As I walked down the stairs I saw pink balloons on the ceiling and different shades of pink and green lights around the house as well as bows and ribbons around the house on white chairs. I felt everyone's eyes turn to me as I made my way down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs Adian was waiting to escort me through the party. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and then we walked into the party.

There were a ton of people from Chilton around and from what I could hear they were all talking about how gorgeous I looked. I held my head high and made my way over to my grandma and great grandma to thank them.

"Thank you so much for the party, it's great."

"You're welcome Ali you do a lot so you deserve a party like this, doesn't she Shira?"

"Yes and I am glad you let me share it with you this year."

I gave them both a hug and then made my rounds. I started with all of the Chilton kids and then Adian and I went to talk to my family who was in the sitting room. My dad was talking to my great grandfather while my mother was talking to my grandparents and Dave was no where to be seen. Brooke ran up to me and gave me a big hug.

"Happy birthday Ali."

"Thank you Brooke." I walked over to my mother.

"Excuse me but I was told to make my rounds."

"Hi Ali, you still look gorgeous."

"Thank you mom."

"There is no need to thank me it's just a statement of fact."

"Well I appreciate it. So are you all fine?"

"Yes we are thank you. Why don't you go enjoy yourself."

"I think I will thank you."

I grabbed Adian's hand and then dragged him into the other room to dance with me. i was glad that they thought of putting in a dance floor. The DJ was playing a slow song so Adian pulled me into his arms and we danced close together. We stayed on the dance floor for a while and then I went to go get a drink. I could hear yelling coming from down the hall so I went to find out what was going on. I pushed the door open to find a drunk Dave hovering over a crying Ashton who was bawled up on the floor. I entered the room and shut the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Ah it's the protocol daughter returned to save her little brother."

I grabbed Ashton's arm and helped him off the floor.

"Go get mom." I whispered in his ear and he ran out of the room crying. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I was teaching your brother some manners. I failed to teach you anything but I wasn't going to make that mistake with my own kids."

"You really think that you are a father to them? A dad would never lay a hand on his children. A father wouldn't go on drunken rages and a father wouldn't lie to his wife about his behavior!"

"What would you know about fathers? You don't have one!"

"Yes I do."

"Oh well where is daddy now?" He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his body I tried to push myself away from him but he grabbed my wrist with his free hand. "Who is going to save you? Your mother doesn't believe you so who is coming to rescue you?"

"Dave stop, please."

He tightened his grip around my waist and turned my body so I was facing away from him. He took his other hand dropping my wrist and ran it along my body feeling every curve that my dress showed off beautifully.

"Begging? Well this is new."

"Dave stop. There are people out there, stop it."

"No one is going to find out about this Ali why won't you just relax?"

He started to kiss my neck and I could feel my calmness fading. They promised that this would never happen to me again they all said that they were going to protect me and where were they now? I had trusted that I was safe being with my grandparents and here I was in a house full of people being raped by the same man.

He kept kissing me as he placed me on the bed and crawled on top of me. He loosened his tie and threw it on the floor behind us. He bent down and kissed my chest working from there down to the sheer lace waist line that was put in my dress to show off my figure. I could feel the tears flowing from my eyes as I turned to see the door open and my mom walk in.

"What the hell are you doing?" She walked in and closed the door behind her trying not to alert people of what was going on in the room.

Dave turned to face her stunned that he had been caught but my mom of all people.

"It's not um...what it looks like..." His voice trailed off as he got off of me and sat on the edge of the bed. I scooted myself to the far edge of the bed and curled up into a small ball trying to clam myself down.

"Get the hell out of here Dave and don't you ever come around me or my children again or I promise you that it will be the last time you ever look at them!" Dave got up and grabbed his tie and left the room slamming the door behind him. I could hear the party go silent for a second but it didn't bother me. I was still crying and trying to get over the fact that no one had kept me safe like they promised I was.

My mother walked over to the bed and pulled me into her arms. She stroked my hair as I cried. She didn't say anything but I knew what she was feeling. I heard the door open and I heard the sound of m dad's voice as he scooped me into his arms and he sat on the bed with me.

"Ali it is going to be okay. Dave is gone and I'm here." I couldn't see but he looked over at my mom. "How did you know?"

"Ashton came running to me and told me that Ali needed me. He was bruised from where Dave had been beating him. I took him to my mother and then I came to find Ali. I know that I am a horrible mother for not believing my children but I just didn't want it to be true." She came over to me and I wrapped my arms around her neck and I sat on the bed wrapped in her arms.

