Locked In

Sean got up early the next morning to get to class; Amelia, on the other hand, didn't have any classes today, so she went to see her mother; however, when she arrived at their house, the only person she could find was her father, whom Amelia did not want to interact with.

"Amelia, Have you bought a wedding dress yet"

"No dad, I haven't," Amelia replied, annoyed, which infuriated her father, but he suppressed his rage. Amelia could sense her father’s anger so to piss him off even more she said.

“No one can force me to wear a wedding dress, so I'll simply go down the aisle in jeans because this isn't even a wedding.”

As soon as Amelia spoke those remarks, her father screamed at her, labeling her a rude daughter who had no respect for her parents or future inlaws.

Amelia simply stared at her father for a few moments before smiling devilishly and said. “I've always respected mom because she's caring and loving, which you, by the way, lack; nevertheless, after what you've done to me, I'll never respect or even care for you; you've always neglected me and never even considered me your daughter; well, I'm done trying with you; you're nothing to me.” When Amelia finished expressing her feelings, she expected her father to dispute or at the very least apologize for not caring about her but he didn't; in fact, her father didn't even acknowledge her words, as if he hadn't heard her at all, he just blankly stared at her and then said 

"Take this credit card and go get yourself a wedding dress and treat yourself, maybe even take your friends to the movies or whatever you kids do these days," he says. Her father gave Amelia the credit, leaving her perplexed. What had gotten into her father, and if this was his attempt to act as a parent, it made no sense.

Weird things occurred these days she thought. 

Her mother wasn't at home, so she dialed her number, and she answered. “Hey mom where are you”

“Hello sweetheart, I’m in the grocery store, why” her mother answered. 

“Well I’m supposed to look for a wedding dress and I don’t want to do it alone so would you accompany me?”

“Yes, of course, why don't you bring Sarah with you as well? It's been a long time since I've seen that lovely girl. ”

“Sarah is busy, so let's meet downtown at the wedding store.” Amelia and Sarah had been friends for a long time, and her mother had grown to love and care for her as if she were her own child. Little did she know, nonetheless, that the person she had cared for was simply fake.

They meet up and began looking.

"Honey, what do you think about this dress, I think it would look beautiful on you, or this one what do you think" Her mother was kind of excited to look at wedding dresses.

Amelia, on the other hand, didn't want to look at any wedding dresses; this was meant to be a beautiful moment, but she didn't find it beautiful at all; she was furious and upset; she didn't want to answer her mother; she was extremely unhappy; she simply sat in a chair and started crying in silence. When her mother noticed her, she approached her and sat down.

"Why are you crying, honey? You're making me cry," her mother asked as she tried to fight back tears.

"This was supposed to be a good day where I was supposed to smile and be happy but no, I can't find the joy of being forced to find a dress for a forced marriage, mom I like Sean he's a nice guy but I don't think this thing between him and I would work, I want to find a partner a partner for life but it's kind of impossible when there's no love and no connection" Amelia cried aloud because she felt lost and wanted to vent her frustrations on her father.

"Amelia, If you want, I could try to persuade your father to postpone the wedding for a few months, meanwhile I want you to try to get to know Sean, I want you to get closer to him because I think you can find love in all this mess, I wish I could make your pain disappear but honey, I can't, if you want to love Sean then I suppose you give it a bit effort," Her mother said.

Amelia then thanked her mother three times, saying, "Mom, thank you for understanding, thank you for trying to help me, thank you for expressing love instead of being unkind, mom, I love you." Thanking her mother tree time has become something of a family tradition; ever since Amelia was a child, her mother always thanked her tree time whenever she was grateful for something she did, and Amelia gradually began to use it on her mother as well, and now it has become their way of expressing love and gratitude for one another.

"Thank you for being my daughter, thank you for not hating me, and thank you for being my blessing," she says. Her mother thanked her three times before hugging her.

"Honey, I believe it would be a good idea if you and Sean moved in together so you'd have to see each other more and get used to living with a man; it's just a suggestion; it's OK if you don't want to, but it's something to think about; he lives with his parents, so he could move into your apartment or something ."

"Mom you’re right I should ask him, I want to learn to get comfortable around him, so yeah I should ask him," Amelia agreed willingly because there was no way out of the marriage, so why not simply accept it and at least try to make it work. 

"No honey no, you don't have to ask him yet I'll ask his mother first and then you should ask him" Her mother suggested. 

Amelia was so happy that her mother would do anything to postpone the wedding and after they said goodbye she called Sean.

