Unexpected

A new home

Melly POV
„Its okay. Take deep breaths. Can you try and copy my breathing? Yes... In and out. Good girl. You are safe here. Julian won't hurt you. Nobody will hurt you in this house. You are safe."
I am starting to come back to my senses. Sam's voice has a calming effect and the panic fades. I can breath a little freely again. "I am sorry." Its the only thing I can think of to say. "No you don't have to be sorry. It's all good." She looks to the stairs and I follow her eyes to meet Julian's. He looks sad. I look back down at my slightly trembling hands. Sam speaks up. "Jules, can you get some water from the kitchen." He doesn't respond but I hear him move from the stairs. Moments later a glass of water is in my line of sight. I mumble a thanks and take the offered glass. I take a few sips and hand it back to Julian who puts it on the coffee table.

Sam POV
Melanie seems calm enough. I am little hesitant to leave these two alone again. One look at Julian tells me the same. I check the time and Lily should be asleep for a little while so no worries.
"Melanie you don't have to be afraid. We will protect you but we need to know from who and what. Okay? At some point we need to talk to CPS otherwise we can get in a lot of trouble. I believe you that you are Julian's daughter I can see it. I am sorry about your mum. It seems like you don't have a safe place to stay. You are too young to be on your own. We can be your safe harbor for now. You don't have to run..." Julian got down on his knees next to me and during my little speech he grabbed one of my hands. "Melly please listen to what my wife just said. She is right. I have no idea what happened to you but I really want to know and fix it. You met Lily. I would do anything for her and same goes for you now. I promise I will protect you!" "We will protect you!" I take her hand in my free one. This time she doesn't flinch away and so Julian takes the other one.

Melly POV
My mind is running wild. This is all so crazy. It sounds all so good. To good to be true. But they seem to be honest. They just meet me but are more caring then all the people I met in the last few weeks. Going back to Cali would probably be a mistake. Going to a judge could go wrong. Nothing is certain. My cash is almost used up and my card is probably not working anymore. It's all to much... I am tired... maybe telling the truth is worth a shot... I can always run later.
"After mum died CPS put me in a foster home. They probably think I am still with them. From day one they weren't very nice to me. A week or so ago I picked up an envelope from my moms lawyer and I found my birth certificate and some cash in it so I ran... I took the bus cross country. On the bus I looked up your name in the internet. That's kind of the short story... I ... I don't really want to talk about the rest." I let out a deep shaky breath. Our hands are still together. I slide down from the sofa. "Please don't send me back. CPS didn't do a thing when I told them about the Millers being awful to me." "It's okay we won't send you back. It's okay. Remember to take deep breaths!" Next Julian speaks up. "Melly can you look at me?" I raise my head a little. "Please believe me. We will protect you. We will take care of you. I promise this to you." He looks at our hands and let's go. I feel a little lost but then he says "Let's hug this out okay?" He opens his arms and I move slowly into his embrace. His muscular arms close around me. For the first time in weeks I feel a little safe again. Sam rubs soothing circles on my back and I could fall asleep right here.