The wind blew my hair slightly as I sat alone in front of the house on the swing under the big oak tree. Everything that I thought I knew was a lie. Those people in there weren't really my grandparents. Not really. It wasn't like I was related to them anyway. Now knowing this, I knew I could no longer stay here. Even if I did, I would just be a stranger in another house.

Time past slowly, and all I could think about was how my mother and father, well, Frank, lied to me all these years. Mom never told me anything that Frank did. The separation, the cheating, and even the fact that my real father was out there somewhere and I had no idea who it could be. However, it's not like I wanted to know who it was. I didn't want to add another to the list of disappointing parents to the list.

The conversation I had with everyone still ran through my head. Every word was seared into my memory, and I would never forget it.

_____________________________________________

"Hattie, I'm not your biological father."

I felt as if someone had just punched me in the stomach. My mouth went dry, and I had the sudden urge to throw up.

"What?" I asked softly as I stared blankly at everyone around the table. Both my grandparents remained silent, and after a few seconds the man the apparently wasn't my father opened his mouth to speak.

"Your mother slept with another man and got pregnant," he told me sadly. "I was shocked when she brought it up that day, but probably not as shocked as you are now."

"No," I say as I lean back in my seat.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "But you are still my baby girl. I didn't care that you weren't really mine, but you were. I remember holding you in my arms when you came into this world. I fought hard to keep you, but the court wouldn't allow it. You're mother even filed a temporary restraining order on me."

"But that doesn't make sense though. Candice looks just like me," I say to them.

"Yes, you're both blond and have green eyes, but so does you mothers parents," he explains to me. "It's just a coincidence."

"Then, who is my father then?"

Frank shook his head. "I have no idea. Your mother refused to tell me, but I'm convinced she doesn't remember."

"How come I've never heard this before?" I questioned as I started to get a little angry. Everyone in the room has been keeping secrets from me for years, and all I wanted was answers.

"Hattie, how many times have I actually talked? Not on the phone but face to face?"

I thought about it, but I couldn't get an answer. This was the first time I had actually been in the same room with him since he left home. He look much older now, and I could see gray streaks in his hair.

"Never, I suppose," I say as I look away from him.

"I'm not sure of what your mom told you, but I've always wanted to be there for you."

I nodded as I pushed my chair back and grabbed my crutches. "I need to be a lone for a bit. I'm going to go get some air."

"Hattie," Frank said as he called out to me as I walked past him, but I just kept walking.

________________________________________

Tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I made no move to wipe them away. My hand clenched the ropes that held the swing up tightly. The world around me was spinning so fast that if I loosened my grip on the swing I was frightened to fall off.

As I sat there, I planned on what to do next after we get back to Haven. There was no way in hell that I was ever stepping a foot back into my house ever again. I know that both Gerald and Emily will take me in, and Jasper isn't as terrible as he used to be. But not knowing what was going to happen after that terrified me.

The sound of someone walking through the grass caught my attention, but whoever was coming, I didn't want to talk to them.

"I said I wanted to be alone," I say, my voice cracking as I talked.

"I didn't know that," said a familiar voice. I didn't need to turn around to know that I was Evan walking up to me. Before I could react, and was standing in front of me with a smile on his face. However that quickly faded when he noticed the tears streaming down my face. "What happened, Hattie?"

"Nothing," I say with a shaky voice. Suddenly, Evan lifted both hands to my cheeks and wiped away my tears with his thumb.

"This doesn't look like nothing," he says as he crouched down in front of me. "What happened in there?"

"A lot," I tell him, not wanting to go into the details of my screwed up life. "Come on, we should probably get Jasper. We're leaving?"

"Leaving?" Evan questioned as he stared at me blankly. "I thought that you were going to stay here with your grandparents?"

I shook my head. "Things changed."

"Hattie, what exactly happened?"

I could feel my throat tightening up. I didn't want anyone to know what went on in there. It's for the best. I shook my head, knowing well enough that if I were to speak I would probably just end up crying. Typically, no one ever cared about me before recently, and it was strange.

"Apparently," I started to say to Evan as I looked away from him. "The man that I thought was my father, isn't. My grandparents aren't my grandparents."

"Oh Hattie," Evan says softly as he moves one hand to the back of my head and the other my lower back and pulls me into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."

I could feel the tears starting to come out of the corners of my eyes, and there was no sense at holding them back now. Evan rubbed small soothing circles onto my back as he held me tightly. I let go of the swing and let my arms fall to my sides as all of the emotions I had been bottling up over the last day.

