"M-My mother?" I question in disbelief. She nods her head at me giving me a small smile trying to comfort me. I stand shocked not knowing what to do or say. I feel my stomach start to churn. I can't believe it. What is she doing back? Why is she back?

"I'm here for you," Xander whispers grabbing my shoulder in a comforting gesture. I give him a half smile looking back at my grandma. I slowly nod my head following her out the room. I walk behind her to the living room and feel the fear build in me with each step causing me to feel slightly dizzy. She moves out of the way and my breath gets caught in my throat.

I lock eyes with her, with the women who left me all those years ago, when I needed her most. I feel slight anger rise in me seeing her now. She seems to notice my anger and confusion by giving me a sorrowful smile.

"Emilia, it's so good to see you again," she says taking steps towards me with her arms stretched out waiting for me to reciprocate. I decline, taking a step back folding my arms across my chest. Hurt flashes her eyes as she slowly lowers her arms.

"I have some things to explain," She adds. I nod my head still remaining silent not really knowing what to say.

She takes a seat and I do the same, sitting on the couch opposite her. Xander takes a seat next to me and grandma takes a seat next to my mother. She looks at Xander next to me then back to me.

"I wanted to talk privately..." she asserts, trying not to sound rude.

"He's staying. He's been here for me more over the past month than you have in 3 years," I say to her then glance at Xander. Xander gives me an 'are you sure' look and I nod my head looking back at her. I hear her sigh then continue.

"Emilia. I'm sorry that I had to leave you...your father-"

"He's not my father," I spit out. I hear her sigh.

"So...you know he isn't your birth father,"

"Yep," I answer, popping the p. I then look into her eyes with hatred flowing through me.

"He told me you ran away with your lover and then decided to beat me afterword, blaming me for what you did," I say bitterly watching as she breaks eye contact with me looking down at her hands.

"I-I never thought that...he would do that to you," She responds with somber features. I almost scoff at her but shrug my shoulders trying to show that I don't care but am really hurting.

"Emilia, you have to understand that I had to get away. He started to beat me practically every night for a year and f-force me to..." She pauses as tears fall down my face. Wait, what?! That happened to her? Which means she knew what type of person he was and what he was capable of?

I feel anger flow through my vains and I stand up abruptly.

"So you knew how he was this whole time and just left me with him!" I practically scream. I look over at my grandma with hurt quickly replacing the anger towards my mother.

"Did you know about this?" I whisper my voice sounding broken.

"No, this is my first time hearing of this," She says looking over at her daughter with heartache.

"Why didn't you tell me, Lillian? I could have helped you," she says holding back her tears as she looks at her daughter.

"He would have found me, mom, putting you in danger too," my mother states grabbing her hand's comfortingly.

I become furious. I stare at my mother in utter disbelief. I know you should love your mother but I'm her daughter. Did she think about me at all for the last 3 year not caring about my safety!?

"Do you have any idea how long I've been living through this hell?! 3 years! I was alone for 3 years! You could have saved me from this and you didn't! You knew..." I say my voice breaking with each word I spit out towards her. I whip the tears from my eyes trying to calm my racing heart.

"You knew and could have come back? Did you even think about me the whole time? What I've gone through?!" I yell not caring anymore. I lift my shirt a little only showing the scar on my side. I look at she shocked expression.

"I-I had n-no idea. I'm so-"

"Sorry's don't cut it anymore," I say with finality.

"I never thought he-"

"Well, you were wrong. Oh, you want to know what even better?" I ask looking at her intently with a fake smile. She just stares at me not saying a word.

"It wasn't just him, but your son. You probably never would have thought that right? Your loving son beating me like a punching bag and cutting me up like it was nothing?" I inquire pulling my shirt up exposing the multiple scars and the huge X on the center of my stomach.

I hear gasps of shock and look at my mother to see a dreadful look on her face.

"Honey, I had no ide-"

"Well, of course, you wouldn't know because you never were around to know!" I say harshly. I pull my shirt down.

"I'm here now. Isn't that better than never?" She asks me like its the easiest thing in the world. I scoff at her and let out a grim laugh.

"Did you just expect me to run into your arms after seeing you when you were the cause of my pain? Leaving with no warning one day when I needed you most!? My best friend died and I needed you and you left me! I had to cope with it alone! Then having my family that I trusted suddenly beat me without telling me why?!" I yell. She stays quiet.

I shake my head and start heading towards my bedroom, no one stopping or saying anything to me. I get to my door and go to shut it but it gets stopped. I look and see Xander standing in the doorway with a worried expression.

I walk over to her shaking figure, embracing her into a comforting embrace. She starts to shake and sobs into my chest. I squeeze her tighter trying to comfort her the best I can.

"Please don't leave me," she whispers lowly sounding so broken. I almost feel tears form in my eyes but push them back. I need to be strong for her right now.

"I will never leave you, Emilia," I say moving to look into her watery eyes.

