2012-
After they finished eating and let the food go down. They went to bed, Dean knocked out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Roman was right, he does snore, but it made Amaya feel better. She wasn't alone.
"Dad stop", April yelled.
"No, I'm going to teach you not to spill anything on our carpet", her dad said.
He had Amaya by the hair. He was pulling on it hard, it was a miracle he didn't rip it out of her scalp. He dragged her to the living room, their mom stood and was already crying. He threw Amaya at her feet.
"Apologize to your mother for spilling and staining her carpet", their dad yelled.
"I'm sorry", Amaya cried.
Their mother touched her head. She wanted to tell her husband to stop, but knew that if she did, he would hit her. April was going to grab Amaya, but their dad pushed her away.
"Don't touch her", he yelled.
"Dad, she's only five", April cried.
Their mother held onto her. Whispering not to get in between their father and Amaya.
"I'm going to make sure you never spill anything again", he said.
He removed his belt and Amaya backed up till her back hit the wall. He lifted the belt before letting it slap against Amaya's back. She screamed every time the leather hit her back. Ten times.
"Momma, stop him", April begged.
She shook her head. Their dad stopped, he lifted Amaya by her hair and dragged her to the hall closet. He sat her inside.
"You will sit there till I feel like you've learned your lesson", he said.
"Please, daddy, no", Amaya cried.
"You will not eat till I say you can, you will learn", he growled, before slamming the door.
She banged on it, it was dark.
"Daddy", she cried.
He turned to face April and his wife.
"Don't open that door", he said stern.
His wife nodded and April glared at him. He passed them and went back to his spot in front of the tv, his recliner groaned whenever he moved. April moved closer to the door and sat beside it. She slid her fingers under the door.
"I'm here, Smalls", she said softly.
Amaya woke up gasping. She was having a panic attack, but for some reason her brain would make her think it was a heart attack.
"Dean", she tried to call out to him, but her voice was barely a whisper.
Tears spilled from her eyes.
"Dean", she tried again.
He finally sat up and turned on the light. He ran to her side and lifted her.
"Tell me what to do", he said, panicking himself.
Amaya shook her head. Dean recognized what was happening to her and took a deep breath.
"It's a panic attack Yaya, it will pass", he said, trying to sooth her.
After spending two hours trying to calm her, she stopped and could feel herself relax.
"I didn't know you had panic attacks", he said, sitting beside her as she sat up.
"I have them every so often. I can also go days, weeks without getting one", she explained.
"What brought this one on?", he asked.
She shook her head.
"Come on Yaya, you need to talk about this", he said.
She wiped her tears.
"My dad", she said softly.
"What about him?", he asked.
She looked at him.
"You can't tell Roman or Seth, not till I'm ready", she said.
"Promise", he said.
She told him everything, from beginning to end. Pausing every now and then.
"So your sister took you from your parents?", he asked.
She nodded.
"She called child services on my parents and after the woman saw my bruises, she helped April get custody", Amaya said.
"Do you talk to your mom or have you seen them since leaving them?", he asked.
"No, April does though just to check on my mom, but I don't know. I could never forgive either of them.", she said.
"But April can", he said.
"Here's the thing, yeah my mom hit her but it was never a full on beating like my dad did to me. Whenever my mom would hit April, my dad intervened and said that if she ever laid a hand on April again, he would kill me", she said.
"Have you ever thought that maybe he's not your dad?", he asked.
"Trust me, April and I thought that too. We had the lawyer do a paternity test, thinking maybe he hated me because he knew I wasn't his, but I was his", she said sadly.
Dean's heart ached for her. How could anyone treat their child this way?
"He said he knew I was his, but that he hit me to teach me what his dad showed him. I reminded him of his mom", she said.
"I'm so sorry Amaya, honestly", he said softly.
"Now you know why I'm skittish around men I don't know and why when you talk to me, I look down. I don't know how to really function around strangers. He never let me out of the house unless I had to go to school", she said.
"I won't let anyone hurt you. You didn't ask me I know, but I've taken the role of big brother. I'm going to protect you as best I can", he said.
She gave him a small smile.
"I feel better, thank you for listening", she said, before laying her head on his shoulder.
He kissed the top of her head.
"Anytime kid", he said softly.
She had fallen asleep on him and he was okay with that. Anything to get her some sleep. Her phone dinged and she shifted. Dean reached over and took a look, maybe it was April checking on Amaya.
Roman.
"Hey sweetheart, can't sleep. Gym later?"-Roman
Dean didn't mean too, but his curiosity got the better of him. He read all their conversations, realizing his brother had fallen in love with Amaya, even if Roman hadn't seen it.
"Woman, you have a hold on the big dog, a tight one too", Dean mumbled to himself.
"Yeah hot stuff, see you later on"-Amaya
Dean chuckled to himself, knowing Roman was probably confused. He sent a winking face to him.
"Okay. Hot stuff huh?"-Roman
Dean laughed.
"By the way Dean, I know it's you. Where's Amaya?"-Roman
"It was the hot stuff right? Sleeping, I thought it was my phone. We'll see you later"-Dean
The next morning, someone knocked on their door. Dean wiped his eyes, Amaya lifted her head from his shoulder.
"Dean, why didn't you push me off?", she asked, stretching.
"You got a few good hours of sleep, it's fine", he said.
Again, someone knocked. Dean stood and went to answer it. Roman and Seth walked in. Seth let himself fall onto Dean's bed. Roman sat down on the edge of Amaya's bed.
"Ready for the gym?", Roman asked.
Dean and Amaya both nodded. Amaya grabbed her gym clothes and walked into the bathroom to change.
"You look exhausted, like you didn't get a good night's rest", Roman pointed out.
"I'm tired. I'm just going to skip the gym and I'll run the stairs at the arena later", Dean said, laying on Amaya's bed since Seth was on his.
"Why are you so tired?", Roman asked.
Roman tried to stop his thoughts from drifting to Dean and Amaya sleeping together. He didn't think he could look at Dean the same if he touched Amaya.
"Ask Amaya, I promised her I wouldn't say anything till she was ready too", he said into the pillow.
Seth sat up and looked worried now. Amaya walked out of the bathroom and tied her hair into a ponytail.
"Ready", she said.
"Dean's not joining us, he's tired", Roman said.
Amaya looked guilty as she looked at Dean.
"Its alright kid, I told you", Dean said, eyes closed.
"Can we bring you back anything?", she asked.
"We can do breakfast once you get back", he said.
She nodded. They followed her out. Seth walked ahead of them. Roman grabbed her elbow gently.
"You okay?", he asked.
She nodded.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?", she asked.
Roman shrugged.
"Its just, Dean mentioned something. He didn't say what it was exactly, but that we should ask you", Roman said.
"I'm fine", she said.
"You say that, but if you need to talk to someone other than Dean, I'm here", he said.
"I know Roman. I'm just not ready for you to look at me differently", she said, before joining Seth by the elevator.
Roman sighed.
"Its too late for that", he mumbled.