Heather sat in her room alone. She felt stupid for thinking someone wanted her. Of course they felt that way! They were teenage boys who had a lot better to do than to hang out with a needy thirteen-year-old. Needy. She refused to call herself that. She wasn't needy, she didn't need help from anyone, or anything. She was all she needed. She wasn't going to mope around. She was strong, and nobody was going to see her cry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, what are we going to do?" Andrew asked as he leaned against the bed frame.

Jeff shrugged, for the first time he had nothing to say, "Maybe we should check on her?"

Craig subtly nodded.

"Guys! Do you hear ourselves? This is what we've been waiting for, she's not here, we're free! Why are we trying to fix anything? Heather fixed it for us!" Andrew exclaimed.

Jeff nodded, "You're right, but it's so wrong."

"Maybe we should go check on her," Craig agreed.

"Yeah," Andrew scoffed, "like she wants to talk to us."

"It's still worth a shot, besides, it'd make Lily very happy," Jeff pointed out.

"Who cares! All I hear from you is Lily, Lily, Lily!"

"Well, she is our sister," Craig said.

"Yeah, and I wish she wasn't."

"Andrew!" Jeff shouted, "Stop backing out on promises."

"What are you talking about?"

"Lily told us what you said, about being sorry."

"Well I was just upset about something, I didn't really mean it then."

"You're as bad as Dad!" Jeff scolded.

Andrew stood up and got in Jeff's face, "Never compare me to him! And don't act like you're not like him, either! Because here you are screaming back at me!"

"Shut up!" Another voice yelled.

The boys turned to the doorway.

Lily choked on her words, "Don't start doing it too, oh please don't!"

Guilt filled the pit of their stomaches. They were getting as bad as their father, and that certainly was not a good sign.

"Grab your jackets," Jeff said with a stern expression, "We have a mess to clean up, we will not become our father."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff knocked one the door of Heather's foster home.

Mrs. Laynie opened the door, "Boys!" She said surprised, "Did you not get my message? You don't need to come out anymore."

"We know ma'am, we just needed to speak to Heather," Jeff replied.

"Of course. Heather!" She called, "She'll be down in a moment."

Heather ran down the stairs, "What is it?"

"Hi Heather." The boys waved.

"Hey," Heather walked out onto the porch and shut the door behind her, "What's going on?"

"Why'd you stop coming?" Andrew cut to the chase.

"I wasn't wanted," She answered shortly.

"What makes you say that?" Jeff asked.

"I mean, it's true, but what makes you say it?" Andrew corrected.

Jeff elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ignore him. What makes you think that?" Craig inquired.

"Don't act so innocent, I heard your conversation, I'm not wanted, and that's fine. You know why? Because I can do this on my own! I don't need you or anyone to try and help me! Maybe you wanted to break me, but guess what? You can't! I'm concrete! No one is going to make me cry, nothing."

"Heather,we don't want to see you go through this alone," Jeff said.

"Then don't watch me," She said coldly. She turned around and slammed the door behind her.

"Heather, wait!" Andrew shouted, but she was long gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily hid in her closet, rocking back and forth. She could still hear the angry words and shouts echoing from the kitchen. She flenched as a memory swam through her mind. When would her brothers be back? She couldn't stand being alone when the only thing she could hear was the screaming fights.