A deafening silence hung over my car as I drove to their house. No one wanted to speak for fear they'd trigger an argument with every other person in the car. I kept my eyes fixed on the road, occasionally feeling Bex's eyes on me from the passenger seat. He was watching me closely as I drove. When we reached our destination, everyone silently exited the car and went into the house. I sat down on the couch between Bex and Jackson while Riki leaned against the wall next to Bex. March was sitting on the long part of the wrap around couch stoically and Senri stood in front of all of us. It was silent for a moment before Senri spoke,

"(Y/N), are you alright? What did Kenji and his friends want?"

His tone was calm but I saw anger hiding in his eyes. I leaned back on the couch and responded,

"Me. I told him I was waiting for my friends and he wanted me to ditch you guys and come with him, just like at lunch yesterday. When I said no he and his friends cornered me. He said he wasn't asking me, he was telling me. If you guys hadn't have showed up I'm not sure what would've happened."

I saw March's jaw clench and spoke again,

"Thank you. All of you. You guys didn't have to help me. I owe each of you big time."

All five boys looked at me in shock,

"Didn't have to help you? Of course we did!"

Bex shouted angrily, causing me to flinch slightly in surprise. Bex seemed to notice this as his eyes became clouded with regret. Before he could respond, Riki cut in,

"Of course we had to help you. We're friends and that's what friends do. I-We could never let something like that happen to you. To think Kenji almost hit you..."

He trailed off, clenching his fists at his sides. I stood up and moved to stand directly in front of Riki, gently grasping his hands,

"Calm down, it's okay. Nothing happened and I'm fine. You guys made sure of it."

I turned to Senri with a smile,

"Now, didn't you say you wanted to make it up to me for last night?"

The honor student blinked a few times before nodding,

"Yes I did. Anything in particular you'd like to do?"

I bit my lip in thought,

"Well it's my night off so I was probably just going to stay in my apartment and watch a movie. That's what I usually do now."

"By yourself?"

Jackson asked curiously. I nodded slightly,

"Yeah."

"What about your parents?"

My entire body stiffened at the question as Riki chimed in,

"Yeah you never talk about your parents. Won't they be worried when you don't come home until late tonight? Aren't they expecting you?"

I swallowed hard, fighting to keep my voice level as I spoke,

"No. No they aren't expecting me anytime soon... I don't think they're worried."

I tried to keep my answers as vague and nebulous as possible until finally Senri spoke,

"Whenever anyone mentions your parents you get like this. Why? Did something happen?"

I felt my walls crumble at his final question. All the emotions I'd kept bottled up were beginning to overflow. I felt hot tears prick my eyes as I ran up the stairs and locked myself in the bathroom. I heard knocking on the door a few seconds later,

"(Y/N)? It's Riki. Please open the door! Are you okay? (Y/N)?"

I didn't respond as the tears flowed from my eyes. I curled into a ball and pressed my back against the door. I could hear the boys talking outside,

"Is she okay?"

"I think she's crying."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know!"

Their frantic and hushed whispers filled the air until I finally heard Bex speak up,

"Leave her be. She needs to calm down. We accidentally opened up wounds from her past. When she's ready she'll come out and talk to us. Until then we need to let her get through this. She wants to be alone for right now."

The other boys seemed to agree as I heard footsteps receding from the door. I sat there for a good ten minutes just remembering my parents and the accident. A soft knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts,

"(Y/N)? It's Bex. Can I come in?"

I gently unlocked the door as Bex slipped in and closed it behind him. Bex sat on his knees in front of me, his tone soft as he spoke,

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I sat there silently as Bex shifted so that he was sitting next to me. He put his left arm around me and pulled me close to him,

"If you need to let it all out that's okay. I promise."

I felt a hot tear roll down my cheek, followed by another, and another. Before I knew it I was curled up into Bex's side crying. He held me close to him as I cried. When I finally calmed down I pulled away and began speaking,

"At the beginning of summer break, I don't even know how it happened, but our house... it burned down. The police said it was arson but they never found who did it.... my parents were inside..."

I took a shaky breath before I continued,

"They didn't make it... My grandparents on both sides are dead and my parents were only children so my only option was emancipation. I transferred here as soon as I could. That's why I was so upset last night... I know Senri didn't know and he didn't mean to bring up memories, but it just hurts y'know?"

Bex held me tighter the more I spoke,

"You'll never have to worry about anything like that ever again. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

I was so distraught I didn't notice the dangerous gleam in his eyes. I heard the soft sound of footsteps receding from the other side of the door and looked up at Bex,

"Was anyone else outside?"

The raven haired teen shook his head,

"I don't think so. One of the guys might have come up once I was with you to see what's going on. Do you think you're ready to head downstairs?"

I nodded and gave him a small smile,

"Yeah I think so. Bex?"

The goth-punk hummed in response as he turned to face me. I moved closer to him and hugged him tightly,

"Thank you for talking with me and helping me vent. I needed that. I never really talked about it."

Bex slowly hugged me back and rested his head on top of mine,

"No problem."

He gently pulled away and led me downstairs to the others. When I looked in their eyes I saw a mixture of shock, guilt, and sympathy. I smiled warmly at all of them,

"What do you guys wanna do? I'm happy with whatever."

I said casually, plopping down between Riki and March and Jackson shrugged,

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure. Like what?"

I asked curiously as Jackson moved towards the movie shelfs next to the TV,

"Have you ever seen the Scream movies?"

"Nope. Why?"

All five boys looked at me in shock before Riki responded,

"Seriously? They're horror classics! Jackson, put the first Scream in we're watching it."

Riki leaned closer to me and whispered his next sentence,

"It's the only movie series all five of us like."

I giggled in response as Jackson turned the lights off. Bex quickly moved to steal Jackson's seat next to me. The bluenette sent a death glare to his friend, but was able to sit beside him without further incident. I smiled sympathetically at him as the movie started,

This is the first time I've watched a movie with anyone since my parents died.

I thought to myself. I smiled wider, happy that I might finally have people in my life I can rely on.