Chapter 70- Taunting Revisits

[] A M E L I A []

Dad and I sat on our backyard porch, under a giant umbrella that protected our table from getting any snow. We were across from each other, allowing us to gauge each other's expressions. We were silent, both of us sipping at our hot chocolates that he had made for us. It turns out that that's precisely why he was looking for me, to get me have a cup of hot chocolate with him. After searching the entire house, Leo's room is where he found me.

"He seems like a good guy," Dad said to break the silence, surprising me.

I swallowed and realized that 'good' didn't even cut it. I nodded slowly, smiling as I looked down to my mug.

"He's a great person dad. Just like you," I said softly.

I heard dad sigh from across the table. I looked up at him, only to see him smiling lightly at me.

"He seems better than anything I could have ever been for you. He made you smile and protected you when I couldn't," dad said, his voice heavy.

I let out a small breath and stood up from my chair. I walked over to him, taking the spot beside him. I encased his hand in my own, resting it on the cold table in front of us.

"That's not true. No one is better than you dad. Can never be," I said, remembering all the times he was there for me.

Dad shook his head, gripping my hand tightly.

"You got kidnapped, Amelia. That bastard had a gun to your head. And I couldn't do anything. I could only sit at home and wait. But that boy, he broke barriers for you. Gemma told me about all the times he fought for you," dad said.

"That's because he's crazy. He fights physically for anyone he cares about," I jokingly said, trying to ease the situation.

Dad chuckled lightly at that.

"You know, that reminds me of your mother."

My eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Mom used to fight?" I asked, shock evident in my voice.

"Oh yeah. She'd beat up all the bullies in our school. I used to watch her from afar, not thinking I was good enough. She surprised me one day when she walked up to me, asking why I always stared at her. I told her I wanted to learn to fight like her. And even after all these years, I can't pack a punch half as good as hers," he said, laughing lightly.

I chuckled along with him, surprised to hear about this bit of their past. I knew my parents were together for a long time, I just didn't know it went that deep.

Dad turned to me then, a certain mirth in his eyes I couldn't place.

"Was the hoodie his then?" he asked.

I blushed and nodded.

"Going for medicine?" he asked again.

"Yeah. He wants to be a doctor," I said proudly.

Dad took a sip from his hot chocolate.

"Good choice."

I nearly choked on my spit. After a moment, Dad turned to me with a sigh, his eyes shining.

"I'm glad he was there for you when I couldn't be."

"You were the best, dad. If it weren't for you I'd still be stuck in the slump I was in. You were the first person to help me out of it, Leo and the rest just pushed me a little further," I said earnestly, squeezing his hand tight.

He smiled and brought his hand up to caress my head.

"You were our strength too Amelia. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not protecting your brother better. I'm so sorry for not showing you a better example for a parent."

I sighed, looking down to my lap.

"That is something we all should feel sorry toward Levi for."

* * *

[] L E O []

A soft light burned through my eyelids, signalling that it was morning. My eyes slowly fluttered open, and it took me a moment to gather my settings. I was still in Amelia's childhood room, and that thought brought a small smile to my face. However, the smile soon vanished when I realized that the spot beside me was empty.

I sat up quickly, blinking rapidly to make sure that I wasn't imagining things. But no, the spot beside me was clear, as if nothing happened over night. As if Amelia wasn't beside me all night.

I soon realized that she probably went back to her own room, not wanting to be found in mine when morning came. However, a nagging feeling in the back of my head made me want to go check on her.

I quickly got out of bed and started heading for the door. I got out slowly, not wanting the door to creak, and started going in the direction of Amelia's room. On my way there, I passed the kitchen, and I frowned when I saw that it was empty.

I made my way to Amelia's door and knocked rapidly when I reached.

"Come in," Gemma said from the other side.

I barged in quickly, frowning when I found that Amelia wasn't in the room. I turned to Gemma, a small panic kicking in. Her eyes were wide as she saw me, and she started walking to me when she saw the small frown on my face.

"What happened Leo?" she asked.

"Where is Amelia?" I asked back.

"She hasn't been here all night. I thought she was with you," Gemma said with a small frown too.

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.

"She was. But she wasn't there when I woke up," I explained.

Gemma's eyes widened. We both then set out to find Amelia. She wasn't in any room we checked, not in any of the bathrooms either. When we got Jamal and Andre's room, they were just waking up. When we asked if they had seen Amelia, they also said they couldn't find her. We all made it out to the living room then, unsure of what to do. I suddenly had a thought, and I turned to all of them.

"I'll go see if her car is parked out front," I said to them, already heading towards the door.

