"He's your father."

I stared at her with my mouth dropped open.

"What?" I said, confused. She turned, looking at me with her hands pressed against the door.

"It's complicated, Ariel." She replied. I looked at her trying to comprehend what she just told me. She took her hands off the door and walked over to me, but I backed away from her, "Ariel." She said, shaking her head.

"You cheated on dad?" I asked tears in my eyes.

"Ariel, can we talk about this later?" She asked, ignoring my question.

"We can't talk about this later!" I snapped, getting more upset, "Did you cheat on dad?" I asked again.

"Honey, I love your dad." She finally replied after a minute of silence, her eyes filling with tears, "I never cheated on him." I looked at her with a confused look on my face.

"Then how is HE my father?" I asked my mom, referring to the guy who was trying to break in. Immediately I noticed tears streaming down her face as she presses her lips together, taking in a deep breath through her nose. I could tell she was visibility shaken by my question, which made me worry,

"Mom?" I questioned, afraid of what she was going to say. Her tearful eyes flickered at me.

"He rap-" A loud thump downstairs interrupted her, making us jump. She whipped her head towards the door as I ran over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist. I hid behind her as we heard footsteps getting closer. "Ariel." Her hands grabbed into mine, pulling my arms off her as she turned around. Tears streamed down my face as I looked up at her. "Ariel, listen to me. I need you to hide under my bed." She quickly said, gesturing toward it. "Whatever happens, I don't want you to come out, okay?"

"Wha- No," I argued, my voice shaken as I shook my head at my mom. I didn't know what she was planning on doing. I didn't want to leave her side.

"Ariel, please." She begged me. Just then, there was a loud bang on her bedroom door. We both whipped our heads around. I felt my heart skip a beat as I stared at the door for a moment before my mom rushed over to her bed with me. I quickly crawled under as fast as I could. Her eyes locked on me for a moment as she whispered in her soft, sweet voice. "I love you."

There was another loud bang on the door as my mom quickly stood up. I peeked out from under the bed, watching my mom. She ran over to the door and put all her weight on it, trying to keep it shut, but it didn't work.

Within seconds, she was pushed away from the door as it spun open. I heard her gasp as she stumbled away, backing up toward her nightstand. My eyes went wide when I saw a pair of black boots and black jeans as the man stopped next to the end corner of the bed. I clamped my hand over my mouth, stopping myself from making any noise.

"Get out!" My mom shouted at the man, "You have no right break into my house and talk to me about my daughter!"

"Don't you mean our daughter?" The man questioned, then stormed over to my mom, grabbing her, making her scream, "I'm not leaving until we talk about Ariel." He growled. Hearing him say my name sent shivers down my spine, "By the way, cute name you gave her. Did you purposely name her after a mermaid?" He commented as my mom struggled in his grip.

"She isn't your daughter!" My mom shouted back, "She's mine!" I heard him growl, then shove her onto the ground and climbed on top of her as she shouted back. I stared widen eyed at the scene in front of me but couldn't do anything. It was like my body was paralyzed, and my voice was on mute or something.

I just couldn't move. I started to slowly move backward when-

"Ariel."

My eyes opened seeing Adam kneeling on the floor next to his bed. He looked at me, sighing in relief.

"You, okay?" He asked in a soft tone, "He hit you pretty hard this time." He added, and that's when I started to feel the pain again. My entire body ached, especially my head, "Maybe I should get you checked out." He suggested. My eyes went wide. I knew what he meant. He wanted to take me to the hospital.

"No." I quickly said, sitting up on my elbows, looking at Adam, "I'm fine."

"Ariel-"

"I'm fine, Adam!" I yelled, cutting him off, "Really." I said in a quieter voice. He looked at me like he wasn't convinced, "Please don't make me go." I whined like a little kid at him. He sighed, looking at me. He knew how much hospitals scared me.

"Okay." He finally said, rubbing my back, "I won't make you go." I slightly grinned at him as she added, "Just get some rest." I laid back down on Adam's bed.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked, looking at Adam again before he could move off the floor. I was too afraid to be alone.

"It's mine room, Ariel." He replied with a smile, then nodded. I moved over toward the wall as he crawled into his bed next to me, then pulled the blankets over both of us.

"Goodnight, Ariel." He said, turning into his side facing away from me.

"Goodnight, Adam."