I'm woken up the next morning, not by my alarm as expected, but by two little hands shaking me. I open my eyes to see Pixie's face hovering just inches above mine, her big, luminous green eyes like two planets as they stare down at me. I jump and bite back a scream.

"You scared me!" I gasp.

"This thing is beeping," Pixie whispers, holding up my iPhone, which is indeed flashing my alarm at me. I didn't even hear it.

"Oh thanks, Pixie," I smile, "How are you feeling today?"

"Kinda better. I'm hungry," she says.

"Me too. Let's go down and see what's for breakfast."

I climb out of bed and walk over to the mouth of the staircase in the middle of my room. Austin is still wrapped up in the sleeping bag near the closet. He's lying on his side with his hands curled into fists in front of his face, as if ready to defend himself. In his sleep, his white t-shirt has come up a little, enough for me to see the angry red bruises on his abdomen and back and the plaid band of his boxer shorts. I can't stop staring at that bare patch of skin and can't ignore how badly I want to touch it.

"Should I wake him up?" Pixie asks, yanking me out of my daydreams. She bends down to shake him awake.

"No, let him sleep. We can save his breakfast for him," I say, taking her hand.

Pixie and I head downstairs as I mentally rehearse what I'm going to say to Blanca and Seth. Thank God my dad leaves for the office so early.

"Pixie, I'm gonna tell Blanca that you're here, so is it okay if you wait on the stairs?" I ask quietly.

Pixie nods. "I'll be quiet."

"Thanks." I smile at her. "I'll be right back."

Blanca is in the kitchen cooking up some bacon and eggs. Seth is sitting at the table in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt, his iPad on in front of him.

"Hey," I say.

Blanca turns and smiles at me. "Morning, Rory."

"Listen... there's something I need to explain," I say.

"What?" Blanca asks warily, turning around slowly and putting her hands on her hips. She's heard enough of my "explanations" over the years.

I quickly tell Blanca about all the events leading up to last night. Her eyes grow wide, and Seth is staring at me open-mouthed. I can tell they both think I'm insane for doing this... and maybe I am. I don't care if I am.

"Please, please don't tell Dad. It's not going to be for long, I promise," I finish.

Blanca shakes her head, looking down at the stove. "They're homeless? Rory, how do you know they're... safe people?"

"The little girl is just five and her brother is my age. We've been talking for weeks. It's not like I just found two random people on the side of the road and took them home with me," I say, irritated, "He's my friend."

"So you want me to, what? Entertain them today?" she asks, throwing up a hand.

"No. Just feed them. They're both hungry, and the little girl is getting over Strep Throat. She's waiting on the stairs right now," I say.

"What about the brother?" Seth asks, speaking up for the first time.

"He's still asleep," I say.

Blanca lets out a long sigh. "I don't like it, but bring her in here. I guess I have to feed them. You don't leave me much choice."

"Thanks." I grin, throwing my arms around her. "You're the best!"

"And you're an awful sneak," Blanca says, but I can tell she's not really that mad at me.

I hurry back to the staircase and find Pixie staring wide-eyed at Mandy, who's lying on the carpet by the front door.

"That dog is watching me," she says softly, "I'm scared to move."

I can't help laughing a little at her seriousness. "It'll be okay, I promise. Hold my hand."

Pixie slowly gets to her feet and takes my hand nervously, pressing so close to me it's hard to keep my balance. I lead her into the kitchen. She looks at Blanca first and then shyly at Seth. Blanca smiles and walks over as Pixie steps behind me and hides, just like she hid behind Austin the first day I met them.

"Hello there. What's your name?" Blanca asks, crouching down to Pixie's height.

"Pixie," she mumbles.

At the table, Seth snorts. "God, what kind of a name is that?"

I glare at him. "Shut up. It's her nickname."

Seth rolls his eyes and goes back to his iPad. Blanca ignores the interruption.

"Would you like some breakfast, Pixie?" she asks.

Pixie looks up at me with her big eyes, hesitant.

"It's okay," I say reassuringly.

"Yeah," Pixie says.

"You can sit next to Seth. He's my little brother," I say, pointing at the empty seat next to him.

Pixie looks at Seth but doesn't move.

"Come on," I say, motioning her over.

"Really, kid? It's not like I smell. Not that bad anyway," Seth says.

Pixie shakes her head. "I want Austin."

"Austin is still asleep. Come on, Pixie, what's wrong with sitting by Seth?"

"Can I sit there?" she asks, pointing at the kitchen island, which has a short bar attached to it.

