When my dad wakes up again, I'm the only one in the room with him. There's a lounge down the hall from the reception area where the wedding is being held, where everybody is now eating dinner, probably moving onto dessert. He's lying on a long beige couch and I'm sitting in the matching armchair beside it eating a piece of cheesecake.

"Good morning," I greet him slowly. "Water's on the table."

He looks to the side and, just as I had said, there is water in front of him on the clear coffee table along with some aspirin and heart medicine that Brandy had brought in.

"What time is it?" He asks me.

I look at my phone to see the time. "One. You only missed the meal, the reception is still going on. Super embarrassing of you, if you ask me, to pass out at your own wedding."

"I won't ask you then," He mumbles, slowly sitting up but he still looks very tired and like his head is very heavy. I don't want to be in this room alone with him because I don't know what to say so I am quick to get my phone out and text Gabe. He had been in here for a while but I insisted that he go get something to eat and he'd only leave with the promise that I'd text him as soon as our dad woke up.

"Gabe will be here soon," I say after sending the text. He's probably staring at his phone constantly, waiting for the text that I just sent him. He doesn't say anything after that so I continue, wanting some answers as to what's going on. "So, what happened? Are you sick or something?"

"A little bit. It's nothing serious," He assures me as he takes some of the pills that Brandy had brought in, using the water to swallow them easily. "Nothing to get worried over."

"I wasn't worried," I lie. "I'm asking for Gabe, he was freaking out and due to being his twin, I have to care about things that he cares about so that I can be prepared for whatever is going on."

"Nothing is going on."

"Something is going on," I don't know if he really thinks that I'm that stupid but he must if he thinks that I'm going to believe that nothing is wrong after he just passed out and Brandy had heart medicine at the ready for him. "I know that you don't think so, but there is a brain up here, shaking around," For emphasis, I tap the side of my head.

He closes his eyes and leans back. I wish that Gabe would be here already. "I don't want you or Gabe to worry."

"Too late," I mumble, also leaning back in my chair. "What is it? Cancer? Old age?"

"Peyton,-"

"I deserve to know," I snap at him, losing my patience with him not answering me. I don't think that this one situation is serious because if it was, Brandy would have insisted that we take him to the hospital instead of telling some guys to carry him into this lounge but that doesn't mean that whatever caused him to pass out isn't serious. And as much as I hate to admit it, I still really care about this man who barely knows my name and I don't want there to be anything wrong with him. I take comfort in annoying him to no end with my ruthless sarcasm. "I mean, whether you like it or not, you're my dad and if something is wrong, I deserve to know."

"I don't dislike being your father," Is apparently what he got out of that.

I roll my eyes at him doing whatever it is that he's trying to do. Having a bonding moment or something? I have no idea but I'm not interested. "That's not what we're doing right now."

"It's important to me," He continues, apparently deciding that this is what we're doing right now and I text Gabe again to tell him to hurry his ass over here so that I can go dance or something and escape this conversation. "That you know that I love you dearly."

"Is that some sort of dying wish?" I wonder with wide eyes. I almost add that if that is his dying wish, it most definitely did not come true but I fear that it may be too cruel under the circumstances.

"Nobody's dying, Peyton," My dad assures me. "It's just some blood pressure issues. I forgot to take my medicine this morning in all of the craziness of the wedding but I'm fine."

"Okay, well good because your wish wouldn't have come true anyway," I tell him now that he's confirmed that he's definitely not dying. "And it's really ridiculous of you to expect me to know how much you apparently love me when you never speak to me."

"You never speak to me either, Peyton," He adds with a 'that's not fair' frown on his face.

"Yeah, well you're the adult here, that's your job. Why would I want to pick up the phone to talk to you when all you do is nag me or tell me how shitty I am?" I argue back. If he wants to talk about the love lost between us then so be it, Gabe apparently has better things to do anyway. "Maybe you hit your head when you fell or something but the last time that I checked, you do a pretty fucking fantastic job of pretending like I just don't exist."

"That's not true," He argues with a denying shake of his head. "You're my daughter, Peyton, I love you."

"Gabe said that you're paying his tuition," I add, as if I need any evidence for my case. I can list a countless amount of times to prove to him that he treats me like crap. Maybe that's because I'm difficult but I'm only difficult because he treats me like crap so it's a cycle that neither one of us is willing to break. "Is my check stuck in the mail or something? Or my invitation to be in the wedding?"

"You would have said no if I asked you to be in the wedding," My dad makes his point.

"Yeah, I would have, but it wouldn't have hurt so bad when I found out that Gabe was your best man," I admit quickly, looking down at my lap instead of up at him. "Or when he told me that you were completely paying his way through school."

