A Dream, A Destiny 2

Life

Serena POV

He quickly jumped to his feet, cerulean eyes widening as he stepped closer to me, taking in my clearly beaten face. A look of horror swept over his face. I hung my head, my eyes suddenly brimming with tears at the look he gave me. That was the reason I hadn't been to school all week, for fear that my peers would look at me like that. Only May and Dawn had seen me in my bruised state and their faces had worn looks similar to the one on Mark's face.

"Oh, my... Serena," he breathed, reaching down to cup my cheek in one hand. His voice strained. "He did this to you?"

The floodgates opened at the concern laced into his voice and the tears rolled down my cheeks, splashing onto the worn linoleum floor. Quick as a flash, Mark pulled me into a hug, murmuring into my hair.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my mom wipe tears from her face, standing up. "I'm sorry. I should have realized-." Her voice broke and she wrung her hands, a distraught look on her weary face. "I should have stopped him from hurting her."

"It's not your fault, Grace," Mark said adamantly, patting the back of my head soothingly. "I just wish- I wish I could have saved you from all this pain, Serena."

Although my tears stopped, I clung to Mark as we sat down. He explained that my mom called him last night and he caught the first plane he could as soon as he got off work today. He interrogated me, asking me how often Alain had hit me. When I told the story about Maria, he squeezed my shoulders, muttering to himself.

My mom remained silent as we caught up as best we could. When we finally stopped monopolizing the conversation, she fixed me with a direct look, her eyes sad. "Serena, how would you like to spend your summer with Mark?"

A complete Shockedness washed all over me as I looked up at her, noting the tight lines around her mouth and the determined air around her. She looked like a woman who had made up her mind. My heart quailed. Is she trying to get rid of me?

"W-What? Why?" I spluttered, my voice not even sounding like my own.

Was Mark gunning for full custody of me? Is that why he's here? Was this the beginning of the end? This was my home, though! I hugged my knees, staring blankly at mom, who seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with me. I didn't want to leave Vanville behind! My friends, my school, and my family- almost everything that was near and dear to me was here! Ash was here...

Maybe he caught an emotion playing on my face, because Mark chuckled. "It's not what you think, Serena," he assured me. "We're just doing it as a preemptive measure."

"Alain gets out in July," Mom told me quietly. I flinched, not wanting that to be true. Just how angry would he be when he got out? Would he hunt me down, restraining order be damned? I don't want to think about it. "I don't want you to be around until I get things settled with him."

Mark nodded, clearing his throat. "In light of all that's happened, Grace and I think time away from Vanville would be good for you."

"Are you trying to get full custody?" I whispered downheartedly but managed to let them hear me with my throat dry.

Looking stunned by my blunt question, Mom shook her head immediately, as Mark smiled at me wistfully. "No. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could. But Grace has done a marvelous job of raising you and I feel that you're more her child than mine." He patted my free shoulder. "I just want to use the summer to get to know my daughter a little better."

I glowed at his words, beaming up at him as he continued. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Sure," i nodded in response "I would love to visit you this summer," I said, glancing at mom for confirmation that this was what she wanted. She smiled at me, but I noticed that her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.