Authors Note:

So, I want you all to know that if you don't like the whole plot line with Madison I'm sorry, but I think her role in the story is pretty important. I really like this chapter and I hope you all do too! Let me know what you think! :)

Chapter Nineteen

Time Jump – One Year Later

Clary POV:

This past year has been eye opening to say the least. I've become more than just Madison's therapist, I've become her mentor in a way. She came to my house every Thursday for our sessions, and afterwards she stay for a little to play with Danni. She was more herself when she was with kids than she was when she was alone. It was nice to see her smiling and laughing and not worrying about all her problems, even if it was just for an hour or two. We had a session today, and she has been making so much progress that I didn't know how much more therapy she would need. I was currently six months pregnant, so our sessions have been very chill. I normally was in sweats and Jace's tee shirt, which actually made the session feel more like a nice chat than an appointment. The doorbell rang and when I opened it Madison was standing there with a smile on her face. I motioned for her to come in and she walked straight to my office. I got her a cup of coffee and got myself some apple juice.

"How was your day?"

"It was good. How are you and the baby doing?" She asked and I rubbed my belly.

"We're good. We just found out the gender the other day."

"And?" She smiled.

"It's another girl. I know Jace really wanted a son, but he absolutely loved having a girl, so he's still just as excited." I said and she smiled. "So, anything new in your life since the last time we met?" I asked and she blushed. Like actually blushed. "Did little Madison meet a boy?"

"First of all I'm not little. I'm 18, and second of all, what if I did?" She said and I squealed a little.

"Tell me everything!" I said and she laughed.

"His name is Ryan, and we met in our biology class. He just transferred to our school this year."

"What does he look like?"

"He's tall, he has light brown hair, and he has hazel eyes. He's tall, and skinny, but he's toned. We like the same music, and some of the same hobbies."

"How long have you two been friends?"

"We were partnered up at the beginning of the year in bio, but maybe a month ago I saw him sitting by the big oak tree at school by himself so I decided to take a chance and talk to him outside of bio."

"That's a huge step."

"I know. Over the past year I've been thinking about what we've talked about. Putting myself out there and possibly making friends, and since we talked in bio I figured it wouldn't be as awkward as talking to a stranger."

"And you've been friends ever since?" I ask and she nods.

"We sit together at lunch and talk about anything and everything. We've hung out a few times outside of school, and he asked me out yesterday." She said and I couldn't help but smile.

"That's great Madison. Are you excited? Nervous? Scared?"

"I think a little bit of everything. I'm excited because well this is my first date, and that also makes me nervous, but I'm scared he'll see my scars and not like me anymore."

"Don't judge a book my its cover." I said and she nods.

"I just don't want to scare him off. What if he can't handle my past?"

"Than he isn't the guy for you. The person that you'll end up with will take you and everything you've been through and accept it. If Ryan can't do that, you will find someone who can." I said and I looked at the clock. "Alright, our time is up for today, and I have an appointment at 12:30, so I will see you next week. Let me know how the date goes!" I said and she nods. We both get up and I lead her to the door, we hug and she walks out and gets into her car and leaves. I smile and shut the door. I was getting somewhere with her, and I could see the positive impact these sessions were doing for her, and that's all I've ever wanted to do for people, and actually seeing the progress was extremely satisfying.

Time Jump – Three Days Later

Clary POV:

I haven't been sleeping well due to how much my daughter kicks, and I was rolling over to get more comfortable when there was a panicked knocking on our front door. I looked over at Jace who was dead to the world so I got out of bed and walked downstairs. When I opened the door I saw a random boy holding a frantic and bloody Madison.

"Jace!" I screamed and I heard running down the stairs. He came over to me and took in the scene. "Grab her and take her to the couch." I said and Jace picked Madison up and took her away while I got the boy inside. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ryan." He says and I nod. He was soaking wet, and he looked absolutely confused.

