Well, great.
“Mark, you are the one person Texas would do just about anything to avoid hurting. This hasn’t been easy for either of us, but she’s struggled with this more than I think she’s even told me.” He looks at me and smiles, giving me strength and trying to keep me calm when he can see I’m starting to freak out over being shipped back to England with my mother.
Keeping something so big from my dad has been tougher than I thought. At first, it was fun. I loved the secrecy, and honestly, I was over the moon to be with him, but the guilt came thick and fast.
“But we did it because we were serious about each other. We know we planned to tell you and everyone else when we got back to England before leaving for America. I’m so in love with her, Mark. I won’t ever hurt her. I’d die first.”
Heart goes boom.
This time, because he makes me feel so loved, I could choke, and I cover his hand with mine. Dad immediately hones in on it, and the vein on his forehead protrudes. I don’t care. This is unity. We are not asking for permission because we don’t need it.
Oh God, I think I’m going to pass out from the pressure. I’ve never stood up to Dad like this before. I’m sure the pride will come after the paralysing fear has gone.
Kitt’s thumb curls around my index finger.
God, I love him. “Please, Dad. I don’t want to go. We can’t leave things like this, and you know it. We’ve never even gone to sleep without sorting our issues out, so I really don’t see what going back to England will achieve.”
Every time I had a problem or Dad was stressing over the best thing for me, we’d talk it out because, together, we could get through anything. He was there every night I cried over my ex, and I was there when he struggled with a UK tour while I was taking my GCSE exams. Between rehearsals and appearances and performances, he was there with my textbooks, quizzing me and telling me I’d rock it.
“I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you straight away when we figured out where this was going, but I was scared. Kitt doesn’t want to disappoint you either, and it was hard for us to know that we would. You’ve said, there is nothing we can’t get past, so I’m asking you to honour that because you and me both need our relationship to be solid. Please, Dad. I can’t lose you.”
“Texas,” Dad says, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
“Come on, Mark. You know she doesn’t want to go, and I know you don’t want her to. Don’t punish everyone for no reason. Don’t do this because of me.”
“It’s not because of you. It’s because of you two. How am I supposed to trust you around each other now?”
Maybe because you’ve just threatened to ship me off to my damn mother’s house, and I would do anything to avoid an unscheduled visit.
“We’ll earn your trust back, I swear,” I say.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to prove to you that I’m serious about her, however long it takes.”
“You really want a girlfriend at this point in your life?” he asks Kitt, trying to psych him out.
Kitt squeezes my hand. “I didn’t. This wasn’t in the plan, you know that, but I can’t help it. She changed everything for me, and there’s nothing I want more than to make her as happy as she makes me.”
Jesus.
I’m breathless and inappropriately turned on for the current situation.
Dad’s eyes narrow, like he’s unsure if he believes Kitt or not. He wants to because he wouldn’t ever want me to end up heartbroken, but he doesn’t like this at all.
“Dad, please. I…I love him, too. I feel the same as he does. And I love you. I need you both. Please, don’t do this, Dad. Please.”
“We’ll see how it goes. If I still feel that I can’t trust you in a couple of days, you’re going to go to your mum’s, Texas. I can’t concentrate on this tour if you two are…”
His face pales, and I know what he’s thinking. No one wants to know their teenage daughter is having sex.
“You can trust us.” I’m not sure what he does not trust us with. Restraining? Like that’s going to happen. Does he want us to keep things quiet still?
“I need to go and see Carl.” He storms out of the room, slamming the door.
If he hadn’t threatened shipping me off to Jennifer’s, I would have made some sarcastic comment about him just leaving us alone.
“I’m sorry, Tex,” Kitt says on a sigh. “I’d hoped that would’ve gone better.”
“Well, he didn’t cut any part of you off, and he’s not booked me on the next plane to London, so it wasn’t that bad.”
“I suppose. God, I hate the way he looked at me. He’s done so much for me, and now, he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you. He’ll come around.” I lay my head on his shoulder. “We just have to show him that we’re not messing around here. It’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I know,” he whispers against my head. “Promise me something?”