Krystal’s Pov

“What are you doing here?” I asked angry.

“May I come in?” he asked.

“No! I’m not going to let you hurt her anymore than you already have. It took me hours to calm her down enough so that she could speak to me. I think it would be best if you just leave, she can’t take anymore rejection. Please just leave us alone,” I said starting to close the door in his face.

“Krystal wait,” he said putting his hand on the door. “How do you think I knew where to find you? And what room you were in?”

I looked at him trying to process what he was asking me.

“Jackie wouldn’t have told me where to find you if I was going to hurt either one of you in any way. I came to make sure that my daughter is okay,” he said in a sincere tone.

“You let her walk out of that house in tears. What could have changed in a few hours?”

I asked not trusting him.

“I was in shock. Nothing like this has ever happened in our family before. As soon as you left the gravity of what happened hit me hard. I can’t lose her. I just spent the last two hours trying to make my wife understand that. She has only ever lived a deeply devout religious life. In her mind Amber is choosing to turn her back on god by being with you. She is afraid for her, she can’t understand how it could not be a sin. But I need her to know that nothing could ever make me not love her. Will you let me talk to her please. I know you two are leaving to go back to Korea tomorrow. I can’t let her leave without talking to her first. Please?” he asked again sadly.

“You have to promise that whatever you say you won’t condemn our relationship or her feelings. What you have to understand is that telling her you love her despite of her relationship with me is almost as bad as cutting her off completely. It is the whole loving the person and not the sin thing. We are in a serious relationship and that isn’t changing anytime soon. It is ok if you just have to get used to the idea of us, but if you will always disprove in your heart it’s not worth it to play with her emotions like that. You either love a person for everything that they are, or you don’t. Loving someone despite who they are is not love, it’s just cruel. So think very carefully about what you are about to do, because I love your daughter more than life itself, and when she feels pain I feel it too,” I said staring him down.

“Krystal I’m so sorry. I hate that this happened the way it did. Amber is the most morally driven person I know. She has always felt compelled to follow the rules and express her faith. I can’t imagine what she must have put herself through wrestling with her feelings. She was always special and very different from the other girls growing up. She had a terrible time in middle school trying to just be who she was without getting teased. I held her while she cried at night. I told her I would always protect her, but I’ve failed. She has been through so much already, I just want her to be happy and for our family to be whole. She has spent her whole life having to explain why she dresses the way she does, and likes the things she likes. She has been through enough. It’s not fair to her, none of it is. I’m not nearly as religious as my wife, but I know that God could never look at Amber and say that she has one bad bone in her body. I could never love just part of her, I love everything about her. About what I said at the house, that it wasn’t in her best interest for you to be together. I was scared, terrified really. That this could cause a rift in my family that I would never be able to fix. But I’m so sorry Krystal. I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am. Just from what I’ve seen of how you two interact I know that you both feel very strongly about one other. I want to make it up to you, you have to let me...I have to make this right...please?” he pleaded.

He looked like a broken man. It reminded me very much of how Amber looked when she was sad or nervous about something. They looked so much a like, I had never really noticed until this moment. The next thing I knew I was hugging him. I could tell that he felt a little awkward, but he as soon as he decided to hug me back he really hugged me. I was very much looking for that parental approval, and to also comfort and thank him for the effort he was making.

“I’m going to do my best to fix this. I’m trying so hard,” he said holding onto me.

“Thank you. You don’t know what this means to her. To us,” I said looking up at him.

“How is she? Do you think she even wants to see me?” he asked nervous.

“Oh, let me go in and tell her that you are here,” I said pulling away. “I’ll tell her what happened, just wait out here until I come and get you.”

“Ok, just make sure she understands how much I love her, and how sorry I am,” he said as I went back into the hotel room.

“I will.”

I glanced around the room and noticed that she was still in the bathroom but the water wasn’t running anymore.

“Am, are you finished?” I asked knocking on the door.

“Yeah come in,” she said through the door.

I opened it and stepped in to find her drying her hair with the towel, dressed in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms.

“I just put this on because it’s only Jackie, and I’m really tired. I mean I know I’m not going out again tonight,” she explained putting the towel down.

I moved closer to her and held her face in my hands. I took a mom