Author's Note: For anyone who already read this chapter and got a new notification, I apologize...the only thing that changed is this author's note. At one reviewer's suggestion, I wanted to add a little bit of a warning for the content in this chapter. There's a lot of Emma & Mia with Mia opening up about what happened between Trey Gilbert (Mia's foster father) and Mia. He sexually abused her. I didn't go into graphic detail and I've seen similar mentions of this type of abuse in other stories with this rating, but if that content will bother you, you might want to skip this chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 5

"Avery's dad is taking him to see Divergent and he wants to know if I can come," Henry called from in front of the computer.

Emma tried to remember the storyline for that one. "Yeah, okay. What time?"

"Now…he messaged me while we were at Dave and Busters."

"Call Avery and make sure they haven't left yet. If they haven't, I'll walk you."

"Walk me?" Henry repeated. "Avery lives three floors down…"

Emma didn't want her son wandering around alone in their building since her creepy stalker had managed to get into the building twice already. "Then it'll be a fast walk."

Henry turned to Mia. "Do you want to come?"

Mia looked a little uncomfortable. "Uh, no, that's okay…it's your friend."

"Mia and I can watch a chick flick while you're gone," Emma told her son. It looked like he was going to try to convince Mia to go…and Emma needed to talk to the girl without an audience. "Go…call Avery."

Emma was happy to see Mia sitting on the couch watching TV when she got back from walking Henry down to Avery's apartment. She'd only been gone for five minutes tops, but it had been the first time she'd left Mia alone in the apartment…and Mia was still there.

Emma grabbed the remote control and muted the TV. She sat down next to Mia on the couch and turned to the girl. "You ready to talk now?"

"I don't have a choice…do I?" Mia said in a resigned tone.

"You agreed to the terms of the bet. Are you going to go back on your word?"

"No," Mia said a little huffily.

Emma waited several seconds, but Mia didn't say anything. "You promised me answers about what Trey did to you…"

"Yeah, answers. You haven't asked me any questions yet."

Emma gave her a look. She wasn't surprised by the attitude…she knew Mia really did not want to have this conversation. If that was how the girl wanted to play it… "Okay, smartass…this morning when I asked if Trey hurt you-"

"You didn't ask," Mia interjected. "You told me he hurt me."

Emma was a little taken aback by that and tried to remember what she had said. "I said I was guessing he did…and I still think he did something to you. You haven't taken your jacket off since you got here…"

"I'm cold," Mia lied.

"I'm pretty good at pool, but there are a few things I'm better at, and one of them is knowing when anyone is lying…and you are," Emma said with a knowing expression.

Mia reluctantly shrugged off the black bomber jacket. She balled the jacket up in her lap and clutched it like a safety blanket.

Emma eyed the dark purple fingerprints on Mia's otherwise pale wrist. Someone had wrapped their hand around the girl's tiny wrist and held it tightly enough to bruise…to drag her somewhere she didn't want to go or hold her in place when she was trying to get away…but if that was the case, what was the girl trying to get away from? That was the main question that Emma wanted to get an answer to.

"Did Trey do that?" Emma prompted.

Mia nodded stiffly.

Emma winced sympathetically. "It looks like it hurt."

"I tried to push him away…that's the only reason he grabbed me like that," Mia explained. It almost sounded like she was defending him.

"Why?"

Mia stared blankly.

"You said you tried to push him away. Why? What was he doing to you?"

"He wasn't hitting me," Mia said quickly. "He's not what you think he is. He was nice to me. He was interested in my life. He actually spent time with me. Dawn works nights so most nights it was just Trey and me for dinner. He even took me out to dinner part of the time. We watched TV or movies together after dinner."

Emma felt like she was waiting for the punch line because that wasn't it…it couldn't be. She'd seen the police report from the night Trey was arrested for domestic violence and she could see at least one bruise on the girl that had been living with him. She knew there might be more bruises covered by the girl's thin cotton t-shirt or jeans…she knew from firsthand experience where abusive foster parents left bruises.

Mia took a deep breath before continuing. "When we were watching TV, Trey rubbed my shoulders and back. Sometimes he tickled me. He was just…always touching me. I didn't think it was weird." She sighed almost wistfully. "I thought maybe that was what it was like to have a dad…and I just didn't know because I don't have parents."

Emma's heart clenched. She understood mistaking any kindness or affection from a foster parent as…well, parental. All kids like Mia – like her - wanted parents more than anything. But this wasn't just another foster parent who let the girl down - Trey had clearly done something to her…something bad.

Mia looked at Emma for the first time since she started talking. Emma could see fear in the girl's hazel eyes…eyes that reminded her so much of her son's eyes. The girl was scared shitless. "You said you wouldn't call the cops on me…but what about on Trey?"

"I know how hard it is for you to trust me when you've only known people that have let you down. I promise I won't do anything that will hurt you," Emma said carefully.

Mia scoffed. "That's such a cop out."

Emma sighed. "Wasn't part of the deal that you'd give me a chance?"

