"Zach..." I whispered quietly, not wanting to startle him. I gently let my hand rest on his shoulder, attempting to provide him with some comfort-I knew from experience that anything is better than nothing.

He hadn't moved. He hadn't even spoken since we'd returned home. He simply sat in the big armchair I have in front of my window, and stared.

"Please say something Zach, you're starting to scare me. It's been hours." I waited a moment, and I saw that he slightly acknowledged my words by tilting his head to the side and frowning. I moved around the chair to face him, and knelt in front of him, gripping his face in my hands. "Please... talk to me?" I exhaled gently, hoping he would start to function again.

He sighed and removed my hands from his face, but kept them in either of his. He leaned forward, so that our foreheads were touching. My eyes drifted closed and I felt him tenderly press his lips to mine.

"I love you." He breathed, so quietly I wasn't sure if he had actually said it. He leaned back, taking me with him so that I was cuddled up on his lap with my head on his chest.

"Are you okay?" I asked, gripping his hand in mine tightly.

He didn't answer, at least, not with his words. But the answer was clearly written in the swirling sadness of brown where his eyes used to be filled with happiness and a spark. It pained me to see him like this.

I leaned up and pressed my lips against his once more, before settling in against his chest and drifting off into a fitful sleep...

I woke up to the smell of vanilla and honey with a warm body pressed up against me. I sighed, knowing it wouldn't be long before she woke up. I quickly but quietly snuck out of bed, leaving her with a soft kiss on her forehead. I hated leaving her, I know what being alone does to her. But right now, I need to get myself together.

I stretch my arms up over my head, and shake my head trying to fully wake up. There's a lot of shit I have to get sorted out in my head, and I don't have a lot of time to do it.

I take a seat outside, on her porch. The brisk morning air helps clear my head, and I start to think about everything I'd been suppressing since two days ago.

I never knew my father. I thought I never wanted to.

But he's dead now.

So I guess we'll never know.

I'll never know anything about him. I'll never know if he would have been a good father to me. I'll never know why I was put up for adoption. I'll never know if he preferred baseball to football, or green beans to zucchini. I'll never know a thing about him.

All I'll know is that he was murdered. Shot dead. Found gasping for breath on the floor of his apartment, just in time to say his last words. "Find my son, Zachary Goode. Tell him I always loved him."

I let out a struggled breath, burying my face deep in my hands. I never thought I'd have to face this day.

I never even knew him, so why the hell am I so sad?!

I thought angrily, both of my hands clenching into fists. I needed to punch something last night.

"You're sad because you're never going to know him." A quiet voice brought me out of my trance, and I turned around, a small smile already on my face because of who it was.

"C'mere." I mumbled, holding my hand out towards her. She smiled back, and reached her small hand forward to grasp mine. I yanked her forward suddenly and she let out a little shriek as she fell into my lap.

"Zachary Goode! Don't you dare ever do that again!" She said in a mock angry voice, but I could tell she was trying not to laugh just as hard as I was. Which is pretty hard when I have the love of my life in my arms.

"Sorry," I smiled wickedly, wrapping my arms around her even tighter and leaned in so our faces were only inches apart, "I just can't help myself around you."

Her cheeks flamed a brilliant scarlet color, and I kissed either of them tenderly, holding her face on either side.

"Cammie..." I whispered so softly it could have been the wind blowing. "Promise me you'll always be with me."

"Always."

"Yes, I'll tell him. Thank you officer, if he wants to I'll call you right back. I'm just not quite sure what his reaction will be."

I bounded down the steps, feeling much better and refreshed from my shower. I pulled on my shirt as I walked into the kitchen, giving Cammie a peck on the cheek while she finished her conversation with whoever it was on the phone. She turned towards me and bit her lip as she listened to them talking. I gave her a confused look, before turning to pour myself a bowl of cereal.

"Yes, thank you sir. Have a nice day." She mumbled half heartedly, causing me to look at her again.

"What's wrong? What happened? Was that the police? Did they find anything else out?!" I was speaking so quickly I could barely understand myself, but somehow she did.

"Zach..." She bit her lip again, looking at the ground. I grabbed her ching with my thumb and pointer finger, forcing her to look at me.

"Tell me." It wasn't a request.

"The police have your mom in custody." She blurted out, immediately snapping her mouth shut the second the words slipped out.

"They- what?" I blinked in confusion, staring at her, unable to comprehend. "I thought they said that they divorced years ago and they might never be able to find her?"

"The police didn't find her. She went to the police."

We had been sitting on the uncomfortable metal fold out chairs for what seemed like hours, when in reality it had only been a few minutes.

"Zachary? Are you ready?" Officer Pierce was back, and apparently he was ready to take me to the woman who abandoned me at birth.

"I guess so." I rubbed the back of my neck, standing up. Cammie started to stand but Officer Pierce cleared his throat.

"Um, I'm sorry sweetheart but you can't come with us, you'll have to wait out here." Cammie's jaw dropped. He looked uncomfortable, averting his gaze, he knew how much I needed her.

"No. Either she comes or I don't go." I said strongly, grabbing her hand and pulling her into my side. He sighed, and relented, only because my mom refused to say anything before speaking to me.

We followed him down into the questioning rooms. Through the double sided glass, I saw a woman sitting at a metal table. She had dark red hair, so dark it was almost brown, that was long and wavy. Her skin was pale white, reminding me of a china doll. Her eyes were the only thing that gave me some comfort. They were a dark green color, and so similar to my own I almost gasped.