"That's fine," I shrug.

Okay, weird. But who knows, maybe she's upset because Seth made fun of her name. Kids are so hard to figure out. I worked for ten years to figure Seth out, and now I'm having to unlearn everything I thought I knew about him.

I help Pixie up onto the bar-stool, and Blanca puts a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs in front of her. Before I can even grab silverware for her, she's already picking the eggs up with her fingers and stuffing them in her mouth like she's never seen food before.

"Oh don't do that!" I exclaim, "Use a fork."

Pixie takes the fork from me, but she's already devoured most of her breakfast by the time I get it from the drawer. I've never seen a kid eat so fast.

"You must be feeling better, because you're so hungry," I smile, sitting across from her at the bar.

"I want more," she says as soon as she swallows the last bite.

Blanca turns around. "What do you say?"

"More?" Pixie asks, looking confused.

"Nope. Not the magic word," Blanca says.

"Give me some?" Pixie tries again.

"Pixie, say please," I whisper, trying not to laugh.

"Pleeeaaaase," she says, drawing the word out.

Blanca smiles, "There we go."

As Pixie starts on her second plate, Seth stands up to take his empty dishes to the sink. As he passes by, she freezes, staring down at her lap like a statue until he walks away.

"What the hell is wrong with her? She hates me," he whispers to me under his breath.

"I don't know." I shrug.

At that moment, Austin walks into the kitchen and Pixie's whole demeanor changes. She lights up, grinning, and reaches her arms out for a hug.

"How you feeling today, Princess?" Austin asks, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm okay. I ate breakfast," she says proudly.

Austin looks at me then. "Hey," he says.

He's so cute with his hair all messy. I feel myself blushing again. God I've gotta get myself under control. Crushing on a homeless runaway really isn't a great idea, and I don't even need my dad to tell me that.

"Austin, this is Blanca and this is my brother, Seth," I say, pointing at them.

Blanca's smile falters as she takes in Austin's cuts and bruises, and the only greeting he gets from Seth is a quick, sharp glance up from his iPad.

"You slept forever," I say, trying to break the tension in the room.

"I know," Austin says, "I haven't slept that long in months."

"You want some bacon and eggs?" I ask.

His eyes are staring intently at the stove. "If there's any left," he mumbles.

"Of course."

When Blanca hands him his plate, he eats everything almost as fast as Pixie did, but at least he uses a fork and says please and thank you.

"I have to get ready for school, but I'll be back at lunch before my dance classes," I say.

"What should I do?" Austin asks, looking terrified at the thought of being left alone with Blanca all day.

"Just rest. You need it," I say.

Before he can protest, I tell them goodbye and head upstairs to get ready. By the time I leave for school, Pixie is watching Frozen on the couch, and Seth is hurrying around, trying to catch his bus on time. I want to stick around and make sure they'll be okay, but if I do I'll be late too, so I reluctantly leave them in Blanca's hands.

---------------

"Wait, what?" Gwen asks as I slam my locker shut, "You have those homeless kids living in your house now?"

We're on our way to English class, and I've been explaining the situation to her. Just as I predicted, she takes it about as well as everyone else has.

"They're leaving soon. Austin says tonight but hopefully I can convince him to stay longer," I say, "They're in no condition to be on their own again."

"Your dad is gonna kill you!" Gwen exclaims, looking at me with big eyes.

Today, her blond hair is braided into a thick circle on the back of her head, just like a princess from a Grimm's fairy tale. We have rehearsal for Giselle today. I can totally see Gwen playing Giselle someday. As for me, I make a perfect ghost with my pale, Irish skin, so I'll probably be stuck in the corps on this one.

I roll my eyes. "Tell me about it. He doesn't know."

"Why do you care so much about helping them anyway? It's not like they're your problem," Gwen says.

Though I don't like her use of the word "problem," I know Gwen is right. Austin and Pixie aren't family. They're barely even friends. I don't know what draws me to them.

"I don't know," I mumble, "They're just so helpless."

"He's cute isn't is?" Gwen asks knowingly, an amused smile spreading across her face.

I smile too. "Yes, but that's not why I'm helping them!"

"Uh huh. Sure. What's he look like anyway?" she asks.

"If you come over, you can see him yourself," I say.

"I thought they were leaving tonight."

"Like I said, only if I can't convince them to stay longer," I say, "And hopefully I can."

