He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and smiled as he caught her trying to tame her hair. The wind when they had opened the windows had teased a few strands out of the bun she had kept her hair in all day, and now she had made it her mission to tame the wild locks. And currently, she was losing. "I thought you said you were going to call him."

She gave him the stink eye and sank further into her seat. "I changed my mind." There was no point trying to tame her hair. It had a mind of its own.

"Are you sure turning up like this is a good idea?"

Her tongue tapped at the edge of her teeth as she thought upon it. "It won't be a problem." Her dad wouldn't be home.

"Let me rephrase that," Thelonious chuckled. "Are you turning up with me like this is a good idea?"

Darcy shrugged and grinned. "He won't be home so we won't have to worry about that."

He quirked a questioning brow in her direction. "What do you mean he won't be home?"

"I mean," she began with a small smile. "Dad spends every Wednesday night with his friends. He doesn't usually come home until midnight since he doesn't have a morning lecture on Thursdays."

Thelonious wiped a hand down his face to eradicate the grin at her evil plan. "You've perfectly orchestrated this, haven't you?"

Darcy merely smirked in response.

"And when exactly are you going to speak to your dad?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I think I'm going to wait for him to call me."

Thelonious chucked but didn't say anything further on the matter. Pushing Darcy to resolve the situation with her dad while the wound was still fresh probably wasn't the best idea, even if she did need to speak to him. But on the other hand, he was the adult and definitely knew his daughter best.

For the current moment, his plan was to take a step back and let the father-daughter duo sort out their own problems. If she needed him, then he would step up.

"Could we stop for ice cream on the way?" She asked, already googling the nearest ice cream parlour on her phone.

Thelonious grinned. "Your wish is my command, vixen."

-

"You've got ice cream on your face." Darcy scrunched up her nose at him, before finishing the last of her cone. "On the corner of your mouth."

He wiped his hand down his face, missing the corner of his mouth completely. "Did I get it?" When she shook her head, his lips turned up and he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her to him leaving no room to escape. "Help me out?" He bowed his head, his hand slipping under her top to rub soothing circles on her sides.

She rolled her eyes but couldn't hold back her smile. Cupping his face in her hands, she angled her face up and licked away the cream. The initial plan had been to tease him and pull away, leaving him wanting plenty, but Thelonious one-upped her as he turned his head and captured her lips in a slow, tantalising, toe-curling kiss.

Darcy came out of it breathless and dazed. "You don't play fair," she whispered, her eyes still closed. She leaned further into him, almost as if being compelled by some magnetic force. She wasn't complaining though.

He bumped her nose with his. "Consider that payment for driving you down here."

"I didn't realise I would be paying you for your services."

Thelonious quirked an eyebrow. "I'll let you think about how you're gonna pay me for the drive back."

Arching her back, she eliminated the little space between them and curled her fingers into his hair, tugging his head down to hers. "I can think of a few things." She whispered the words against his lips, her tongue darting out to trace his bottom lip, asking for entrance.

"I'm sure you can." He groaned and pecked her lips before pulling away to gaze at her house. "You have a beautiful house."

Darcy scoffed and moved towards the front door with her key in hand. "You haven't even seen the inside yet."

Thelonious shrugged and followed closely, closing the front door behind him.

When he had offered to drive Darcy to her childhood home that evening to pick up some clothes and other things she needed while she continued to hide out in his hotel with him, he had thought it would be just that. What he hadn't expected was to find her father sitting at the kitchen island, drinking his coffee and grading some papers.

And from the looks of things, Darcy hadn't expected it either.

She had said that he was always out with his friends on a Wednesday evening but that didn't seem to be true this evening.

At the sound of the door closing, Elijah Blake glanced up, not at all surprised with seeing his daughter but when his eyes travelled back to Thelonious who was stood behind her, his eyebrows quirked up and his mouth turned down at the edges; a frown.

However, he didn't have long to dwell on the matter as Darcy broke the silence. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

Elijah finished the last of his coffee and stood up to place it in the sink behind him. "Surprised to see me in my own house?"

She nodded and walked towards the kitchen counter, placing her keys on it. "You're normally out on Wednesdays."

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I figured that you might take advantage of this and try to sneak into the house while I was out." He chuckled. "And I guess, I guessed right."

She laughed. The sound was awkward and slightly high-pitched, but it was still a laugh.

Her father was smarter than she had thought, she had to give him that.

Thelonious watched as Elijah turned to face him, making him the centre of attention. He had never done this before, the meet-the-parents thing. In fact, he had never had a serious girlfriend before either so he had absolutely no idea what to say to her father, especially under the circumstances.

"And who might this be?" His words weren't overly cheerful or friendly, but it also sounded like he wasn't going to kill him on the spot, so that was a good start.

He cleared his throat and stepped forward with an outstretched hand. "I'm Thelonious Knight, Mr Blake. It's nice to meet you."

"Elijah Blake." He introduced himself and accepted his hand, giving it a firm shake to show him that he meant business. "I would say likewise, but I'm not exactly who you are yet though." He tipped his chin up, glaring at Thelonious who towered over him by a few inches.

Thelonious struggled with his words and when he came up empty, he turned to Darcy in hopes that she would jump in and save him. What was he supposed to say? That they were dating? That they were girlfriend or boyfriend?

He felt like coming from him, would make the situation that much worse. He was also pretty sure that he was going to say something wrong. Elijah Blake looked like a ticking time bomb at the moment and he was no masochist; he had no intention in being caught in the cross-fire when he finally blew his casket.