Her car had been returned by an officer last night, and should be parked in the driveway now. They nodded and I raced to the front door, in a hurry to see if Amelia was even home. When I got outside, I saw that only two cars sat on the driveway, mine and Jerry's. Amelia's car wasn't in sight.

I walked back inside with a heavy heart. When I got back to the living room, everyone was sitting down.

"Is her car there?" Gemma asked worriedly.

I shook my head at her. She let out a soft gasp and turned to her phone again, trying to call Amelia again.

I turned to Jamal and Andre then, who both had calculating looks on their faces. Before I could ask them what was going on, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around quickly, hoping it was Amelia. I frowned when my eyes fell on Jerry, who was yawning and stretching as he came towards us.

"Morning kiddos," he said, coming into the living room.

We all responded, and I turned to him in panic.

"Jerry," I said, as he insisted that we all call him that, "-have you seen Amelia at all this morning?" I asked quickly.

Jerry turned to me with a quirked brow.

"No," he said.

My shoulders slumped and I inhaled a worried breath.

'Where could she be?'

"Leo," Jerry said.

I turned to him, thinking he might have remembered something about Amelia's whereabouts.

"Yes?"

He studied me, his eyes holding a look I couldn't place. For some reason, it made me tense. He turned towards me then and suddenly brought a hand up to rest it on my shoulder. I swallowed before meeting his gaze.

"We'll find her later, but right now, there's something more important to do."

My heart raced. What could be more important than finding Amelia?

He suddenly clamped my shoulder tighter, and if possible, I tensed even more.

"Now that everything is already chaotic enough, why don't we have a little chat Leo?"

And those were the words that I never thought would scare me to death as much as they did when Amelia's father said them.

* * *

[] A M E L I A []

Walking up these pristine wooden stairs felt weird. I hadn't been in here since nearly five years ago. This house, like many others, held a lot of memories for me. I remembered the good times I shared here, many with people I don't even recall the names of any more. However, I remember that every time I came here, I had a good time.

Because John Adams threw the best parties in town.

At least, he used to.

I finally reached the front door and rapped my knuckles on it. A few moments later, the door burst open. I was surprised by the impatience of whoever was on the other side, and I stepped back from the door with a racing heart.

On the other side, I saw a young boy of nearly 9 years. He had shaggy brown hair and light brown eyes, similar to John in almost every way. I stared at him in wonder, remembering after a few moments that this was John's step-brother.

"Hi," I said with a smile.

"Who are you?" He bluntly asked.

"I'm Amelia. A friend of your brother's," I replied.

His jaw dropped then, and he took a step back.

"I recognize you now. You're the girl on the news this morning."

I frowned in confusion, until I realized that news about Levi has probably gotten out. I cleared my throat and gave him a forced smile.

"Yeah, that's me. Amelia Harrison."

The boy's eyes widened, his cheeks turning rosy. Before either of us could say a word, I saw another silhouette coming toward us from behind the young boy. I sighed in relief when I saw John coming our way. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he immediately brushed past his brother to give me a hug.

"Lia, what are you doing here?" He asked, pulling away from me.

"I thought we could talk," I said, eyeing his brother nervously.

John looked down to his brother and then back to me.

"Sure. Come on in Lia," he said.

I nodded and he made way for me to enter. His brother disappeared afterwards, and I followed John to his room silently.

Once inside, I casually went over to take a seat on his couch, since his room was big enough for one. I took in my surroundings, surprised to see that nothing had changed in his room even now.

"Want something to drink?" He asked, heading over to his mini fridge.

I shook my head at him, and he shrugged before making his way over to me. He sat on the couch beside me, facing me as he sat.

"How are you holding up?" He asked tentatively.

I nodded.

"I'm better now. It feels as if something finally fell into place. I feel peaceful," I blabbered.

I heard him sigh and turned to look at him.

"That's exactly what it feels like Amelia. I feel like I can finally breathe again."

We were silent for the next few moments, until John broke it again.

"I never said it then, Amelia...but I always thought it couldn't have been Levi."

I snapped my head to John's, surprised that he said this.

"They say that heartbroken people often do crazy things, but I don't think Levi really loved Brittany. Nor was he too overly possessive over her. What he had was merely puppy love, it was harmless," John said, looking down to his lap. "But during the trial, when he just confessed, I felt like I couldn't say anything. I felt like I had to hate him for what he did. Like it was an obligation to. I was so stunned that I just didn'tfight him on it, or try to look further for the truth."

I let out a deep breath and looked over to John. He was still looking down at his hands, and I reached over to put my hand on top of his. He looked down at our hands, his body relaxing even more.

