A/N- Marley's birth father is portrayed by Brad Pitt (In case you were wondering)

***

The pain in the side of my face has subsided, but the ache of knowing my own father hit me is still here. In my opinion that one hurts more. I've been sitting on this floor for 10 minutes just wallowing in self pity. I finally take control of my body and crawl on all fours to my room and slam the door shut. I don't want to see my dad. Not now.

The man I have known for years is gone. Vanished. Disappeared. I don't know which is the real him.

In these past few days I've learned things I didn't want to know and seen him in new lights. He taught me to be an honest person and all the while he was hiding the biggest secret of all. But when his hand hit my face I knew that this man wasn't the same man that would push me on the swing when I was 7 years old. He wasn't the same man who would tuck me in at night and check for monsters. He is completely different.

He is the monster that children are scared of and the reason they seek refuge under the covers. He is like a monster. He hid for so long like a monster hiding under a child's bed just waiting in silence. I am like the child who is oblivious to what lurks beyond and is content without knowing. And when I was least expecting it the monster attacked leaving me broken.

When I was 6 years old I was dumped in an adoption center because my family didn't love me before. I was a glass doll and they broke me. All the negativity and haunting memories I had with my birth family were terrifying and I tried my best to push it all out and block it out. My adoptive family sheltered me and protected me and gave me hope that love still existed. That facade broke when my dad hit me. He is no different from the people who saved me from all those years ago.

So sitting here, in a fortress of blankets with no one to tell me to love me and an ache that cannot be cured, all the memories I have fought for so long come flooding back. And I'm helpless to stop them. 

***Flashback 10 years ago (A/N- 3rd person POV instead of first person)***

"Papa," giggles a blonde girl with wavy hair. She crosses a wide and vast field kicking up dirt as she runs to the tree where her dad is. She stretches out her arms and is scooped up by a tall man with dirty blonde hair. He tosses her in the air and catches her with ease placing her gently back down on the ground. She continues to giggle and chants "again" repeatedly. He shakes his head causing his hair to dance wildly in the breeze.

"Sorry pumpkin, no can do. I'm sore and tired," he complains. She pouts and crosses her arms. He smiles at his daughter, but it doesn't reach his eyes like it used to. Marley, of course only being a child, didn't notice her dad slowly losing his spark. It was only a matter of time before the ember died. He places a hand on her back to guide her back to the house.

She waddles towards the house when they are intercepted by Marley's sister. They were twins and you would know immediately because they were identical in appearance. They aren't similar  in personality though. They were polar opposites. Marley was giggly and bubbly. She would start a conversation with anyone. However her sister, Eliza, was quiet and kept to herself. She preferred the company of her imaginary friends, who she insisted were real, more than her own sister. There was the odd time, like now, when she would want to play with Marley.

"Can we play hide and seek?" asks Eliza while tugging on Marley's arm towards the house. Marley eagerly nods , her blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight, and they run into the house leaving their poor father alone. They slide open the door and head to the living room.

"Before you play give me a kiss. I'm going to the corner store down the street for some milk, so you can play while daddy takes a quick nap," their mother calls from the den. Both girls walk side by side to kiss their mother goodbye. Marley kisses one cheek while Eliza kisses the other. Eliza grabs Marley's hand and drags her to the window to wave off their mother as she pulls out of the driveway. Once she is out of view Eliza demands that Marley is 'it'.

"Count to 10 and then you find me," orders Eliza as she dances out of the room. Marley's little hands cover her eyes as she begins to count. No peaking reminds a little voice at the back of her mind.

"Ready or not here I come," Marley yells. Her hands move away from her eyes. She peeks behind her couch only to find a few chords. She searches in behind the lamp and table. She moves on to the kitchen only to find it empty. She climbs the stairs.

"I'm gonna find you," she taunts when she reaches the top of the stairs. She pushes open the door to the room Eliza and herself share. She checks under the covers and under the bed and closet. With a huff she moves on.

Once she has scoured the entire house only to come up empty handed she approaches her parent's room. She remembered her mom's warning that her dad was asleep, but this is the only room she could be in. Quietly she pushes open the door and let's out a piercing scream.

Hanging from the ceiling with a rope around his neck is her dad. A chair is knocked over and shattered glass is all over the floor.

"Daddy!" Marley screams. At that moment Eliza rushes in along with their mother.

"Oh my God," her mother cries with a hand covering her mouth. She pushes her children out of the room and dials 911. Eliza hugs Marley uncomfortably as they sit on the couch. Doctors, police officers, and firefighters pour into their house. A coroner takes away the body. A short police officer with a beer belly sits in the love seat across from them. Another one helps their mom down the stairs to sit with them.

"I just want to ask some questions," states the police officer.

"Maybe we shouldn't do it with the children around," she mumbles.

"Sorry ma'am, but they might have seen something and can help with our investigation."

She nods.

"Okay. My name is officer Darren. Have you noticed anything unusual in his behavior lately? Any sudden changes?" Their mom shakes her head.

"Not really. I mean he was stressed because of his new promotion which meant more work, but he never acted different around me."

"Daddy became more serious," pipes up Marley. Eliza nudges her with her elbow.

"Miss May-weather says you shouldn't tell him that because it's none of his business," scolds Eliza. Marley glares at her and sticks her tongue out.

"Miss May-weather is a doo-doo head and won't talk to me. You guys never let me play!" whines Marley.

"She doesn't like you."

"I'm sorry who's Miss May-weather?" interrupts officer Darren. Eliza turns to him with a blank look on her face.

"She's my friend. She helps me and gives me advice and tells me what to do sometimes. She's sitting beside you right now," she says matter-of-factually. She shifts around awkwardly in her seat. She hates that there are a lot of people in the room.

