Where I Belong Chapter 13, an once upon a time fanfic

A/N- Hey everyone, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm sorry I haven't updated, but I really struggled with this chapter, specifically the ending. I don't think it's that good, but that's just my opinion. Also, I've decided to update every Friday to put less pressure on myself. I apologize for my ranting, and now, please enjoy chapter 13. FYI, it's a bit longer than the others.

Neal was walking past the bathroom to go to his temporary room, but he didn't want to leave his sister alone while she was crying. She never did that to him, so he didn't want to do it to her. He decided that he would sit outside of the bathroom until she was done. However, he didn't tell her he was there, otherwise, she would try to put on a brave face for him, and he didn't want that. Neal wanted Emma to be able to feel whatever she was feeling, because he knew if she kept pushing her feelings down, she would explode, and it wouldn't be good. As he was lost in thought, he didn't notice his soon to be moms had sat on either side of him until Lena started whispering.

"Why are you waiting out here Neal?" she asked quietly.

"Emma's never left me alone whenever I was upset, and I don't want to leave her when she's feeling the same," he whispered back.

"That's very thoughtful of you sweets," his Mom, Stef, said.

He shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Do you want us to wait with you?" Mama asked.

"Don't you guys have to go play with them?" he asked.

Stef's brain was churning ideas as to what she could do. She knew Emma wouldn't want Neal to see her like that, but she also knew he was as stubborn as Emma, and he would refuse to leave. Suddenly, a light bulb went off.

"Hey bud? What if I stayed here and waited for Emma, that way you and Mama can go play with the others?" she whispered.

"You'd really wait and make sure she's ok?" Neal asked.

"Of course I would love. She's still my kid, whether she wants it or not," Stef explained.

"Will you tell her I was waiting?"

"Absolutely baby."

"Ok, thanks Mom," he said while giving her a quick hug, then heading downstairs to join the others in whatever game they were playing.

"I still can't believe he's calling us Mom and Mama," Stef whispered excitedly to her wife.

"I know, this is all so unbelievable," Lena said, just as excited.

"It certainly is love," she responded. "You can go join the kids, I'm fine here."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright," Lena said, giving her wife a quick peck on the lips before going downstairs to join her rowdy kids.

Stef sighed in boredom as she resigned herself to waiting. Granted, she was worried about Emma and why she had reacted the way she did, but she was also feeling bored and her back was hurting from the way she was sitting. She refused to even allow the thought of her being in her 40s having something to do with it. She decided to study the pictures adorning the walls, reminiscing, for they brought back long forgotten memories. There were pictures of them at the beach, birthday parties, Christmas, Thanksgiving, graduations from elementary to middle to high school, matches, recitals, getting driver's licenses (only Callie and Brandon), all sorts of celebrations. She smiled fondly as her eyes fell upon the frames holding the images of her family beaming at the camera at Mari and Jesus' adoption party, her and Lena's wedding and reception, and Callie and Jude's adoption party. She hoped that soon, they could add Emma and Neal's adoption to the walls, and all the other memories they get to create with them. Stef stifled a groan as her back was starting to ache something fierce. Luckily, as if hearing her thoughts, the bathroom door opened and Emma emerged, tear tracks staining her cheeks. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of her daughter feeling that way because of her. My daughter, Stef thought proudly. I could get used to that. She then spoke softly as to not startle Emma, but Emma still startled.

"Hey love."

If looks could kill, Stef was pretty sure she would be dead with how murderous Emma looked.

"What do you want?" Emma asked curtly.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok," she responded.

"Well, I'm fine, and even if I wasn't, why would I tell you?"

"Because I love you, Ems, and I want to help," Stef said, not getting angry because she knew that was what Emma wanted, for her to get angry.

"It's like I already said, I'm fine," Emma responded, and as Stef noticed, with less bite in her tone.

Stef bit her lip, fighting the urge to respond sarcastically, but ultimately lost.

"Yes, well, the tear tracks on your face say otherwise."

Emma immediately went to try and rub them away with her sleeves.

"Sweets, you don't need to hide what you're feeling or what you were feeling from me. I'm your mother."

"No you aren't, I didn't agree to getting adopted, remember?"

"You mean the adoption you accepted then refuted after you found out that I'm in remission from cancer?"

Emma visibly flinched at the word cancer.

"I don't know—"

She was cut off by Stef.

