I did it again. When things got too much and my brain refused to work, all I did was run. Where did this take me now? Nowhere.

The news about Dad's affair with Katherine hit me harder than I was prepared for. I'd had this suspicion about the third person coming into the picture, but once I learned that it was Dean's mom, my brain couldn't handle it. The idea would never pop up in my mind, not even my wildest speculation.

Katherine was like my second mother, figuratively speaking, given how much time I spent with the Parker family. I have always admired her free spirit and happy nature. She made me laugh at my own stupidity and could turn my gloomiest day into a bearable one. She was the Pollyanna in our little family circle. While my mom was everything about perfection, Katherine was anything but. I always thought I was so lucky to have these two sides of a mother figure. Their personalities complimented each other, which supposedly helped me balance my perception of life.

Where did this start to take the wrong turn? Why did she choose to betray us after all these years we'd shared? What had we done wrong?

All I knew was Dad, Katherine, and Dean's dad, Sam, met in university and they had become good friends ever since. I learned about their story mostly from Katherine. She said Dad had always been the reserved one, while she and Sam had been the wild horses. Katherine made fun of Dad because of how shy and awkward he was during college, and it was hilarious every time my old man's face turned red from the tease. Then came my mom to the rescue, saving my dad from further embarrassment.

I honestly never knew how Katherine and Sam started their relationship. Was it love at first sight? Or did the romantic feeling develop slowly? Did my dad always hang out with them as a third wheel, or did he also date someone at that time? Did he ever have feelings for Katherine during his years in college? My chest tightened just by thinking about it.

Groaning, I turned around and extended my hand to grab my phone, just to realize it was still dead. I groaned again when I remembered that my charger was still in my car in Bailey's parking lot.

I propped myself up and scrambled out of bed, feeling glad I didn't get myself totally trashed last night, or I would've been fighting a stupid headache right now. Well, what happened at the end was sobering me up painfully.

After running from Blake, I went straight to my room and threw all my drenched clothes before landing on my bed. I was so drained emotionally that I couldn't feel my anger or sadness anymore. Once my body warmed up under my cover, the darkness took over.

The alcohol had left my system completely now, but his effects didn't. The memory of his sharp gaze on me, his scent, his touch, and our kiss were still imprinted clearly in my head. Every second being around him had been a battle to keep my mind straight. Gosh, I had no idea I was this hopeless.

"You don't need this right now, okay?" I told myself in the mirror before making my way to the door.

Surprisingly, Lea was awake. She was making coffee when I entered the kitchen, still in her oversized t-shirt that reached her mid-tight.

"Hey," she croaked, glancing down at my figure. "Where are you going this early?"

"I need to get my car."

"Right. I'll take you. Give me ten."

We were in Lea's car in the next ten minutes, heading to Bailey's with our tumblers full of coffee. I was ready to receive her questions about my last night's disappearance, but we drove in silence instead. The bar was not very far from our flat; I was going to walk there, hadn't Lea offered to take me. Still, despite the short drive, I could feel the awkwardness linger in the air.

"Blake told me he took you home," she finally said.

"I see," I replied, wondering if she knew we kissed. But why would he tell her such a thing?

Lea pursed her lips while keeping her eyes on the road. "Dean was there last night. He was looking for you."

"I know."

She sighed. "Jen, what happened? I knew something was up yesterday when you came to Bailey's."

My stomach churned at where this conversation was heading. "It's...uh. My mom and dad are fighting. I don't want to talk about it yet; I still need time to process."

"Oh, girl," Lea said. "Parents' war is shitty. But are you alright?"

I turned to the window before replying, "No, I'm not."

Lea gave my hand a gentle squeeze for support. "I'm here when you're ready to talk."

"Thanks."

We fell into silence again as we entered the city center. While Lea was focusing on the busy traffic, I watched people striding on the pavement in their work outfits, cups of coffee in their hands, and wearing hopeful faces, ready to seize the day. I wished I'd had at least one-third of their optimism now.

"I'm going to stop by Gloria. I'll bring home some pastries, yeah?" Lea said once she stopped her car by Bailey's gate.

"Okay. Thanks."

