Hey everyone! Thanks for your reviews! And to everyone who noticed this, let's all disregard the fact the AJ and Lea are kind of second-and-a-half cousins… I've been thinking about it all day, then I checked my reviews and I got called out on it, so thanks! And, seriously… forget it. XD Please review!

-Emma

My mom pulled up and came into Aunt Kendall's house.

I stood up immediately. "Mom—what happened?"

She hugged me around the shoulders.

I was absolutely lost.

"Mom, please, what happened?"

She released me. She held onto my shoulders.

"Lea, sweetheart, I left my keys in the car… can you go get them for me?"

I frowned out of anger. Mom was never like that. She was cool… she never treated me like a little kid.

"I'm sixteen, Mom. You can't just send me out of a room anymore."

My mom sighed, and Aunt Kendall kept glancing back and forth between her and I.

"So, I guess I have something to tell you."

I had no idea what was going on. I was as confused as a drunken guy in the grocery store.

Did something happen with Ryan?

Was someone hurt?

…

Was someone dead?

"What's going on?" I demanded.

Mom wouldn't look at me, which told me something was up.

"T-they found your father's body."

"What? My father died in a car accident! They found his body 16 years ago."

Mom was crying. Mom never cried.

"N-no… he didn't. Your father f-fell over Miller Falls when I was about 2 months pregnant with you. He was wrestling a gun out of his mother's, Vanessa, hands because she was trying to kill me… and they went over together."

No… that wasn't right… that would mean… no…

I shot up from my seat on the couch.

"You've been lying tome? For all these years? Every time I asked about my father, you MADE UP how he died! That's just… how could you be so cruel?" I screamed.

I hated my mother in that moment, whether she had a good explanation for lying to me my entire life or not.

"Lea, I was protecting you!" My mom said, actually looking at me this time.

What a load of crap.

I didn't want to hear that.

I felt so many things in that moment… anger, sadness, and one thing I hadn't felt in such a long time… pure, unadulterated hatred.

"From knowing the truth about my father? Mother, that's just cruel. I've grown up believing my father died in some random car accident… and he fell over a waterfall! How could you do this to me?"

I ran outside, cursing my mother out under my breath. I'd forgotten my jacket inside and it was freezing out.

I ran to my mom's car as they came outside after me. Turns out, as usual, she had left her keys in the ignition. I drove off, watching them call my name.

By the time I'd driven all the way out to Miller Falls, it was about 5:30, and the police had just cleared out after their investigation.

I walked up to the top of the falls and sat down, my arms wrapped around my knees. I was freezing cold, listening to the rushing water below me… thinking of the way it claimed my father on that night all those years ago.

My mother had lied to me my entire life.

But now I understood why.

Vanessa had tried to kill my mother… while she was pregnant with me.

I could've been claimed there, too.

My phone kept ringing, and I was starting to get annoyed with it… so annoyed in fact that I smashed my phone up against a rock.

I held onto the medallion around my neck and cried.

I wished more than anything that my father were there, holding me… telling me everything was going to be okay… telling me not to cry.

I thought about the picture of him I kept on my nightstand… the picture I said "Good morning" and "Goodnight" to everyday. I thought about the way he looked, his handsome features, his hair that my mom said always stuck up in some place all the time.

I regretted never getting to know him… even if it wasn't my fault.

And my mother… God, I was mad at her.

I hated her.

I never wanted to see her again…

But, I knew I had to.

I rubbed my arms and shivered.

Then, there were footsteps behind me and I winced, fearing that I was about to meet my fate head on too… I don't know, something about that place always scared me… but being there… it made me feel closer to my dad.

"Hey." I heard a familiar voice say.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

AJ sat down next to me on the rocks.

" You scared the hell out of me." I wiped my eyes. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Kind of guessed. Mom told me what happened… your mom called her since she and your dad were best friends."

"Mom" in this case was Bianca. She was my mom's cousin, AJ's step-mom and my dad's best friend. I don't know why… but I called her Aunt Bianca, just because it seemed fit. She was like another mom to me, just like Aunt Kendall.

AJ called Bianca "Mom."

Bianca was his step-mom and he loved her like she was his real mom.

At least SHE didn't try to replace his mother, but partly because she didn't have to.

I sighed and shivered. AJ looked over at me.

"You cold?" He asked, concerned about my well-being. It was adorable that he cared.

"A little bit." I said.

He took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders and rubbed my arms as I cuddled up to him, staring down at the rushing water.

"I'm better now."

He laughed and we sat there for a while, listening to the water.

I broke our silence, bringing up something I knew only he would understand.

"I wonder what my dad was thinking about… you know, when he went over."

AJ whispered in my ear.

"I'll bet my life that he was thinking about how awful it was going to be to never get to know someone as amazing as you."

I couldn't take it.

I kissed him, my hand on his neck. He placed his hands on the back of my head and deepened the kiss.

I loved him. I knew it. I wanted to tell him, in the second. But kissing him felt so good.

When the kiss was over, we sat there with our eyes closed. HE breathed the words I'd waited so long to hear.

"I love you."

I was ready to cry again.

"I love you, too." I whispered.

We stood up and were abut to walk down to the cars when something happened.

I slipped on some ice… and went over.

I fell onto a ledge and hit my head on a rock.

"LEA!" AJ screamed.

I was breathing heavily, thinking I was going to die, especially when I saw the blood coming out of my head..

I saw someone I'd never seen up close before:

My father.

"Hey there, baby."

And it was black.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN. Well there you have it. I'll try my best to update tomorrow, because I have to write the epilogue for Almost Perfect, a Glee story I've been working on for a few weeks. Please review! And ideas are always appreciated! Thanks so much!

-Emma :)