We Aren't So Different, You and Me

Wait...
What?

"What?"

Cathy looked at me like I had no idea what she was talking about. "You.. You didn't know?"
"Dad, what is she talking about?" I looked over at my dad, begging for an answer. "Dad?"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, obviously trying to think of the right words to say.

"Taylor... You know I love you. I love you more than I love myself..."
"That's now what I'm asking," I choked out.
Again, he sighed. "When I met your mother, you were only a few weeks old... We met through my brother's girlfriend at the time and things hit off great. I fell in love with her and you immediately."
"Daddy..."
He looked up at me and the tears started falling from his eyes. "And every fucking time you call me that, it just eats me up inside! Your mom told me about the situation with Gerard and I knew that being a single parent was hard enough as it is and she didn't need it to be harder. But every time you called me Dad or told me you loved me... It just broke my heart even more..."

I couldn't really process this. My dad... wasn't my dad.

"Did you know?" I looked over at Gerard.
"Taylor.. I had no idea. Believe me, if I did, I would never have left New Jersey..." he struggled for the right words, almost choking on them.
"Your mother," Cathy started, "wanted Mr. Way to take legal guardianship over your."
"WHAT?!"
"Taylor, it might be in the best interest to get to know him. After all, he's already missed out on so much of his family and--"
"Missed out on family? HE ALREADY HAS A FAMILY! He doesn't need more!" I was in full blown out tears at this point and I couldn't take any other surprises. "Why can't I just stay with my dad?"
"Because, honey, I'm not your father," my dad sighed.
"Stop saying that!" I shrieked. "Everyone, stop saying that!"
"Whether you like it or not, Taylor, Gerard is your father."
"He's nothing to me! He's a face on a poster, a voice in my headphones. He is not my father."

I pulled my jacket on and took the papers from Cathy's hands, tearing them up. "And now there's no legal documentations of it. So you can go back to ruining someone else's life now. I lost my mother already. I don't need you to take away my father too."

I stormed over to the front door, pulling it open. I took off down the driveway, looking back into the window.

Gerard's face looked almost heartbroken.

Notes