I was drained, both emotionally and mentally. Robert had left me as soon as we were shoved out of the house, not letting out a small word fall between us. I felt like I had been thrown off in a jungle, waiting for someone to help me escape.

Even when I had reached the tracks, little earlier than usual, there was no sign of Robert or his favorite Maria. For starters, I was worried and considered running the issue with Luke and Dan. But then, I hesitated. He was a big boy after all, he knew how to handle himself. I had quietened down, running my laps and workouts as I thought about the possibilities.

I didn't know if I had a job at the café now or the honor of being Monica's maid at her wedding. I had not only lost a job, but also a second family that I had come to treat as my own.

With my own father who had worked things behind my back, Monica pushing me away and Robert leaving me without another word, I left like there was nothing I could go back to.

Tracks were the only thing that I could call mine now. At least, I could feel like home until the engines were cut off.

A small voice inside my head told me that perhaps, that was how Dad felt when Mom had died. But then, I shut it out completely. I had been defending Dad for a long time now and even if I was going to forgive him soon, I knew I had to stop protecting him at every curve.

I breathed heavily as I started the gas and looked around another time to see if Robert was around. I didn't know what I would tell him if he was there, but I knew I had to be with him for moral support.

A small part of me warned me that he might have ran again. I was certain that he might pull such a stunt if he put his mind into it.

"Looking for someone?" Luke asked me getting closer to my car. For the first time in the whole day, I smiled weakly at Luke. "Someone with curly hair?"

He had a wide grin on his face as he teased me. But today, I was in no mood to get titillated. I just smiled again. "Hey, you haven't seen him, have you?"

"No." Luke said, placing his hands on my window as I lowered the glass. He bent forward and put his head in the frame of my window and peered at me. "What's going on with you two? One day you are fighting and the other you are pulling each other's leg."

"He's my coach." I said, a little harder than I had expected. "Just because of that he scolds me at every turn. That's not fair, is it?"

With all the skills I had gained with Robert, answering smartly was one that I would cherish the most. At my return question now, Luke only smiled and shook his head. It was very rare seeing Luke smile and grin like a fool and when he did, I was truly happy to be witnessing it.

"Now, what's with your smile?" I asked as he didn't answer my previous questions. "You should do that often you know. I know you like that Satan face of yours but smiling won't take it away from you."

He smiled broadly now and put his hand inside to ruffle my hair. "I lost my sister last year. Cancer." He said with his smile intact as he looked at me. "You remind me of her."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't be. She didn't let me do this." He said putting his hand forward to ruffle my hair again.

"Funny." I mock glared at him. "Well, take my advice and practice smiling at least ten times a day." I said to lighten the mood. "You will get back to normal then."

"Yes, Ma'am." Luke said. "It's looking like rain tonight, Scar. Drive safe."

I nodded my head and went ahead, to the place I dreaded to go. Since it was after ten at night, I only hoped that Dad would have slept peacefully leaving me alone with my thoughts.

As I reached the familiar curves of my house, I felt like I was jumping from one frying pan to another. My parents weren't happy with each other and it was a fact that I found hard to digest.

I couldn't believe that it had taken me years down the lane to understand how things had gone with my parents. Being younger, I hadn't noticed any changes with my parents to figure out that they were not made for each other after all.

Though I was not the one to believe in fairy tales, those romance novels and movies had taken a large space in my head. And looking at my parents, I had known as a fact that those kinds of love did exist.

But now, everything was shattered, like a piece of glass. Even the familiar reflections seemed like a devil hiding behind a friendly smile.

As I entered the house and switched on the light, I heard the creak of the wheel chair rolling down the floor towards the hall. I closed my eyes for a second before I could hear him make amends now. I went into the kitchen and drank a whole bottle of water skipping my dinner for the night.

"Scar?" Dad asked as I walked into the hall with the empty bottle in hand. I swallowed the water in my mouth and nodded at him, leaving only my head movements to answer his questions. "I ordered pizza today and I saved you three slices."

"Not hungry." I said, walking towards the sink to fill the water bottle.

I wanted to ask him what more he wanted of me now, but I held my tongue. It was better to stay mute with him than pull out all my cards and call poker on him. Now I had understood him why he had tried to kill himself that day. He wanted to make sure that he didn't have to face this one day.

