I don't know how long I've been sitting there, but I open my eyes when I hear a voice.

"Beautiful, isn't it."

"Blake!" I exclaim, whipping around to see him.

"Hey." He walks over and sits down next to me. "Come here to think?"

I nod. "Yeah. How did you find me?"

"I followed you here many times. I used to watch you sit there and talk to your mom, or skip stones, or just stare at the water in silence."

"Wow, stalker much?" I ask, turning to him.

The moonlight illuminates his face, and I am immediately drawn to his cuts and bruises.

"I'm fine." He insists when he notices me looking.

"Blake, you should get those looked at." I say, reaching out to touch them.

He winces lightly as my fingertips stroke them.

"I got them looked at."

I raise my eyebrows. "Yeah? By who?"

"Myself."

"You should go to the hospital."

"I'm a paramedic."

I roll my eyes.

"I know how to make them hurt less." I say.

"Oh yeah?"

I nod. "Mhm."

"Do tell."

I lean in and gently touch my lips to the bruise on his cheek, then the one on his forehead, then, lastly, the cut on his lip. I lean onto him, and we both fall back. I'm on top of him, staring down at him. I gently stroke the side of his face. He closes his eyes and sighs.

He suddenly opens his eyes and pushes me away.

"I love it when you do that, but I came here to talk." Blake says.

"No good conversation starts that way." I say, sitting up. He sits up next to me.

"Lia, you need to talk to TK about what happened."

"There it is." I mutter, pulling my knees to my chest again.

"I'm serious. Look, I knew what would happen if-when he found out, or caught us." Blake says. "Lia, you need to talk to him not just about us, but about you, about Raj, and Robert."

"I can't." I say. "He hurt you. I hate him."

Blake chuckles.

"You know, I punched my best friend when I found out he was dating my older step sister."

"Maddie?" I ask.

He nods. "Yeah. He was a friend. He was a good guy, but the thought of him and my sister was hard," he says. "It's hard for anyone Lia." I look up at him. "When TK punched me, I couldn't do anything, because that shows how much he loves you, cares for you. You might not be his father's daughter, but you are the only sister he knows, the only one he has." He pauses. "As your older brother, he wants to keep you safe. I know it's probably really annoying, but he loves you. You should go talk to him."

"I can't. He lied to me."

"Lia, he didn't lie, he withheld the truth. You need answers, and TK has them. Talk to him. He's freaking out about where you went when you didn't answer your phone."
"Thanks for not telling him." I say.

"I know you, and you needed time to clear your head." I nod. "Please talk to him. If not for him, then for me."

I look up at him.

"Fine."

****

I've been standing at the door for five minutes. Maybe it was more, I'm not really sure. I close my eyes. Pull it together Liara.

Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes, and ring the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opens, revealing Nick.

"Nick." I say.

"Aunt Lia."

"Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah." Nick moves to the side so I can step in.

"Aunty Lia!" Nia exclaims, running up to me and hugging my legs.

"Hey Nia ." I say.

"Hi Aunt Lia." James walks in behind her, giving me a hug.

"Hey James." I say.

I turn and look over my shoulder at Nick.

"Is TK here?" I ask.

"Dad's upstairs." James says.

"Oh, okay."

"Aunty Lia, Daddy didn't eat food." Nia tells me.

Oh no. I make eye contact with Nick , who hasn't said much since I've come.

I lean down to talk to Nia.

"Nia, can you get me some water please?" I ask.

"Okay." Nia says, running into the kitchen.

"I'll go help her." James says, following her. I just nod.

I turn to Nick when the two disappear.

"He told you?" I ask.
Nick shakes his head no.

"He's only been like this whenever it's about you. It didn't take much to put the pieces together."

"You hate me now." I groan.

"No, Aunt Lia, I would never hate you!" Nick exclaims. "Why would you ever think that?"
I'm so close to tears. I bite the inside of my bottom lip.

"Carlos-"

"Papi's shift ends in an hour.."

I nod. "Okay."

"James tried to talk to him about something, but Dad just yelled at him."

That's bad. TK never raises his voice at kids, no matter how pissed he is.

Nia and James walk in with a glass of water.

"Here you go, Aunty Lia." Nia says, handing it to me.

"Thanks Nia." I say, taking it from her and down the glass quickly. "Where is he?" I ask Nick when I finish.

Nick gestures up the stairs, and I nod before walking upstairs. Each step feels heavy. I know what I said, and if TK yelled at James, he must be off the charts.

I reach TK and Carlos' room. Taking a deep breath, I knock on the door.

"I said I want to be left alone, Nick!" TK's voice comes from inside.

I open the door and poke my head in to see TK sitting on the bed..

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not Nick then." I say.

TK snaps his head up when he hears my voice.

"Lia!" he exclaims.

I walk in, closing the door behind me.

"Hey." I say.

"Oh my god, you're okay. I was so worried." TK says as I walk closer to him. I sit down on the bed next to him.

"I'm sorry." I say.

"What? No, no, no, no-"

"TK, I was out of line." I tell him. "I'm sorry. I really am. I just-when I found out about Raj being my real father, I didn't really know what to do. I wanted to find out more about why I've been living with you and Dad instead of Raj. Then today, when you went crazy, I kinda just blew. I hated how you care for me so much, even though I'm not your actual sister-"

"You will always be my sister, no matter what." TK interrupts me.

I sigh as tears roll out of my eyes.

"I love you." I say, hugging him.

"I love you too." TK replies, gently stroking my hair. We sit like that for a few minutes. "Do you like him?" TK asks after a while.

I move away and look at him.

"What?"

"Blake, do you like him?"

