The ride to the apartment is silent. I keep clearing my throat and adjusting the air, taking quick glances at her to try and see if she's okay. I asked her about ten times since we've been driving until she eventually told me to stop, so I did.

She hasn't cried yet. I would be surprised, but Reina has been through so much shit that I knew she'd get like this. She bottles everything up until she can't take it anymore, and then she'll spill over in anger or tears. It just depends on the situation.

I lean over to turn down the heat again and finally hear her let out a sigh. "Can you stop? I know what you're doing."

"I just think we should talk about it." I suggest.

"Talk about what? Talk about the fact that my drug addict mother wants to see me?"

I'm trying to tread lightly. I know her, and I know that if I say one wrong thing she will shut back down and won't say a word. She needs me now more than ever whether she'd like to believe that or not.

"You don't think she's changed? She called you from rehab, right? I mean, maybe-"

"Maybe nothing." She says through gritted teeth. "No offense Justin, but you know nothing about my past. You don't know what I fucking went through. Trust me when I say that she deserves not an ounce of my time."

"I'd like to know." I say, which surprises her. "I want to know more about that piece of you. It's important."

I pull into the driveway and shut the engine off before I turn to look at her again. I'm chopping away at the wall she's put up, the angry Reina being replaced with the sad, traumatized little girl she's tried so hard to forget.

"You wouldn't want to be with me if you did." She says quietly. "It's not pretty."

I can't help but smile at the audacity of her thoughts. How on earth can she not know how in love I am with her? After everything we've been through? After everything we've built?

"What's so funny?" She asks, clearly hurt.

"Sorry." I immediately reply and grab onto her hands. "I just don't think you realize that there's nothing you could ever do to make me leave you. You should know that by now. Hearing about your past will only draw me closer to you."

"It's just not something I like to talk about." She mumbles. "I get like, nervous about it. I didn't even talk to my therapist about it."

"I get it." I say, understanding completely. "Just know that if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you. I'd like to know."

"Okay." She nods.

"So, you're not going to see her? That's what you've decided on?"

"Nope. Not seeing her."

I drop the topic of discussion as we head into the apartment. I finish cleaning the dishes we made from earlier as I hear her start a shower. Normally I'd go in there and fuck her senseless, but after the night she's had I think it's best if I just let her collect her thoughts.

After another half hour or so I've cleaned up the living room and done some laundry. I realize then that she's taking a longer shower than normal.

"Reina?" I knock softly on the bathroom door and wait to hear an answer.

"Just a minute." She calls back.

I can tell that she's crying though just by the sound of her voice, so I open up the door and catch her off guard. She quickly wipes underneath her eyes to get rid of the mascara that's smudged, but eventually she just starts to cry again and falls into my arms, the both of us sinking onto the floor of the bathroom.

I didn't know when she'd break, but I didn't think it'd be this soon. Her mom's phone call must have had a bigger impact on her than I thought.

"Hey, it's okay..." I breathe into her neck and pull her closer to me. "You're gonna be okay, alright?"

"I-I just don't want to talk about it." She sobs. "Please don't make me talk about it."

"I won't." I promise. "You don't have to."

"She's just a selfish bitch. That's all she ever will be, and I don't want to see her!"

"You don't have to. I'll understand if you don't."

She's crying so hard that she clutches onto my t-shirt. Her whole body is shivering from only the towel surrounding her waist, and in this moment I know that she's about to tell me everything. She's hit her breaking point.

"I was only five." She whimpers. "How could she not have known that he was hurting me? How could she not have heard me crying? Did she not hear him sneak into my room at night? There's no fucking way she didn't know."

I don't know what to reply to that because I'm getting sick to my stomach thinking of her father sexually abusing her. I can't shake the image, and it's killing me. I would have given anything to save her from this pain.

"She was always getting high. She had no idea what was going on around her half the time. If it weren't for me telling my teacher finally about what was going on at home I never would have been taken away from there. I would have been stuck there forever."

I kiss her forehead to try and somehow be comforting even though it's not working. I've never been speechless until right now.

"I bounced around foster homes for years, Justin. School was the only stable thing in my life. It was the only thing that I had to genuinely take me away and distract me from the memories. But when I wasn't at school I was doing stupid shit. I would try to do anything to take away the pain." She pauses, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Like what?" I press, unsure if I honestly want to know or not.

"It started out just being weed. It made me feel good for a little while until it wasn't strong enough. I needed something to take me away from it more, I just craved more peace. I wanted to be so gone that I wouldn't remember anything."

Oh god. I think to myself. Please tell me you didn't, Reina.

"It became oxy for about a year or so, and I would do anything to get more. I didn't have money so I'd offer other things..." She trails off and I wince from the realization of what she's getting at. "My junior year of high school I tried coke for the first time. A couple of guys had some at a party and asked if I wanted any, and I just went along with it. When I took it I-"

Her voice cracks, and before I know it she's starting to sob again. "I felt like her. I just knew that that was how she felt my entire childhood. I immediately wanted the feeling to go away. I felt like a druggie. I felt worthless, like I've hit rock bottom. I stopped all of it though. I promise I did. My senior year I worked my ass off to not end up like them, and when I found out I got accepted to college with a full-ride it was the best day of my life."

"I started drinking again at college parties because I started to feel even more alone than I've ever been. I wanted to go to them to try and fit in, or feel like I actually belonged. You know?"

I nod, still unable to speak.

"The day I met you I felt... different. I felt happier. I was so scared to admit it to myself that I've become attached to someone after being alone for so long... but we just connected in a way that I couldn't describe. You saved me from all of the depression that I was in prior to meeting you and you don't even know it."

I'm staring at her in disbelief almost as I try to grasp all of this information she's spilled to me all on the bathroom floor. I want to say so much, but there's been so much said I don't know where to begin. I understand why she doesn't want to see her mom now, I understand why she was so hard to win over in the beginning now, I understand everything.

"So how am I supposed to go and see her now?" She chokes out. "After everything I've worked so hard to fix within myself? If I take one look at her I'm going to crumble. I know it."

"I could go with you." I offer.

"As if you'd want to do that." She laughs, biting on her thumbnail. "You probably want nothing to do with me now after hearing my story. I'm not better than her."

"Reina. I want to go." She's not looking at me, so I tilt her chin up so that her eyes meet mine. "I'm serious, alright? You did drugs for awhile, I cut. I'm just as fucked up as you, and you need to realize that I didn't save you. We saved each other. I'm always going to be your person, you know? And you're always going to be mine. I wouldn't ever miss an opportunity to be there for you."

She's crying again, nuzzling her face into my chest. I hold her like this for what feels like a half hour in silence, and it feels nice. For the first time I feel like Reina has truly spilled all of her darkest secrets to me.

"I need to think about it." She finally whispers. I help her shakily stand to her feet and twist the towel tighter around her body for her so that it will stay put.

"Maybe we should just go to bed." I suggest. "Sleep on it?"
She nods.

"Justin?" She asks once we're settled into bed. I fall onto my side and move closer to her, staring at her face that's lit up by the moonlight from the window. "I love you more than you'll ever know."

A/N:

I loved writing this chapter so much!

I hope you guys enjoyed it too...

I love them so much together. UGH. 

PLEASE COMMENT/VOTE <3 

I love reading the comments!