At the sight of her father he can see his expression slightly often. The once sharp glare turned into comfort to see the older man's face. Her father's face however was stone cold, held on the man in front of him. Amelia peered at the side of the doorway at the two men standing in front of her.
"Ah, Mr. Reston. What are you doing here at this hour?" Dallas questions Charlie, met with the same icy stare.
She can see her father pass a light glance in her direction with his eyes, before looking back to the man standing in her way. "I'm here to pick up my daughter."
Dallas puts his hand on the edge of the doorframe, completely blocking Amelia off from trying to exit. Raising an eyebrow he asks, "For? She would have informed me you were coming to get her."
"Dallas, Please–"
"Let your father speak for himself, plus I'm curious about his answer." His tone was pointed, colder than anything she had ever heard.
This wasn't going to end well.
Dallas pauses, "So, why are you here, Charlie."
There's no hesitation in her father's speech as he speaks right back to his competitor. "I told you already, I'm here to pick up my daughter. Now let me take her."
The other man chuckles, "I'm slightly hurt that I wasn't aware of this." He says, but slowly lowers his arm back to his side that was hoisted up. Turning to his side to look down at Amelia, only mere feet away from him.
His stare was no longer an every glowing warmth, comforting and bold– It was dim. Unable to feel any sense of comfort from his eyes, those deep shades that swirled vigorously around one another. Now feeling like deep holes of abyss, a place beyond the point of no return. Looking up at him only had her heart racing. A large lump appeared in her throat, hard to swallow the bile down.
Large hands cup at her cheeks, skin colder than snow pressed against her blazing skin. Goosebumps already rising from the clash of sensations– From even the mere touch alone. His eyes search hers, and even now Amelia tries her hardest to hide her true thoughts from his gaze. Even with his fingers rubbing against her cheeks, the movements he did to coax her into falling into his arms.
Dallas leans forward, placing a delicate kiss onto the woman's lips. Amelia doesn't resist him, kissing back at the taste of his tongue. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she didn't want to leave his arms. The way things used to be had become all the more comforting for her to leave it all behind.
Their life together, the possible future ahead– All of it dashed away from her in an instant. If this was the last time she would taste cigarettes and whiskey, Amelia would take it. The last time his hands came in contact with her skin, the last time he would press his soft lips to her own.
The last time she would be captured in what used to be safe arms, now a large bear trap.
He pulls back, using one of his hands to run his hair through her ponytail. "Stay safe, let me know when you are returning. I'll see you at the conference tomorrow."
All Amelia can do is nod, bending down to grab her back and walking out the door towards her father. Once she is at his side Charlie wraps his arm around her shoulders, beginning to walk down the empty hallway with her.
Was this truly how it was going to end between the two of them? Leaving with a kiss goodbye, the other surely knew something was wrong. Dallas was not a naive man, he knows the behaviors of others just as much as she did. The confrontation may not have escalated, but that doesn't mean in the future it wouldn't,
She can't help but turn her head back to look at the doorway. Seeing Dallas standing out of the frame, meeting her with a bright smile on his face. Waving her goodbye as she continued to move further and further away from their condo.
How could he be smiling at a time like this? When everything seemed to be falling apart, there was a smile spread across his pink shaded lips. Joyous, content, assured even when their steps click farther and farther away.
Amelia looks to her father, who notices her stare. Stopping at the elevator of their building, clicking on the bottom floor button. "I know this is hard for you honey."
Hard was an understatement, completely missing the mark of how much the situation hurt. Turning her back on someone who had given her so much, supported her through the worst times in her life. It meant nothing now, as if it had never happened at all.
Tears fall down her cheeks, Amelia wiping them out of view as the elevator dings. "I'll be fine, I'm your strong little girl, remember?"
Metal doors open, Amelia going ahead of her father and getting into the elevator. She presses the button as her father gets inside, watching as the doors close. The box begins to descend, Amelia stares straight at her reflection against the doors.
Her horrid reflection, she could feel the tears falling down her cheeks again. Trying her hardest to wipe them away does no good, her father coming to place his hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to act as if this doesn't affect you, Amelia." His voice was soft, caring like a father should be. He didn't want to let his daughter be hurt alone, or try to hide it from him.