***

8 missed calls. 5 voicemail messages. 3 messages.

I ignored the notifications and dialed Mom's number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Jenny? Thank goodness! Are you okay? Where are you?" My mom almost shouted from the other side.

"Mom, I'm fine. My phone died last night, and I just had access to my charger a minute ago."

"We were looking for you last night. You weren't at your flat, you didn't come home, and it looks like Dean missed you at the bar. You sure know how to give your mother a heart attack."

"I'm sorry I made you guys worried."

"Just don't do that again. Don't disappear like that ever again."

"I didn't disappear on you," I mumbled. "I would've picked up your call if my phone didn't die."

After a few seconds of silence, my mom cleared her throat. "I'm sorry you found out this way, Jenny. I fully understand that you're now angry at us for keeping this from you. I thought I would wait and let you—"

"Mom, I'm more worried about you now than about being angry. Sure, I'm pissed with this whole situation and still trying to digest everything." I played with the charger cable while my eyes stared blankly at the bar gate. "I didn't see it coming, you know. How could they do this to you? How could he do this to you? I don't wanna have anything to do with him now. He's an asshole."

"And that asshole is still your father," she replied. "I can't blame you for having that kind of feeling towards him right now, but we need to learn that we all have our reasons. It also took me years to understand and accept it. My point is, no matter what happened between me and your father, he is still your dad, your flesh and blood. It wasn't his intention to hurt you, and it never will."

I groaned at the growing agitation with the topic. "I'm free today. Can we meet up? But I don't want to be home. I don't want to bump into him."

"I'm not home right now. I'm on my way to visit and examine the new area. Why don't you just take it easy today?" Yes, that sounded like my mom. Work and work. At least she didn't sit around at home dwelling with her pain. "Our weekend getaway is still on, right?"

"Yes, of course! I got my shift covered for the weekend."

"Good. Sam has set the cabin ready for us." Before I could respond, she added, "Actually, I was thinking. Instead of Saturday morning, maybe we can go on Friday evening? It doesn't matter how late we get there. We will just go straight to bed and start the next day waking up in the cabin."

The enthusiasm in my mom's voice made me smile. "Sounds cool, but I'm free at around nine."

"That would be perfect. I'll see you on Friday, sweetie."

"You will. Love you, Mom."

"I love you. Oh, and try to talk to your dad. Your disappearance is killing him."

"Good."

"Jen–"

"Bye." I killed the connection before Mom finished and checked the voice and text messages.

A voicemail from Dad, yesterday at 5:12 PM:Jenny, where are you? Are you still at the hospital? Call me back, please.

A voicemail from Dean, yesterday at 5:28 PM:Where are you?

A voicemail from Dad, yesterday at 6:38 PM:Jenny, I'm in your driveway. Looks like you're not home yet. Maybe you're still on the way. I'll be waiting here a little more. Call me back.

A voicemail from Mom, yesterday at 7:59 PM:Jenny, sweetie, I've been calling you but your phone is off or you must be somewhere with bad coverage. I'm getting worried now. Please call me back.

A voicemail from Dean, yesterday at 9:28 PM:I just missed you. Okay, I get it. You don't want to see any of us now and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. But I prefer not to talk about this in a voice message. I'll explain when I see you.

A message from Dean, yesterday at 5:17 PM:Have you left the hospital?

A message from Lea, yesterday at 9:35 PM: Hey, r u home?

A message from Dean, today at 00:29 AM:I hope you're in your bed now, safe and sound. Sleep well, Jen.

***

Our number-one getaway rule was: no gadgets allowed. It would be challenging for my mom given how obsessed she was with the progress report from her property-real estate team. Still, she was adamant about keeping the rule. It wasn't like we had reliable coverage around the cabin, anyway.

I spent the rest of the day doing my postponed-till-further-notice chores. Sitting around the whole day while having too many things going on inside my head was not the idea of how to get through the day. My problems wouldn't go away until I faced them one by one, and I promised myself that I would get to the bottom of this.

The first person I wanted to start with was Mom. Deep down, I felt guilty that I wasn't there in her time of need. I wanted to know the struggles and reasons behind all the decisions she made. I wanted to understand her before having to deal with the rest.