A/N:

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I walked out of the lecture room and speed walked to my car, outside. I had gotten a text from my siblings. They said they were going to come visit me so I had to rush.

I entered the car and texted my friends, inviting them to come too. I think I just need all the people I care about with me today.

I then drove off back to my home. I arrived in no time and entered the building. I waved at the receptionist and sped to the elevator.

I pushed the button and the door closed. As I elevated up, I couldn't help but think. How long would taking Heather down take?

I mean seriously. What if it takes a whole year? What will I be without Nate? He's been my safe place. My happy place, even though he doesn't know that.

I sighed and shook my head. Nathan looks perfectly fine. He wouldn't want me to be moping around.

The ding of the elevator door interrupted me from further contemplating. I stepped out and walked to my home.

I opened the door and entered it. I closed the door behind me and went straight to my room. I threw my bag on the bed and took of my shoes.

I wore some sleepers and took off my wig. I exited my room and started making some food from the kitchen. I decided on rice and beef stew.

I haven't had it in a while, and definitely haven't cooked for a while. My main meal has been fast food for the past few days.

As the rice finished cooking, people let themselves in my apartment. I rolled my eyes to myself. Why do they always do that?

"Hello, sister!" Zan squealed. I groaned in annoyance. "Hello, siblings," I greeted them. Farah opened the pot with the stew.

"Mmh. I see you're cooking here," she said. "Well, good thing you did. We didn't eat before coming here," Seleene told me.

"Yep. I could eat," Nick said. "Okay, you're lucky the food is ready. I'll dish up right now. Do you guys want to eat in the living room or..." I trailed off.

"Nah. We'll eat in the living room. We also want to watch some T.V in the process," Felix answered, with the wave of her hand.

"Okay then. Go find something to watch," I told them and shooed them away. They all entered the living room and plopped themselves on the couch.

I started dishing for each of them. Come to think of it, I haven't heard from Seth in a long time. I have to ask them about him.

When I finished dishing up, I yelled out,"Food is ready!" They immediately rushed to the kitchen and they each took their plates from the countertops.

I took mine, which was the only one left. They had taken all the space on the sofa and I certainly did not want to sit on the floor.

I decided to sit on Zan's lap. She didn't mind, anyway. We started eating while watching the show, Family Feud. It was pretty entertaining.

And honestly, my food was amazing! I didn't know I cooked food this delicious. Last time I cooked, I still lived at home...with dad.

"Your food is great, Vee," Farah complimented. "I totally agree with you, sis. I haven't had food this delicious in a long time," Nick said.

I chuckled. "Thanks guys. Secret ingredient is love," I joked. They laughed and I couldn't help but join them. "Seriously?" Seleene asked.

"Where do I know that phrase from?" Zan thought out loud. "I don't know. Only thing I remember is the line," I replied.

She just shrugged in response. When we finished eating, Nick collected our plates and offered to wash the dishes. We let him do whatever he wanted.

Zanniah instantly pushed me off of her when Nick went to the kitchen. "Get off of me, you lump! There's your empty space," she sternly said, pointing at Nick's space.

"Did you have to be so rude?" I commented and stood up from the floor. The others just snickered at our exchange.

I sat down and just when I did, we heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it," I told them and stood up. I opened the door and saw my one and only dad.

"Oh. Hey, dad. Come in," I said and stepped aside. He looked surprised I had let him in so willingly, but fortunately didn't comment on it.

"Uh...we'll leave you alone," Seleene rushed out and darted out of the living room. The others followed suit and I saw them enter my room.

I can only hope they won't mess up my room.

"So, why are you here?" I asked him. He played with his hands. "Well, I came to apologize. I am deeply sorry for...kicking you out of your own home."

"Yeah, you should be sorry," I muttered to myself. "What was that?" He inquired. I shook my head. "No, no. Continue."

"I just wanted to ask you to forgive me. I know I wasn't the best father to you, and not only to you, to your sisters and brothers too. I love you all, equally."

"I was just scared that you were growing up. You are my last born and seeing you start going out and do that adult stuff just scared me a lot. I miss you, sweetie. And I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

"I can see you're living comfortably here and I have your white boyfriend to thank. When you see him, please tell him I'm sorry and I'm ready to get to know him," he finished.

"Thank you, dad. You don't know how special it is to hear that from you, considering you have huge pride," I teased, which earned a chuckle from him.

"I love you too, dad. And don't worry. I forgave you a long time ago. You know me. I'm not the type that holds grudges," I told him and hugged him right after.

He wrapped arms around me in a fatherly hug. I suddenly heard my siblings cooing, "Aww! They finally made up!"

"You should take a picture, Nick."

"Mom is going to be happy to hear this!"

"Finally! I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

"Great. Can I go back to the dishes, now?"

I nodded at Nick. He threw a smile my way and entered the kitchen, going back to washing dishes. I backed away from the hug.

"Where's Seth?" I asked all of them. "Well, Seth went to visit your mom in Port Johns for a while," dad answered. "Oh. It's just that it's been a long time since I talked to him," I shared.

"He hasn't talked to us also. I think he finally got himself a girl or something," Zanniah told us her thoughts.

I burst out laughing. "Trust me, Zanniah. Seth is far from getting a girl. That guy looks like someone that is going to die single."

All eyes shifted to Nick at what I said. He looked up and noticed our stares. "What? Are you saying I'm going to die alone too?" He questioned.

We snickered. "It's indisputable, Nick. You're a keep-to-yourself kind of guy," Seleene stated. "I bet you haven't talked to a girl in ages," Felix teased.

His eyes widened. "I have girl friends, you know?" We chuckled. "We know that. We just meant that you haven't talked to a girl you like in ages," Farah rephrased.

"I've talked to Lisa," he defended. My eyebrows rose in realization. "Oh! You admit it now! You like Lisa!" I shouted.

We all watched as Nick blushed and looked down at the dishes. "Whatever. Can you guys talk about something else?"

I grinned and spoke,"Well, I'm going to ask you guys to leave because I want to sleep."

"Nope. We're going to sleep over. Dad is going to leave," Zan disagreed. "That's fine with me. I only came to apologize to Vanessa. I'll see you later, my lovely kids," dad said and then exited my apartment.

"Okay, everyone. Let's go to sleep. If you're going to stay and play video games please keep it down," I stressed, while giving Nick a pointed look.

He raised his hands defensively. "Fine. I'll try." I rolled my eyes and just walked to my room after saying my goodnight to all of them.

I'm feeling super tired for some reason. I yawned and took out my phone from my pocket. I threw myself on the bed and started looking through Facebook.

I saw post after post. That was until one post caught my eye. It was Nathan's post and he posted it just a few minutes ago.

The picture loaded and I couldn't hide my shock when I saw it. It was a picture of him and a white girl, kissing.

Kissing!

What is he doing? Is this part of his plan or is he just trying to hurt me and rub it in my face that he's moved on from me quick?

I dropped my phone on the bed and cupped my mouth in shock. My jaw was dropped down to the ground and my eyes were the size of saucers.

I can't believe this. Nathan is not coming back. He's never coming back.

So I fooled myself all this time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N:

--°Sauce°