After all, living was more difficult than dying. He had known it from the start to pull such a stunt.

"Please Scar." Dad came into the kitchen and placed himself next to me. "I'm really sorry. I was young and was not thinking properly when I had to go through all that."

"Save it." I said not wanting to hear what more bullshit he had to feed me. "I know enough."

"Don't I have a permission to commit mistakes?" He asked. The bottle still hadn't filled up and I wondered how long it would take to fill it up. "It was a mistake... a mistake, Scar. I know it now."

That was when all of my hell broke lose. I had heard this sentence for a million times now and my resistance broke. "Then why the hell did you shut up when I asked about it?" I asked. My voice was slowly raising and if the current discussions continued, I was sure I would be waking up the whole town. "I had asked you a thousand times already and yet it took you twelve years to throw that on my face."

"I know." Tears had started on his face and I turned away not wanting to witness that. "I screwed up. I wanted to tell you all that, but I... I didn't have the courage."

"I begged you... begged you to tell me." I said, remembering the things I had done to get to the bottom of it. "Do you know how much I was taunted by Ashley? Do you know how many races I lost thinking about your shits?"

"Scarlet..." He called and I shook my head no.

"I know enough now." I said. "Just go sleep it off and you'll be fine. Or better even, go have a drink."

With that I switched off all the lights before I went to my room up the stairs. I had never put out my feeling out in the open ever before. No matter how bad the fight was, I had learnt to keep it all in until it killed me slowly making me numb for a few days until I bounced back.

But tonight, I had given a piece of my own words to Dad not holding anything back. It probably had to deal with the fight I had witnessed in the morning with the Kapoor family.

With everything that was happening, I hadn't spilled a tear and that was surprising me. Maybe it was for the best that I was having a good emotional control over things if not for my inner mental stability. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Only a few more weeks and then I would have some control over my life without Ashley or anyone breathing down my neck.

I waited outside my door, till I made sure that Dad was inside his. When I was sure that he had gone in, I went into my room - dark and lifeless. I closed my eyes as I leaned against the door, thinking how gray the day had turned out to be.

"Scarlet?" I jumped up, my hands on my heart as I watched around horror etched to find who it was. I wanted to turn on the light but it was at the other end of the bed and I stayed still. "Is that you?"

The familiar voice made me release my breath. It was Robert and I heaved a sigh.

Now as my sight adjusted to the darkness, I saw his body outlined in the street lights. His back had hunched down and he looked as if he had given up in his life. His head bobbed up, trying to figure if I was whom he thought I was.

"Rob." I breathed, slowly making my way towards him. He was sitting at the edge of my bed and I wondered for how long he had sat here waiting for me. Did Dad knew he was here? Did he wanted to warn me of it before I lost it and shouted at him? "How did you get here?"

I stood in front of him as Robert lifted his head up. His face was a beautiful mask of blackness and I ran my hands over his curly hair. He leaned in to my touch and sighed.

"The window was open." He said and suddenly, he encircled my waist with his arms as he pressed his face to my stomach. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't." I said and I hugged him back. I put my arms around his neck as pressed himself to me. With our petty fights and nonsense bickering, we had not found a moment of pure bliss in ourselves as we always did. "You okay?"

"I am actually angry." He said and I sighed. I understood why he wanted to be angry with me. I was the one who had forced him to go and confess about himself with his mother and now, they hated him more than before. "I want to shout at you, but I don't have the energy."

The axenic honesty in him made me snort and I ran my hands over his head again. "Robert... just get it out. I won't mind." I said. It had been true. Listening to the shitty things from a few days, it seemed as if I was becoming immune to it. "Just go for it and I'll still be here."

"Now they hate me more than ever." He said, tilting his head up. "It was a bad idea to come to this town back again."

"It was a good thing." I said, pulling him away to see his face. "How else do you think I have a good coach?"

Robert's hand dropped down and his face drooped. "I'm not as good as you think I am." He said and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"So you are saying there is something more?" I asked, suddenly going into the defensive mode. If there was something more, I didn't know if I could survive.

Robert heaved a sigh, but didn't tell anything. He pulled me down and I sat next to him, eyeing him and wanting to ask him again. He put his hand on top of mine and ran his fingers across my cheeks.

"You look tired." He said. It was a statement as if he had been noticing me all along. "You should take some rest."