"Can you hold me?" She asks looking down nervously.

"Of course Emilia," I whisper. I walk over to the bed laying down and she cuddles close to my chest. I wrap my arms around her bring her closer to me. I feel tears soak into my shirt. I run my fingers through her hair to try to relax her. I wish I could take her pain away.

I continue to hold her till I hear he breathing shallow and feel her relax against me. I look down to see her sleeping.

I stay there with her not leaving her like she asked me to. Her face is slightly red and her eyes puffy from crying. My heart clenches seeing her like this again. It's like when she feels happy something else happens to add another shitty pile in her life. I can't begin to understand how she is feeling right now but all I can do is listen to her and be there for her.

That's what people want, is to be heard.

I hear the door open slowly and look to see my mom. She gives me a worried expression looking between me and Emilia. I nod my head slowly, showing her we are okay for now, trying not to disturb Emilia's sleep. She gives me one last look before closing the door again.

About a half-an-hour later she starts to stir. She looks around and then meets my gaze.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I ask her letting go slightly.

"Uh, okay, sort of," she says starting to sit up.

"Is... is she still here?" she questions. I shake my head.

"I don't know. I'll go check for you," I say. I exit her room heading back to the living room only seeing Carol, Izzy and my mother.

"Is Emilia's mom still here?" I ask.

"No she left a little after Emilia did," Carol says.

"Is she okay?" Carol asks with a somber expression.

"Kind of? It's a lot to take in after what she has been through. We just have to give her time," I say.

"I'll be right back," I say walking back to the room. I enter to see Emilia staring off like she's lost in her thoughts.

"Emilia?" I question walking over to her. She stays still.

"Emilia?" I say a little louder grabbing her shoulder. She jumps away looking scared.

"Hey, hey it's just me," I say sitting back down next to her.

"S-Sorry," She says letting out a nervous laugh.

"Don't be sorry for something you can't control," I say looking down at her. She looks up at me and a smile spreads on her face.

"Thank you for everything Xander," She says.

"You're Welcome," I say, smiling widely. She leans in giving me a quick peck on my lips. Her cheeks turn slightly red before I smile at her holding in my chuckle. I grab her waist pulling her onto my lap. She lets out a giggle before I give her quick pecks on her cheeks then on her lips. Her face turns a deeper red and I lean in again but tickle her sides instead making her let out a loud laugh. She falls off my lap and onto the bed.

"No, stop! I'm...really...ticklish!" she says laughing between each word. She tries to push my hands off and I ease up on the tickling and finally release her. She catches her breath giving me a playful pout.

"I'm sorry, I could resist," I say, shrugging my shoulders. She pushes my shoulders and I fake a wince.

"Owie," I whine, rubbing my shoulder. She rolls her eyes at me before letting out a sigh.

"How long did I sleep for?" She asks.

"About a half-an-hour or so," I say. She nods her head.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" I ask her. She stays silent for a moment, fiddling with her fingers.

"Not really," she whispers. I nod my head.

"Okay, if you ever need to talk just know you can come to me," I say grabbing her hands.

"Yeah, I know," she says with a smile spread across her face.

"So what do you wanna do?" I ask. She shrugs her shoulders.

"We can just hang out," she says laying down on the bed.

"Alright," I say.

----

We were watching 'try not to laugh' videos and talked for a while until a message pops up on my phone.

My mom telling me to come home. I look at it confused. It's not that late it? Oh, it's 10:30. Crap. I sit up and Emilia gives me a confused look.

"I gotta go, Emilia, I'll talk to you tomorrow," I say giving her a quick kiss.

"Okay, night Xander," She says.

"Night," I say before heading out the door walking over to my house. I enter the front door to see my mom sitting in the living room before turning to me with tears in her eyes.

"Mom? What's wrong?" I ask, rushing over to her. She stays silent for a moment before letting out a shaky breath.

"I lost my job, Xander," she says. My eyes widen.

"What? What happened?" I question with concern in my voice.

"They said they just had to let me go for money reason or something. They were letting people go already but I was hoping it wasn't me, but I guess I was wrong. I don't know what I'm gonna do," she says putting her head in her hands.

"I'll have to start finding a job tomorrow," She whispers.

"I'm sorry mom," I say trying to comfort her.

"It's not your fault honey. I'm gonna go to my room and start searching for possibilities of another job," she says sniffling before heading to her room. I let out a sigh before heading to my room.

I head to the restroom getting in the shower. The water runs over my muscles relaxing me. I'm gonna have to do extra jobs again to help around the house. He nursing job was most of our income. I finish and hop out drying my hair then wrap it around my waist. I go to my room grabbing some underwear slipping them on. I lay the towel on my chair to lazy to put it back.

I flop on the bed grabbing my phone scrolling through my messages. I message Tony and Adam about my situation again.

I let out a sigh before putting my phone down and going to sleep.