"Dad, this is my boyfriend."

Elijah turned to face his daughter; the surprise evident. "Your boyfriend?" He repeated slowly, almost as if he believed to heave heard wrong.

Thelonious was slightly offended. Was he not good enough for his daughter? She certainly didn't agree.

Darcy scoffed and shook her head. "You don't get to use that tone. Not with him."

Elijah sighed and ran a hand down his face. "We need to talk but first, let me pour you some coffee. Thelonious?"

"Just black, please."

He nodded and turned around to pour three cups of coffee, leaving them all on the kitchen island.

Thelonious stepped forward and grabbed his cup. "Thanks for the coffee, but I think it'll be best if I give you guys some privacy." He headed out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Darcy pulled out one of the bar stools and took a seat at the kitchen counter. Her father followed suit and sat across from her. "I never wanted you to find out like that."

She pursed her lips. "It seemed like you didn't want me to find out at all."

"That's not true at all."

"It sure doesn't feel that way."

"I'm sorry, if that what you want to hear?" The frustration was clear and Darcy suspected that he had been thinking over this conversation in his head these past few days, planning how it would happen and what he would say, just as she had. But now that they were both in front of each other, that all went out the window.

Darcy rolled her eyes.

"I knew you would be angry when you eventually found out, but I didn't realise you would be so angry that you didn't call."

"You didn't call me either, so you don't get to say that."

He shrugged and gulped down his coffee. Seeing as it had gone cold since he had made the batch over an hour ago, he didn't need to worry about burning his tongue. "I figured you didn't want to talk to me."

"Well, you figured right. But you're my dad." She exhaled, frustrated. The cold coffee wasn't helping. "Imagine finding out that you've had a secret girlfriend for over three years and then you leave and never call me. How do you think that makes me feel?"

"You told me to leave." He pointed out but even to his ears, his argument was weak.

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that you've been seeing Stacey for three years now!"

He looked up at his daughter. While his eyes were tormented and sad, he chose to resonate anger. "Am I not allowed to be happy? Is that it?"

She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "It's nothing like that. Since when did we start keeping secrets from each other?"

"I told you, I was meaning to tell you."

"That's not good enough."

Elijah leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.

It was only then did she really notice what was going on with her father. In over the week that she hadn't seen him, it appeared as if he had aged a couple of years. His hair looked more haggard and his worry lines more prominent. His eyes were tired and it looked like he hadn't slept properly.

All because of her.

His voice grew tired, his words quiet. "I don't want to argue with you, Darcy."

"I'm not upset that you've got a girlfriend, dad."

"You're not?"

"No," she shook her head. "I've met Stacey and she's nice. I actually like her."

"You've met Stacey?" It seemed his girlfriend hadn't indulged him on their breakfast together, possibly because she wasn't sure how he would take that piece of information or perhaps because Darcy had asked her not to. She wanted to be the one to tell him, after they had solved all their issues that was. And while she had planned to do that over the weekend, there was no time like the pleasant.

"Yes, we had breakfast together yesterday." She told him. "She seems lovely. Really great."

"She didn't tell me." He mused quietly.

"I asked her not to, so please don't be upset with her." She reached over and placed her hands over her dads. "Like I said before, I'm not upset that you've got a girlfriend. I'm upset that you felt like you needed to hide it from me."

He held her hands in his tears, a lone tear rolling down his cheek. "I didn't mean to hide it from you."

"I know you didn't but you did. The fact is that you didn't trust me enough to tell me that you were actually seeing someone."

"I do trust you. It's not about that."

"Then what is it about?"

Elijah shook his head and sighed.

"Tell me what it's about. I can handle it." Her voice remained quiet and soft, coaxing him to indulge in her.

"I didn't want you to think that I was replacing your mum."

Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "She left us."

"She's still your mum."

"I don't care about her. She left me when I was a baby, I don't even remember her. There's nothing to replace."

"She's still your mother."

"She's my biological mother in the sense that she gave birth to me but that's about it. She was never there for me when I needed her. You were. You've always been there for me. You're my mum and my dad."

A pregnant pause passed between them.

"I never knew you felt that way."

"We talk about everything but mum."

"I guess we do. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Stacey earlier. It was nothing about you. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you. I didn't want you to feel like you had to share me, or that you weren't my first priority anymore because you are and you always will be. I love you, Darcy."

"I love you too, dad. But I want you to be happy. I'm happy you've got someone that cares for you. But I am annoyed you dated her for three years and never told me."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I made a mistake."

"A big one." She smirked, but held no hard feelings. They talked and now it was time to let go. "But if we can all get dinner together one time then maybe I can forgive you."

Elijah stood up and rounded the kitchen island. When he reached her, he pulled his daughter into his arms and held her tight. "You'll always be my number one girl, Darcy."

"I truly am happy for you dad. I don't want anything to hold you back. No more secrets between us?"

He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Never again."

Darcy exhaled, glad with how things had fallen into place but it appeared his father wasn't quite done just yet. He walked into the living room to face the innocent bystander whom had sat quiet during the whole ordeal, nursing a cup of cold coffee, disinterested. "Thelonious?"

His head whipped up so fast that Darcy feared he would give himself whiplash. "Yes?" He asked, unsure of himself. He knew that Darcy and her father had finished talking and judging by the small smile on her face, he was certain that they had been able to resolve all their issues.

"How about you and I have a little talk?"

-

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Layla Knight

20.04.2020