We sat there until I was ready to go back out and "enjoy" what was left of my party. My mom took my into the bathroom and fixed my makeup and made sure my hair looked alright and then we went into the crowd of the party again. I found Adian and went into his embrace as soon as I could. My parents were never too far away from me the rest of the night and I had a feeling this was going to last for a while.

I had one more slow dance with Adian before I was told it was time to cut the cake. I walked over and saw the four tiered cake covered in pink, green, and white flowers. Sookie had really outdone herself this year. It was gorgeous and way more than I could have asked for. I gave Sookie a big hug and after a chorus of Happy Birthday I cut the cake. It was a white chocolate cake with strawberry filling. After I got my piece I walked over to the corner of the room and Adian sat with me while we ate our cake.

the party ended at ten and the wait staff loaded my dad's, mom's, and grandmother's car with gifts. I said goodbye to Adian and he left. I walked up stairs and changed into the clothes I had arrived in and brought the rest of the stuff down stairs with me. I thanked everyone for the party and then my dad took me to his house.

When we got there I went and sat on the couch and my dad crashed next to me pulling me into his body.

"What happened Ali?"

I didn't say anything right away I just sat there in a numbness that had fallen over me in the car ride. Finally I got the nerve to tell him.

"I was getting myself a drink after dancing with Adian. Adian was waiting for me on the dance floor and that was when I heard some yelling. I could't make out who was yelling so I went to check it out being as it was my party. When I got to the door the yelling had stopped but I could hear crying from the other side. I opened the door and saw Ashton balled up on the floor, Dave was standing over him with that look in his eyes. When Dave saw me he backed up and I helped Ashton off the floor and told him to go and get mom it was all that I could do. He ran out of the room and I just stood there. He grabbed me and it was like I couldn't do anything." I could feel the tears in my eyes again and my dad hugged me tighter. "I had lived through his abuse so many times that there was no point in fighting, no one other than Ashton knew where I was and I just let it happen again. He kissed my neck and was touching me. And then he took me to the bed and that was when mom walked in. It was the first time that I knew he couldn't touch me again. She stopped him and told him to leave and he did." I started to cry and my dad put my head to his chest.

I had always thought that after Dave touched me I could never be in the arms of any man ever again but when my dad or Adian touched me it wasn't like Dave's touch. I felt safe in their arms, I didn't want to pull away from them. There was something in their touch that was lacking in Dave's. Maybe it was the fact that I never liked Dave and that was why I moved away from his touch or maybe it was the fact that there was no love in Dave's eyes that attracted me to him. Whatever it was there was finally peace in my mind. I didn't know where Dave was but I knew that he was not near me or my mother and that was all that mattered.

I should have been there for her. I knew that Dave was at her party and yet I thought nothing of it when he disappeared with Ashton, I mean it was his son. I never thought that a man could harm his own children but with no Ali all of his aggression had to go somewhere. It was stupid I should have known that something like this was going to happen. There was nothing good that ever followed Dave and yet I stood at the other end of the party while Dave first beat his child and then tried to lay a hand on mine. It made me sick to think that I let this happen to her. I hugged her tighter to my body as she drifted off to sleep. If only I had known about her this whole time, she would have never have lost her innocence. Rory kept her from me and in return she let her go through this pain, yet blaming Rory won't help the situation. I clenched my free fist and dug it into the couch. Dave was a sick man who should be rotting in prison right now and yet he still walks the streets a free man. We have the rape kit that says he raped Ali and nothing had been done to get him thrown in jail where he belonged.

When Ali was fast asleep I picked her up and carried her into her room and placed her on the bed. I took off her shoes and placed them in the closet and then I pulled the covers over her, gave her a kiss on the forehead and then walked out of her room closing the door behind me. I walked to the living room and was about to sit on the couch again when I heard a soft knock at the door. I went and opened it to see Rory on the other side.

I moved to the side and she walked in and sat on the couch. I could tell that she had been crying and I wanted so bad to kiss her tears away but she wasn't mine to do that to. I closed and locked the front door and then sat next to her on the couch.

As soon as I was sitting the waterworks started up again and she buried her face in my chest. I wanted to smile but I couldn't, not with all the pain she was feeling. I held her like I had held Ali earlier. It felt so right to hold her in my arms but I couldn't bring myself to get any closer to her. We sat like that for a while and then she pulled her head away from my chest and then leaned up and kissed me.

A/N: I know that this is a short chapter and it ends on a cliffhanger but I said that Ali's party was going to be last chapter so i didn't want to make you wait any longer. Here it is let me know what you think. So please Review and I will see what this relationship is going to bring!

-Katie