The lightning struck overheard as the rain pelted down onto the sidewalk, the droplets large and harsh; just like life. Another flash of white lit up the sky, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder and a harsher downpour. The cold air bellowed away at the girl struggling her way through the storm, her yellow raincoat clinging to her as she clutched her backpack and desperately searched for a place of shelter in a foreign area she found herself in.

All she wanted was a place to sleep, that was all she needed after 4 days of having stayed awake.

The wind howled through the night and the girl slipped in a puddle, falling back with a wet splash and groaned at the disgusting feel of the slimy mud slid down the back of her raincoat. Sitting up, she tried to clean her hands, but only succeeded in causing it to spread all over her palm.

From living like a princess she was reduced to a street rat with twigs, mud, and leaves in her hair; her porcelain complexion having darkened with the accumulation of dirt, and her fingernails caked with mud and chipped in odd places.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she resigned with a shaky breath and hugged her knees to herself, sobbing.

"Hey!" A voice called out as she looked up with a tear stained face, thinking it was just the storm. "Hey!" The voice called out again, and this time her eyes frantically searched for the source in the rain, squinting her eyes in the darkness that surrounded her before the form of two men approached her.

Having to look up at them from her defeated position, she watched as one of them crouched before her, just as soaked as her and gave her a toothy grin.

"Well, hello there, pretty," She smirked and took a strand of her wet hair between his fingers, the girl sucking in a breath with her heart thundering in her chest at the possibility of what could happen. "What are you doing here?"

The sound of her heart thundering in her chest and the sound of the downpour drowned out his voice, leaving her visibly shaking and paralyzed to speech or movement.

"Come on, tell me, where ya' headed to?" He continued to coax, his tattooed fingers gripping her chin roughly and turning her to face him. A shaky breath escaping the girl as she swallowed with the tears streaming down her cheek at the impending.

The guy crouching before her couldn't have been more than 22 with his arm and neck tattooed, wearing nothing more than a flimsy tank top and jeans with combat boots, all soaked and clinging to him, much like his hair: dark and matted against his forehead.

"Is she mute?" The guy behind him asked monotonously, his arms crossed over his chest as he shuffled on his feet, hating the wet. "Come on, man. Leave her and let's get back, I want to sleep,"

Instantly her eyes widened at the words and she turned to the man who had spoken. Her heart lifting with the hope that maybe there was a place she could find shelter. The one crouching seemed to notice the sudden hope in her eyes and a smirk grew on his face.

"Shelter?" He asked as her bright blue eyes fixated on him. "Is that what you're looking for? A place to sleep?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she managed a meager nod and watched how his smirk formed into a grin as he turned back to his partner before returning his gaze to her.

"Well, baby girl, we can take you to a place," He informed slyly.

"Really?" She asked in a small voice, looking up at him uncertainly before her eyes darted to the one standing above her. "You can take me to a place where I can find shelter?"

Her voice was inexplicably soft and easily conveyed how innocent she actually was, and he was unable to keep the blush from rising up to his cheeks.

"Y-yeah," He managed to choke out while the one above kicked his side, causing him to growl before standing to his towering height.

Glaring at his companion, he turned back to the girl and opened his mouth to say something before his words died down to watch her stand up and dust herself off as best as she could. The two tried to choke back their laughter as they realized how short she was, standing no more than 5'4 with a soft voice, she was absolutely adorable.

"Tell you what," The other guy spoke up. "Tell us your name and we'll take you with us,"

"Tessa," She introduced all thought of hesitation escaping her mind at the thought of a roof over her head. "Tessa Forbes. And you are?" She stuck out her hand for him.

"Caleb Moore," The one who asked for her name introduced himself, taking her small palm into his much larger one.

"And you?" She turned toward the other man, who had been too busy gaping at her to have responded before.

"Alec White," He cleared his throat and gave her hand a firm shake, marveling at how soft they were.

"Nice tattoos," She directed her compliment to the both of them as their eyes lit up at her words.