---------------

When I get home around 12:30, the house is eerily quiet. Pixie is asleep on the couch, her thumb in her mouth. I tiptoe around looking for Blanca, who I eventually find in the laundry room folding a pile of towels.

"Where's Austin?" I ask.

"They're both asleep. They've slept pretty much all morning since you left. The little girl watched Frozen and then asked to see it a second time, but she fell asleep halfway through," she says, "The boy is in your room. I've never seen kids sleep so long. Do you think they're okay?"

I shrug. I don't know what life was like for them on the streets, but I know it couldn't have been easy. Austin looked more and more exhausted each time I saw him at the store. Who knows, this could be the first time in weeks that they've had a full stomach and a safe place to sleep.

"Do you think they could stay here for awhile?" I ask carefully.

Blanca looks at me. "Absolutely not! What would your father say?"

"He's never here anyway!" I sigh angrily, leaning against the warm dryer, which is humming with a fresh load.

"Rory, they are not stray puppies. They're human beings. I've debated calling CPS all morning," Blanca says, shaking her head.

"Please don't. Austin says they need to stay hidden. He didn't say exactly why, but I could see it was really important," I say.

"Your father doesn't need any trouble for his campaign," Blanca says.

"Which is why he won't ever know. Right?" I ask hopefully.

Blanca sighs. "Fine. For the little one's sake. But I don't like it one bit."

Upstairs, I tiptoe around a sleeping Austin, packing my dance stuff into a large tote. Pointe shoes, ribbons, needle and thread, leotard, leg warmers, tights, bobby pins, and soft shoes are just a small portion of the things I need for class each day.

As I'm about to leave, Austin stirs and opens his eyes.

"Rory?" he asks softly, looking up at me from the sleeping bag.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I ask as I shoulder my heavy dance tote.

He shakes his head. "What time is it?"

"Almost 1:30. I'm about to head to dance class."

"Shit!" he exclaims, sitting up. He must have forgotten about his broken rib, because he gasps and clutches his side. "I was gonna try and find work today. I was supposed to only lay down for twenty minutes!"

"Just sleep. You're too hurt," I say, "Relax."

"I don't relax," he says flatly, "Where is Pixie?"

"She's asleep on the couch downstairs. She's been watching Frozen all morning."

"I can't just lay here! I feel so useless. I should be doing something," he says.

I raise my eyebrows. "You're sleeping so much because your body obviously needs to. Just let yourself have one day to relax, Austin."

I can tell the concept of "lazing around" is completely foreign to this boy. He frowns and reaches for a crumpled notebook and a dull pencil on the floor beside his sleeping bag.

"What's that?" I ask, nodding at the notebook.

"I write stuff in here sometimes. It helps me keep track of good places to sleep, shower, find work, that sort of thing," he says, "And I try to keep a daily log of what we do so I can track patterns and stuff."

"Patterns of what?"

"Like, Pixie's sleeping habits... her reactions to things."

"Why?" I ask curiously.

"Pixie has nightmares and kind of freaks out sometimes. She has these episodes. That's what I call them. It's hard to explain, but if I can pinpoint what triggers them, I can avoid the triggers. I write every day and try to look for patterns. She's a perfectly normal kid. She's just been through a lot."

"That reminds me. She acted really weird around Seth this morning," I say.

"That's because she doesn't like guys. Well, she's cool with little boys but nobody older than, like, twelve," Austin says, "It'll take her awhile, but she'll come around eventually."

I watch him open the notebook to a blank page, but he doesn't start writing until I turn away.

"See you tonight," I say as I walk down the stairs.

"See you."

His soft reply finds me only when I stop halfway down the stairs to listen for it.

---------------

At dance class that afternoon, we run through all of Act Two over and over. Giselle is one of my favorite ballets. We perform it pretty much every Halloween.

The story is about a young girl whose lover betrays her, so she dies of a broken heart and is accepted into this ghostly circle of sisters called Wilis. The Wilis are the spirits of women who died before their wedding nights, the spirits of women who have been betrayed by their lovers, women who are cursed to dance for eternity. Because of their pain, the Wilis despise all men, so they lure them into the woods with their beauty and then force them to dance until they die. But when they try to kill Giselle's lover, the one who betrayed her, she saves him through the power of love and thus frees herself from the Wilis so she can rest in peace. It's a sad story about betrayal, vengeance, and ultimately forgiveness.

I'm a Wili, along with all the other corps ballerinas. I wear a long, flowing white skirt and a veil over my face.

I don't know why, but as I dance the ghostly love story's sad final scenes, all I can think about is Austin.