The door opened. Two tall boys answered the door and one said, "Hey, Gabs!" he came over and hugged her. Gabriella had a look of confusion on her face until the boy spoke again, "Oh, sorry, um, yeah you probably don't remember me. We haven't seen each other since you were a one year old! I'm Christophe your cousin and this is my friend Cameron." he said leading them into the house. A woman came out of the kitchen and grinned making her way over to Miss Montez, the both of them hugged and mingled in Spanish.

"Christophe, could you show Gabriella to her new room?" the woman asked.

"Sure. C'mon" he said beckoning Gabriella toward him. She followed him up the stairs and into a gorgeous room with a very peaceful atmosphere.

"Do you think you'd be comfortable?" Christophe asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine" said Gabriella nodding. Christophe plopped on the bed and Gabriella sat beside him.

"So, Gabs, how have you been? Are you Hungry? Thirsty?" he asked

"No, I'm fine." she smiled. He seems so nice… I wonder if he knows the reason we're moving here… Gabriella thought. "Christophe," she started not really knowing what she was saying.

"Yeah?" he replied looking as though ready to comprehend anything.

"Do you know the real reason I'm here?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, Gabs, I do. I'm sorry. It must be really hard, you know, being the strong one in the family. When you're supposed to have the shoulder to cry on…" he said looking down. "But-" he stopped and decided to think then spoke again, "I remember when you were younger, your dad died, your mom was weak, and we were always together. Until the day your mom met that bastard,"

"What, Who?" She asked eagerly.

"I don't remember his name, or I don't want to. It was all his fault, you were like a sister to me, and he was the reason you were taken away." he took her hand and pulled up her sleeve reveling a scar. "It's still there." he whispered barely auditable "He did this to you. And did this to Me." he showed he a two-inch long slash on his arm.

"Oh, my god." Gabriella said worried "but, my mom said I fell at the park," her eyes started to water. "Oh, my god" she repeated "My life is a mess. My mom has a history of freak abusive men, I had to move to a different country, I had to leave Troy, and now, I just found out I'm scarred for life emotionally and physically by some psycho who took advantage of my mom!" she was gonna have a breakdown. Now the tears came out uncontrollably. Christophe wrapped his arms around her.

"It's gonna be ok, it's alright, I swear to god and all things holy, that I will protect you, this will never happen again. I'm stronger, and no longer weak. Gabriella I vowel to you, I'll be the shoulder to cry on. I remember, don't you even when you were young did you feel me? I sang you to sleep every night when your mom was fighting, I care about you, I love you, you know you're my sister and you always will be." he whispered to her.

Gabriella cried in his arms. It was the first time she could feel safe, with Troy she had to pretend that everything was all right., the person who suffered with her, and without was right here with her. "I love you too, Big Brother," she whispered.

To Be Continued…