"Hi Ryan, I'm Clary." I said and he nodded. "Let me grab you some dry clothes and I'll put your in the dryer so you aren't sitting around in wet clothes." He nods and goes into the bathroom. I hand him the clothes and go to check on Madison. When I get to the living room she is passed out on the couch while Jace is cleaning up the blood. I walk over and start helping when Ryan walks in. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was dropping her off after our date. It lasted a lot longer than we both anticipated but we just lost track of time. We were both have a great evening. I dropped her off and realized that she forgot her jacket in my car. I went back to her house and when I got to the door I heard screaming. I knocked but no one answered. I looked in the window and I saw her father punch her. I didn't know what to do so I broke the window and went in. She was on the floor barely conscious and I slammed her dad against the wall and he passed out. Her mother was just sitting in the living room allowing it to happen. I grabbed her and her first words were Clary, and I went into her phone to find your information. I found your address and came straight here." I nod and he sits down in the chair across from her. He looked worried sick. "Are you her aunt or something?"

"I'm her therapist." I said and he looked surprised.

"I didn't know she was seeing a therapist."

"She's been coming to me for a little over a year."

"I'm guessing because of her father?" He says and I nod. "Will she be okay?"

"I think so." Jace says. "She hit her head, which is why she passed out. Hopefully she wakes up soon. She might have some bruised ribs too." Jace continued to clean off the blood when we heard Danni start to cry. "I'll get her, you keep cleaning. Could you help her?" Jace asks Ryan and he nods and comes to help me while Jace heads upstairs.

"She's a fighter Ryan, she'll be okay, but she's going to need you." I said and he smiled. "You really like her don't you?"

"I do. I get coming from a rough past. My father wasn't the nicest guy around." He said and it was so hard to turn the therapist off I just had to ask.

"What happened?"

"He cheated on my mom like every other night. He constantly came home smelling like cheap perfume and when my mom would ask he'd hit her. And at one point it didn't bother her anymore, and he turned to me. He found out it hurt her more when she saw me getting hit and it made my father so happy."

"What happened to your dad?" I asked and he took a deep breath and looked at me.

"I stabbed him." He said and my eyes widened. "One night he was beating my mom so badly, and she nearly died. I wanted to stop him and I grabbed a knife to scare him. He corned me, and started choking me. I didn't know what else to do, so I stabbed him. I called 911 immediately after, and when they were accessing the scene they ruled it self defense and he was sent to jail. He's currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole."

"When did this happen?"

"A year an a half ago. That's why we moved. My mom couldn't stand being in the same state as him. This was the farthest place she could find. At first I was annoyed. He was in jail, so who cared what state we were in you know? I was going to be senior; she couldn't have waited the rest of the year? But she wanted to move, and it's not like I had friends back home that I was going to miss, and I met Madison here, so I'm grateful that we moved."

"She's lucky to have you. When she first came to me I told her that I had a similar past as her, and that the only person I could count on was my husband, and she was convinced that there was nobody out there who would take the time to listen and get to know her. Something changed when she met you, I could see it in our sessions. She smiled more, and she seemed lighter."

"I've never met anyone life her before." He said as he smiled down on her, and she ran his fingers through her hair. "She makes me happy, and she makes me feel whole. If that makes sense." He said and I nodded. Pretty soon I could see Madison's eyes fluttering and not long after they opened. She tried to sit up but her head hurt too much. Ryan sat behind her and let her lean into his chest. I smiled at the cute interactions between them. I've seen her smile, but I've never seen her so content as she looks right now.

"What happened?" She asked.

"After your date Ryan noticed you left your jacket in the car, he went to go return it to you and saw your dad hitting you." I said and she immediately tensed. Ryan started rubbing her arm and she relaxed a little. "He broke your window and slammed your father against the wall and brought you here."

"You saw that?" She asked him and he nodded. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her temple. "I'm so sorry you had to do and see all of that."

"You don't have to apologize to me for your father being an asshole. I've dealt with abusive fathers before. I just didn't want him to hurt you anymore." Ryan said and I could just see that it meant the world to her.

"I'm going to go grab some clothes for you Madison, and throw those in the dryer with Ryan's. I'll be right back." They both nodded and I made my way to my room to give them a little privacy.

Madison POV:

After Clary left it was just Ryan and I. I thought it would be awkward after how the evening went but it was actually very calming to be in his arms and in the comfortable silence.

