Right off to bed now missy and no sneaking out, if you want to go somewhere, tell me and go ''

I nod my head and smile and run off to my room. Although I hated my room, it was nice to be back, to my own space, the last couple of days of uncertainty had really taken a toll on me. I quickly take a shower and wear my comfy pajamas before I jump into bed. I pick up my phone to call Ryder. I knew it was a bit late but he had made me promise that I would call him to tell him everything was ok. I ring the number and my lips form a smile as it rings. I couldn't wait to hear his voice. 

''Hello'' I hear a sleepy girl's voice and I quickly look at the screen of my phone to make sure that I had called Ryder and not anyone else. It was his number so I put the phone back to my ear 

''Umm hello, where's Ryder'' I ask, my voice breaking a bit. I felt sick to the stomach to hear some other girl on his phone, and although my heart kept telling me that he wouldn't do this to me, I couldn't help but feel sick. 

''Oh hey, Annabeth, it's Lilah'' she makes a tired sound and continues 

''Sorry Ryder's asleep, he came over to check up on me and he's knocked out, you know how he is when he's fast asleep, making all those cute snoring sounds'' she drawls. 

''Umm, yea that's fine just tell him I called when he wakes up'' I manage to shakily respond to her although all I wanted to do was to scream at her especially knowing that she was egging me on with her comments about him snoring, almost making a point to me that he slept there often. 

''Alright honey, let me get back to bed now, before he hogs all my blanket, sleep tight and sweet dreams'' I swear I heard her snickering before she hung up the phone. 

I stare at my phone for a few seconds before putting it on my side table. I couldn't help but feel annoyed, angry, disappointed, and jealous at the same time. I mean Lilah was sexy, and my boyfriend was with this sexy girl right now. I mean I may be pretty but she looked like every boy's wet dream come true. 

It wasn't fair that Ryder was doing this, I understood that he cared for her and he saw her as a friend, but how dumb could he be? Anyone with eyes could see the way she looked at him and it was not right that he was falling for her bullshit. If I were to even go sleep over at a boy's house I'm sure Ryder would cut his butt off and have it for dinner, and here he was sleeping in the same bed as her. 

I grit my teeth and stare at the ceiling while I let out a breath of frustration and squeeze my shut tightly willing the tears to not fall. All I wanted to do right now was to march over to Lilah's house and punch Ryder's face in. 

That's it tomorrow I'm going to set Ryder straight, this will not go on anymore. I close my eyes and willed for sleep to come.