"That reply is bullshit and you know it."

Emma returned to glaring at her. Before Emma could say anything in response, Stef groaned in pain. Her back was killing her, and she had a feeling it was because of what happened at work yesterday.

"Ems," she said, trying to hide the pain she was feeling, but she was failing miserably.

"Stef?" Emma asked, all anger vanishing, panic quickly replacing it.

"Love, I need you to help me up," she said firmly despite the pain she must have been feeling.

"What if that just makes it worse?" Emma asked fearfully.

"It won't, baby, I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Emma, help me up, now."

That got Emma out of her stupor. She extended her arm for Stef in order to help her stand. She grunted as she wasn't expecting Stef to be so heavy, nor was she expecting her to grab on so tightly. When she helped pull Stef to her feet, Stef let out the tiniest breath of relief. She released her hold on Emma's arm and tried to slowly stretch out her back, moaning as the aching subsided, but not by much.

"Are you ok?" Emma asked worriedly.

"Yeah I think so," she responded. "Let's go to my room, I think I know what's wrong."

"Do you need help?"

"No," Stef said, but winced when she tried to take a step.

"You sure?" Emma asked.

"Fine," she grumbled.

Emma put her arm out for Stef to loop hers through, much like an adult escorting an elderly woman. Emma had to hide her snort at the comparison she had just come up with in her mind. When they reached Stef's room, she asked for Emma to help her remove her shirt. Slowly but surely, Emma managed to help Stef get it off, and she had to stifle a gasp at the sight. There was a bruise the size of a pipe in the middle of Stef's back, colored in an ugly shade of purple.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, shock and concern lacing her voice.

Stef sighed heavily before she began explaining, not caring about reprimanding Emma for the curse word at the moment. "Mike was chasing the suspect and I was chasing his partner. Suddenly, the suspect came out of nowhere and hit me in the back with a metal pipe in the alley, quite hard might I add. I stumbled, but I was quick to recover and managed to subdue him and put cuffs on the bastard. Mike was right behind him and asked if I was ok, and I said I was fine. Luckily, the two other cops we had as back-up managed to get the other guy. The paramedics checked me out and I was fine. Mike asked if I wanted him to call Lena, but I said no, for there was no point in worrying her over a tiny incident like this."

"This is anything but tiny considering the size of this bruise," Emma responded snarkily. She then softened her voice. "When did this happen? Surely you would've been in pain sooner than today if it's been more than two days."

"Yeah, it happened yesterday," she admitted.

"How long did you think you could hide this from everyone?"

"I was hoping until it healed," Stef grumbled. "But clearly that didn't work out."

Emma's brows furrowed in confusion. "Does this mean you were in pain the whole day?"

"No, it started hurting a little after I had chased after you, but it wasn't enough to cause any concern. After I had woken up with Neal, that's when it became more prominent, but I still ignored it because I didn't want to ruin the moment."

"And it started aching like it is now when you were sitting against the wall waiting for me," Emma finished.

"Correct," Stef said. "Now I have no choice but to tell Lena. It's too serious not to," she said, internally wincing at the thought of the lecture she would no doubt be receiving for not telling her wife the moment it happened. She steeled herself before telling Emma to help her sit on the bed and to call Lena up to the bedroom. Emma did as she was told, and sure enough, Lena was almost sprinting up the stairs at Emma's shout, the rest of the kids following closely behind.

"Stef?!" she asked her wife, confused and concerned at the sight of Stef sitting on the bed with her shirt off and everything else on. The kids quickly looked away, but their gazes returned to their mom, curious as to why her shirt was off.

Instead of responding, Stef got up off the bed slowly and turned around. Everyone gasped at the bruise sporting their mom's back.

"When did this happen?!" Mariana shrieked.

"Yesterday at work," Stef said, not keen on sharing the details.

"What happened? And why didn't you call me when it did happen? Why didn't Mike call me? How did I not see this last night? Are you in pain?" Lena asked all at once.

"It happened when Mike and I were chasing a suspect and his partner. I didn't call you and I told Mike not to because I didn't want to worry you. You didn't see it because I changed before you could. And yes I'm in pain, though it's not as annoying or nearly bad as when I was shot," Stef said dryly.

"Did you at least get the guy who did it?" Callie asked.

