Maybe this is where I belong...

Chapter 23.

AMELIA'S POV:
Time moved so slow. I've been here for a month and a half and it seemed as if ten years went by. I was absolutely miserable. I wasn't going to school. I wasn't dancing on the dance team with my friends. I wasn't smiling. My parents would go to work and leave me alone in this stupid, boring apartment just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. I made no friends, mostly because I wasn't in school. My parents didn't want me to go because they were afraid I would branch out and not spend enough time with them. Every weekend they would party. Drink loads of booze and pop pills like it was nothing. Patrick was still present in all of this, unfortunately. He would follow my parents around like a little puppy. It was pathetic. The only thing I could turn to was dancing. My parents didn't trust me alone in the apartment, so Patrick "watched" me all day. But I could escape to my room and dance. Even if it was for a little bit. I missed my teammates, especially Mariana. I missed her so much. Her bubbly, optimistic personality. I missed Jesus stealing the shower from me when I had to go in my room to get something. I missed Brandon playing the piano for me if I was having an anxiety attack. I missed Lena's smell, her perfume that would make me feel safe. I missed Stef's protective embrace. I missed my family more than anything. But I knew that if I didn't live with Veronica and Daniel, they would destroy everything I love, especially my family.

It was a Friday night, so that meant that my parents would throw a party, like they do every Friday. Their friends came over just as I was trying to fall asleep. Granted it was only 8:00, but nowadays, I was too sad to stay up and act like a normal 13 year old.

My eyes were getting tired and I caught myself finally falling asleep just as my door to my room flew open. It was Patrick. He was clearly drunk and higher than a kite. He stumbled in my room and sat himself down on my bed.
"Wh-What are you doing?! G-Get out, please!" I yelled. I was in no mood to deal with this asshole.
"Shhh...Baby..Shhh..." He put his index finger over my lips and I slapped it away fast. He did not like that so he slapped me across the face in return and I winced at the pain of his strong, cold hand.
"Don't you disrespect me. I may not be your foster father anymore but I can sure boss you around like I used to." He winked and licked his lips.
I looked at him with cold, dark eyes. "Don't even try." And I laid back down, trying to fall back asleep. But, Patrick had different plans.

STEF'S POV:
I had just came in from work, and I was exhausted. I felt as if there was a hundred pound weight on my back. My legs were sluggish, my eyes had bags under them. And all I wanted to do was go to bed.

I walked into the kitchen to find Lena making dinner and Mariana helping.
"Hey mom." She greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi Miss Thing." I responded as I rubbed her back. I made my way over to my partner, who looked just as exhausted as I did.
"Lena, why are we eating so late?" I asked her.
"Well we didn't want to eat without you, love." She placed a kiss on my lips.
"Where's B?" I asked, undoing the braid in my hair and letting my blonde waves free.
"He's, uh practicing upstairs." Lena answered.
"Want me to go talk to him?"
"That's a good idea." Lena answered with a smile. I left the kitchen and made my way to B's room when Jesus ran past me, looking panicked.
"Hey, hey, bud! You alright?" I asked and took my son's arm to calm him down.
"Um, I may have just confessed my love to Mariana's friend Emma. It-it was by accident and I just kinda blurted it out. I made a fool out of myself." He laughed with the panicked look still on his face.
"Well, what happened after you blurted it out?" I asked.
"I-I hung up.. We we're on FaceTime, just doing math homework. I am so stupid." He ran his hands through his hair and sighed.
"No, no Jesus you are not stupid. She may feel the same. You never know until you ask." I placed my hand on his shoulder lovingly.
"I-I gotta talk to Mariana." And he ran past me to go downstairs. I laughed and shook my head at my crazy son and went to go see my other son.

"Hey, B .. Can I come in?" I asked as he turned around to face me, his hands still on his keyboard.
"Yeah, yeah." He cleared his throat and turned to face me as I sat on the edge of his bed. He looked as if he was crying, which broke my heart into a million pieces.
"You alright? Mama told me about today. You never fail your classes, especially AP music."
"Mom, it's really not a big deal. I-I have time to get it up." He shrugged his shoulders.
I knew that something else was bothering him, for he is my son and I know him better than he knows himself. "Why don't you, ah, tell me what's really going on, huh?" I looked to him with concerned eyes.
He shrugged his shoulders yet again and sat there still, looking at the ground. A few tears fell from his eyelids and he quickly wiped them away.
"I just miss her, mom." He finally said.
"Oh baby, come here. Come here." I said as I opened my arms and he came and hugged me tight and he continued to cry in my arms.
"Hey .. I miss her too. Like a lot," I laughed as I wiped tears from my own face. "But we have to move on, love. She-she wanted to be with her birth parents. And we can't be mad at her for that, yes?"
He nodded his head and sniffled, trying to ease his own crying.
"But look at me, B" I said. He lifted his head and he met my gaze. "You cannot let your school work slip. You have a real talent, don't let it go to waste." I kissed his forehead.
He replied, "Okay mom. I-I'm sorry."
I kissed his head a few dozen more times.
"Let's go eat dinner, yes?" I got up and held out my hand for him to take it and he did.

Dinner ended and the kids parted ways and went up to their rooms while Lena and I did the dishes and had an after dinner coffee.
"So, my talk with B went well." I broke the awkward silence that filled the kitchen.
"Oh, oh good I'm glad." She replied. She looked as if she needed to say something and the words were ready to spill out of your mouth. She moved her face from side to side, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Something on your mind, love?" I asked.
She deeply sighed and made direct eye contact with me, "You've been ... cold. Towards me, towards the kids .. Lately. And-and I don't understand why. Is it something that we did? I did?"
I felt embarrassed and disappointed in myself that she saw this in me. "I'm fine, love. Honest." I lied. I didn't want to open up a can of worms that would take way too long to clean up.
"Stef, please don't lie to me. It's me, you-you can tell me anything." She said, her hand running along my arm that made me flinch, and she pulled away.
"What am I supposed to say Lena?! Huh?" I snapped and got up from my seat. "I-I am broken. Emotionally broken. My heart is .. broken. There is a hole in my heart where she used to be. I-I miss her. I miss my daughter. I miss her beautiful smile, her bright personality, and her beautiful beautiful—"
"Green eyes." We both said together. Quickly I bursted into tears and could not control them. Lena came over and hugged me tight and stroked my hair as I quietly sobbed into her chest.
"Stef. Oh Stef baby. I'm so sorry. I'm-i'm so sorry. I miss her too. I miss her more than anything. More than I can even comprehend." She said as she continued to caress my hair and face.
"What are we going to do?" I asked, getting choked up again with my voice trembling.
"We have to try to move on. It's the only thing we can do." She said. She then placed a kiss on my lips and I fell back into her arms and we hugged tightly.

It was 11:34pm and my phone rang from the nightstand. I decided to let it go to voicemail because I was too exhausted from the day to pick up another call. A few seconds later it rang again. And four more times. After a long groan, I finally decided to pick up the phone. And my heart soon fell from my chest when I heard that voice.
"Stef?"

soo.. who do you think it is? (easy question, kind of)
please leave comments, i wanna hear feedback!