"Her...her eyes." Cammie whispered, and I merely nodded.

"Well then, go on."

I slowly made my way towards the door, with Cammie right behind me.

She looked up when we entered, and her eyes never left mine in the time it took for us to sit down.

"Why are you here?" I asked, perhaps a bit too harshly but I really didn't care.

She smirked, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, simply to continue staring with a hurtful gleam in her eyes.

"Thought you would have turned out nicer." Were the first words out of her mouth.

"Excuse me?!" Cammie shrieked, standing up so quickly her chair flew backwards with an awful squeal. She slapped her hands down onto the table and leaned forward to look her in the eye, and I, along with every other police officer in the room, stared in shock.

"Look, I don't know you, he doesn't know you, and you don't know anything about him. And there's one reason for that. You." Cammie paused, looking down for a moment. Catherine looked torn between amusement, and fear.

"Listen to me. I know better than anyone what it feels like to be abandoned by your parents. We're not here to judge you for what you did. For all we know, you had very logical and reasonable reasons for giving him up. But the fact that you are now sitting in front of your child, the person you are supposed to love and care for more than anyone else, and criticizing him for how he turned out when he had to grow up in a living hell, tells me that you don't care about him. And that, Catherine, is why I am going to judge you." Cammie was breathing heavily, panting almost. I tried to touch her hand but she shook me off.

"I'll wait for you outside." She murmured quietly, before stalking out of the room.

"Hm. I like that one. She has..." Sha paused, as if looking for the right word. "Spunk. Lots of spunk."

"If all you're going to do is make small talk, then I'm leaving." I stood up as if I was going to leave, but she thrust her arm out and grabbed my wrist.

"Wait, please. I need to talk to you. I at least owe you an explanation." I nodded, sitting down again.

"Well get on with it then."

"Your father and I, we were young and stupid. We fell in love, and thought we would be married forever. We were so wrong." She stopped, and I could have sworn there was a tear in her eye. "You weren't the first child we had."

This shocked me so much that I couldn't move, even if I had wanted to.

"Your sister, Nicole, was the best thing that ever happened to us. She was the light of our life, and we loved her so much." She got a far away look in her eye, like she couldn't believe she was saying this. I couldn't believe I was hearing it, I'd always dreamed of a sibling, especially a sister. I thought I'd never have a family, but now- I have one.

"And when she was 5, she drowned."

"What?" My heart stopped beating, and I couldn't breathe. Just one more person I would never know.

"I was already pregnant with you, I had just found out the day before. But after the incident, your father just kept saying he didn't want kids, ever again. I was scared, I didn't know what to do. So, I left him. For 9 months I lived on my own, everyday more and more afraid of what would happen when you actually came. And when that day finally arrived, I did the only thing I could think of. I gave you up for adoption."

I sat in silence, letting her story sink in. Could I forgive her for this?

"I-I you- what happened after that?" I finally asked, scared of what the answer might be.

"I went back to him, your father I mean. I had lied to him and told him my father had died, and that I needed time with my family, and he easily bought into it. And we lived the next 12 years of our life like we had before. A stupid, but very in love, young couple. That is, until your father started hanging around the wrong people."

"Meaning?" I snapped, wanting her to get to the point.

"Meaning he started going out every weekend with some college buddy named Matthew, became an alcoholic, started experimenting with drugs, and got in way too deep with the wrong people. Which is why I divorced him, and which is probably why he ended up dead." She snorted, and her face was so devoid of emotion she could have been speaking about a dead plant, not her dead ex-husband.

"One problem with that theory; He knew about me when he died."

AN: BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING GO TAKE MY POLL ABOUT MY NEXT STORY IT'S IN MY PROFILE KAY THANKS

HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS THIS STORY HAS REACHED 300 REVIEWS.

I REPEAT: 300 REVIEWS!

I cannot express how thankful I am to all of you. You are all the most amazing readers I could ever ask for. I feel like it was yesterday I was freaking out over reaching 200 reviews. How are we already here? I know that sometimes I'm really hard too deal with, and whether it's me pouring my problems into the story, into a AN, or not updating for 3 months, you guys never fail. You're always there, and that's so amazing to me. So again, thank you so, so much. I wouldn't be here without you guys, and I just can't say enough times how thankful I am. I thought I was just a girl with a computer, and a lot of crazy ideas going around in my mind, which I started to write down. And look where I am now. This story has over 20,000 views, from over 25 countries, with over 100 followers, and 70 favorites. And none of this could have ever happened without each and every one of you.

So my friends, I have rewarded you with a 2,000+ word chapter, which I have made my goal to now be the minimum of every chapter in the future. (Which also might mean slightly longer update times- Sorry!) But I really feel like writing longer chapters makes the story, and my writing, better.

I love all of you.

Thank you for your support as I continue this crazy ridiculous journey (or whatever you wanna call it) that I am on as I improve as a writer and as a person.

Love always, Mia

P.S. This is awkward but me and my boyfriend broke up (apx. 9 weeks together) the day that this story reached 300 reviews, and that really cheered me up. So just another reason you guys are awesome.

P.P.S I'm writing this super sick because I have this nasty stomach bug and I puke every time I try to eat or drink water sooo yeah.