102 | torn-2

I've told them everything. I've told them how I met Aiden in Seattle. The incident with a security guard. Aiden's offer to help me and keep me safe. My feelings for him. His feelings for me. The truth that we love each other. But telling about all of them doesn't make my father less angry. "I don't understand why you would trust him," Dad says. His eyes are bloodshot. He never spoke to me like this before, so angry and hurt. "You don't even know him," I defend Aiden, feeling my blood boil too. "Haven't I told you about the truth now? I've told you everything and you still don't want to accept everything." "How am I supposed to trust a man who took advantage of my daughter?" Dad's voice booms again. His accusation makes me taken aback. "Took advantage of me?" "Yes." Dad throws his hands in the air madly like it's the most obvious thing. "He's a grown ass man who took advantage of a young girl--" "What?" Shock is laced in my voice. "He didn't. He never did. He cares about me, Dad--" "He's the owner of the building and the solution he had for you after that incident with the security guard he was responsible for was to offer you living with him?" Dad says in disbelief. "I have every reason to beat him after knowing that you were in great danger under his surveillance, and now I'm about to kill him for using that situation to take advantage of you when you were in your most vulnerable state," he snaps. I'm at a loss for words. Dad is panting due to the anger building up inside him. I know that it sounded very unprofessional for Aiden and that it felt wrong, but Aiden took the extra mile to help me because he considered me as a family -- Max's cousin -- and not as his customer. "I left him no choice, Dad," I say, begging him to understand. "He had other options, but… I was so scared I--" "And you didn't tell us?" Dad's voice is filled with pain. His expression is pure agony. "That you were going through all of that alone?" "I didn't want you and Mom to be worried," I cry, "and I didn't want to leave Seattle before I even began my exchange program. I knew that you would make me leave." Dad looks like I just slapped him with my words. It's true. He would have made me leave and he wouldn't deny that to argue with me. "But you lied to us?" His voice is a broken whisper. "What about that time when we came there? Was it all a camouflage?" I swallow a lump in my throat. My lips tremble as I realize how much I broke my parents' hearts. "Yes, I lied to you, and I'm sorry," I say. "It was killing me too that I had to lie to you. I was wrong, and I admit that. But it's not Aiden's fault." Dad's nostrils flare. "The hell it isn't. He's a scumbag who took advantage--" "He didn't," I scream. "He did not take advantage of me. What happened between us, I was the one asking for it. I wanted him. I wanted him to love again. I wanted him to hold me. I asked him for it." The room is silent except for the sound of my ragged breathing. Aiden would rather make me leave than take advantage of me. Wait, he actually did. He made me leave because he didn't want to take advantage of my guilt. Dad freezes after hearing my words. He looks like he can't believe what he just heard. He must have never expected that his daughter would say something like that. Tears roll down my cheeks. I want him to understand me so badly, yet I'm hurting for him too. "But--" Dad's words are cut short when Mom embraces him in a hug. "That's enough," Mom whispers gently to him. Dad squeezes his eyes shut, and she tightens his hold on him. I let out a soft cry. I need Mom's hug more than anything else right now. She used to hug me like that whenever I cried or got angry because of Dad's overprotectiveness, but now, she's hugging Dad instead. That only means one thing: he needs it more than I do. Dad buries his face on her neck while his shoulders are shaking. Mom gives me a knowing look. "We'll talk again, Nevaeh." Her voice is soft but also sad. She's telling me that they still need to process all of this. I nod and walk to the door. After taking one last look at my parents, I turn the door handle, wiping a tear from my eye with my other hand. I make my way down the hallway to my room, but halfway along the journey, my knees buckle I end up slumping against the wall. With my back pressed on it, I sit on the floor, putting my arms on my knees. I shut my eyes, feeling helpless. "Are you going to tell me what happened now?" Sienna's voice makes me look up. She's staring down at me with her hands on her hips. At first, she has a threatening look shot at me, but then her face falls when she notices how devastated I am. She sighs, sitting down on the floor next to me. "You know, I was going to yell at you, but then you look so miserable I don't even know what I should do with you. I'm angry, like really, really angry." "I know," I whisper. I deserve it. Sienna always told me everything, but I told her nothing about my love life no matter how much she'd pushed for it. "Come on, Nevaeh. Aiden? You couldn't tell me about him?" I can hear the disappointment in her voice, not because of the man I love but because I hid the truth from her. "Why didn't you tell me?" she presses. "Did you think that you couldn't trust me?" I sigh. "No, it's not that." My voice sounds weak. I've already lost my energy because of arguing with Dad. "I trusted you. I was just so terrified. Even though I trusted you, it didn't mean that Max or your parents wouldn't have accidentally eavesdropped on our conversation. I was really scared. I really didn't want my dad to know." Sienna sighs too. She goes silent for a while. "It was really unexpected, though. You really dropped the bomb." I bite my lower lip, feeling tears pooling in my eyes. "I don't know what I should do." Hearing my voice break, Sienna snaps her head toward me. Her eyes are instantly filled with worry. "I was wrong." My voice is shaking. "I shouldn't have lied. But if I'd told my dad the truth, I wouldn't have stayed in Seattle and I wouldn't have known Aiden better. I honestly don't know if I should feel bad about that, and it makes me feel even worse." Sienna listens intently, watching as I pour my heart out. "I never want to hurt my parents. I'm disgusted at myself, but I'm also suffocated by my dad's overprotectiveness. I just wish he would give me a chance to make my own decisions and not keep me back under his wings every time I got into trouble, which is exactly what he would have done after that incident with the security guard if he'd known about it. I know that he loves me, and I love him too--" "Come here." Sienna wraps her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. She pats my back, trying to soothe me. I hug her back, feeling my head about to explode and my heart about to burst because of this mess I created within my family. "If it's any consolation to you, I forgive you," she says jokingly. "At least, you still have me on your team." I pull away from her and stare at her blankly. "You forgive me?" "Yeah." "Just like that?" She raises one eyebrow. A mischievous smirk creeps on her lips. "Well, not really. Not until you spill every detail." God, how could I forget? It's Sienna, after all. I blow a breath. "Details, huh?" "Yes. Details. You and the man you love." And just like that, excitement takes over her. "God. I've been waiting for this moment all my life."