“My father wasn't always abusive. He took us out on Christmas, we had family dinners, we would cuddle together to watch a movie, but then everything changed when I turned six" Rose turned to Aiden as she spoke.
“He became abusive with my mother, they would quarrel any time they were close to each other. She always used to run to my room in the night to sleep with me, when I asked her what was wrong she would tell me that Dad was snoring badly, so I stopped asking till the day he slapped her in front of me. After he slapped her, he kicked her everywhere he possibly could before leaving the house. I remember rushing to my mother to help her stand up but as a Six year old kid, I could only do so much" She sighed painfully.
“This went on for months. My Dad coming back home, either drunk or sober and taking out his anger on my mum till that unfortunate day I finally lost her. I tried to stop him, I grabbed a shard of glass on the fall and slashed his arm out. I thought that was going to stop him but it didn't, he raised his other hand to hit me but my mum blocked me and ended up getting slapped resulting in her hitting her head and just like that, she died" Aiden wiped away the tears that had sneakily ran down her face.
“It wasn't your fault baby" Aiden murmured softly. Rose shook her head.
“Maybe if I hadn't interfered, she would still be alive" Aiden gently rested her head on his chest.
“Don't think that way, rather think of how you saved your mother from a much painful death. According to your words, your Dad was bent on killing her that day, you tried to stop him which was very brave of a Seven year old child. Your mother wouldn't blame you so don't blame yourself" Rose sniffled as she raised her head to stare at him.
“You think so?" Aiden nodded.
“I know so" Rose rested her head back on his chest and listened to his heart beating softly.
“Do you want to tell me about your uncle?" Aiden suddenly said. Rose froze.
“If you don't want to tell me, that's fine" He quickly added. Her arms tightened around his body.
“I want to tell you"
“As soon as I turned Eight" She began “My aunt turned me into a slave, I had to do all the chores in the house and then cook for both of them to eat. I wasn't allowed to sit at the table and I had to eat the scrubs that remained on their plates. The only good was that they seemed to like Liam because they treated him like their son. Anyway, my uncle was never really around much but as I turned sixteen, I started seeing him everywhere. He was always watching me or behind me and it made me uncomfortable, the only safe place I had was my room but he got into that too. I remember I felt someone's finger sliding up and down my laps and when I turned to look at the person, it was my uncle, staring at me funny. I tried to run but..." Her breath was getting heavy so she stopped. She didn't notice how tight Aiden was holding her.
“Shhh.. you don't have to tell me that part" He whispered. She raised her head to stare at him.
“He didn't rape me though, he always told me that he was no monster and that he would wait till I clocked eighteen and that's where I knew I had had enough. I couldn't keep staying there, I planned to leave Liam with them but that night when I was packing the little I had, he saw me and told me he was coming with me no matter what and I couldn't stop him, so we left together. We lived on the streets for some months, I felt sorry for my younger brother so I had to do any job I could so that we could have a meal that night or have some clothes to keep us warm. The apartment we were staying in before was given to us by a woman who owns a shop down where we used to sleep and that's where we stayed till your mother found us" She told him everything and honestly, she felt kind of better. Aiden raised up her head and stared into her eyes.
“You are a very strong girl Rose, you deserve the world" He said intently, meaning every word he uttered. Rose smiled at him, she was glad she met him.
“Rose, are you okay now?" Andrea rushed up to Rose with a hug as soon as she spotted them. Rose nodded with a smile.
“Yes I am, do we still have class?" Andrea nodded.
“Yeah but you can take the day off, go rest at home" Andrea suggested.
“Yeah, we will keep notes for you," Claire added as she walked up to them. Rose shook her head.
“I've been leaving the school a lot these days, won't the principal be mad?" Andrea raised an eyebrow at her.
“Mad? Of course not, all he cares about is money and besides I've already talked to him about the whole situation so don't worry about it" Aiden smiled at them.
“I'll go with her too"
“Duhh! She can't drive herself" Andrea replied. Aiden rolled his eyes then grabbed Rose's hand and held it tightly. He turned to her.
“Shall we go?" Rose nodded and let him lead her towards the car.
“Are you going to carry me to one of your favorite spots again?" Rose asked as he drove. He glanced briefly at her.
“Do you want to go to one of my favorite spots?" Rose shrugged.
“It depends on where it is"
“Don't worry, you need to rest so we're going home" Aiden told her. She turned to him.
“To your room?"
“To my room"...