Sarah walks back in, looking at Amelia. "I'm so sorry about that. Her brother called..." Amelia's head snaps up.
"Brother as in Zach or b..brother as in Ben?" Amelia was stuttering again, clearly upset by this news. Her mother sighs.
"It was Ben.." Amelia's face pales.
"N..no.." She shakes her head.
"He wants to meet me.."
"P..please.. no... I can't.. He can't be near me.. I.. I'll slip back..." Amelia could feel the tears stinging her eyes.
"I won't let him near you. I promised you that from the day we took you in. Ben will never come near you again. Neither will Dylan. You are safe with us, but he wants to meet now." Amelia sat back down in the chair, covering her face with her hands, wiping the tears away.
"I.. I can't.." Alex could tell Amelia was visibly upset by all of this and looks at her mom.
"She can stay here. It's not a problem. I don't have any appointments today, just walk ins, and if needed I can have her stay in the back."
"Thank you, so much." She smiles, gives him the money for the tattoo and leaves, walking back to her car and drives off.
~~~~~~
Sarah pulls up to the park and gets out of her car as she spots Ben with a little boy, who looks no older than a year old. Ben looks up and sees her and waves her over.
Sarah walks over and sits on the opposite side of the table, cautiously. "Who's this?" She points to the little boy.
"This, is Jake. My nephew, Amelia's son. She was deemed mentally unstable at the time of his birth so he was placed in our parents care until she was mentally stable. Then she was taken away from them because of her lies about Dylan." Ben explains while feeding Jake.
"Wait, why was Amelia pulled out of the home but not Jake?" Sarah watches them, cautiously.
"Amelia's lying is what caused her to get removed. Anything she's told you about her and Dylan has been a lie. Dylan never hurt her, he loves her. He always has. Except now he's sitting in jail because of her. She lied about everything concerning their relationship. It was never rape. Everything was consensual. She's a master manipulator." Ben remarks as he starts putting Jakes stuff back in his bag.
"None of this makes any sense, Benjamin. I've seen the reports, the case files, the bruises, the xrays. I've seen everything. I know that young lady is not lying. You and Dylan are the manipulators in this scenario, not her. I'm not going to sit here and listen to your lies." Sarah spews as she stands, walking to her car.
~~~~~~
Amelia looks up at Alex, "Is.. is there like a.. a bathroom or something?" she asks as she sniffles quietly.
"Yeah, come on.." Alex says as he holds out his hand for her. She takes it, cautiously as she stands. He leads her to the back, opening the door to the bathroom and switching on the light. "I'll be out front, ok?"
"Please don't leave.. I shouldn't be alone right now.." Amelia says as she looks down at the floor.
"Ok.. I'll stay." he replies, sitting in a chair. Amelia goes into the bathroom, closing the door and looks in the mirror, eyes red and puffy. She runs cold water and splashes it on her face. She dries her face off then goes back out, shutting off the light.
"If you want to talk.. I'm a good listener." Alex looks up as he speaks to her.
"Um.. my.. b..brother.. is a bad guy.. like a really bad guy.." Amelia speaks softly, fidgeting with her hands. Alex pats the chair next to him.
"I don't need details if you aren't comfortable talking about it. The look on your face did have me concerned though.. I could see the fear in your eyes." Amelia sits in the chair beside him, still looking down.
"No.. it's ok.. talking helps.. um.." she says as she scratches her forehead, letting her hair fall in her face, "just a lot of bad memories from the time I was 12.. until right before my 15 birthday. Bruises, broken bones, burn marks that were self inflicted.." she tells him as she looks at her arms.
Alex gently moves her hair away from her face, "I.. i'm so sorry. A girl like you doesn't deserve all that."
"A girl.. like me?" Amelia looks up at him, slightly confused, biting her lip softly. Alex looks at her and smiles.
"Sitting in front of me, I see a beautiful girl with a broken soul. You have been through things no one should ever have to go through, Amelia. Actually, can I call you something else?" She nods. "You deserve to be treated much better than that, princess." Amelia looks back down, causing Alex to lift her chin gently.
"It's better, now that I'm away from there." She bites her lip softly.
"You will find happiness, I promise." Alex remarks, smiling, caressing her cheek softly before dropping his hand.
"T..thanks Alex.. It means a lot to hear someone say that." Amelia smiles softly. Alex stands, holding his arms open, motioning for her to come to him. Amelia gets up and walks over as he wraps her in a hug.
"If you ever need anything, or just someone to talk to, I'm here. Always." He says as he hugs her tightly. Amelia nods, feeling the tears in her eyes again. He lets her go and looks down at her. "Better?" She nods again, wiping her eyes before any tears spill and smiles up at him.
Alex takes her hand, smiling and leads her back to the front, pulling out a chair for her and sits on the stool. Amelia sits in the chair, looking at the floor.
"Actually," takes out his phone and hands it to her, "put your number in and I'll text you my number so that way you can always get ahold of me." Amelia takes his phone, puts her name and number in and hands it back to him.
Alex takes his phone, quickly snaps a picture of her, setting it as her phone contact picture and shoots her a text.
Hey. It's Alex😋
Amelia takes out her phone, saves his number and name, discreetly taking a picture of him and setting it as his contact picture. "Thanks. I'll try not to bug you constantly." She smiles softly, putting her phone back in her pocket.
"You never could." he smiles back, biting his lip very gently.
Sarah pulls up outside the shop and goes inside. "Thank you for letting her stay here. I'm sorry it took so long."
Alex stands, smiling. "It's really no problem, honestly." Amelia stands, biting her lip gently as Alex hands her the care sheet and whispers to her, "Anything at all, just text me, ok?" Amelia nods as her and her mom leave the shop and get in the car.