It took Noah a while to pluck up enough courage to let me in on his secret. I watched him question it over and over in his mind and then when he finally decided on letting me in he still didn't seem sure.

"A year ago," he began quietly, "there was an accident." I nodded in encouragement and he took a deep breath. "Mom, dad, me and Em were in the car driving to this stupid dinner with my dads boss. We were going across Brockly Bridge when my dad lost control. The car smashed through the bridge railings and plummeted into the lake." I gasped and I could feel my eyes soften on him with sympathy.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered.

"The car filled up so fast, within minutes it was completely flooded and my family all pretty much lost consciousness straight away. He spoke quietly, keeping a lack of confidence throughout. Me finding out about Emily really shook him up and in the small time I have known him this is the first time he has ever been raw with emotion.

"It was the single most terrifying experience of my life. Cold lake water invaded my lungs, my eyes, my ears and my mouth. It paralyzed all of my senses and made me disoriented. All I could think and feel was fear."

"That must've been so terrible, I'm so sorry that happened to you Noah." I gave his hand another supportive squeeze.

"I tried to save them but I couldn't get their stupid seat belt off. I managed to somehow slip Emily out of her car seat and get her free but I couldn't smash the window because of the water pressure and we were drowning, I remember the water suffocating me. She was already unconscious."

His hands trembled as he relived his memories, he clenched and unclenched his fingers to try and stifle the tremor. But through a shaky voice he continued telling me his story.

"I managed to break a metal rod off the bottom of one the front seats and I kept pounding on the glass until it shattered but I had to manually remove the shards and one big one got me, right down my arm."

We both glanced at his scar but then he pulled his hoodie down over his arm, hiding it away. I wondered why he always kept it out and on show if he was self conscious of it.

"I got Em out of the car and onto the side but her small body was unresponsive and by the time I had done CPR and got her breathing again the car had disappeared taking my parents with it."

A tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it away rapidly, not wanting me to notice. But the sadness was written all over his face. This boy was grieving still and had the weight of the world on his shoulders thanks to this tragic accident. I wondered if he thought he killed them just because he was unable to save them. I questioned if he told his girlfriend the same story that he told me because if that were the case then she really is a terrible person for spreading things around about him. He wasn't responsible for his parents death just because he couldn't prevent his parents death.

"In my mind it all played out in slow motion but in reality it happened so fast. I couldn't save them, there was no time. I passed out, next to Emily and when I woke up I was in a hospital bed.

Some social worker told me that Emily was in a medically induced coma but she was going to be okay. Except what she also mentioned was that I was sixteen and she was four, we both had no parents. They told me I could get emancipated which means I didn't need a guardian, I could live alone. But Emily would have to move into the foster care system."

I gasped sadly, seeing the direction this conversation was headed.

"So that night I discharged myself from hospital and I turned up at one of those rich kid parties, stealing a lot of money from their purses. I paid some crummy low life from the street two thousand dollars to pretend to be our uncle. I gave him half upfront and half after he got the job done. He signed forms to say he was becoming our legal guardian and we never seen him again.

Em and I we have been living here and there. The school is a good one, no security, a shower, food, a warm comfortable place to sleep. She stays at her friends a lot and whenever your friends throw a party I get enough for a few nights in a cheap hotel. It's not ideal but we make it work, we're together and that's all that matters.

She knows she can't say anything to anyone or they will separate us, putting her with strangers and she doesn't want that, neither do I. We don't need materialistic things, I can give her something no foster parent can, unconditional, biological love."

I gazed over at Emily, feeling incredibly saddened by their whole heartbreaking story. There's no doubt that he was a good brother and he loved Emily with his entire heart. But she's five, she needed a home, stability, safety. I wasn't sure I agreed with a seventeen year old giving her sole care. But then she seemed perfectly happy, she was dressed in clean clothes, showered with maintained hair. She didn't appear malnourished or mentally damaged in any way. He looked to be doing the best he can given the circumstances.

"I stopped speaking to everyone because I knew if I continued speaking I would accidentally slip up and reveal my secret to someone at some point. So I pushed away all of my friends and kept my mouth shut. Joel, he was the worst. He wouldn't let me go, he just couldn't understand why I wasn't talking and thought it was due to emotional trauma from the accident. He tried so hard to get through to me and I was struggling to keep my best friend at bay. I wanted to tell him so badly, to lean on him when I needed him the most but I couldn't. Not when it depended on Emily. I couldn't trust anyone. So I said something that I knew would hurt him and I have regretted it every day of my life since."

I took a deep breath, maintaining eye contact with his watery eyes. He stopped talking and waited for my reply but my tongue was tied, I had no idea what to say.

"That's ... a lot." I admitted quietly.

He released a shaky sigh and then nodded his head, turning his attention to a sleeping Emily.

"I get it, you think you know what is best for her. It's not a normal or ideal life for a young child but she wants for nothing. She's safe with me and I take good care of her. She doesn't need to worry where we're going to sleep or if she'll get her next meal. That's on me."

"Noah..." I started, chewing down on my lip with nervousness. He turned to face me, holding onto my forearms and looking deeply into my eyes.

"Mia, I need to know right now... can we trust you?" My chest moved up and down rapidly, I needed to be sure about this whole situation and he wasn't giving me anytime to dwell on it. He was searching my eyes for answers, seeing right through me, reading my thoughts.

"...yes." I replied quietly.

His eyes softened and he sucked in his lips, nodding his head sadly like I had just answered no.

"Mia don't just say yes. I need you to be sure. You can't tell anyone about this. It's a lot to carry around. I beg you, please if you're not sure... if you think for one second you can't handle it then please just tell me. I'll make sure we disappear."

I placed my hand on his face and swiped away a fallen tear with my thumb. The fear in his eyes was so strong, it knocked my breath back. He leaned into my touch sweetly and filled his lungs with air, holding it in for a long time.

"I'm sure." I told him with a reassuring head nod.

But admittedly, I wasn't sure.