I smile and nod. "Yeah."

"I thought you hated him."

I chuckle. "I did too. Then I realized how much I actually care about the stupid bastard."

"I swear, if he hurts you, I will kill him myself."

I roll my eyes. "Do I have to tell you to play nice now?" I ask.

TK chuckles. "Ha ha. Very funny."

"Speaking of Blake and the blowup, Nick tells me that you yelled at James?"

He squeezes his eyes tightly.

"Oh crap." he whispers.

"It's okay. I'll cook, and you can talk to James."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

He sighs. "Okay."

We both get up and walk downstairs.

****

I'm making chicken lasagna, TK favorite. TK and James are talking in the other room. The door opens and Carlos walks in.

"Mmm, dinner smells nice babe." Carlos starts to say as he walks into the kitchen.

"Hey, it's me." I say.

"Lia! What are you doing here?" Carlos exclaims.

"Wow, someone's happy to see me." I say.

"Sorry, sorry." He walks up to me and gives me a hug. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Okay, well, something smells nice, and after the day I've had, I need food."

"Chicken lasagna." I say.

"Mmmm."

"Yup!"

"Okay, so what are you doing here?"

"Well, TK found out that I have a boyfriend, and kinda blew up-"

"Wait, you finally told him that you and Blake are seeing each other?" Carlos exclaims.
"She didn't exactly tell me." TK says, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey babe." Carlos says. They kiss each other.

"Hey." TK says.

They turn to me.

"She didn't tell me that they were seeing each other." TK says. "I walked in on them in the sleeping quarters.."

Carlos looks at me. "He walked in on you too in the sleeping quarters?!" he exclaims.

"Yes." I say with a sigh. Carlos raises his eyebrows. A few moments later, I realize what he was thinking. "No, no, no!" I exclaim. "We weren't-we-we were just kissing!" I blush, and quickly look down to hide my red face.

"That was not kissing. It was a full-on make-out session." TK says.

Carlos and TK are smiling, as if they find me being flustered amusing.

I roll my eyes, then turn to Carlos.

"What did you mean 'did I finally tell TK'?" I ask Carlos. "You knew?"

"Yeah."

"We never did any couple things around any of you." I point out.

"I'm a cop, remember. I noticed something different for a long time. I just didn't want to say anything, cause there's got to be a reason you two didn't tell anyone."

"I'm your husband!" TK says.

"Yeah, but I don't want my husband to commit murder."

"I wouldn't have killed him!" TK exclaims.

I raise my eyebrows.

"You nearly did today!" I say.

"Nah. He's fine." TK brushes it off.

"Yeah? Tell that to his face." I mutter.

Before he could say anything else, the timer goes off. Opening the oven, I pull out the lasagna.

"Yes! Dinner!" TK exclaims.

I smile, shaking my head. He might be 45, but he's a child at heart.

****

I sit in my car in the driveway of the house, unsure of what to say to Dad when I go in. I'm very sure that TK called him, and told him that I know about Raj being my father, and that scares me.

"Okay, get it together Lia." I whisper to myself. "It's just Dad. He's chill."

I take a deep breath before turning my car off, grabbing my bag, and stepping out of the car. Walking up to the door, I let myself in through the front as I always do. I take my shoes off at the door, and put them in the closet. I turn around to see Dad waiting for me, arms across his chest, leaning against the wall.

"Hey Dad-" I say. I'm nervous.

He sighs before walking up to me and giving me a hug.

"TK told you, didn't he?" I ask. Dad moves away from me.

"Why didn't you say anything Lia?" He asks.

"I-I wanted to find out more. I wanted to know why my birth father didn't want me." I say, looking down at the floor in shame.

"Raj wanted you, but your mother didn't want you with him." Dad says.

I look up at him. "What?"

"Sit." Dad says. He leads me over to the sofa, and we both sit down. "Raj is a good father, but his life is unstable. He could never keep a job, and he's an alcoholic. When you were born, your mother gave me and TK all rights to you. She wanted us to raise you. Raj tried to take you away from us, but he lost in his case. He was allowed to visit you, which is what he did."

"But Mom died giving birth-"

"It was a complicated pregnancy. Her getting pregnant was practically impossible, but she did, with you. She knew that she could die giving birth to you, so she gave up all rights on you to us in case she died."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.

"We didn't want you to think anything less of yourself. Plus, your mother didn't want you to know."

"What was mom like?" I ask.

"Strong. She was strong, just like you. Stubborn too." Dad laughs.

I chuckle. "I guess traits are hereditary then." I joke.

Dad laughs. "Yeah, guess they are."

"Did you ever find it weird that you were raising the daughter of a guy who had knocked up your first wife?" I ask.

He smiles warmly. "No." he shakes his head. "I never saw you that way. When your mother and I found out that you weren't my daughter, I told your mom that I'm okay with that, that I wanted to raise you. But she didn't want to raise you with me. Lia, you're the best thing to ever happen to me and TK. We love you forever, and we will never stop loving you, no matter what."

"So," dad says after a while, "you and Blake, huh?"

I look up at him.

"You know?!" I ask, surprised.

"TK told me." Dad says, amused. I sigh.

"Of course he did." I roll my eyes.

Dad laughs. "He can't keep one thing to himself, that one." I laugh with him. It's true. TK cannot keep a secret. "Okay, Blake. How does he treat you?"

I put my head on dad's shoulder.

"He's amazing." I say with a sigh.

I close my eyes, and drift off to sleep on Dad's shoulder like I used to do when I was younger. I feel happy, content, and most important of all, safe.

So, the book got to 100 reads. Hope you guys liked the extra update!!!! Love you all!!!