"I didn't offer you the tuition money because I..." He trails off, looking like he doesn't want to say what he was about to say but I'm sure that I already know the answer.

"You don't think that I can make it in college," I make the assumption and he doesn't say anything back. He's now the one avoiding eye contact, looking down at the coffee table in front of us. "Isn't that true?"

"Yes, it's true," He finally looks up at me, not looking apologetic but not looking angry either. Looking completely blank and unreadable. "But really, can you blame me?"

"Fuck you," I say it before I even realize what's being said and I'm standing up from the armchair to leave whether Gabe is here or not. "You don't know anything about me because you never even tried to get to know me. I know that you think that I'm an asshole but that's only because you are so terrible at being a father that you make me an asshole but in all other aspects, I'm a pretty great person."

"Peyton, don't-"

"Fuck you," I say again before I start stomping toward the closed door but before I leave, I stop and turn around to look at him again. "I'm glad that you're not dying. Dad."

And then I leave the room to find Gabe and maybe go start dancing with Elias. The past hour or so has just been a complete roller coaster. When I saw my father pass out during his speech, I felt like I was having a heart attack myself because I was panicking so hard, afraid that something was seriously wrong with him.

Like maybe he had forced both of us here because he had to tell us that he was sick, dying of something, and we had to say our final goodbyes. As much as I don't like the guy, losing him scares me to death and I don't understand why. I mean, I know that he's my father but he hasn't really ever acted like it so I don't know why I felt so scared or why I care so much but I can't help it.

Back in the reception area, I find Elias talking to Brandy, surprisingly enough, by the desserts table with two little kids dancing around them who I assume to be my dad and Brandy's two kids. I guess now is as good as ever to meet my new step-mom and half-siblings.

"Hey, have you seen Gabe?" I ask Elias as I approach, not knowing how to greet the woman.

"Oh, wow, you're Peyton," Brandy quickly recognizes me with an excited smile as she unexpectedly welcomes me into a tight hug. "Hi, it's so nice to actually meet you after all of this time."

"You too," I respond lightly, still feeling pretty worked up about my uncomfortable conversation with my dad.

"Gabe went on a walk but Cassie had him keep his phone here," Brandy answers me before Elias can say anything.

"They're walking Mac," He then adds as Brandy pulls away from me and calls for her two kids to join us. The girl is seven, Hannah, and the boy is three, Wyatt, and they have Brandy's blonde hair but my dad's green eyes.

"Anyway, these are your siblings, this is Hannah and Wyatt," Brandy tells me, motioning to the two nicely dressed children. The boy hides behind his mother and the girl looks at me looking timid like her brother but does not run away. "Is your father awake? I should go check on him."

"Yeah, he's awake," I confirm with a small nod.

Brandy picks up the little boy. "Come on, kids, let's go say hi to Daddy. And, Peyton, I really hope that you and your dad can talk things out, I know that it'd mean a lot to him."

"It wouldn't," I assure her. "He completely wishes that I was never born. That's the thing about twins—you get two when you only expected one. But it's fine, I'll get over it. Congratulations on the marriage and everything. I'm going to go find some champagne."

With that, I walk away from them to find out how possible it is for me to sneak my way to some alcohol. I won't get drunk but just enough to warm my cheeks and get me to relax some after all of the stress that today has brought. As I'm walking, Elias catches up to me, holding my wrist in his hand so that I can't walk away from him.

"Hey, is everything alright?" He asks me curiously.

I shrug childishly at him. "Everything is as fine as it's been this entire trip but I'm just tired and I'm ready to go back home."

"What happened back there with your dad?"

"Exactly what I expected to happen," I mumble. "And it's stupid that I'm here because I don't matter to him. I'm like a bug on the carpet of his life and that's fine. That's totally fine because I have my own life and I don't need him but we shouldn't be pretending like this, like we're an actual family or something."

"Okay, let's step outside," Elias suggest when my voice starts rising. Nobody's looking at us but I think that he can tell—I have no idea how—that I'm going to start crying or screaming or both and that I shouldn't be in this crowded reception when and if that happens.

"No, I'm fine," I snap at him, pulling my hand from his grip. He doesn't deserve that, I shouldn't snap at him like that, but I'm feeling very flustered and out of control and I don't want him to be worried about me. I don't want him to have to deal with me during some kind of mental breakdown.

When I start walking away, Elias realizes that I just need my space so he doesn't follow me and I'm grateful for that. Usually, having him around has helped in the past week or so that we've known each other but right now, I just need some air and I need to be alone.

Out of the building, I find a bench looking out toward the gardens that surround this building and I take a seat. With my face in my hands, I start to cry. I don't know exactly why I'm crying but I think that it's just a release of all of the emotions of today. Getting to the wedding almost late, my dad collapsing in front of everyone, him admitting to me that he thinks that I'm hopeless. Even though if he ever tried to get to know me, he would have realized that I'm a really smart kid.

