"Mmm, this is delicious, Mrs. Gallagher!" I smiled as I took a bite of vegan pasta. "Thank you, Serena!" she smiled. It was nice having dinner with Aidan's family, they were kind people, and they reminded me so much of my parents. Honestly, I didn't expect Aidan's family to be this sweet. "So, Serena, how did you meet Aidan?" Mr. Gallagher asked, gently blowing on his pasta. " Dad, you remember the contest I had, and you know how stressed I was this week?" Aidan reminded him. After a while, Mr. Gallagher remembered,  and he started battering his son with questions about the cause of him being so tired.

"Well, I feel like Serena should explain if she's comfortable with it," Aidan said, glancing over at me. Damn it, Aidan, I don't like being put on a pedestal like this. "Well, I ran away from him after I auditioned, and I ended up dropping my notebook full of song lyrics. He started looking around school for the mystery girl, and that mystery girl is me," I explained. Aidan's parent's eyes looked like they could pop out of their heads at any moment. "So, this was like a modern Cinderella story?" Mrs. Gallagher asked, breaking the ominous silence. I slowly nodded, and my cheeks became warmer.

I felt something touch my hand, and I looked down to see Aidan was holding my hand underneath the table. He said nothing, but the twinkle in his eyes hit my heart like a meteor. "So, Serena. What do your parents do for a living?" his parents continued with the questions. My face fell, and I could feel a giant lump start to develop in my throat. "Uh, Serena's parents died in a car accident last year," Aidan stepped in. I looked up at everyone, and I could see Aidan's parents looking at each other with realization spread across their faces.

"Serena, I know that it may be hard for you to talk about, but I need to ask, was your mother's name Philippa Waterbury?" Mr. Gallagher asked. How does he know my mother's name? Was he there the night of the accident? "Yes. What's going on?" I asked. I looked over and saw that Aidan was just as confused as I was. "Serena, we were there the night of the accident. We were the ones that called 911,"

I could feel my heart was about to give out, and when I looked around, everything was moving so slowly, and the sound of Aidan's voice sounded far off in the distance. "Serena?" he called out. And the last thing I remember was falling out of my seat and hitting my head on the hardwood floor.

*******

I woke up to the sound of frantic voices and the feeling of someone caressing my cheek. I couldn't see a lot at first, but when my vision cleared, I saw that I was lying down on the couch, and Aidan and his parents were right to me, waiting for me to wake up. "She's coming to," Aidan whispered. I carefully sat up, and immediately I felt a throbbing sensation in my head. "Careful, not too fast," Aidan said, gently placing an arm around my back. "What happened?" I groaned. 

Aidan's parents went on to tell me that I had passed out after they told me they were there when the accident occurred, and they went on to describe what happened. " We were heading back from running a few late-night errands, and there was a car that lost control and swerved into oncoming traffic and hit a semi. Mr. Gallagher got out of the car to check on the person while I called the police," Mrs. Gallagher explained. Tears began to sting my eyes as they continued, but I felt Aidan gently pat my back.

"When I looked inside, I saw two people. Your father was killed on impact. But your mother was groaning in pain. I tried to get her out, but the front of the car was completely obliterated. So, I just held her hand and let her talk to get her mind off the pain," Mr. Gallagher added. "You did everything you could to help them. And I thank you for that," I sniffled as I wiped away tears. "There's something else we need to discuss. The bruise on your face," My hand flew to my cheek and gently touched my bruise.

"It's nothing," I lied. Aidan looked over at me, and the look in his eyes was telling me that he knew I was lying. "Serena, it's okay. You can tell us," he whispered. Those words felt like an immediate release for me, the lump in my throat became unstuck, and I started bawling. I felt Aidan wrap his arms around me and pull me closer to him. He rested his head on top of my shoulder and continued to rub my back, which helped a little.

"After my parents died, I was sent to live with my aunt and her daughters. And they treated me so horribly. I was a servant in their home having to do all chores, and if I didn't do something a certain way, I would get slapped, made fun of, and so many other things," I wailed. Aidan pulled away from me and looked over at his parents. "What are we supposed to do about this?" he asked. "Should we call the police or report it to CPS?" Mr. Gallagher asked.

"No! Please don't call them! I'm scared of what they will do to me if they find out I told anyone!" I protested. They looked at each other with looks of worry, then looked back at me. "Did you run away from home?" Aidan asked. I nodded slowly, and the scene of me stuffing my things into a suitcase replayed inside my head. "Look, Serena. I know this is hard, but things won't get better if they find you and take you back. We need to report this to the authorities," Aidan whispered, looking into my eyes with kindness and sympathy.

Even though the consequences would be horrible if I was taken back, I knew that this was something we had to. "Your right. We need to report this," I nodded in agreement. Mr. Gallagher picked up the phone and called the authorities, and told me that they would be over shortly to ask me some questions. It took them a while to get there, but when the cops came, Aidan sat next to me and gently squeezed my hand as I told them everything. From when I started living with my Aunt and cousins to the night I ran away. "Will I have to go back?" I asked when they were done asking the questions.

"No, you won't be going back, but CPS will get involved and have to interview you and your Aunt separately and determine if she's fit to continue to be your guardian," One of the cops answered. I had more questions for them, some of them they couldn't give me an answer to, but I was just glad that I wasn't going to go back to that abusive house. When they left, The Gallagher's and I embraced each other tightly, and I thanked them repeatedly for helping me through this.

"It's getting late. I should probably call Vanessa to pick me up," I sighed as I looked at the clock. It was almost 10:00, and I was worried that Vanessa and her mom were starting to worry. "Here, I'll take you home," Aidan offered. I looked up at him, a little unsure if I was dreaming about what he said, but he was 100% serious. "Aidan, you don't have to do that," I said. "But I want to. After all you've been through, I want to help you through this," he said as he took his hand in mine.

"Okay, let's go,"