"You like em'?" Caleb grinned haughtily, resisting the urge to bounce on his feet.

"They're very cool,"

"Let's go?" He grinned, knowing that this girl had some good taste and sense in her.

"Lead the way," Tessa grinned before following after them.

As they walked, Alec turned to look over his shoulder to ensure that she was still following them and found it rather amusing how she was looking around her as if though she was trying to commit the neighborhood to memory.

Caleb nudging him had Alec turn his gaze back around.

"What are we going to tell Selma and Jake?" He hissed. "That you took a fancy to the girl and decided 'oops, let's take her with us'? Dude, she'll tear you a new one,"

"Hey, let me deal with Selma, alright?" Alec retorted. "Jake would agree if she does,"

"And if she doesn't? What do you think will happen to her, huh? She can't be more than what? 16?"

Alec gave him a strange look before turning over his shoulder, noticing Tessa watch them whisper to each other curiously with her head slightly tilted to the side. "Hey, Tessa, how old are you?"

"18,"

"Okay, fine. You deal with Selma," Caleb grumbled under his breath as he stood corrected.

They arrived outside a desolate and abandoned house which was dangerously leaning towards one side and smoke rising from the chimney. Lights flickered inside and Tessa looked up at the infrastructure, the hair at the back of her neck standing up and knew that the place looked haunted, more so with the rain pouring down on it. Every instinct in her body told her not to go in, but she was desperate.

"Come on, let's go inside," Caleb led the way as he pushed open the door with his shoulder and stepped into the interior.

Swallowing her fear, Tessa followed after them and was instantly hit by the warmth, a pleasurable shiver going down her back as she missed the heat of a hearth and instantly kneeled before the burning fire, warming herself and looked around. The inside walls were leaning just as dangerous as they were outside, and she could see mismatched floorboard nailed to the walls and roof to try and keep the water from dripping in.

"Who the fuck is this?" A harsh voice demanded as both Alec and Caleb tensed, Tessa, trying to see over her shoulder at the source.

Behind her stood a buff woman, who didn't look more than 26 and stood with her hands on her hips, clad in black with a red bandana over her short cut hair and anger visible in her eyes.

"Hello, I'm Tessa Forbes," She greeted from the place on the floor, both the squirming uncomfortably to the side. "Alec and Caleb told me I could join them,"

Instantly the two stammered incoherently as Selma looked at the two with slit-like eyes. Seething, she walked towards them and grabbed Alec as she raised her fist to ram it into his jaw.

"Selma, she won't be any trouble," He squeaked out as she froze with her back to the young girl. "She is just one girl, what can she possibly do? She won't be any trouble, I personally vouch for it. And if she is... Then I'll take care of it,"

Caleb swallowed as she turned to him with an expectant gaze, leaving him to gawk at the older woman in fear of being plummeted to death. The younger girl nudged him from behind and he found himself nodding sheepishly.

"He's right, Selma. Absolutely right,"

"What can you possibly offer us?" Selma turned to Tessa, Alec still in her hold.

"I can cook and clean," She informed, and instantly a head poked out from around the corner. A guy much older than the rest walked out in a leather jacket, eyebrow piercing, and a pompadour haircut as he eyes Tessa questioningly. "And I'm a fast learner."

"What can you cook?" Jake asked, everyone, falling silent and letting him take over as he made Selma release Alec with a look over his shoulder, beckoning her forward as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Anything," Tessa breathed out. "Just give me the ingredients and I can cook anything with them."

"I'll take you to the "kitchen"," He hyphenated the word and beckoned her to follow him as she stood from in front of the fire. "And then we'll see if you can stay,"

Following after him, Tessa noticed Selma's hard gaze on her and knew she was being watched. She was led into a room where there was a functioning stove, sink, a few knives, plates, spoons, forks, along with a few pots and bowls. Jake walked over to the cupboard against the wall and pulled it open to show it to be stocked with food. Tessa was taken aback by the amount before she nodded, letting Jake know to leave it to her.