"Yes my babies, Mike and I caught the two idiots who thought it was wise to run from the authorities, and to be more specific, the two idiots who thought it was wise to run from me," she said, causing the tension to ease up as everyone laughed, save for Emma and Lena.

"Ok my loves, why don't you guys go downstairs and finish your game. Mama's gonna help me here, and I'll be down in a bit."

Everyone nodded their ascent, and started racing each other to get back downstairs in order to make sure nobody cheated. Neal stayed behind for a second, still wide-eyed at the bruise he saw.

"Are you sure you're ok Mom?" he asked.

"I'm sure buddy," she confirmed. "It's a bit painful but I'll be alright."

"Do you need anything?" he asked, eager to help his soon-to-be-adoptive-mom in any way possible.

Stef decided to indulge him. "If you really wanna help me, go get a glass and fill it with water. I'm thirsty and I'll need something to help me swallow the pain meds Mama is no doubt gonna make me take," she said, giving him a sly wink.

"Ok!" Neal said, then rushed down the stairs to do what his Mom asked.

Stef chuckled at his behavior, but it abruptly stopped at the stern glare she was getting from Lena. She smiled sheepishly at her love, and Lena simply sighed at her.

"Stef, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's like I said earlier, my love, I didn't want to worry you. I know how much you worry already, and I didn't want this to make you even more scared about me doing my job," she explained honestly.

"Honey, I'm never going to stop worrying about you when you're on the job," Lena admonished. "But not telling me you got hurt? That makes me even more worried, because to me, that makes it seem as though you don't trust me enough to tell me when you're hurting."

Stef looked properly chastised and hurt at the thought of Lena thinking she didn't trust her. "Love, of course I trust you. I trust you with my life. Don't you ever ever doubt that."

"Should I leave?" Emma asked quietly. They both whipped their heads to where the sound came from, only to see that Emma was indeed still in the room, standing by the door to their bathroom.

"No sweets, I still want to have a proper talk about what happened," Stef said.

Just then, Neal entered the room, carefully carrying the glass of water.

"Here Mom," he said, holding out the glass to Stef.

"Thank you baby," she replied, then told him to set it on their dresser.

"You're welcome," he said as he went to put it down.

"Why don't I get you some pain medicine now?" Lena asked her wife, already on her way to the bathroom to get it.

"That sounds wonderful love. Emma, will you help me put my shirt back on? I don't want to sit here in my bra all day," Stef said jokingly.

"Sure," she mumbled.

Emma got Stef's shirt from off the bed and helped Stef ease her arms into it.

"You got it from here?" Emma asked.

"I believe so," she responded.

Stef slowly pulled the shirt down to cover the rest of her upper body, somehow managing not to wince.

"Mom?" Neal asked hesitantly.

"What is it Neal?"

"Can I hug you?"

"Of course you can, come here," she said, motioning for him to come over to her.

He made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around his Mom gently, afraid he would hurt her if he didn't. In response, she brought him close so he was fully leaning into her. She pressed a kiss onto his forehead.

"I love you Neal, so so much."

"Love you too Mom," he said into her shoulder. "You'll be downstairs soon, right?"

"Right," she confirmed.

"Ok," Neal said, then removed himself from his Mom's embrace, even though he wanted to stay there for always.

He looked at her from the doorway again, as if he was afraid she would disappear if he took his eyes off her.

"I promise Neal, I'll only be a few minutes."

Neal nodded his head, then proceeded to go downstairs.

"Here's the medicine sweetheart," Lena said as she exited the bathroom.

"Can you grab the glass?" she asked her wife, pointing to where it was on the dresser.

Lena grabbed the glass of water from the dresser, then handed it and the medicine to her wife. Stef placed the pills in her mouth and took a few sips of water to help them go down. She then handed the glass back to Lena to put back on the dresser.

"Ok, now that this drama fest is over, Ems, care to tell us what happened earlier?" Stef asked, though her tone suggested that she wasn't asking.

"Not particularly, no," she said.

"Well sweets, I'm afraid I'm not asking," Stef responded.

Emma coming out of the bathroom

After trying and failing to get rid of the tear tracks on my face, I unlocked the door and opened it. I didn't see that Stef was sitting on the ground waiting for me, so when she spoke, I almost had a heart attack.

"Hey love."

I glared at her, feeling very murderous at the moment.

"What do you want?" I asked curtly.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok," she responded.

"Well, I'm fine, and even if I wasn't, why would I tell you?"