There was nothing she could do to stop the tears flooding from her eyes, throughout the entire fiasco she had not let herself shed a single tear. She couldn't hold them in any longer, Amelia wasn't as strong as she had been only months ago.
"I love him," Amelia chuckles, wiping under her eyes. "How could I make the same mistake again? First Jake, and now Dallas– Does God want to punish me worse than he already has?"
She sucks the air through her teeth, shaking her head. "I had truly thought I found a man I could depend on, a man who could help me get through my demons at my lowest points. Yet here we are, almost in the same exact spot."
"Amelia–"
"I know God gives his bravest, strongest soldiers the toughest battles. I've known that my entire life, but I beg that he would just cease." Amelia breathes out, finally looking her father in the eyes. "I just can't take it anymore, dad. I can't keep feeling life has turned around and then lose it all. What kind of a life is that?"
"You've gone through so much."
"That's the problem," Her hand fixes the bag on her shoulder. "I didn't ask to be put through all of this. The loss, the death, the hatred and suffering. None of it was my choice, and I always have to push through it."
Amelia was truly fed up with God's plan for her life. "Keep a cool face, run the show like I always have. When I don't even have control of my own life– Look at me, dad." She gestures to herself, frustrated.
"I still haven't forgiven myself for everything that happened seven years ago. All the people that died, all the chaos me just being around caused."
Charlie shakes his head, "Amelia, you need to realize none of what happened was your fault."
He was wrong, all of it was her fault. From the first moment until now, every move was directed around her own. How many people died, how awful their deaths were. The innocent lives that were taken as collateral damage while she ran away from it all– Like a coward. Here she was yet again, running the same way she did before.
"You're wrong dad, I'm sorry but you're so wrong." Amelia rubs the side of her temple, eyebrows furrowing over her eyes as she looks away from him. "If I had never let those damn walls down, he would have never wiggled his way in my life. You were doing the right thing keeping him away from me, I was stupid to ever think he would change."
Spilling, everything was spilling out in a small little elevator. The numbers are climbing down slower than ever. They had barely moved halfway down the entire building.
"I loved Jake, and what did he give me in return? Death, betrayal, and a shit ton of guilt to live with for the rest of my life. Now Dallas could somehow be involved with the man he was supposed to protect me from?" She chuckles to herself, running her fingers through her bangs.
"It's all just one sick, cruel fucking joke. Is God having fun watching his little show? Does he like watching me squirm and struggle to get out of the worst of situations? What a great game it must be, huh!" Her voice was rising in volume, hands balling into fists.
"Amelia–"
"No!" Amelia shouts, "Did he enjoy watching me sob, and cry every night over Tess and Claire's deaths? Losing my best friends since my childhood, right in front of my eyes? Or how about having to watch Luca's execution, watching the light just leave his face when I could have saved him?"
There's a quick breath before she continues, "Oh, what about mom's death?! I'm sure he had a grand old time watching me just suffer over and over again– He's still doing it right now! Letting me fall in love and then just tearing it away all over again!"
The elevator falls silent, not a word between the two leaves their lips in the small box. Only the sound of the elevator finally reaching the bottom floor is heard. The doors open slowly, having them meet the empty first floor. Amelia sighs, fixing her back on her shoulder before walking out ahead of her father.
"I'm sorry," She looks back to him as he walks out to follow her. His eyes held on his daughter, clearly broken from her life. "I just–"
Charlie holds up his hand, walking to stand next to his daughter. He takes her hand into his, squeezing it tightly. "Never feel sorry for expressing that to me, I'm your father." Tilting his head towards her, he tries to give a light smile. "We'll get through this together, you and me. If not anyone else, I will always be here for you no matter what."
Together was exactly what she was afraid of. God played an unfair game, and Charlie was not meant to be one of the tragedies in his little stage production of her life. The only person who would end up at the end of God's wrath, would be here.
"Together, thanks dad."
That was always going to be her promise, to end the vicious cycle.