"Why didn't you tell me about your father?" He said and I sighed.

"I really like you, and I didn't want to scare you off by telling you how terrible I'm treated at home. I wanted you to like me for me, and not just pity me." I said and he sat up and turned me so that we were facing each other.

"I don't want you to be afraid of telling me something. I want to be the person you can be completely and totally open with. I know you already have Clary, but I want to be that for you. I want to be the person you can trust with absolutely anything you need to share." He said and I took a deep breath.

"There is one thing that I haven't been able to tell Clary. Every time I think I'm ready, I always chicken out."

"And you want to tell me?"

"If we are going to have a relationship, we can't have secrets, and this one effects me on a daily basis, and if I'm acting weird, or distant or moody, I want you to know why, I don't want you to have to sit and think about what's wrong with me."

"Are you sure? Cause you can tell me whenever you're ready." He says and I can't help but feel like this is the moment I'm ready to talk. I've kept quiet for far too long, and I need to verbalize this otherwise I'll never start grieving, and rebuilding myself.

"When I was 14, I was walking home from school. My mom worked too much, and my father was a drunk so they couldn't pick me up and the school bus didn't run that late. I was almost at my house when I felt like I was being followed. I looked behind me but I didn't see anyone so I kept walking. I had turned onto my street and I was grabbed from behind and stuffed in a van." I said and he grabbed my hands and started rubbing circles on the back of my hands to sooth me. "I had no idea where I was being taken but there were no windows so I couldn't see, but I wasn't the only one in that van. There were 3 other girls my age in there too. We were in the van for a while before it stopped and the engine was cut. We were pulled out and thrown in a basement. We were starved, and beaten, and raped for three days." I said and he pulled me into his side. "After two days of absolutely nothing we thought they forgot about us. We heard footsteps and we all got scared. We didn't want it to happen again. But when the door burst opened 7 cops came running down the stairs and got us out of there. I was in the hospital for 4 days before I was allowed to leave." I pulled back and he wiped the tears off my cheeks. "We were all called as witnesses to testify against the men. Apparently they were human traffickers, and they were going to use us a sex slaves. Our names were kept out of the news, and the trial was only those who needed to be there were there, so nobody knew what happened. Everyone at school thought I went on vacation, and when I got back I was treated like the nobody I was before I was taken. My parents didn't even care. They didn't even know I was gone until the police called and told them that I was found."

"Madison, I am so sorry that happened to you, but I promise I will help you in any way that I can. If you want to take this as slow as possible, I'm okay with that, you need a shoulder to cry on, don't be afraid to ask, and if you need a day to be completely and totally distracted I will do my best to give that to you."

"You don't find me disguising? And used? And disposable?" I asked and his eyes widened.

"Absolutely not. I think you're amazing, and beautiful, and funny, and smart. You've been through some shit. We all have, but all we can do is try our best to conquer it, and I'll be there every step of the way unless you tell me to back off." HE said and I laughed.

"I don't want you to back off." I said and he smiled. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine, and the sparks that went through my whole body were insane. We sat there kissing until we heard a throat clear from behind us. Clary and Jace were both standing there smiling and I couldn't help but feel super embarrassed. My therapist just caught me making out with a guy, talk about awkward.

"I brought you some pajamas, you can stay in our guest room tonight, and we can get the police over here first thing in the morning if you'd like." Clary said and I smiled.

"I would like that. Thank you Clary, for everything"

"Anything for you." She said and I smiled. She handed me the PJ's and started walking away. "Ryan, you can stay the night as well. I figured you wouldn't want to leave her after what happened."

"Thank you Clary, it means a lot." He said and I have never felt more happiness than I did in this moment.

"Get some rest you two, and we'll see you in the morning." Jace said and they both walked up the stairs. When they were gone I looked back at Ryan and smiled.

"So, how would you like to be my girlfriend Madison?" He asked and I laughed.

"I would love to be your girlfriend." I said and he pressed his lips to mine again. He stood up and reached his hand out and I took it. I lead him to the guest bedroom and got changed and we both got in bed. He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned into his side feeling safe, and loved for the first time in my life.