Mia chewed on her lower lip as she considered. After several seconds, she nodded hesitantly. "One night…he, um, walked in on me when I was changing. I thought it was a mistake, but it wasn't. He, um…he touched me. I told him it hurt, but he didn't care…he forced me to do things…things I didn't want to do." Her voice cracked. It sounded like she was near tears, but she was trying not to cry.

Emma felt like she couldn't breathe. She knew Trey was violent. She expected bruises and scars…not this - this was almost worse. "That's when you tried to push him away?"

"No." Mia looked down. Her cheeks were flushed. Emma didn't know if it was from anger or embarrassment…or maybe both. "It wasn't a one-time thing…he kept coming into my room at night after that."

"How long has this been going on? Emma asked grimly.

"I don't know…a couple months?"

"What happened the night you got this?" Emma brushed her fingers gently over the bruise on the girl's thin wrist and then took the girl's hand in her own and squeezed lightly.

"He touched me, but he always stopped before…he never actually raped me," Mia choked out. "I think he was going to the night he was arrested. He was acting different. I think he was drunk? I don't know…something wasn't right. I tried to push him away, but he grabbed me and held me down."

"Did he rape you?" Emma asked through clenched teeth…she felt like she had to ask even though she didn't really want to know the answer. She felt like she was going to be sick…she could only imagine how Mia felt.

"No…Dawn came home early. She never liked me, but I guess she saved me. She walked in on us. She was really mad. She said she knew he was messing around with me. She threw something at him- I didn't see what it was, but it didn't hit him. He threw her into the wall and hit her. They were both yelling. I guess a neighbor heard…I don't know - someone must have called the cops. When they showed up, I got dressed and went out the window."

"You didn't tell anyone?"

"I just knew if I told anyone what happened, it would go in my file. I'm almost thirteen. No one wants a teenager…especially not one that's damaged goods…"

Mia wasn't wrong. Emma knew any abuse or trauma would go in the girl's file with Social Services…and it would make it even harder to find a family to take her in - as if it weren't hard enough already. As kids got older, their chances of getting adopted went downhill fast. Emma had been a little older than Mia was now when she realized she was never going to find a family…and that had been without any history of sexual abuse in her record. This poor kid…no wonder she didn't trust anyone. Bet or no bet, it meant a lot that Mia was actually trusting Emma with this.

"I get it." Emma only realized how that would sound after she said it. "I'm not saying that I understand how you feel…I don't. What Trey did to you is worse than anything I went through when I was in the system. But I get what it's like to be an older kid in your situation. And I know how it feels when everyone thinks they know you because they've seen your file."

"It sucks," Mia said bluntly.

Mia just stared at Emma when the woman said she got it. Okay, maybe the woman understood what it was like in the system, but Mia didn't think anyone could really understand how she felt about Trey…she didn't even really understand it herself. Her emotions were very conflicting.

There was a part of her that still felt like Trey was the closest thing she'd ever had to a dad. None of her other foster fathers had ever wanted to spend time with her. It had always just felt like she was in the way in other homes…never wanted, only tolerated because she came attached with a government check. She had some good memories of Trey from before he started hurting her. He had taken her out for pizza to celebrate when her drawing won a ribbon at the school art show. He even got her a Christmas gift…one of few she'd ever received. There was another part of her that was terrified of him. In the back of her mind, she wondered what she had done wrong to make him turn on her…

"I'm not saying that I understand how you feel…I don't," Emma said quickly. "What Trey did to you is worse than anything I went through when I was in the system. But I get what it's like to be an older kid in your situation. And I know how it feels when everyone thinks they know you because they've seen your file."

"It sucks."

"Yeah, it does. But here's the thing…the domestic violence charge is Trey's first offense. He won't do a lot of time for that - and that's if he does any time at all. If you tell the cops what he did to you, he'll go to prison for a long time…maybe even the rest of his life. But you're right…it won't just go in his record…it'll go in yours, too. Ultimately, the choice is yours."

Mia felt like she couldn't breathe…for a second there it had sounded like Emma was going to make her tell. She shook her head. "I can't…"

"That's okay…you don't have to," Emma said gently.

"But you think I should." Since when did Mia even care what Emma thought?

Emma sighed. "I think you deserve justice…and Trey deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison…"

"And I deserve a one-way ticket to a group home?" Mia said bitterly.

"No. You don't deserve any of this."

Mia didn't know about that. "Maybe I do. I liked spending time with him…I don't know…maybe he thought I wanted it?"

"You liked spending time with him because you want a dad – all kids in your situation do…I did. But he's not your dad. He's a sick bastard. I'm going to find your birth father." Emma sounded angry, but Mia could tell it wasn't with her…it was with Trey.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Mia wondered. She expected Emma to react like Dawn had…and Dawn had seemed to think Mia was every bit as much to blame as Trey.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Mia shrugged. "Dawn was mad at me."

"Dawn was wrong." Emma's voice had hardened. "None of this is your fault. It's Trey's fault…and the system's to blame for placing you with someone like that. You should never have been in that house. There's something I don't understand though…why did you go back there after that?"