"I not tired." I lied, though I left like I had been lifting trucks to get my conditioning right. "I'm usually up late to finish my school duties."

"You mind me staying here tonight?" He asked, not taking his eyes away form me.

I shook my head no. I had been seeing home in him now and he was the only thing that stuck with me. Everything else seemed fake to me and he seemed like the only person who knew what I was going thorough.

I dragged myself further into the bed, making space for him. I put my head on the pillow and faced the ceiling fan. Though I was tired, sleep lay very far from me. Sleeping late and getting up early had become my routine now and it was too hard to break that streak.

Robert dropped himself on me, placing his head on my shoulders, circling his arms around my waist. His breath tickled my neck and it distracted me from the awful thoughts I was having. I hugged him in return and sighed contently.

This was indeed home.

"Do you think they are going to forgive me?" Robert asked, his lips moving against my collar bone. "I turned up at their door step after so long."

"I agree that they need time and for now, it's best to give it to them." I said, not wanting to say out loud that it was a huge wish to ask for. "I'm proud of you though."

"I'm still angry at you for making me go through with it." He said, his voice was least of angry. It was as if he was drifting off to sleep as he spoke. The poor guy had probably taken a lot of this and grinded over it since the afternoon. "Now, along with me, they are angry with you too."

"Yeah." I said, cherishing the conversation that Monica and I had just before Rob had made his entry.

How she had told me that I was like her sister. How she considered me as their family. How she had invited me to her wedding, not only as a guest but as a maid of honor. Now, not only was I a stranger to them, but a betrayer who had kept them from their son and brother even after I knew about him.

But then again, it was Robert's place to come out clean and not mine. People always heard shit about others and I didn't want to be the one to gossip about their person.

Now, I didn't know where I stood with them.

Did I have a job? Should I be going back there tomorrow and ask if I was still working for them? Or should I be giving them the space just like I had advised Robert?

Café was something I valued most. Considering it to be my first job outside school, I was a little attached to it. Besides, the café was the only place where I thought I would forget things that was happening to me. I didn't know if it was predestined or the paybacks for the sins that my Dad had committed. Now, everything was slowly being snatched away and there was nothing I could do about it.

"What are you thinking about?" Robert asked, pulling me out from my mental monologue.

"Nothing." I said, turning my head towards him. He had a serious face, trying to read me. There was a slight rumble outside and I glanced at the window to see a faint lightning. "Looks like rain."

Robert only tugged me tighter and buried himself placing his face at the crook of my neck. I let out a small laugh at his actions while I held him. "It's a good thing that you let me stay then." He said, when I chuckled again, he lifted his head to see me. "Were you having a fight with your Dad?"

I held my breath. I thought we were talking about his issues with his family and suddenly, just like that everything had turned and all the signs were pointing towards me. I wanted to tell him everything, cry and let him console me, but then the idea was too selfish and it dissolved just as it was formed.

I looked at him and in that darkness, I saw some light in his eyes. I wanted to cling on to that light and find myself back on my feet. It had become too difficult for me to even breath. I was constantly struggling with my everyday chores that I hardly gave it any time to think through.

Sure, Dad had done a mistake, but the stake it held was too much to hold in. I had understood his Friday night drunken habits to get himself into that gamble, but then I realized he had gambled me since my birth and it was only a trailer that I had known till now.

All those nights I spent waiting for Dad to come back home, now looked stupid and foolish. Defending Dad all my life, I had turned a blind eye to his responsibilities, telling myself that it was for the best interests of me.

"Hey," Robert shook me, his eyes still lingered on me trying to decipher the emotions that held on my face. "I heard you shouting and I just assumed..."

"No, Robert." I said, my voice having the final authority as if to say, I had everything under control.

In some way, I had. I hadn't turned into a crying machine and my grades were quite average. My friends and racer guys didn't know I had trouble at home. Even Dan thought I had figured it all out with Dad and we were quite settled with our indifferences.

The only real thing that I told them when they asked if I was okay was I needed some time.

That was all I could wish for.

"I've got it all covered." I said, faking a smile.

That was enough for Robert to shut up and nod his head. Unlike others I didn't have to spell it out to him that I needed time to settle things.

---

A/N: I can't imagine Scarlet's mental state after all this. What do you say? We are almost at the end of this book. Another few chapters, we can bid farewell to them. Are you excited?