"Corin!" Isabelle hissed as they walked out of the lab. They had to be discreet even outside. Too much surveillance.

"What is it, Izz?" Corin whispered as they broke away from the group. Isabelle had ended up telling her father that she had moved to a house on that side of town when she moved out as an excuse for walking with children Corin. She wasn't lying, she just didn't tell him that she moved in with her husband.

"Get to the stop first."

They walked a ways apart for a while until the lab was pretty far away and they'd reached the bus stop. It was late, so there weren't many people there besides a drunk talking to the bus driver - who luckily was able to keep his calm - and that teenager who worked the night shift somewhere and was always on the bus when they were. Slowly, the two of them walked onto the bus and say down at the back, where their voice wouldn't be heard.

"What happened?" Corin asked as the bus left the stop.

"It's #265. Edge."

"Did he fail?"

Isabelle grinned, "No. So far he's doing well." She grasped Corin's hands in hers, "We might get Ashley back."

_______________________

"So," Harper started, "You came all the way from, what, Ohio, just to visit me for my birthday?"

"Pretty much," Logan laughed, "I hadn't seen you in a while, you're 18, and I can drive, so why not?"

"And nobody else wanted to come?"

"Not quite."

"They were hoping you'd come to them." Bailey clarified, "They didn't want to seem rude, but most of them have jobs or school keeping them from leaving. And they miss you."

"But you don't have a job?" Harper asked Logan.

He shook his head, "Unless part-time, week long summer jobs count. And the occasional winter snowblowing job. But it hasn't snowed so far, and, besides, it's October. Most of the snow will melt soon anyway."

"And what about school?"

"Finished. When we got into high school I was put in some of the more advanced classes. Graduated early."

"Hold on, you took advanced classes? Hate to burst your bubble, but there's no way that happened."

Bailey snickered as Logan rolled his eyes, "Hey, I can be a good student when I need to be!"

"And that's why you're here instead of in college?"

Logan smiled, "Don't know what I want to do. Still considering my options."

"I thought you wanted to-"

"Yeah, I know. Stupid idea."

Bailey grinned, "Wait, what did you want to be, Logan?"

"Is it really important?" Logan whined, and Harper smiled.

"Of course it's important," she insisted , "Especially since-"

"You're seriously trying to tell her?"

"It's not that embarrassing!"

"Ooh, so it's embarrassing!" Bailey said as her grin turned into a smirk, "Now I need to know!"

"No, you don't!" Logan objected, burying his face in his hands, but not before Harper could tell is was bright red.

"It's not that bad, Logan!" Harper tried to reassure him, which was hard to do since she was trying hard not to laugh, "It's a perfectly logical dream to be-"

"No!" Logan laughed as he wrapped his hand around Harper's mouth, "You said you wouldn't share!"

"I haven't yet!" Harper tried to tell him, but Logan's hand over her mouth made it difficult. She laughed and tried to push his hand away.

"Why do you need to know?" Logan tried to look determined as he spoke to Bailey, but it was hard to take him seriously with the grin on his face.

"Hey, I know every embarrassing thing about everyone I know," Bailey told him, "If I don't know yours then I failed my job."

"Then you shall fail! Minions, attack!"

Harper laughed as Thomas and Hayden jumped out from behind the couch and tackled Bailey. Everyone was laughing as Bailey let herself be knocked over. "Oh no! I've been betrayed by my own brothers! How could you do this to me?" Bailey exclaimed between giggles.

The boys looked between each other for a moment before turning and running towards Logan. "How dare you make us attack our sister!" Thomas yelled as Hayden tried to yank Logan's hand off Harper's mouth.

"Besides," Hayden added, "We want to know your embarrassing thing too!"

"Oh no!" Logan exclaimed in mock fear as Hayden managed to pry his hand off Harper's mouth, "They turned on me!" He grabbed Harper's wrist as he stood, "Retreat! Retreat!"

Harper laughed as Logan dragged her out of the room. Just before they reached the door, Harper called out, "HE WANTED TO BE A TACO!!"

 "WHYYYY?!?" Logan cried as they left the room, with Bailey and the boys crying from laughter at Harper's remark.

Logan shut the door behind them, but it didn't keep the sound of their laughter out. He laughed as he helped Harper to her feet, "A taco? Seriously?"

Harper grinned, "What? Don't think you'd make a good taco?"

Logan shrugged, "I guess it's better than being a banana."

"So. You're not in college. Does that mean you're still planning on being a birthday party magician?"

"Maybe for my family, but, no, not for the public. "

Harper shrugged, "Still better than being a banana."

Logan laughed, but stopped when he realized the laughter from the other side of the door had stopped. "Um, why is it deathly silent in there now?" He asked.

"You got a watch?" Harper asked. 

"Almost 9:30."

Harper grinned, "Well, that explains it. " she pushed open the door and waved for Logan to follow. They walked into the back room and made their way towards the ladder to the roof.

"Why exactly are we going outside?" Logan asked.

"You'll see."

 "Well, that clears everything up!"

Harper laughed and pushed up the trap door to the roof. Pushing herself up, she turned back and helped Logan up. "Hey, you didn't have to help me!" Logan exclaimed.

"Yeah, but then you'd miss it! "

"Miss what?"

Harper said nothing and instead stepped over the small stone wall around the roof. CArefully, she dropped down onto the ledge where her siblings were already waiting with a large bucket. "Here," she shoved some of the contents of the bucket into Logan's hands once he made it down by them.

"What's happening?"

"Just throw it down when you hear the bell." Thomas told him as he looked over the edge. They were pretty far off the ground, but the four of them had done this for 5 years. They knew what they were doing. Which was why Logan stayed closest to the wall.

Suddenly, a loud ringing filled the air near them. The bell was small and high pitched, but that didn't make it quiet. Without hesitating, the group threw the candy off the ledge for the children in costumes to pick up. They each grabbed another handful and threw it down.

"Wait," Logan started, "This is a Halloween thing? "

"Yup," Harper answered as she there more candy down for the next group, "Our apartment thing is to difficult for most kids to reach, especially since it's above a store, so we do this. "

"There's also a bucket at the bottom for Harper's birthday presents!" Hayden added as he waved at someone.

 "Mostly just kids I tutor or regulars at the cafe." Harper corrected.

 "How many jobs do you have?" Logan asked, astonished.

"Enough to keep us in our house, feed us, and get us clothes. " Harper told him before throwing more candy down for the kids. Sure, life was hard for her. She had to work and go to school and take care of her siblings. But she loves her new life. Harper would never trade it for anything.

GUYS I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE!!! I really wanted to, but, for a while, I lost motivation to do anything besides sleep and watch YouTube (yes, that includes eating) and now I've just started school again, so I haven't had much free time. But, I've got the chapter now, and I made it a bit longer, so hopefully it was worth the wait? Again, I'm really sorry. Well, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see y'all later! Bye!

P.S. This is what I meant by taco XD