Sara Opens Her Heart - 2

"Sara..." My father mutters in shock, my mother just staring at me and covering her mouth with one hand.

"I've spoken my mind... I don't care what punishment you may have for me or what else you might force upon me...but I've finally told you how I feel...and it's all thanks to Jeshan... If that doesn't tell you how great of a guy he is, I don't know what will..." I wipe my tears with my thumb. "Go on then..." My father slowly approaches me, looking down at me. I want to look up and meet his gaze with confidence, but I can't even bring myself to look up at my father. Every ounce of bravery I had starts to fade away and all I fear is immense anxiety and fear. I start to tremble and I clench my fists slightly, but everything I'm feeling fades the instant my father pulls me into a tight embrace. "F-Father..?" I look up at him, shocked to see there are tears staining his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry... We forced everything on you without ever thinking about what you wanted... We just wanted you to have a happy and relaxing life without ever having to worry about anything... If I had known how much this would make you suffer...how trapped it would make you feel..." My father's breath hitches and I have no idea what to say. I figure this'll end up just like when my parents told me they hired bodyguards; that I'll let my guard down to this warm feeling and have everything crashing down on me again.

That is, until my mother wraps her arms around us both as well, nuzzling her head against mine. "If we had known you felt this way, we would've never forced all this upon you sweetheart...honest..! If you had only spoken to us- no...if we only hadn't been so blind by all of our work to notice how much pain you were in...then you never would've had to have gone through all of this..!" My mother hiccups as more of her own tears fall.

"We're so sorry Sara..!" Both of my parents say together.

After that, my tears flow with more ease than ever before, like a waterfall breaking through a dam, and my own sobs start to break through me. "P-Please don't blame yourselves..!" I finally bring myself to hug them back. "It's my own fault for never coming forth and talking to you both about how I felt..! I was just...I was so scared that you might get angry with me...snap at me and possibly lock me up in this mansion in my room and force me to learn everything there was about this line of work so I could take over whether I liked it or not..! Because of my own assumptions...I..."

"Do not blame yourself either..!" My mother lightly shouts through her cries, hugging me tighter, but not enough to hurt me. "If we hadn't been so caught up in our own work and had just been the loving parents we always sought out to be, you wouldn't have had to hold everything in..! I know we would've seen your pain!"

"Your mother's right Sara... It's our own fault you ended up feeling the way you did, not your own..." My father mutters, wiping his eyes free of tears and doing his best to hold strong. "How often have we even spent time as a family..? God, how could we have been so blind..?!" He grips a handful of his hair and looks down in shame. "Believe me when I say it was never our intention to hurt you... We just wanted you to be happy and safe...even more so after that first incident at your school... If we had known that bringing in those bodyguards would make you think you had to completely toss aside your only friend, we would've brought him in so much sooner..!"

My eyes widen a bit and I look up at my father. "W-What do you mean..? A-Are you going to hurt him...o-or make him change schools..?"

"Heavens no!" My father looks back at me with a sad gaze. "Your friend spoke to us about why he came here... Despite the little emotion he showed, it wasn't hard to tell that he was genuinely worried for you. He told us of all you had done for him and the several things you did together, and when it all suddenly stopped, he wasn't angry with you in the least. As a matter of fact, he grew more worried for you than anything else, and tried to do everything in his power to speak to you again. Once you didn't show up at school, he felt the need to come here, despite the fact that he knew he might be in danger. Seeing that that boy was willing to go as far as to fight just to see if you were okay...I could never condemn a boy like that. As a matter of fact, I decided to hire him as your third and final bodyguard. That's what I wish to question him about."

My eyes widen greater than ever before, half with shock, and half with joy. "R-Really..? Do you really mean that..?!" My face brightens up as well as I ask this.

"Of course Sara... Now that we know just how much that boy means to you and how happy he makes you, there is no way we're going to keep him from you anymore." My mother gives me a warm smile as she gently runs her fingers through my now short hair. "And do you know what he said when we asked him to work for us as your personal bodyguard?" I tilt my head, curious as to what he said. "He said he didn't want any money, he just wanted to see you again." My mother gives me a warm smile.

My face quickly becomes flushed and I feel warmer than I ever have before. "Not only was Jeshan worried about me...but he'd rather simply see me than be paid..?" My heart beats erratically at the thought and I think I might start crying again before I hear the double doors open up behind us.

I turn around and my eyes widen as I see Jeshan being escorted to us by the two guards who must've left during my moment with my parents. What chokes me up is that not only is Jeshan completely fine, but his eyes are clearly filled with worry as he races walks over to me. "Sara...what happened..? Your hair...and you're crying...why..?"

My mother releases me from her embrace as if she could see the future, and she must be able to because the second I'm free, I run to Jeshan and hug him tighter than I ever have before. "Jeshan!" I practically tackle him and we both fall to the floor. My mother, father, and the two guards look on worriedly, but I don't even have to look to feel the smiles on their faces. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I ignored you for so long! I'm sorry if I made you feel bad! I'm sorry for treating you so poorly! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" I cry into his chest, nuzzling my head against it as I sob.

I can tell Jeshan is somewhat dazed, but even so, he wraps his arms around me gently and ever so softly caresses my head and back. "Please don't apologize... I never felt that way in the slightest. I was only worried that something bad might've happened to you that forced you to act differently. I'm...I'm happy you're alright, Sara..." I look up at Jeshan, and he's smiling. He's looking into my eyes with a genuine smile on his face, as soft and gentle as he is. It's not much, but it makes my heart flutter and my tears fall once again. I can't even bring myself to respond to that. I simply bury my head in his chest and continue to cry.