Evan remained silent as he held me there right under the oak tree where I had many fond memories with the man who wasn't my grandfather. Everything seemed like it wasn't real anymore. My mother acted lied to me about everything and I felt as if my identity was ripped away from me.

I cried until I had nothing left. My eyes burned, and my throat felt scratchy. When Evan realized I had begun to calm down, he slowly pulled back out of the embrace, but by the look of his face I could tell that he didn't want to let got.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes. Neither of us talked, but that was because I knew neither of us knew what to say. The wind started to pick up, and the sound of wind chimes began to fill the air. I looked up to see the sky that was once a clear blue turn to dark gray clouds.

Evan cleared his throat. "Looks like it's about to rain."

I nodded, but I didn't say anything. I was still trying to form words together, but I wasn't getting that far.

The sound of footsteps walking towards us on the grass was enough to draw both of out attention. Evan moved his body over slightly to look behind me, but he remained quiet. Slowly, I turned around to see Jasper walking towards us. He wasn't looking at either of us as he crossed the lawn. His eyes were focused on the ground and he was rubbing his shoulder as if he had somehow hurt himself.

"Those kids are rough. They kept taking me...," Jasper started to say, but the moment he looked up, he stopped in his tracks. I knew I had tear lines streaking my face and my eyes had to have been bloodshot. "Hattie? What happened?"

I shook my head. Every time I repeated what happened, I felt as if something were chipping away at me. I open my mouth to say something, anything really, but no sound came out no matter how hard I tried. As if Evan sensed how I was feeling, he reached out and gave my had a reassuring squeeze.

"Hattie wants to leave," Evan told Jasper, who looked confused the moment he heard those words.

"Wait, what?" he asked as he stepped closer to use. He was by my side in an instant looking down at me. Worry filled his face as he tried to piece together what was happening in his head. "Is this because of your dad? He's not staying long. At least, that's what Justin told me."

I shook my head. "It's not that."

Jasper knelt down in front of me right next to Evan. "What happened in there?"

I felt a ball form in my throat again. I was upset, and it was getting harder to talk.

"He's not her dad," Evan spoke up for me. I let out a sigh of relief, mentally thanking Evan for saying those words. "She's not related to any of those people in there."

Shock filled Jasper's face as he turned back to look at me. "Is that true?"

I nodded. "Mom cheated."

"Fuck," Jasper whispered as he ran a hand through his hair. "Hattie, I am so sorry."

I shrugged. "I guess bad luck just follows me around, huh?" I say as I try to lighten the mood.

"Don't say that Hattie," Jasper told me sternly. "So what if you're not blood related? They still care about you. Isn't that what a family is?"

I shrugged.

"Oh no, don't you dare shrug at me," Jasper told me. "Anyone can be a family."

"Jasper," I sighed, but he cut me off.

"Who taught you how to ride a bike?"

"What?" I questioned in confusion.

"You heard me, no answer."

"Frank did. You know that."

"Damn straight I knew. I was there," he told me. "Your training wheels came off, and what happened next?"

"I hit a mailbox," I told him. "So what?"

He sighed. "What happened after?"

"I don't know," I say hopelessly. "He patched me up or something? Where are you going with this?"

"I'm getting there," he told me, but both Evan and I sat there even more confused. "I'm saying you were an annoying little shit when that happened. You cried and cried, and I think my ears were bleeding?"

My jaw drops and I lifted my hand to smack Jasper, but he caught my hand before it made contact with his face. Instead of letting go of it though, he held it with a gentle yet firm grip.

"What I'm trying to say his even though you aren't his birth daughter, you're still his baby," Jasper said softly. "He raised you and never gave up on you even though you were crying like a banshee in the front yard. So what if you aren't blood related? Look at it this way, you dodged a genetic bullet with him."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh when Jasper said that. What he said actually made sense to me somehow.

"Look at you getting all wise," I say sarcastically.

Jasper smiled. "You should go have a talk with everyone. Sort things out."

I nodded as I looked up at both Jasper and Evan. "Thanks. Both of you. I'm actually kind of glad that you both forced yourself into my car when I was trying to make a break for it."

"No problem," Evan said as he pushed himself up to his feet. "Go have a talk to them, we'll wait out here."

I nodded as I pulled myself off the swing. Both of the boys helped me with my crutches that I had thrown on the ground. Once I was all set, I made my way towards the house without hesitating.