The Secrets

Family Matters

⚠️Some mentions of parental abuse. You can skip the last pov⚠️

Corbyn's POV

The truth had finally come out to Madison. She seemed a lot tenser around us. What upset her the most was that Jasmine was part of it. Now that she was a target for Miguel, I was going to have to teach her to defend herself. I just didn't know when the right time would be. I walked into my room to see her curled up in my bed. At first I thought she was sleeping and started to go when I heard her sniffle slightly. "Mads?"

She didn't answer and I knelt beside her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked.

"It's nothing," she mumbled as she pulled her hood over her face.

I tried to get her to talk but eventually I just cuddled with her until she fell asleep. I was almost asleep when Madison's phone rang. "I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" A woman's voice asked.

"I'm Maddie's boyfriend. Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm her neighbor. I need to talk to her now. It's an emergency," the lady said.

I gently shook her shoulder and she pouted at me. "I'm sorry baby. It's just that your neighbor called."

She took the phone and got out of the bed. "Mrs. Johnson? What's going on?"

She paced the room as she listened to whatever she was being told. I made eye contact and she motioned towards her keys. I handed them to her and she led me downstairs. "What's going on?" I asked.

"I just need you with me for this," she told me as we got in the car.

I put a hand on her leg to show I was there for her. We pulled up in front of her house and she gave me a small hug before going inside. I decided to stay outside, knowing it wasn't really my business.

Madison's POV

I'd gotten a call from our neighbor saying that my dad was acting worse than usual. What had really scared me was when she said that my mom wasn't answering the phone. I ran in and found my mom on the floor cowering as my dad stood over her. I wasn't sure what he was yelling about but that wasn't important right now. "Leave her alone," I yelled and pulled him back.

"You little bitch!"My dad yelled and threw me into the wall.

I wasn't backing down this time and ran to get between him and my mom. I felt him punch me in the face and almost fell backwards. "Haven't I ever taught you mind your business?"

I ignored him as I turned to my mom. "You have to leave him. He's going to kill you one day," I pleaded and she nodded as she stood up.

"Follow through with the deal and I let her go," my dad yelled.

I typed a message to Corbyn to get Jasmine's mom to come here. "You're staying with Jasmine's family. I can't live like this anymore. None of us can. Dad, I don't care what you do to "

My dad grabbed me by the neck and I felt myself being thrown to the ground. I was about to fight back when suddenly my dad froze. I looked up to see Corbyn with a gun to his head. "Get up."

My dad did as he was told and I quickly got to my feet and went to my mom. Corbyn slammed his head into the wall and I winced. "Touch her again and I'll put a bullet through your fucking head."

"Who the hell are you?" My dad asked and Corbyn slammed his head into the wall again.

"You don't need to know," he growled.

Corbyn began punching him and I knew I had to get involved. "Stop it. You'll kill him!"

Corbyn narrowed his eyes before finally letting him fall. "Get out of here. If you lay a finger on anyone ever again, I'll hunt you down."

My dad stumbled out the door and Corbyn turned to me. The anger in his eyes left when he saw me. "Baby, did he bruise your face?"

I looked away but he put a hand under my chin. "I won't let anyone hurt any of you guys. I swear."

"Care to introduce me?" My mom asked and I grinned.

"He's my boyfriend. He's from that band I always talk about," I told her. "Corbyn, meet my mom."

A broad smile spread across Corbyn's face as he shook my mom's hand. "Nice to meet you Ms. Lakin."

"Please, call me Stacy," my mom told him.

I took my mom upstairs and we packed her stuff. Corbyn came into my room and put an arm around my waist. "No arguments, you're moving in with us. Chloe too. You already know you can have my bed. Chloe and Jack can make their own arrangements but there is no way in hell I'm letting you come back here."

I wasn't going to argue. My mom had agreed to stay with Jasmine's family until she found another house. I packed all my things before starting on Chloe's stuff.

After getting my mom settled, Corbyn and I went for a drive. I didn't know how to feel around him. I loved how he protected me, but it scared me how easy it was to kill someone. He seemed to notice I was stressed and we soon found ourselves at the gazebo where our first date was. We sat down and he looked at me. "Want to talk about it?"

I was hesitant at first. What would he think? Eventually, I told him everything. I explained how we had been a great family until my brother died in a shooting. It was weird. As soon as I brought up my brother he stopped talking. Surely he wasn't part of it. "You okay?"

"Yeah... just sorry for your loss," he stuttered.

Something was up. He knew about this and wasn't telling me.