Secrets and Lies ||mildie/sillie||

Chapter 14

Sadie was stunned, she sat there open mouthed, no idea what to say. Millie had turned away and was again just sat watching Ava sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the drama happening around her.

After several minutes of silence, Millie spoke "Sadie, I'm sorry...can you...I need to be alone, can you go downstairs...please."

"Sure thing" she said softly. As Sadie reached the doorway she looked back to see Millie with her head in her hands, sobbing silently, she watched as she lay down on the small couch, and, still crying silently, reached out and caressed Ava's face gently.

Sadie made her way slowly downstairs, feeling as if she was in some horrible dream from which she couldn't wake up. As she entered the lounge everyone stopped talking and looked over. "Um, Millie, she just wanted some time alone, she's in Ava's room" she explained.

"Come on" said Noah, patting the spot on the couch next to him, "you look washed out". Sadie duly sat next to him, glad to be told what to do as she couldn't think any more. Millie's revelation had both stunned and horrified her.

"Millie told you?" asked Kelly. Sadie nodded, trying to keep her emotions in check, but unable to suppress the tears that had been threatening to escape for a while now. "She told you everything? Even about..."

"Ava. Yes, she told me." She found herself looking at Kelly, studying her face and the emotions that passed over it, fear, hurt, pain, but mainly sadness, sadness for her own daughter. Gaten reached over and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting side-hug. She turned and smiled in thanks.

"So, what happened after the attack? I need to know" said Sadie to the room.

"Noah, he managed to raise the alarm, we searched for over an hour, us, the cops, the teachers. Finn found her in an old shelter in the woods, she was conscious but in a bad way" explained Caleb. Sadie looked over at Finn, he never said much and she was beginning to see why. He'd found his best friend, his cousin, attacked, bloodied, bruised, assaulted. He was the first to find her, to hold her in his arms and comfort her as best he could. She could see the sadness and pain in his eyes from the memory.

Millie's mom had been sitting in silence the entire time, Sadie couldn't imagine what is what like for her to see her daughter hurt so badly.

Caleb continued, "she was in the hospital for 2 months, I mean, a few of her ribs were broken, her arm was broken in 3 places, she has 2 metal plates in there now, a fractured jaw, and other injuries too...you know" he said, looking at the floor. "Then later on, when they did some more blood tests, they found out that she was pregnant, that fucker Troy..." he stopped himself, not wanting to lose his cool.

"You know, she never once considered getting rid of it" said Noah, "she's always believed in dealing with the consequences of your actions...well, kind of long story short, she took a year off school, Kelly home-schooled her, and towards the end they went to stay with family upstate. And we made our plans."

"Plans? What do you mean?"

"We let her down, she was always there for us, for anyone who needed help, she put herself on the line and we weren't there for her when she needed us. So, we made a pact, we would make sure when she came back that she'd be protected at all times" explained Gaten.

"Finn's an amazing strategist, he figured a year was enough time, we changed everything that the world could see, our clothes, hair, demeanour, our whole appearance. In the space of a year we went from nerds to bad guys with attitude" Caleb continued. "When Millie was ready, she did the same. She hadn't been at the school for long anyway, so we knew when she came back most people wouldn't remember her."

"Did it work? I mean, it obviously did, but at first, what happened?"

"It was amazing, no one noticed, if they did they didn't say anything. I mean, a year's a long time when you're fifteen/sixteen, she was taller, cut her hair short, changed her clothes. Sometimes even we didn't recognise her across the room" said Gaten, everyone smiling at the comment.

"But what about the teachers? Surely they knew."

"Yeah, they did, they do. Some of them remembered very well, the ones that helped search for her. I don't know really, it's like an unspoken agreement, they just don't mention it" he explained. After thinking for a few seconds, he added "honestly, I think they were just surprised that she came back at all."

Sadie didn't know what else to say, she felt drained. It was so clichéd, but she could only liken it to feeling like she'd been on an emotional rollercoaster, except one she hadn't been allowed off. The room had fallen silent, for everyone it felt like there was nothing left to say.

Standing up and heading for the kitchen, Kelly broke the silence "does anyone want anything? Drink? Snack?"

The guys just shook their heads. "I'll come and get some water" said Sadie, following Kelly into the kitchen. What she really wanted was some time and space to process everything, but she didn't honestly think there was enough of either.

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