Cailen sat at the bus station, his ticket held firmly in his hand that rested on his knee.
His leg was jiggling up and down, the events of the night not allowing him to sit still. His nerves were at an all-time high at the moment. He couldn't believe he was doing this.
Most of all, he couldn't believe he was doing this tonight.
He figured that he might as well pile all his biggest problems on at once. At least that way, he could deal with them all at once rather than get over one only to have the other blow up in his face.
That was the only reason he could think of as to why he had just bought a ticket to Hamdover.
So he could randomly just show up at her doorstep and say 'Hey, I'm the son you dumped on the doorstep of an orphanage! Do you remember me?'.
He wasn't thinking, obviously.
It seemed to be the theme tonight so he decided to just roll with it. He knew this would have to be done anyway. He knew he wouldn't be able to just throw that piece of paper out- not without at least trying.
Maybe he was hoping this would be a nice distraction from him losing his family, he didn't know.
All he knew was that in fifteen minutes, he would be stepping onto the bus that would be bringing him to Hamdover where he would hopefully find his biological mother.
Or maybe, hopefully not. He didn't know what he wanted at the moment.
He's been sitting here for three hours, the clock on the wall saying it was nearly seven in the morning. He felt exhausted. Not only had he been to a party and then walked around the city for God knows how long, he hadn't slept yet and he could feel it taking its toll on him.
He was nearly falling asleep in the chair but he kept himself awake because he didn't want to miss his bus. He could sleep on the bus if he wanted, surely they would wake everyone up when they arrived in Hamdover.
He hope they would anyway.
"Bus seven to Hamdover, South Durca, Nochowa, now boarding." Came a voice over the intercom, startling him slightly.
Cailen jumped out of his seat, grabbing his bag and making his way over to the terminal, handing over his ticket to the lady by the entryway.
The lady waved him in with a polite smile and then he was stepping onto the bus, looking for a seat to sit in.
There weren't a lot of people on board yet; only a mother and her two children, a business man and an elderly woman. Cailen took a seat near the back, settling in and setting his bag beside him so no one would sit by him.
If the bus got too full, he would move it. But for now, it will sit there.
Cailen didn't end up having to move his bag. Only about ten other people came on after him, all of them spreading out among the seats and soon, they were pulling out of the bus station, heading to Hamdover.
It was only about a two-hour drive so he wouldn't get a lot of sleep. But Cailen settled down into his seat anyway, trying to push thoughts of his family and Asher to the back of his mind.
He tried to keep his nerves to a minimum in hopes of getting at least a little bit of sleep.
It must have worked at some point because the next thing he knew, the elderly woman from when he first got on was shaking him awake, smiling down at him telling him they were here.
Cailen thanked the woman and grabbed his bag, following her off the bus and out of the station completely.
Now, Cailen had no idea where he was going. He's never been to Hamdover before and he was certain he would get lost if he tried to make his way around town on his own.
So he hopped in one of the taxis that were conveniently parked outside the bus station and told him the address instead of trying to find his own way there.
Now that he was actually in Hamdover and actually heading to the address on the paper, it was growing harder and harder to just push his nerves aside.
He was about to meet her, or possibly meet her. He reminded himself because she could have moved a long time ago.
Cailen was still nervous as hell because there was still the possibility of it being her and then what will he do?
What was he even doing? Why did he come here?
He really needed to start thinking before acting. It was getting him into a lot of trouble.
The ride to the address was too short in Cailen's opinion and soon, he was being dumped on the side of the road with his bag over his shoulder- staring up at a small home with a little blue car in the drive way.
It was about half past nine, nearly ten in the morning and the sun was just beginning to heat everything up, including him, though that could just be his nerves.
He wasn't sure how long he had stood there in front of the house, but he probably looked like a complete weirdo to anyone who saw him. It was just- he was about to meet her.
Forgetting the fact that it might not be her, he focused on it being her and that had him chewing on his lip nervously.
All his concerns from before came rushing back to his mind. What if she didn't want him to come looking for her? What if she didn't like him? What if he wasn't what she was expecting?
What would he do then?
He'd probably break, to be honest.
He wasn't sure he could handle rejection at this point, which didn't make sense to him at all why he chose to come here. But he just felt like this is what he should do.
He couldn't tell why, it was just a feeling and he really didn't have any other ideas.
Finally, Cailen put one foot in front of the other, slowly walking up to the door, his hand freezing before it could knock on the door.
He took a deep breath and tried again, his knuckles lightly tapping against the wood of the door. At first, he didn't think it'd be loud enough to hear but then, he heard a thumping noise, as if someone were running to the door.
When the door flew open, it wasn't what he was expecting.
It was a little girl with light brown hair and wide blue eyes blinking up at him, her little hands gripping the door still.
It all happened so fast that Cailen didn't really have time to process it before the door was opening even more, revealing a pregnant woman that was looking down at the little girl.
"Ava, what have I told you about answering the door without me?," The woman scolded and then she was looking up at Cailen, her blue eyes locking with his and he actually felt his breath being knocked out of him as she smiled at him.
He didn't know how he knew, but he knew.
It was her. And Cailen’s world stopped as she spoke to him.
"Hi, can I help you?"