"So... Why are you going to get Adam again?" My mother questioned me with worry in her voice. my sister stood near by, watching... aka eavesdropping. "Well... today is his birthday and Jonas and Dean need my help getting him..." I paused, noticing the look she was giving me. "What?" I rolled my eyes. I already knew exactly what she was thinking. "Peni, this is the boy you came home crying your eyes out because of. He hurt you, and now you're going right back to help him. Why?" My mother was right, even if he didn't know that he had hurt me, he did. Yet, I was going right back and doing something great for him. But, never mind that. It wasn't even me that had planned it, so it was different. I was just delivering him to the surprise and then it'd be over. I was just helping Jonas and Dean out. Not him.

"Mom, I'm not helping him out per say. I'm helping Jonas and Dean!" I repeated my own thoughts out loud, trying to convince my mother that it'd be fine. But I couldn't help but think, why was I really doing it?  "They need me to help them with this surprise. It's just one thing for some friends mom. Really." I was now just babbling randomly so that she would let me out of the house. I was supposed to leave about thirty minutes ago. "I really have to go though. It's six. Their expecting me to pick him up at any time." I picked up my denim jacket and through it on over my green tank top, pleading with my mother to let me go. She rolled her eyes, "Fine. I'll drive you." She plucked her keys up from the counter and opened the front door.

"I'm coming too!" Sarah exclaimed and jumped and grinned. I simply shook my head, "No, guys. I can walk. I'll be fine. It's really not that far, plus I still kind of have to come up with a plan." I smiled sheepishly and took my mother's place at the door. "Oh lord, Peni... You," I wouldn't allow her to finish her sentence, "Love you mom! Love you Sarah! I'll see you guys soon, don't worry about me!" My mother was walking towards me, "Okay! Love you! Be safe! I may not be home when you get back! I'm taking Sarah to Kimmy's! Just call me!" She was still talking as I walked outside and slammed the door behind me, not really listening to what she was saying. I hadn't even thought of what I was going to say once I got to his house. As I walked to his house, I couldn't help but think about the last time I'd been on my way to Adam's house. I had been pondering what to say to him then as well, but it was in a completely different way.

The walk seemed a lot longer than I thought it would, making beads of sweat fall off of my forehead and into my eyes. I had removed my jacket and hung it over my arm. When Adam's house had finally come into view, I smiled, only to let my smile fall right back away. Adam slung his door open, he looked so angry and he held something in his hand. I could hear him yelling as he slammed the door behind him. I raised an eyebrow and continued to move towards him as he raised the thing he had in his hand to his lips. A beer. I cringed. He still hadn't seen me, but I was going to change that very quickly. "Adam?" I had gotten close enough now so that he could hear me.

He looked up abruptly, but soon let a soft look fall upon his face as he saw me. He put the beer in his hand down, almost as if he'd known I was cringing just a few moments ago. "Hey, Peni... uh, Hey." He stepped down from his front porch and smiled at me. I looked at him, with a scowl on his face. I could see now that there was a cut on his lip and there was dried blood on his left temple. I rushed towards him, my hands levitating towards his face. I shut off the part of my mind that told me to stay far, far away from him and let myself go. I grabbed his face in my hands. "Adam, are you alright?" He kept glancing behind him as if someone was going to come hurdling out of the door after him at any moment. His hands came up to my arms, pushing me lightly backwards, still watching the door. "Peni, I'm fine. Just, umm, I'm just, uh, I'm clumsy. You know me." I furrowed my eyebrows and took his arms off of me making him stop in his tracks. Adam Clifton was plenty of things but he certainly was not clumsy.

"Adam, stop. What happened?" I let my hands go back up to his face and he shut his eyes. "Peni, it's really nothing. Let's just get out of here okay? Before..." He was cut off by the sound of the door swinging open and his eyes went wide. "Adam!" It was his father, looking pissed with one hand over his eye. I don't think I had ever seen Adam scared before, but in this moment, he certainly was.And that made me petrified. His breathing became heavy and he started stumbling forward. "Adam, get your ass back here right now!" His father screeched again. "Run." Adam whispered and I felt his large, clammy hand grasp mine hastily before he started pulling me along the sidewalk. I just followed him, not knowing what else to do.

His hand held tightly to mine as if I was going to let go and both of our legs pumped as hard and fast as we could make them go. Adam was of course running ahead of me, as he was a lot faster than I was. I could hear Adam's father calling loudly after us, but I seriously doubted that he was following us. But we still ran. As to where we were running I had absolutely no clue. "Adam, Adam, stop. It's okay!" I huffed, completely out of breath. We had gotten off of the sidewalk now and were going straight for some park. Adam suddenly came to a halting stop and turned around, breathing heavily. His eyes raked me, "Are you okay? He didn't touch you did he? He didn't hit you with anything?" His hands found my neck and slowly made their way to my face, making me stiffen. The warmth from his calloused hands enveloped my body, making me want to fall into him. But I knew better than that.