With an acknowledged nod, he was about to leave the kitchen in her hands.

"Hey, Tessa," He called out at the door. "You want to freshen up before making food?"

Grinning at him, she nodded at the question before he directed to a room down the hall that was vacant and told her where the washroom was with a few clothes in the drawer. Thanking him, she got into the shower and couldn't help but sigh at the warmth that washed over her, feeling blessed to clean up after so long. Finding the clothes, she pulled on black skinny jeans and a full sleeve black shirt that exposed a strip of her stomach. Trying to find something longer, she had no luck and had no choice but to go out in her current condition.

Returning to the kitchen, she inspected the ingredients and resources provided before settling on a mushroom and leek risotto. While she cooked in peace, she found herself humming to herself and went about the task, never noticing the person enter until they spoke up.

"Smells good in here," Selma spoke up, trying to sound distasteful, but only succeeded in looking petulant instead.

"Thank you," Tessa smiled back at her. "Why don't you have a taste and tell me how it is?"

Selma looked hesitant as Tessa held out the ladle for her, eventually relenting as she took a bite; her eyes widening at the taste, looking at the younger girl in astonishment.

"What is this?" She asked with a mouth full of Risotto, wanting to get more before Tessa swatted her hand away.

"Wait until it's done,"

"It's delicious! How much longer?"

"5 more minutes,"

Once the food was dished up into five plates, the girls took them back into their 'lounge' where the guys were seated on rickety old couches, huddled around the fire as they warmed themselves after having cleaned up.

"Foods done!" Selma announced as she handed a plate to Jake and then Caleb before grabbing her own plate from Tessa. Slowly, Tessa made her way towards Alec, who sat up straight as she approached, looking at her with wide eyes as she handed him a plate before settling down beside him.

"Oh, sweet baby Jesus!" Jake moaned with a mouthful. "I'm in heaven."

Caleb was too busy savoring the taste as Selma seemed to be in a trance. Amused, Alec took a bite and instantly understood what they were going on about. He looked at Tessa, who chewed away at her food, smiling at the people before her, glad that they all liked her food.

"You're staying! You're definitely staying!" Jake exclaimed as Caleb and Selma eagerly nodded in confirmation. "You're our new gang member from now on!" He continued as he went back to eating.

Soon everyone was stuffed and content as they all lay across the surface, happy and fed. Caleb was the first one to get up and stretch as he told them he was heading off to bed. Everyone bids him a good night before he stopped before Tessa. Holding out his fist to her, she gave him a fist bump, watching as he grinned at her, conveying what he wanted to say without any words before disappearing up the stairs.

"We're heading off to bed now, too," Jake spoke as he and Selma stood up. "Awesome food Tessa, see you two in the morning."

Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Jake stopped before looking over his shoulder as if though he forgot something. "Oh, and Tessa, Alec will show you the ropes tomorrow morning."

With that, the couple went upstairs as Tessa nodded, turning to look at a flushed Alec who sat uncomfortably in his seat.

"Hey, Alec," Tessa called out as she stood up, gaining the boy's attention. "Help me clean up?"

With flushed cheeks, he nodded as he stood to help her gather all the plates and cups as they made their way to the kitchen. Tessa rinsed the dishes while Alec dried them. They went about their tasks in silence before he started to help clean the kitchen which was left messy. Suddenly, Alec murmured something under his breath as Tessa didn't catch what he said.

"What?" She inquired in confusion.

"I said that training isn't the easiest, so you might have trouble with it in the morning,"

Tessa nodded to him as she put everything away. Taking a look around the kitchen and ensuring that everything was in place before yawning tiredly as she rubbed her eyes drowsily.

"Well, I'm heading off to bed."

"Okay."

"Good night, Alec."

"Night, Tessa. Welcome to the family." He spoke as she smiled back at him, nodding in acknowledgment.