"Because I love you, Ems, and I want to help," Stef said.

"It's like I already said, I'm fine," I responded, the bite a little less obvious.

Stef bit her lip in contemplation, but she opened her mouth to speak anyways. The sarcastic reply, however, I was not expecting.

"Yes, well, the tear tracks on your face say otherwise."

I immediately lifted my sleeves up to try and get rid of them, even though I had already tried and failed in the bathroom. For some reason, the thought of Stef seeing evidence of me crying made me embarrassed, even though she had already seen me cry.

"Sweets, you don't need to hide what you're feeling or what you were feeling from me. I'm your mother."

"No you aren't, I didn't agree to getting adopted, remember?"

"You mean the adoption you accepted then refuted after you found out that I'm in remission from cancer?"

I flinched at the word cancer.

"I don't know—"

I was cut off by Stef.

"That reply is bullshit and you know it."

I returned to glaring at her. Before I could say anything in response, Stef groaned in pain. I had no clue as to why, and I started to freak out just a little.

"Ems," she said, trying to hide the pain she was feeling, but was failing miserably.

"Stef?" I asked, all the anger I felt vanishing, panic quickly replacing it.

"Love, I need you to help me up," she said firmly despite the pain.

"What if that just makes it worse?" I asked, fear easily detectable in my voice.

"It won't, baby, I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Emma, help me up, now."

That got me out of the stupor I was in. I extended my arm for Stef to help her stand. I grunted as I wasn't expecting Stef to be so heavy, nor was I expecting her to grab on so tightly. When I helped pull Stef to her feet, she let out the tiniest breath of relief. Stef released her hold on my arm and tried to slowly stretch out her back, moaning as the aching subsided, but not by much.

"Are you ok?" I asked worriedly.

"Yeah I think so," she responded. "Let's go to my room, I think I know what's wrong."

"Do you need help?"

"No," Stef said, but winced when she tried to take a step.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Fine," she grumbled.

I put my arm out for Stef to loop hers through, much like an adult escorting an elderly woman. I had to hide my snort at the comparison I had just come up with, knowing Stef would not be as amused. When we reached Stef's room, she asked for me to help her remove her shirt. Slowly but surely, I managed to help her get it off, and I had to stifle a gasp at the sight. There was a bruise the size of a pipe in the middle of Stef's back, colored in an ugly shade of purple.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, shock and concern lacing my voice.

She sighed heavily before she began explaining. "Mike was chasing the suspect and I was chasing his partner. Suddenly, the suspect came out of nowhere and hit me in the back with a metal pipe in the alley, quite hard might I add. I stumbled, but I was quick to recover and managed to subdue him and put cuffs on the bastard. Mike was right behind him and asked if I was ok, and I said I was fine. Luckily, the two other cops we had as back-up managed to get the other guy. The paramedics checked me out and I was fine. Mike asked if I wanted him to call Lena, but I said no, for there was no point in worrying her over a tiny incident like this."

"This is anything but tiny considering the size of this bruise," I responded rather snarkily. I then softened my voice when I asked, "When did this happen? Surely you would've been in pain sooner than today if it's been more than two days."

"Yeah, it happened yesterday," Stef admitted.

"How long did you think you could hide this from everyone?"

"I was hoping until it healed," she grumbled. "But clearly that didn't work out."

My brows furrowed in confusion. "Does this mean you were in pain the whole day?"

"And it started aching like it is now when you were sitting against the wall waiting for me," I finished.

"Correct," Stef said. "Now I have no choice but to tell Lena. It's too serious not to." She seemed lost in thought before she told me to help her sit on the bed and to call Lena up to the bedroom. I did as I was told, and sure enough, Lena was almost sprinting up the stairs at my shout, and I had no doubt that the rest of the kids were following close behind.

"Stef?!" she asked, seeming confused and concerned at the sight of Stef sitting on the bed with her shirt off and everything else on. Everyone else quickly looked away, not wanting to see their Mom shirtless, but their gazes returned, for they were curious as to why her shirt was off.

Instead of responding, Stef got up off the bed slowly and turned around. Everyone gasped at the bruise sporting their mom's back.

"When did this happen?!" Mariana shrieked.

"Yesterday at work," she said, not seeming too keen on sharing the details.

"What happened? And why didn't you call me when it did happen? Why didn't Mike call me? How did I not see this last night? Are you in pain?" Lena asked all at once.

