Tangled Love

"She's been like this ever since we got back." Ivory whispered to Jake, glancing at me worryingly.

"What happened at the store?" Jake replied, frowning. Ivory shrugged, looking clueless.

"She spoke to her Mum for a while but I don't know what it was about." Ivory murmured. Jake nodded in response before closing over his door, giving me some privacy.

I was lying in bed, facing the wall.

My body felt numb, completely oblivious to the world around me. My mind was blank, my emotions had disappeared. I was a prisoner to my own thoughts and it was exhausting. The ache in my stomach had completely taken over my whole body, seeping its way in my heart.

I felt the mattress dip slightly as Jake sat down, placing a hand on my arm.

asked quietly.

tear slid out of my eye and down my cheek. There was a few moments

quietly barely believing my own words. My chest felt like it was being crushed by

"Who isn't?" Jake asked, confused.

my real dad," I repeat, my vision blurring with tears. I

my body and he pulls me tightly into him. I feel my body shake uncontrollably at his affection, the tears

whisper quietly as I wrap my own arms around

"Emily, it doesn't matter who your biological father is. The main that raised you, he's your Dad, he always will be." Jake

it takes

The man who raised me for years is my father. The man who cooked me my favourite lunch of spaghetti and meatballs everyday for a week because I refused to eat anything else is my father. The man who held me close and wiped away my tears when I was bullied in school is my

loud, repeating my thoughts. Jake nods, his thumb drawing circles on the back of