"I don't want to be here. I'm leaving now. Come along Miss May-weather," she states while sticking out her hand for her friend to take. "Goodbye."

Officer Darren raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Don't worry about her. She's just a little awkward," their mom assures him. He shrugs off her answer and goes back to Marley.

"What do you mean he became more serious?" She shrugs.

"He didn't want to play with me as much anymore and always complained about pain and work."

"I see. Thank you for your time ladies. I'm sorry for your loss. Mrs. Cox," he he says while tipping his hat and disappearing into the night sky.

Ever since that day nothing in the Cox residence was the same. Their mom gained more distance and didn't talk to them. She would make up excuses about work or needing sometime alone. The babysitter she hired spent more time with them than their actually mother. Eliza abandoned Marley to play with Miss May-weather. Whenever she would see Eliza she would be talking to her in a hushed voices.

Marley was all alone. Days passed and finally their mom collected their belongings. She took Eliza's hand in one of her's and Marley's in the other.

"Come along," ushers them mom. She buckles them into their seats. Marley looks over to her sister who simply shrugs. She looks behind her to notice all their belongings are in the van.

"Are we going on a trip mommy?" asks Marley. Her eyes twinkle with excitement. Her mom turns around from the driver seat.

"Yeah. Something like that," she says looking at Marley through the rear view mirror. Marley falls asleep with a smile on her face and the soothing bumping of the road under the car.

Even in her slumber Marley can feel the car come to a halt. Her eyes flutter open to the sight of her mother leaning over her. She unbuckles the seat belt and carries her into a building. Standing inside already is Eliza with a lady. The lady is talking to Eliza, but Eliza is backing away from her. She never did like meeting new people too much.

"Okay. Mommy is going to go away for a while and-"

"Where are you going?" asks Eliza without a hint of curiosity. It was more annoyance.

"Home. But I can't watch over you guys. I'm a terrible mother. It was always John's job to watch over you and I can't handle it. I'm sorry. When you're older I will come back for you."

"Do you promise?" asks Eliza. Marley left her mother and ran straight into the arms of the lady to cry.

Her mom smiles a little. "Yes. I promise." And with that she left. She never did come back like she promised.

The lady at the building explained everything to them. She introduced herself as Sandra. She told them their mom put them up for adoption and had been setting it up all week which is why they rarely saw her. She assured them that whatever time they had together would be spent having fun. Marley cried herself to sleep knowing that her parents had left her. Eliza locked herself in her room and only came out for food.

Three months had passed and so did their 7th birthday which Marley spent alone and a young couple came walking in hand in hand. Marley watched behind a counter as the couple approached Sandra's desk. The woman had gorgeous waist long black hair and a piercing blue eyes. The man was taller, much taller, than his wife. They looked at each other with so much love it made Marley feel all warm inside and miss her parents.

The woman spoke first. "Hello, we would like to adopt a child."

Sandra who was intensely focused on the paperwork in front of her looked up. "Well you've certainly come to the right place. The process for adoption is long, but we can have your child in your home in 8 months tops if you adopt a child from here."

"Yes of course," says the man. He stretches out his hand. "James."

Sandra smiles. "I'm Sandra." She looks at the woman with him.

"Jenna."

"Like I said, it will take a while, but we have two children present in the center. Twins."
The woman looks nervously at her husband.

"We can only adopt one. I know it makes me a terrible person for saying that, but we come from a single income family and can't afford two."

"Not a problem. The one child is distant and to be honest," Sandra lowers her voice an octave. "She doesn't really like people. A couple came before you to adopt her but she bit the man's hand. Marley is the one you want."

"Oh of course," cheers the woman. "If you don't mind me asking why are they here?"

"There father committed suicide. Poor things and their mom couldn't handle the two of them, so she put them here at the orphanage. I can introduce you to Marley. Right this way."

Marley's eyes widened when she realized they were going to catch her snooping. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her to her room down the hall. She face planted into the bed and lifted up a book to pretend to be busy. The door opened and she could feel her heart hammering.

"Marley," calls Sandra with her head popped from behind the door. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

***End of Flashback***

I didn't notice it, but tears were running down my face. Crap my mascara. A couple months after I was adopted, so was Eliza. She was taken into a loving home much like mine from what my dad tells me.

The pain I went through then with no one to call family is how I feel now. But then I was to young to change that. I can move on from this and forgive him. His face showed that he felt terrible for it. I wipe away the tears from my face with the back of my hand. I search the house for my dad and, of course, he's in his study.

His face brightens when he sees me and in a second he's standing right in front of He places one hand on each of my arms.

"Marley, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me I didn't mean to," he pleads with begging eyes.

"I forgive you."

"Thank you. I know I don't deserve it," he exclaims. I nod and go back to my room. I snatch my phone from my charger and go towards the front door. I slip on my navy blue trench coat and leave the house.

The autumn air feels nice against my skin especially since the hot tears stain my face. From the depths of my pocket I hear my phone's ringtone play. I fumble around for it and finally read the message.

It wasn't my intention for him to hit you, but things just kinda worked out that way. Who knew some good would come out of your false report?

Angrily I smash my phone down onto the driveway. The screen shatters and millions of plastic particles scatter onto the black pavement along with chips from inside. How can she send texts when I don't have my phone anymore? I will just get a new one.

I shove my hands into my pockets and walk aimlessly down the street until my mind can become clear enough to figure out what I want to do next.

***
A/N- I HAVE REACHED 1k reads! GUYS THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE! Thank you so so much for reading! So many people to thank! So I wrote a long (well my version of a long lol) update for you guys :) thank you! Ahhh!

~Mar♥️♥️