"Did you at least get the guy who did it?" Callie asked.

"Ok my loves, why don't you guys go downstairs and finish your game. Mama's gonna help me here, and I'll be down in a bit."

Everyone nodded their ascent, and started racing each other to get back downstairs in order to make sure nobody cheated. Neal stayed behind for a second, still wide-eyed at the bruise he saw.

"Are you sure you're ok Mom?" he asked.

"I'm sure buddy," she confirmed. "It's a bit painful but I'll be alright."

"Do you need anything?" he asked, eager to help in any way he could.

"Ok!" Neal said, then rushed down the stairs to do what Stef had asked of him.

She chuckled at his behavior, but it abruptly stopped at the stern glare she was getting from Lena. I couldn't blame her, for I knew how scary Lena's glares were. She smiled sheepishly at her, and Lena simply sighed at Stef.

"Stef, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's like I said earlier, my love, I didn't want to worry you. I know how much you worry already, and I didn't want this to make you even more scared about me doing my job," Stef explained honestly.

Stef looked properly chastised and hurt at the thought of Lena thinking she didn't trust her. "Love, of course I trust you. I trust you with my life. Don't you ever ever doubt that."

"Should I leave?" I asked quietly. They both whipped their heads to where my voice was, to see that I was still there, in the room, standing by the door to their bathroom.

"No sweets, I still want to have a proper talk about what happened," Stef said.

Just then, Neal entered the room, carefully carrying the glass of water.

"Here Mom," he said, holding out the glass to Stef.

"Thank you baby," she replied, then told him to set it on their dresser.

"You're welcome," he said as he went to put it down.

"Why don't I get you some medicine now?" Lena asked her wife, already on her way to the bathroom to get it.

"That sounds wonderful love. Emma, will you help me put my shirt back on? I don't want to sit here in my bra all day," Stef said jokingly.

"Sure," I mumbled.

I got Stef's shirt from off the bed and helped her ease her arms into it.

"You got it from here?" I asked.

"I believe so," she responded.

She slowly pulled the shirt down to cover the rest of her upper body, and I was a little impressed she did so without flinching in pain.

"Mom?" Neal asked hesitantly.

"What is it Neal?"

"Can I hug you?"

"Of course you can, come here," she said, motioning for him to come over to her.

He made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her gently, looking afraid he would hurt her if he didn't do it lightly. In response, Stef brought him close so he was fully leaning into her. She then pressed a kiss onto his forehead.

"I love you Neal, so so much."

"Love you too Mom," he said into her shoulder. "You'll be downstairs soon, right?"

"Right," she confirmed.

"Ok," Neal said, then he removed himself from her embrace.

My brother looked at her from the doorway again, as if he was afraid she would disappear if he took his eyes off her.

"I promise Neal, I'll only be a few minutes."

He nodded his head, then proceeded to go downstairs.

"Here's the medicine sweetheart," Lena said as she exited the bathroom.

"Can you grab the glass?" she asked her Lena, pointing to where Neal had set it on the dresser.

Lena grabbed the glass of water from the dresser, then handed it and the medicine to her Stef. Stef placed the pills in her mouth and took a few sips of water to help them go down. She then handed the partially full glass back to Lena to put back on the dresser. Once Lena had done that, she sat next to Stef on the bed, and they both turned their gazes to me in sync.

"Ok, now that this drama fest is over, Ems, care to tell us what happened earlier?" Stef asked, though her tone suggested that she wasn't asking.

"Not particularly, no," I said, feigning ignorance.

"Well sweets, I'm afraid I'm not asking."

"Well Stef, I'm afraid I'm not answering," I imitated.

"Emma," she growled.

"Stef," I growled back.

She arched an eyebrow, but I didn't let it faze me.

"Emma, you are not leaving this room until you tell us what happened," she said firmly, as if she believed I would give in.

I almost did, for her tone was making me nervous, but I held my ground. "What happened to 'you don't have to talk about it until you're ready?'"

"I'm afraid those were different circumstances, love."

"How was it different? Huh? They were both something traumatic from my past that I don't feel like talking about. Doesn't seem all that different to me," I shot back, feeling defensive and feeling my walls shooting up, trying to protect me.

"Actually, they are different. Not by much, but they are," Lena interjected.

I had kind of forgotten she was in the room with how focused I was on Stef.

