Prohibited Devotion

Twelve

Christopher couldn't believe what he had heard, what he had witnessed , he felt sick at the thought of ever hurting one of his children let alone one of his daughters.

She looked so fragile when she explained what had happened, what her supposed father had done to her. She was the sweetest girl he had ever met, naturally kind and gentle. She spoke about her work with such passion and dedication. She seemed too innocent to be the daughter of such a vile man but her grandmother raising her explained all of that. 

Derek had never shown interest in anyone before yet this girl seemed to have him on edge, he was angry the moment he realised she had been hurt. He had spent days fretting after he realised he had hurt her feelings, he smiled each time she came up in conversation. 

"She is still sleeping"Amelia spoke walking back from the staircase.  

"I don't understand why her own father would do such a thing!!"Lizzy was beyond shocked, she had two children of her own and she too couldn't ever imagine hurting them or her husband hurting them.  Reuben and Roxy ran around playing with Cooper the saint bernard.  

The evening was well and truly upon them, the sky dark and the air bitter.  Derek looked at his sister and exhaled.

"The man is heartless Liz, he wanted to auction her off to drug dealers and rapists" It was the kind of man David Grey was. He cared about nothing unless it was beneficial to him and his needs.

Meredith's eyes opened, a light frown covered her face as she tried to take in her surroundings but nothing felt familiar except the faint smell of his cologne.  She remembered falling asleep on the sofa but she wasn't sure how she ended up tucked beneath the tartan blue blanket. 

She sat up to let herself think, to process her day and all she had been through.  She felt safer with her fathers enemy in one day than she ever had in her entire life with him.  She picked herself up from the bed and opened the hall. Just like Derek's house there were so many different doors she couldn't tell where she was supposed to go.

"You look lost"Mark chuckled from where he had just appeared from. Meredith nodded slowly. "Its okay, I won't hurt you. We won't ever do anything like that to you"He gestured the marks on her face.  "Derek is downstairs, come" He led her down the large staircase, through a hall to where the kids ran around and the family stood talking.

Derek's eyes landed on her instantly.  With four strides he was by her side, hand on her hip looking into her eyes.

"Hey, are you okay. I can see the look of pain in those beautiful eyes of yours"He blocked out his surroundings, in that moment she was all that mattered to him.

"Just my side from when he kicked me. I should get off home It's already dark" She shuffled out of his grasp. 

"Uncle Derek is this your girlfriend. She is vvveerrryyy pretty" Roxy beamed up with a cheeky grin. 

"She fixed Coco, Rox" Reuben giggled as he chased around the animals.

"ooooohhh, thank you we love her soooo much"Without warning the brunette child wrapped her arms around Meredith's legs. Smiling Meredith lightly ran her fingers through the child's soft locks.  "Dinner come on" the six year old grabbed her hand and dragged her into the dining room which only made Derek chuckled.

"Roxy Roo"Amelia laughed as the girl pulled around Meredith.

"Its okay, I don't mind"Meredith softly smiled as Carolyn gestured her a seat, the one beside Roxy and opposite Derek. 

This was the family setting she had always craved, family dinners, siblings who loved her, jokes and games. 

"Is this your phone Meredith, its been calling in there like crazy" Chris handed her the phone which belonged to her, her eyes laid on the screen and horror flashed over them. The food she had just eaten threatened to shoot back through her.