"Thinkin' about your parents, huh?" Derek asked. The girl winced when he said it out loud. He was looking into the kitchen nook where she was sitting at the table, and saw her reaction, taking it as an answer in the affirmative. He said, in a surprisingly soft tone, "Do you think about that a lot?"
"I..." Nell didn't quite know how to answer. She thought about them only a few times a week. On the other hand, the times she did think about the two people were so emotionally draining that she often thought she'd never be able to think of anything else ever again. "I guess."
"Do you even know their names?"
"No," she admitted.
"And I suppose you have no idea what they look like?"
"Aside from me resembling them due to genetics, no."
"Do you want to know who they are?"
"I don't know if I want to know."
"Well then," he said with finality. After a few breaths, he said, "You should think about that. If you do want to know, we could probably do some digging."
Nell bristled a bit because she knew that The Afterdark was not making his offer because he was nice, but rather because he was curious for himself, the same way he was curious about her scars. She didn't appreciate his questions and how he was so intent upon, as he said, 'digging.' What she said was, "No, I'm good."
"Any time you want to know, I'll be able to help you out. When's your birthday?"
She shrugged. "I forgot, so I do it in summer."
He stared at her. "You're serious?"
"Yeah."