Julian hasn\u2019t spoken to his father in three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His father hasn\u2019t tried to write or call or text him, which is completely fine. Quite convenient, in his opinion. He doesn’t want his father\u2019s contact any more than his father wants his. He doesn’t want him to get close enough to touch ever again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knew his father would never try and contact him, so he never changed his number. He kept it, in case his sister wanted to reach him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn’t blame her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he gave up on the chance that she would call, though, some part of him felt like she had ripped out his heart from his chest. After the times he had protected her, she could have at least murmured a thank you<\/em> before indignantly screaming at him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Glancing at his phone, he sees an unknown number calling. Just for a second, he is filled with a sensation of hope that it\u2019s his sister. Her disregard is a wound still fresh in his mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But when he picks up his phone, he hears the whisper of a voice he vowed he would never listen to again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJules.\u201d The voice strikes him like lightning, painful memories burning through his mind. He thinks he must be dreaming. He widens his eyes until his head hurts. He pinches himself, wincing at the sting. He closes his eyes, but when his eyelashes flutter back open, the view is the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the realization that the voice is real, his phone slips out of his hand. He catches it just in time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He wants to remain composed, to not show his father that he has any influence over him. He rubs his hands against his temple and sighs. He brings the phone to his ear, shaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d he asks, hiding his anxiety with exasperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJules-\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d he says, angered by his father throwing his childhood nickname at him like he\u2019s close enough to call him that. \u201cNo, you don\u2019t get to do that. You don\u2019t get to just- just pretend<\/em> like nothing happened. You don\u2019t get to call me up and pretend that we\u2019re best friends, and we have some- some sort of bond.\u201d He says the last word with disgust in his tone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJulian. I wouldn\u2019t reach out if I didn\u2019t need to.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is definitely a desperation in his voice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFine,\u201d he snaps. \u201cTalk.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour sister\u2019s missing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour-\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, I heard you.\u201d He paces, tapping his fingertips against each other. \u201cYou better not have caused this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJulian, I\u2019m worried.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, you\u2019re worried,\u201d he says, his tone dripping with fake pity. \u201cThat\u2019s funny. Just like you were so worried about me, right?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other line goes silent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After a few seconds, his father speaks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s been gone for a week. I don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Julian can hear the strain behind his words, which feels odd. He has never seen him care like this before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He sighs. \u201cApril probably\u2026\u201d he pauses. The name feels unfamiliar on his tongue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It feels like the dam that stops the easily flowing river of his words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s been a long time. Too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He continues. He won\u2019t let his father see his pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cApril probably had enough of you. She had no choice,\u201d he says sharply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He hesitates. \u201cYou gave her no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He can hear the tears gleaming in his father\u2019s eyes. \u201cLet me know if you hear anything, okay?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah,\u201d he says softly, because he knows no matter how much contempt he has in his heart for his father, his compassion overpowers it. Sometimes, he hates that he can\u2019t hate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGoodbye, Julian.\u201d His father hangs up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBye,\u201d whispers Julian. He presses his back against the wall and slides down until he reaches the floor, hands tangled in his hair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, April,<\/em> he thinks. What happened?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Julian hasn\u2019t spoken to his father in three years. His father hasn\u2019t tried to write or call or text him, which is completely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1180,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}