"The first time, it was a flashback about a parent who should not have done what he did to you, let alone to anyone, while you were in his care. This time? It was a flashback about something that happened, I'm assuming in one of the good foster homes, that relates to Stef and her having cancer. We can't pretend that we know what you've been through, Emma, and we certainly can't imagine feeling like you don't have anyone you can trust enough to allow yourself to be taken care of, to allow yourself to feel loved and wanted. But what we do understand is that it is difficult to talk about, in either case, but we're always always always going to be in your corner, to be here to listen, to offer you our love and support. We will never give up on you, no matter how we may be feeling about what you had to endure. And right now, we'd like to know what made you react the way you did when Stef told you about her cancer."

I was floundering for words like a fish out of water. Lena was right, something I begrudgingly admitted in my head. While they were both traumatic incidents, one of them relates to the current situation, and the fact that I couldn't run from it? It made me feel miserable as hell.

"So love, are you finally ready to tell us what happened?" Stef asked.

"No, but I think I have to," I replied.

She nodded her head and patted the spot in between the two of them. I didn't realize Lena had moved from where she was standing to join Stef who has been sitting on the edge of the bed the whole time. I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves, joined them on the bed, and then decided to avoid their inquisitive gazes. Stef must've sensed my reluctance to speak, for she put her hand over my fidgeting ones. That broke the dam, and the words came flooding out. I told them about Helen, about how she was one of the nicest foster moms I've ever had, how she took care of me, how she had three other kids including her biological son, but always made time for me, how she taught me to sing, how her nickname for me was Duckling, how she trusted me enough to tell me about her family, how she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I told them about me singing to her to make her feel better, me watching as she became weaker, me sneaking into her room the night she died, me telling her I loved her, me fighting the nurse to stay with her, me feeling numb at the funeral, me feeling numb as my social worker took me to my next foster home that same day. I told them all of it, and once I finished, I was sobbing into Stef's shoulder, with both of their arms surrounding me, making me feel loved and wanted, which is more than I can say for most of the other homes I was in.

"Oh Emma, I'm so so so so sorry that this happened to you, my love. What can I do to make you feel better about this?" she asked, trying to reassure me while moving my head from where it was resting on her shoulder so we could make eye contact.

"Promise me you won't die?"

Stef inhaled sharply, making brief eye contact with Lena over my head before returning her gaze to mine. "Oh sweets, I wish more than anything I could. But baby, I'm afraid I can't. I can't promise I won't ever die, because my job is dangerous and I've been shot and shot at before. Heck, for all we know, I could be in a car crash. But Emma, I can promise that I will always love you, whether I'm alive or dead. I can promise you that I will always fight to get back to my family, because I am not someone who goes out without fighting like hell," she said, winking at the last part.

"While I don't approve of Stef swearing in front of you, she's right Emma. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow, so we have to make the most of today or however long we have left," added Lena.

"Ok," I said weakly, then buried my head in the crook of Stef's neck, wanting to be comforted.

"Sweets, we need to know one more thing," Stef said, having one arm around my back while the other was cradling my head.

"Yeah?" I asked, my voice muffled because of the way I was positioned.

"Do you want to be adopted by us?"

I mumbled incoherently into her neck.

"What was that honey?" asked Lena.

"Of course I do," I said, louder this time so they could actually comprehend what I was saying.

"Good," Stef said simply, both of them exhaling in what I think was relief.

"I'm sorry I said I didn't want to earlier. I was just scared," I admitted quietly, so only Stef could hear. Little did I know Lena could hear what I said, but she pretended as though she didn't in order to keep me feeling comfortable with them.

"My baby, it's perfectly fine if you're scared, but next time, please please please talk to us, for we are always going to be here," she responded just as quiet.

"I will," I promised, and I meant it.

"We love you, Ems, and nothing is going to change that," Lena said.

I didn't respond, but I knew they knew that I couldn't say it back, not just yet. Maybe someday, but not today.

A/N- Despite how much I wished I owned these shows, I don't. All mistakes are my own, and if you liked it, let me know in the comments, by liking (a.k.a favorite this story) or by following!

P.S. I didn't mention what month it was in the story by any chance, did I? Let me know if you know, because I honestly don't, and I don't want to waste time that I could use for writing the next chapters looking for what month I wrote down (if I did at all). That was it, and I hope you are enjoying the story!