“Daniel, I-l”I stutter, too shocked to process anything. “Kisses, I’m begging you” He says, eyes glossy. “I can’t. I can’t put that burden on you, your parents. I can’t do it” I say looking down at my hands. “But you can. My mom has said it, you basically live here. You are like her daughter. It would make her happy to know that you are safe. Please, do it for me, for Kylie, for my mother” He says tilting my head up to look into his eyes. “Daniel, I appreciate it. I love you and your whole family. But I’m okay at home. I’m almost 18, and then, I’ll have no fear of reporting them to the police. I need to go now” I say giving him a hug. “Kisses, I can’t let you go home. Do you know what it will do to me? Do you know what it has been doing to me. From the second I saw you I knew you were different in many ways. When I got to know you I knew there was something you were hiding from everyone. This exact situation had crossed my mind and I pushed it out, in fear of being right. I can’t

~Kisses P.O.V~ “Mom, Dad? Who is that?” I say confused, seeing a gorgeous girl with my drunken father. “I’m Trisha. How are you?” The lady says and I look at my mother. “Go take the trash out slut. Aka, Trisha” My mother says shoving me towards the stairs. I make my way down the stairs and Trisha follows me outside where I take a seat on the steps. “Honey, are you okay?” She asks sitting next to me. “This is the first time you’ve see my father drunk isn’t it?” I look at her and she nods. “I figured” I say getting up. “I’ll be right back, I need to grab my phone” I say running around back and grabbing my phone off my bed to see a bunch of texts. I decide to call since it’s easier. “Hey Dan, Kylie’s with you?” I whisper cringing at the screams coming from inside my house. “Yes, Kisses what happened? What’s wrong? Do you need me to pick you up?” Daniel says as my head starts pounding. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping to reduce the pain. “My dad came home drunk, with a girl and

Daniel grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, noticing my uncomfort. “Daniel, my man. Great save out there” A guy, I’m assuming the one who’s house this party belongs to, says doing a handshake with Daniel. “Thanks Eric. It was all Kisses” Daniel says slinging an arm around me. “Ahh, so you’re the famous Kisses. Daniel’s first real girlfriend and the girl who told Samantha off. You’ve got fire” Eric slurs out causing me to shiver. “Thanks, it’s nice to meet you. And we are actually just fri-“ I start to say but Daniel covers my mouth. “What she means is that we are such good friends that it turned into something more. And we need a drink” He says pulling me to the kitchen. “Daniel, what the fuck? Why didn’t you tell your friend the truth?” I scream over the music. “His brother has a thing with Samantha’s sister. I don’t like her. At all. Please help me out with this” Daniel says and I stare at him. “Daniel, that’s a lot to ask for” I say and Christine runs up to us.

Work went by surprisingly fast this morning. I got back to the Greens before it was even 12. Daniel was still passed out in his bed. His hair still styled perfectly. I swear, it never moves. ‘I’m going to the barn. You can come if you want. X’ I leave Daniel a little note and grab my boots, throw on some jeans and a t-shirt with a hoodie on top. I make sure I’m wearing a sports bra and some headphones. “Hey honey, where are you headed?” Tara says as I walk downstairs. “Hey Tara, I’m going to the barn right next door” I smile and she nods. “Have fun. Text me when your done or if you need anything. Helmet” She says and I smile. “At the barn already” I give her a hug and run next door to Crystal stables. I had just recently leased a horse for myself. I can’t afford to own a horse with my car and college coming up. So leasing is the best I can do. “Hey bud” I say grabbing Jd from his stall and bringing him to the cross ties. I quickly tack him up and we head to the ring. The rid

Daniel helped me clean almost the whole house and finish all the chores in half the time. "Thank you Daniel" I say hugging him, grateful that he actually helped and didn't just sit and watch me. "Of course Kisses" He says as a knock sounds on my door. I open it to see the last person I would expect to see. "Kisses, I know it's been so long but your parents are out and I just needed to see you" She says, tears flooding her eyes. "Grace, Oh my gosh" I say hugging her, some tears falling. Grace Hawkins, my 1st cousin on my moms side. Grace's mom is my aunt and we grew up together. She stands at 5'4, and is 18 years old. She has deep brown hair and eyes and her hair is past her shoulders. "How are you? It's been so long, come in" I say pulling her into the now clean house. "I've been great. My family moved to Florida, away from all the hectic family drama. How are your parents acting towards you?" She says. "Hey, sorry to intrude. I'm just going to go. I'm glad I could help, text