He looked at me, his green eyes surging with... Worry? Sadness? Hate? I couldn't tell right now. "N-no. I'm... F-fine." Darn you Adam. Stop it, Peni. Get yourself together woman. "I'm so sorry, Oh my God. Are you sure you're okay?" He wouldn't take his hands away from me. I just shut my eyes and nodded. "Stop worrying about me. What about you? Wha-what the hell happened back there, Adam?" I was almost surprised at the words that came from my own mouth. His arms dropped to his side and he sat down on a bench, with me slowly trailing behind him. He seemed so defeated. It was odd to me how it had all happened so fast. Everything went from completely calm to complete anarchy in seconds. And now here we were. Sitting on a park bench with me awaiting an explanation.

"He got mad, Peni. It's really nothing, okay? I said something I shouldn't have and he got mad." I sighed and scooted closer to him, "Adam... You know you can..." My phone began to buzz in my back pocket. I groaned and gave Adam an apologetic look, seeing that it was Melody.

"Hello?" I answered quickly.

"Peni, where are you guys? We've been waiting for like half an hour." Oh crap. I had completely forgotten the reason I was even coming to get Adam in the first place. I looked at him to make sure he wasn't listening, "Mel. I can't talk right now. I'll get there I promise. Something happened." Adam looked up at me as I hung up on my best friend. He raised his eyebrow, "What was that about?" I shook my head and crossed my arms, realizing I had dropped my jacket somewhere while we were running. "Nothing important. Now, please tell me the truth. What did you say?" He immediately looked away from me. God, Adam. If only you knew...

"I told him that I hated her. I told him that I hated my mom." I froze. Silence hung over us for a few minutes. At first, I didn't know what to say. "Do you?" I whispered hesitantly. He shook his head, slowly at first and then more assuringly. "Of course I don't hate her, Peni. She's my mother. But you have to understand, that woman left us a long time ago. He's still hung up over it." I started to wonder if he had gotten tipsy again. If that was why he was telling me the truth. "Oh. I get it." Was all I could say. It was absolutely heart-breaking, seeing Adam like this... He seemed so lost. All I wanted to do was just hug him and tell him everything would be okay. But I knew that wouldn't help him at all.

"Do you though? Do you understand what it's like to be abandoned, Peni? Because I don't think you do." His tone had changed, and it made me flinch slightly. My heart was hammering against my chest. I could feel my throat burning. "My dad left us." The words left my mouth hastily, I barely understood them myself. "He left when he found out mom was pregnant with Sarah." I couldn't help it anymore. I let the words spill out. I sat, looking straight ahead of me, not wanting to see him. I didn't want to know what kind of look Adam was giving me. He cleared his throat. "I-I'm sorry." Don't look at him Peni. Don't you dare look at those beautiful green eyes and let yourself go. Don't. I had to listen to that voice. I had to. "No, umm. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm fine now. Really." I shook my head and wiped the tears away from my eyes.

"So, I guess we're both kind of screwed up aren't we?" Adam joked, and I laughed light-heartedly. "I guess we are." I whispered. Why had I said anything? Why had I told him that? Why had he told me the things he did? "Oh, happy birthday by the way." His eyes widened at me as I smiled slyly. "How did you... Jonas..." His face stuck with realization. "I'm gonna kill him." I just sniffled and chuckled again to myself. He stood up, offering me his hand. I took it and pulled myself up. Surprisingly, he didn't let go. We began walking. This time I was leading.

We had been walking for a while when I finally got up the courage to ask, "Do you mind if I ask you... Why do you hate your birthdays?" I looked at him sideways, his hand still loosely connected with mine. "Well, I've already told you the hard stuff. Why not?" He smiled crookedly. God, that smile drove me crazy. "My third birthday. That's when she left." My mouth hung open and I stopped walking. "No." I whispered. He only nodded, he looked almost like he was ashamed, like it was his fault. Then, I knew it was over. I couldn't refrain from falling onto his chest and wrapping my arms around him as tightly as possible. For a moment, he stood awkwardly in my embrace but suddenly he returned the gesture, placing his arms snugly around my hips. Time seemed to have stopped. I couldn't explain in words the feeling of being held in his arms. And then I suddenly remembered the words that came from his mouth just two nights ago. The words I hadn't believed, the words I still don't believe, he told me that he loved me. I didn't even realize that we had an audience, a large one for that matter, until I heard a loud "SURPRISE!" Oh no, what have I done?