Kiandre's p.o.v

As soon as those vile words had left Jamie's mouth my heart dropped out of my chest, my brain was sent into over drive thinking about what else he would have reveled if Cassidy didn't intervene. I remembered the night of the pool party when Layton had said she had demons to, I didn't expect them to be this malicious. I needed her to know I was all in, for the good and even more for the bad.

As I exited the kitchen my eyes scanned and immediately found Layton- damn she knew how to stand out in a crowd. I made my way over to her and Rose.

End of p.o.v

"Bellissma, let's get out of here" Kiandre whispered in Layton's ear while his hand rested on the small f her back. She eagerly agreed- after all spending a night in Kiandre's arms sounded like heaven right about now and luckily the hotel was in walking distance

As the two walk off Kiandre turns back and mouths to Rose "find Cassidy" she understood and did exactly that

Rose enters the kitchen and sees Cassidy along with Jamie in a standoff. Cassidy looked like he was ready for a fight- so different from his usual calm demeanor.

"What's going on here boys?"

Jamie turns around in shame

"Our friend here blurted out Layton's business in front of Kiandre" huffs Cassidy

Rose knew what business Cass was referring to, she walked up to Jamie and slapped him "it wasn't your place to say anything"

Kiandre's p.o.v

We walked hand in hand to the hotel and once we entered our room my blood began to boil, I could feel the heat rush through my veins, I immediately removed my shirt and opened a window, hoping the cool night breeze would sooth me. Layton sat on the floor against the bed in an ultra-sexy way

- I guess she and I had different plans on how the night would go.

End of p.o.v

I watched Kiandre at the window, his muscles tensed and jaw clenched, the veins on his neck swelling as they did when he was angry. He stared out of the window like he was miles away,

he hardly noticed my attempt to seduce him.

"Alright Kia, what's on your mind" I go up to him and from behind wrap my arms around him, kissing his shoulder blade.

He turns around

"Angelo, I've shown and told you about the deepest parts of me and you've done nothing but shown me love, I want you to know it works both ways"

"I know" says Layton as she places her palm against Kiandre's now cold chest

"Jamie mentioned some things about your mother"

The color drained from Layton's face as panic took over her eyes

"Hey hey baby relax, you don't have to say anything, I just want you to know when you are ready to talk I'll always be there to listen" sincerity in Kiandre's voice as he comforts Layton

"You've bared your scars to me it's about time I do the same"

Please note from this part onwards it will be Layton speaking about her childhood trauma

I will skip over the whole "my parents love story"

After a few years of dating my mother, Isabelle found out she was pregnant. My dad just starting out his political career thought it was best that they got married. Their relationship was a bit rocky because my dad would work long hours or be out of town for months at a time but when I was born things began looking up- we were a normal family until dad got offered a job that would boost his career unfortunately it was far away.

Isabelle supported him and told him to go for it, she would stay at home with me. That's when things took a dark twist. She began feeling overwhelmed and would dump me with Sandra (Jamie's mom) and went to do god knows what, Sandra looked after me most days even though her husband was away with my dad and she had Jamie to see to.

When dad would come home she would act as if everything was fine, like she had it under control. I was 4 the first time she left me home alone without an explanation. She would always come back smelling like a brewery, she would get violent- not physically but she would shout at me and lock me in my room for days or break something of mine when I would cry. she wouldn't cook or clean , I had to make my own meals, I was a little girl, I don't know how many times I got burnt from the stove.

Then she started to cheat on my father, bringing strange men into our family home. In front of everyone she was the "supportive wife" but behind closed doors she was a monster. When she was drunk she would fight with her flings, throwing and breaking things. There was so many nights I would have to sing myself to sleep to drown out the noise downstairs.

"You're probably wondering why I didn't mention any of this to my dad right."

"I'm sure you had your reasons love, please continue"

She would grab and twist my arm and use her famous lines on me 'if you tell your father he wouldn't believe you, he loves me and you're just a little girl, look as soon as you were born he left' or she would threaten me 'your father is a busy man, if I went away nobody would look after you, you'd be thrown in the shelters' but her most famous line was 'do you want to ruin your fathers career, he would have to quit to take care of you and he would end up hating you'

I was a child and those words scared me, I loved my father and didn't want to ruin things for him so I kept quite- her guilt trips worked on me. So naturally I turned to Jamie and told him what was going on. He promised to keep things quiet and even tried to protect me by always been around or insisting on sleep overs at his house.

I was 8 when my dad ran for Mayor of lightwood heights, I was glad he was back home. I knew I would be safe. Dad was making a good amount of money that Isabelle had no problem blowing away but that and her years of mental abuse would come to a stop. Dad had won the election with Jamie's father Frank as his deputy. One day he had a meeting out of town that night a heavy storm swept through Lightwood so he decided to stay where he was.

Isabelle took this opportunity to bring one of her flings over- it had been months and she was tired of hiding who she really was. I had gone downstairs for a glass of water when I bumped into a man, he scanned me up and down in such a way I began to feel exposed. An evil smirk played on his crooked lips. Isabelle came up behind me and asked the man if he liked what he saw and well he did, I tried to run back upstairs but she stopped me. I remember her words so clearly "you can have a go at her if you want" she had practically sold me to that man- no wait she gave me away for free, my innocence, I meant nothing to her. I hoped she was drunk out of her mind or joking but she was neither. The power had tripped because of the storm and I used the opportunity to run out the door.

It was freezing and I was soaked, the rain poured down and the wind howled, my little legs did their best to bring me to safety. I showed up at the Becker's door and broke down. I remember Jamie holding onto me trying to get me warm, I explained everything to Frank and Sandra and Jamie supported me through it all. When my dad came to know he was appalled and heartbroken. He and Frank did everything in their power to make sure Isabelle paid for her sins, she is currently serving 25 to life in prison, he felt no guilt as he stopped loving her a long time ago.

My dad spent the next years making it up to me and loving me enough for two parents. He hired Joyce to be there when he couldn't so I wouldn't be alone. Although I had met Rose and Cassidy in Primary school I had only told them what happened when we began High school, so yeah that's why the lot of them are so protective over me.

Kiandre sat backwards against the headboard, tears in his eyes

"I ...I cant , how could someone" incoherent sentences escaping his lips

Layton cozies up to him, he envelopes her in his arms and kisses her forehead. It was so heard to hear all those things about the girl he adored, but he could only imagine how hard it was for her to speak her truth and relive the pain. He wanted to say how sorry he was but he knew she must have been tired of people's sympathy.

"I'm amazed at the person you are Layton Cruz, despite what you have been through, the world didn't turn you sour." "And I'm grateful to Jamie for trying to protect you - makes me want to punch his face less" Kiandre jokes trying to lighten the mood.

The two lay in silence knowing tomorrow would bring forth a whole lot more to deal with. Although in that moment they knew- for as long as they had each other they would be just fine.