I got good grades in high school, I had some extracurriculars, I got accepted to every school that I had applied to. I'm a good student. I'm a good person.

The only part of me that my dad knows, however, is the bitter bitch that he provokes. I'm very sarcastic and rude whenever I talk to him, I know that, but I'm only bitter because he never gave me a chance to be anything else. He's had his mind made up about me for a very long time and it's not all my fault like he seems to want to believe.

I don't need his approval though. I've never had it before and I've done fine. It doesn't matter, what he thinks of me. I shouldn't care at all. And yet, here I am. Crying on this uncomfortable wooden bench because I do care. Way too much.

And when you care about a person who isn't even looking your way, it feels like you're reaching for something that you can feel with the tip of your fingers but will never be able to reach.

But like I always do, I push those feelings into the back of my mind and I get over it. Wiping the tears from my face and fading out all of my post-cry hiccups, I stand back up from the bench and go back inside to find Elias and also to get some dessert from that dessert bar because I think that I saw some lemon bars on there earlier.

When I get inside, Elias is sitting at the table that we had dinner at, now alone and doing something on his phone, probably texting somebody.

"I'm sorry," I say quickly as I approach him.

"For what?" He looks up at me and frowns in confusion.

"For snapping at you. It's been a long day," I explain with a long sigh with a hand on his shoulder. He finishes his text and then puts his phone back in his pocket. "Can we dance?"

Elias offers me a small smile as he stands up from the table and takes my hand in his. "Of course."

"I'm glad that I came," I decide as we're on the dance floor. The song isn't a slow song but I decide to make it a slow dance anyway and wrap my arms around his shoulders as we just basically sway to the beat of this fast song that everybody else is just dancing to, having a good time. "Because if I didn't, and I stayed home, I probably wouldn't have met you."

"That's true," He agrees with a nod.

"And we've made some pretty great memories on the trip here," I add. "I'll get over my daddy issues but I'll never forget how amazing you've made this trip for me."

"It's been pretty amazing for both of us," Elias tells me, a small smile reappearing on his lips. "We make a pretty good team."

"Yeah," I agree with him, his smile becoming infectious. "We really do."

"To change the subject completely, when I was talking to Brandy earlier, she said that your dad was really happy that you made it," Elias says. "I don't know if that's just her attempt at keeping the peace or not but maybe it's something to think about. Maybe he doesn't deserve your company but I think that you deserve peace and if you sit down and really talk things out with him or give him another chance, you'll find that."

"I'll think about it," I tell him, pretty much only to stop talking about my dad because maybe he's right about me giving him another chance or that I should try and work things out with him for myself but for right now, I just want to shove my issues deep inside me and try to have a good time at this reception. It is a party after all. "Why were you talking to Brandy anyway?"

"She came up to me," He says with a small shrug. "I think she didn't recognize me so she wanted to see who I was, to make sure that I wasn't crashing or anything."

"Because you'd never crash a wedding," I add sarcastically with a small laugh.

"Of course not," He laughs too. "And she also mentioned that there are only two guest rooms so she hopes that I'm comfortable on the couch."

"You're not sleeping on the couch," I scoff. "If Cassie and Gabe get their own room then so do we."

"We aren't like Cassie and Gabe," Elias mentions.

"Well, we aren't dating but we're a guy and a girl and if they get their own room then so do we," I justify with a little bit of pink rising to my cheeks. I won't relent on this though, if my dad tries to get Elias to sleep on the couch, mostly because we only get the few days that we're here to keep ourselves in relationship limbo but when we get back home, we're just friends.

We need as much privacy as we can get while in Seattle to make the most of our time and Elias can tell exactly why I'm so adamant about them letting us share a room by the smirk appearing on his lips.

When we hooked up in the park, we were in a small tunnel so although it was special, amazing, and oddly fun, it was also cramped and at times, uncomfortable. It drives me crazy just to think about what it'd be like if we were actually on a bed without the restrictions of being in a small confined space or outside.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," Elias finally says, kissing my cheek lightly. "I know that you won't be able to keep your hands off of me."

He says it as a joke but he's completely right. "I'll sneak you into my room if I have too," I add with a mischievous little smile.

"Yeah, that sounds like a terrible plan," He informs me, looking very amused still but I hope that he knows that I'm completely serious right now. "But desperate times and whatnot."

"Exactly," I chime in. "And speaking of desperate, I'm dying for some of those lemon bars."

We stop dancing and Elias follows me to the dessert table where I pile my plate with some of the lemon bars and dig in.