Delaney

The warm sand relieved my stress as I curled my small toes in it. Xavier and I held hands and laid back, soaking up the sun.

Once I was sure that my skin would be red and crispy tomorrow, I got up, pulling Xavier up with me.

We walked along the edge, feeling the salt water cover our feet. Suddenly, I got an idea. I squeezed Xavier's hand and jumped up, squealing.

"We should build a sandcastle! Can we?!"

Xavier chuckled at my enthusiasm, starring down at me cutely.

"Sure, cupcake!" He started pulling me along as he skipped to a new area.

We sat down in the sand and got to work. We had no tools, so the castle wasn't peek perfection. We build multiple layers, which were all unsteady. When we were finished, we stepped back to enjoy, only for our masterpiece to crumble apart.

"Ugh" I groaned in disappointment. Xavier chuckled. I slapped his chest playfully and gave him the sternest glare I could muster.

"You look like an angry puppy." He gave me a smug grin. I huffed and walked away.

He followed behind me, laughing loudly. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we walked together for a while. The peace was comfortable.

"So, what did he actually say to you?" Xavier broke the silence.

"He said that if I spent the night at your house so easily I must be letting you fuck me. Then pointed out this" I gestured to the hickey he left on my neck.

"Ouch. Sorry, baby. I didn't think."

"It's okay. Not a big deal" I assured him. I hugged his torso and kept walking beside him.

The sky was getting darker. It was filled with dark blue and pink blended together.

I decided that it was time to go home and face what was waiting for me.

"We should head back, it's getting late." I muttered reluctantly.

He agreed. We walked the distance back to his car and got in. We rolled all of the windows down and blasted the music. We sung every song as loudly as possible the whole way back. The wind blew through my hair, tangling it into a huge nest.

I kept my eyes mostly trained on Xavier, watching him drive and sing. His smile was contagious, especially with his dimples there. His eyes twinkled when he was happy. He had an awful singing voice, but never refused to belt out tunes when we drove together.

I was pretty sure it had something to do with my irresistible charm.

That or the fact that I annoyed him until he caved.

We pulled into the driveway of the blue house I'd become so familiar with. I saw the time was 8:00pm, but I didn't make a move to get out. Eventually, Xavier got out and opened my door like a gentleman.

He shut the door behind me and we face each other silently. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. He warm lips met mine slowly. His tongue pushed past my lips, and explored my mouth.

"Hey, quit sucking her face off, boy!" An angry voice yelled, breaking us apart.

I leaned on Xavier's chest, trying to refill me lungs with oxygen. I looked up at the front door to see an outraged Scott, with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his reddened face.

"I better go. Goodnight." I gave him a huge hug rather than a kiss, for Scott's sake. I thought his face would've turned into a tomato if I kissed him again.

"I love you."

"I love you too." I walked away from him, facing an angry man.

"Goodnight, sir." I heard Xavier say to Scott, respectfully as I walked past Scott and into the house.

Scott slammed the door behind him. He followed me to the living room where I found all of the older boys. Ben must be asleep.

"Take a seat, young lady." Scott said sternly and angrily.

The look on his face scared me. That was the look I'd seen on many foster parents' faces before they hit me or got rid of me.

I subconsciously sat closer to Nathan on the couch. I was between Luke and him, with Scott standing in front of me.

"You don't need to go fuck your boyfriend all night like some whore, Delaney." He lectured in a loud, frightening voice. He was basically spitting in my face.

"Woah, Pops. That was uncalled for. Xavier's a good guy. You even said so when we met him. I literally just heard him call you 'sir'." Nathan defended me.

"She spent the night at his house without permission and came home the next morning with a hickey all over her neck like she was proud of getting fucked." Scott continued yelling. I may not be a virgin but we didn't do anything yesterday. Calling me a slut or whore is just disrespectful.

"Slut-shaming isn't cool. My sex life has nothing to do with you, sir. And I told you we didn't even do anything."

"Bullshit." He retorted cleverly.

"How'd you get the hickey than, huh? Exactly. Fucking." He exclaimed angrily.

Why was he so angry about my, frankly nonexistent, sex-life?

"What I do with my boyfriend isn't anybody's business but our own. But, like I just said, we didn't do anything yesterday." I started talking, getting madder at his accusations.

Scott, in return, also got more mad, if that was even possible. He got up in my face and started yelling the same lectures about my screwing up.

At this point I was shaking heavily, trying to keep from having a panic attack. Black spots appeared in my vision and my breathing picked up. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.

Scott didn't seem to notice my distress as he continued on his rampage. I saw his lips moving, but couldn't make out the words.

"Hey-hey! Shut up!" Nathan yelled over his Dad, noticing my expression. He gained everyone's attention, and they too grew concerned over my current state.

"Shh...sweet girl. Calm down. Nobody's going to hurt you. You're safe. I'm here...... shh.... shhh." He cooed into my ear so only I could hear. He picked me up, disregarded the way my body tensed up even more, and placed me sideways on his lap. He moved my head to his chest so that my ear my over his heartbeat. His other hand rubbed my head softly.

I focused on just Nathan. I didn't notice Scott's remorseful gauze or the other brothers' worried expressions.

"Shh....don't cry." He continued cooing. My breathing was regular now, so my humiliation was catching up to me. Everyone was looking at me having a breakdown.

Sobs racked through my chest as I felt increasingly stupid for having a panic attack over a lecture.

"Awe, sweet girl. It's okay. Shh. There's no need to cry." He said noticing my expression change. He picked me up, wrapping my legs around him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and shoved my face into his neck, not wanting everyone to see me like this.

He walked up the stairs and sat down on my bed with me in his arms still. I was comfortable.

Good luck getting me to move now.

"He had no right to say anything he did. I'm sorry he scared you, but he'd never lay a hand on you." Nathan explained quietly.

"He looked like the others." I muttered into his neck. It was slightly muffled because of my position, so I was surprised he heard.

"Who, sweetie?" He asked gently.

"My old foster parents."

"What happened with them?" He asked again.

I opened my mouth to answer, but closed it again. I wasn't sure what to say.

How do you explain years of traumas when they're all different and horrible in their own ways?

Instead, I stood up and pulled my shirt up to the bottom of my bra, exposing the scars on my stomach and back.

I heard him gasp, but couldn't look in his eyes. I kept my eyes closed, afraid of how he'd look at me.

"Laney, open your eyes." He commanded gently.

When I did, I saw tears in his own eyes.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered brokenly. His hands not moving to touch me, which I appreciated, because I would've freaked out if he tried.

I pulled my shirt back down, feeling accomplished that I had done that. My therapist would be proud of me for 'opening up to someone'.

"I'm going to go talk to Dad. Let me know if you need anything, Delaney." He whispered, giving me a hug and leaving.

I went to the bathroom and took a shower, watching the sand from our adventure  go down the drain.