"All these years, I felt the same."

Both of us breathed out at the same time, almost as if we were letting go of the past entirely in that one moment.

"This is where you two first met right? You were holding a party when we were in 10th," I whisper, looking out towards his window that overlooked his backyard.

"Yeah," John murmured.

I smiled, reminiscing that time. Brittany had dragged me to that party, and like many others, her and Dad had convinced me to go. Mom never found out that I went and even came back, since dad had taken her out for dinner.

"It was a good party, that one," I said, chuckling a little.

I heard John let out a snicker too, probably remembering how the cops showed up at his house. We laugehd for a moment before sobering up again.

I finally looked over to John, only to see that his eyes were glossed over, a faraway look in his eyes.

"What did you love most about her?" I asked him quietly.

He let out a small breath and turned to me.

"There was nothing I didn't love. Her sassy remarks, her ability to stand up for everything that was right, her hair, her vanilla scent, her pretty and rare smile. I loved all of her," John said, a heartbreaking grin on his face.

I let out a small breath at his words, trying to blink away my own tears.

"At least I know that before she died, she experienced love. She loved you with all her heart. That girl was absolutely crazy about you," I said with a chuckle, wiping my tears away at the same time.

I saw a few fall down John's cheek as he wiped away at them as soon as they came.

"I loved her too, Amelia. I loved her too."

We fell silent then, both of us gathering our thoughts. We needed this time. We needed to grieve, and it felt good to be able to talk about this with John. It felt different with him. More personal. Maybe because he was there with me during Brittany's last moments. Or maybe just because we were both around Brittany just as much. Maybe we both grieved as much. Whatever it was, it felt good to let go of everything with John.

"Speaking of love," John suddenly said. "-did that guy finally ask you out yet?"

I frowned in confusion as he stared me down, his brow wiggling playfully.

"Who?"

"The guy who I met when I was in your university."

I frowned, thinking back to that time.

"Jamal? The guy who grabbed you?" I asked, remembering how Jamal had attacked John.

John shook his head.

"Oh heck no. Jamal looked like a teddy bear compared to the other guy. The one who looked like he would rip me apart just by staring at me. He ran like a maniac to you yesterday too, even when I said it wasn't allowed. I can't remember his name..." John trailed off, pretending to be thinking.

I chuckled and shoved his arm playfully. He chuckled along with me and sat up straighter.

"Leo?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Yes, Leo. Did he finally grow some balls and ask you out? He literally looked like he would cry, kill, or throw up yesterday when he came up to me asking where you were. I can't imagine what he went through when he saw you yesterday in the warehouse, with Jackson pointing the gun at you and all," John said, a shiver racking through him as he finished speaking.

"He did?" I mumbled, trying to imagine Leo's desperation.

"Why do you sound so surprised? With the way you're acting, I'm sure he's confessed," John said, grinning.

A small blush rose on my cheeks as I nodded to his words.

"He has. So have I."

John grinned and recahed over to ruffle my hair. I groaned and swatted his hand away.

"Well tell you what, since Papa Harrison is too sweet for it, and since Levi would need some time to get used to it, make sure you bring him here to meet me before you guys leave. I'll give him a good brotherly warning. Yesterday was a bit too chaotic for that."

I nodded shyly and both of us grinned. I sighed and looked around John's room. Suddenly, my eyes fell on a picture on John's desk. I sucked in a breath as I saw it.

In the picture, John was sitting on a swing, a girl sitting on his lap. She had long brown hair cascading down her back as she kissed John. Both were smiling wildly through the kiss, looking so happy and in love that it brought tears to my eyes. I remember that picture so well.

I took that picture.

That day, Brittany and John had insisted that I accompany them to a walk, and wasn't surprised when they said I had to be their designated photographer. It wasn't long before I caved in, and I had even enjoyed the walk since I loved being around nature. That was nearly six years ago now.

I let out a sharp breath as I saw that picture.

John didn't seem to notice where my attention was, so I quickly looked away to face him. He rose a brow at me, facing me fully.

"What's wrong Lia?" He asked concerned.

I angled my body towards him, once again bringing my hand to rest atop of his.

"There's another thing John," I said.

John frowned in confusion, nodding for me to go on. I let in a shaky breath before I spoke again.

"I know what love feels like. I know that even the thought of the other person not being there anymore hurts. It feels like your heart is ripping in two and the earth is opening to swallow you whole. But I know how sometimes, it hurts less if we get past it." I sighed.

"What are you saying Lia-"

"I think it's time for you to move on, too. I think she would've wanted that."