Kayla Wilson

My eyes fluttered open as sunshine flooded the room. I slowly took in my surroundings and last night's memories rushed to me. I looked over at Zach and saw him sleeping soundly, his breathing soft. It felt so natural lying with him, in his arms. To wake up feeling completely content seeing him sleep. This was all new to me but it didn't feel like that. It seemed like we had done this a thousand times. I felt that comfortable with him.

I sighed as I watched him sleep. I couldn't believe how fast I was falling for him. It was scary yet exciting. I had no way of holding on to my feelings at this point. All the things he had done for me, all he is doing for me and always being there for me when I desperately needed him assured me and I knew there was no need for me to worry about how strong my feelings were for him.

It has only taken a few months for Zach to enter my life, and break down all the walls that I had been building for years. All I had planned after I changed here were now scattered. When I moved here, all I wanted was to get out of high school without getting close to anyone. I wanted to get good results and go to a good college and get the hell away from my family. But now I wanted Zach to be in my life. To be part of it. Maybe we could go to the same college and live together near the campus.

I was lost in my thoughts for the future when suddenly arms tightened around my waist. Zach looked at me sleepily and gave a smile which made my heart beat faster.

"Good morning, Kay," he mumbled and hugged me close.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," I said lightly pushing him back. "Now let's get out of bed."

"No, 10 more minutes," he muttered, already dozing off.

"Come on Zach, it's been more than 10 minutes. Don't you want your morning kiss?" I asked him.

He suddenly became alert and looked at me wide eyed. I gave him a satisfied look and got out of bed before he could grab me again.

"If you want your morning kiss, get your butt out of bed and get ready." I gave him a winning smirk.

He sighed as he got up and made his way to bathroom to wash up. "Oh, by the way, I have an extra toothbrush you can use," he said before he entered the bathroom. I followed him and we got ready together.

*********************

"Good morning" Amanda greeted as we entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Kayla. When did you get here?" Lucy asked as she saw me.

"I uh..."

"She spent the night here," Zach answered.

"Have a seat Kayla, and Zach, please go and wake your uncle. Tell him to come and have breakfast." Amanda said as she placed two plates for me and Zach.

"Mommy, can I go and call Uncle Max? I finished my food," Lucy asked excitedly.

"Well, okay then. Tell him to hurry."

Lucy jumped off her chair and ran upstairs. We all chuckled and got started on breakfast.

"So, are you ready to tell me what happened, Kayla?" Amanda asked curiously.

"Mom, why are you asking her about it? She said she'd tell you and I thought you wouldn't pressure her." Zach said glancing at me worriedly.

I touched his arm and gave him a reassuring smile before I turned to Amanda.

"It's okay. I'm ready to tell her." I started explaining everything. From the death of my mom to what happened last night, I told everything to Amanda.

When I was done, she didn't say anything. Instead, she stood up and came around the table to hug me. As she pulled away from the hug, I could see tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry that you had such a hard life and no one to depend on."

"You don't have to be sorry for that. That was before I met Zach. Now I know I can depend on him. He's made my life a lot better since I met him. I've been happier the last few months than I have been for as long as I can remember." I gave a grateful smile to Zach.

He returned my smile and took my hand, squeezing it softly.

"Well, I need to head back then. Thanks for letting me stay here Amanda." I said, picking up my dish and putting it in the dishwasher.

"No problem dear. And don't forget. You're always welcome here," she replied, giving me another hug.

Zach drove me home and parked in front of my house.

"I can wait here for you," Zach said, looking at me with concern.

"No, it's fine. I'm ready to hear everything now."

He leaned in and gave me a sweet kiss. He rested his forehead on mine. "Remember, whatever happens, I'll be here for you. And I know you can get through anything, you're the strongest person I know. Don't ever let them make you feel worthless."

I couldn't say anything because I feared my voice would break if I tried to speak but Zach understood. I gave him a hug and got out of the car, mentally bracing myself for what was coming.

As I entered, Tina and Tulio came running.

"Kay, where have you been?" Tina asked me.

I didn't answer and started moving inside.

"Kayla? I was so worried. We were searching for you all night." Ron walked out of the kitchen and pulled me into a hug.