"I was in a hurry to leave before the cops saw me and I left without my backpack. I had to go back to get it. Dawn was leaving with a suitcase. She was pretty banged up so I figured the cops would have arrested Trey. I had the house to myself…it was a hell of a lot better than another foster home or group home."

"But Trey came back?"

Mia nodded. "To get his stuff… he said Dawn told the cops a bunch of lies and he had to get out of there." A horrible thought occurred to Mia. She looked at Emma with wide eyes. "Do you think Dawn told them?"

"She didn't say anything about what he did to you. It would have been in the police report and it wasn't."

"Oh…you've seen the police report?"

"It was in the file I got on Trey when he skipped bail," Emma explained.

"Can I see it?"

Emma considered for a few seconds before retrieving the file and sliding the police report over to her. It had the officer's name, statements from Dawn and Trey, a description of Dawn's injuries, and a note on Trey's arrest. There was no mention of her anywhere in the report. She handed it back to the woman.

Emma gave her a wry smile. "See? I wasn't lying."

"That's not why I wanted to see it," Mia said quickly.

"Oh?" Emma sounded more amused than annoyed.

Mia sighed. "It's not you. I don't trust anyone. I'm trying to give you a chance…I wouldn't have told you any of that if I wasn't. I would've just told you he grabbed my wrist and that's it."

After they exhausted the subject of Trey, Emma let Mia pick a movie to watch on Netflix. The girl fell asleep on the couch shortly after it started. She was curled up in the fetal position. Emma unfolded the soft fleece throw blanket draped over the back of the couch and carefully covered the girl.

There wasn't anything more she could do to find Mia's birth parents over the weekend. She would go back to the Gilberts' house sometime before Monday to see if she could find Mia's medical records anywhere. If she couldn't find them or couldn't find anything to narrow down her search in the girl's medical records, Emma would start making calls to Boston hospitals on Monday. She would need to talk to administrative staff in record keeping, and she didn't think they would be working weekends. She had a few other ideas if the hospitals ended up being a dead end, but they would also have to wait until Monday.

Emma could look for Trey over the weekend though. She would be happy to be the one to put him back in jail where he belonged…she just wished there was a way for him to go away for what he did to Mia without hurting the girl. It wasn't just that the molestation would go in her file with Social Services…it was also that there would be a trial if Trey were prosecuted. As reluctant as Mia had been to tell her what happened, Emma didn't know how the girl would get through a trial with a defense attorney grilling her and the judge and jury listening in. A trial would be really hard on her. She didn't think that had even occurred to Mia, but it had occurred to Emma.

Emma opened her laptop and started checking popular social media sites to see if Trey Gilbert had accounts, and, if he did, if there was any recent activity. She was scrolling through his Facebook when Mia cried out in her sleep.

Emma looked over at the girl. She was still sleeping, but she was no longer in the fetal position. She had managed to kick the blanket off of her as she struggled with an unseen attacker. It wasn't hard to guess Trey was featured heavily in her nightmare.

The memories of everything he did would have been fresh in the girl's mind when she fell asleep. Maybe Emma shouldn't have pushed her for answers. She thought she'd be able to help her, but she didn't know how to help her with this…or if she even could. The girl cried out again, even more desperately.

"Mia!" Emma called out tentatively.

The girl stilled, but started talking almost frantically in her sleep. Most of the mumbled words were incoherent, but Emma managed to make out a distinct no and a distressed plea. Her heart clenched.

"Mia!" Emma tried again.

Emma didn't know if touching the girl was a good idea considering what she was dreaming about, but she couldn't think of any other way to wake her. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder and shook gently. "Mia?"

Mia's eyes flew open at her touch. The girl shot bolt upright, breathing heavily.

"Hey, it's alright…you're okay. It's just me," Emma said gently.

"Emma," Mia breathed.

Emma let out a relieved sigh. "Yeah."

Mia crossed her thin arms loosely in front of her stomach like she was trying to hug herself. Emma put a comforting arm around the girl's thin shoulders. It had been instinctive, and as soon as her brain caught up with her, she half-expected the girl to shrug her off. To her surprise, Mia didn't…she stiffened for a fraction of a second and then relaxed into Emma's arm.

"Sorry," Mia muttered.

"I'm the one that should apologize. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed you for answers…it just dredged all of that up for you," Emma said.

"No, it's not your fault. It's…not the first time I've had that nightmare."

"I think I know where Trey's hiding. I'm going after him tomorrow. He'll be back in jail without bail. No one will bond him out again." Emma hoped it would help to know that.

"I don't want to talk about him anymore." Mia disengaged from Emma's arm.

"Are you still tired?" Emma asked.

Mia shook her head. "I don't want to go back to sleep right now. I just want to watch the movie."

Emma handed the girl the remote control in case she wanted to restart the movie and then went into the kitchen. She returned with two bowls of ice cream and set one down on the coffee table in front of Mia.

Mia raised her eyebrows. "Rocky Road?"

"It's just ice cream. It's not symbolic."

Mia gave her a small smile and dug in.