"Hello beautiful, do you need anything," Sean said flirtatiously  

"First, you don't call me beautiful; it was only a kiss, and second, I need to talk to you; can you meet me at my apartment?" Amelia was attempting to be harsh to Sean in order to see how he would fight for her heart. She wanted to put him to the test.

"Okay, someone angry today, I'll meet you at your apartment in 20 minutes" When he was done talking Amelia quickly hung up the phone and drove home.

And 20 minutes later Sean came.

"So you had something important to tell me or was it just an excuse to see me," Sean said with a confident tone.

"Get over yourself, actually I wanted to talk to you about this marriage of ours, I talked to my mother and we agreed to postpone the wedding,"

"You know that no matter what your mother says she will not be able to postpone the wedding unless I talk to my dad about it, and I know that my dad will only agree to something like that if he gets what he wants"

"And what exactly does he want" Amelia knew that his father would want something extreme in return.

"I don't know, maybe he wants to see that we can work together as a couple, he wants to make sure that you don't run away or divorce me in the future"

"Okay, then I want you to move in with me, your dad will see that I want to get close to you and hopefully he will let us postpone the wedding".

Sean was taken aback when he felt euphoria burst within him. He knew he and Amelia had only known each other for a short time, but he felt something he had never felt before, perhaps love at first sight.

"Amelia, Are you sure you want me to move in? You don't have to force yourself into anything like this." he wanted to be sure that Amelia wanted to do this because he was totally up for the idea.

"Yep, since we're getting married anyway so why not just move in together, plus I’ll give us a better chance to get to know each other,” Amelia said with total confidence. 

"Are we just gonna ignore what happened last night" Sean suddenly said, he was upset that Amelia didn't mention the kiss; he was afraid that she’d regretted it and that everything had been a mistake for her. In truth, he was head over heels for her and couldn't wait to see her again; however, she may not have felt the same way. Sean then continued “are you regretting the kiss?”

That question left Amelia speechless, how could he not see that she was starting to fall for him, Amelia didn’t answer that question instead she took his hand looked him in the eyes, and said: “Are you regretting the kiss?”

Sean immediately answered “not in a million years”

“me neither,” Amelia said quietly

Seans then took Amelia by the waist and then pulled her close to him, and before he did anything he said.

"Amelia I think you're awesome, and I like you "Amelia kissed Sean before he could finish his sentence. She kissed him gently and softly, not allowing Sean to put up even a slight bit of effort, and then she withdrew before he could kiss her again. 

"I hope that answered your question," Amelia said with a flirty smile, and then she took her keys and said "let's go get your stuff"

Amelia walked out of the door and left Sean completely speechless.

"Wait for me," Sean yelled and ran to catch up with Amelia.

They got into the car and Amelia began to drive.

"So what's the plan," Sean asked in excitement, assuming that they would spend all day together.

"I don't know, I think we're just going to get the things that you need and your clothes, and then get the hell out of there" Amelia couldn't wait till they were done visiting his parents, she didn't feel comfortable around them.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sean said smiling

When they got there, Amelia asked "you know I could just wait in the car, it's going to be awkward if I go in"

"It's not going to prove anything if my dad doesn't see us together, so get your ass out of the car and let's go," Sean said demanding.

Amelia understood and got out of the car, she didn't want to but she knew she had to.

She walked over to Sean and he immediately grabbed her hand. And before she could say anything.

He said" If I ever make you feel uncomfortable, just let me know and I'll make sure it never happens again"

She immediately felt a warmth inside of her, she had never experienced such a pleasant feeling before, and she kind of liked it. Jonas never made her feel like that, he never made her feel so special and treasured.

Before Amelia could reply, Sean opened the door.

They entered the house and were greeted with a frigid, distant, and strange welcoming, and Amelia began to regret her presence as Sean's father's eyes settled on her.

"Were not staying, we only came to get some of my stuff?" Sean said with a very distant voice. Sean and Amelia began walking up the stairs but were stopped before they even reached the top.

"Is that the way you greet your father?" Sean's father said with a loud voice.

"I'm sorry, hello father, hello mother," Sean said with a sarcastic voice and began walking until his parents were out of sight. And when they reached his room Amelia said. "Wow that was intense" 

Sean grinned and said, " sorry you had to see that, im just not in a good place with my parents"

"That I understand, I'm not in a good place with my father either, only because he's the one who's acting like a total asshole," Amelia said as they both laughed.

While Sean began packing his belongings, Amelia had a peek around his room.

Sean was almost finished gathering all of his belongings when they heard a loud noise that sounded like a door slamming. They both hurried over and were stunned to see that the door was fucking locked.

They both looked at each other. And Sean said " he fucking locked us in"