Ashlin was right behind him and to my surprise, she hugged me too. "Where the hell have you been? I haven't even been able to sleep," she said as she clutched onto me tightly.

"I was staying at a friend's place. Besides, what is it to you?" I scoffed and pushed her back.

For the first time, I saw genuine hurt in her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

"Hey guys, why don't you two go upstairs for a while? There's something we need to talk about," Ron said, turning to Tina and Tulio.

"We've been seriously worried about you. Dad was really panicked too, we looked all over the place for you. We were gonna call the police." Ashlin began as the twins went upstairs.

"Then why didn't you?"

"I thought you'd need some time and space to think through things. We were planning on calling the cops if you didn't show up in the morning."

"This is ridiculous. How can you go from your nasty bitch attitude to this so suddenly? It's just impossible. So what's really going on?" I asked Ashlin.

"Look, I've been blaming you for everything that happened, but lately I've been thinking a lot. And I've come to realize that we've all made our fair share of mistakes, but in all this, you're the only one who's innocent. I've always had that thought in the back of my head but I didn't want to acknowledge or accept it."

I was speechless, and didn't say anything.

"Come on, we'll explain everything. Just hear us out."

"Okay fine." I let them lead me to the sofa and we settled down.

"About a year before you were born mom and dad were having problems and fighting all the time. One night they had a really huge fight and mom stormed out and she only came back home in the morning. She was hungover and she kept apologizing to dad. Back then, we didn't know what happened. We were too young to understand. All we knew was that dad left after talking to her and he returned after two months. By the time he came back, mom was already pregnant with you. Even after he came back, their marriage wasn't the same anymore. They had this constant stream of fights and dad even started sleeping in the guestroom. That's how Blake found out about you. He was sneaking in from a party one night, when he heard the fighting and he figured out everything." Ashlin voice wavered for a moment before she continued.

"After you were born things got a lot worse since dad was reminded of mom's betrayal every time he looked at you. He didn't even pay much attention to us and he'd stay out without coming home for days. Even through all that he never stopped loving her. He tried his best to make things go back to normal and after a few years and a lot of effort, both of them made a fresh start in their relationship when the twins were born. But, for us the damage was already done. We had come to believe that dad's lack of attention for us was because of you. And dad could never treat you as his own. Blake was furious at first and the same thing happened to me when I found out. But we didn't say anything because we were scared that it might lead to more problems. Ron also found about it a few years ago after mom died. But he never had any hard feelings towards you. And when dad started beating you I guess none of us did anything because we never saw you as our sister and we somehow felt that you deserved it." By the time she got to that point she was crying. Ron was staring at the floor with a guilty look on his face.

"We knew that no one deserves what you went through, but at that time we were too hurt to care about you. And with everything dad kept saying at you, I came to believe that mom's death really was your fault. Ron begged me more than once to help you since he was too young and too scared to face dad. But I didn't pay any attention to it since in a sick way, I wanted you to go through the pain I went through. I didn't realize that you already had gone through more pain than all of us combined. I'm really sorry for everything. For not standing up for you, for not being the sister that you deserve. I won't blame you for hating me and never forgiving me but just know that I really am sorry. I was stupid and naïve and I've only now come to realize the truth." She took my hand and kept apologizing to me.

"I'm sorry too, for not standing up for you. Not being strong enough to protect you. As your brother I should have been there for you but I was a coward. And when mom died, I just wanted to hide from everyone, hide my feelings from everyone. It was the reason why I drifted away from you. Not because I hated you." He slowly wrapped and arm around me. "I could never hate you Kayla, because you are the only one who tried to understand me. And I'm thankful for that. Anyone would be lucky to have a sister like you." He said kissing my forehead.

We all stayed in silence and I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks. The complains I had about Ashlin and the way she treated me disappeared after hearing everything she said. I was happy to know that Ron always cared about me. and now it was finally starting to feel like I had a real family.

"I forgive you guys for everything. After all, that's what families are for," I said, taking their hands. They both gave a smile and wrapped their arms around me engulfing me in a huge hug.

*********

A/N 

Hey guys! I'm soo sorry for the late update. The last few weeks have been hectic and I couldn't get much time to work on my story. But good news is there are only a few chapters left for this story to end. 

So please vote and comment.

I Love y'all.

-Ansh