Hiding is how I cope. It's how I deal with unwanted emotions or situations. From a young age I was hiding from things, My mother, the neighborhood toughs, the school kids. It seemed there was always something to hide from. Something to not deal with. So my first instinct when I woke up in that unfamiliar bedroom was to remain there and hide, as opposed to going and finding Tyler or one of the others and having to meet everyone right now. I thought perhaps, if they didn't see me that would forget I was here.

That's how it worked with Mom. Out of sight out of mind right? I sat crisscrossed, on the bed staring at the door, wondering if they had forgotten me. I hoped they did. I was a burden to remember. But alas my question was answered when there was a knock on the door. I didn't respond, but whoever was on the other side, took it upon themselves to enter anyway. "Morning Izzy." Liam said with a smile. 

"Morning." I mumbled quietly.

"Sleep well kiddo?" He asked, walking into the room and taking a seat on the bed beside me. I nodded slowly, looking up at him. I was small by most people's standards, but compared to the 3 boys I've met so far, I look like an Elf which was very annoying if you ask me. "Well, the others are waiting down stairs in the kitchen, if you want to join us." he offers. 

Guess my hiding is over. Internally sighing, I gave him a nervous look. "Sure." 

Liam puts a hand on my shoulder. "Just take a breath and remember to be confident in who you are." He was certainly an optimist. But being confident like he suggested, was easier said than done. Standing up, Liam outstretched his hand which I hesitantly took.

"Don't worry kid, they'll love you." He attempted to reassure me. I don't know how he could be so sure, given that he barely knows me, but I appreciated his positive outlook which so far he seemed to consistently have. I allowed Liam to pull me down the stairs, nerves ceasing my body with each step. I could hear commotion coming from the kitchen. I gulped, my lip finding its way between my teeth subconsciously. Liam squeezed my hand encouragingly. "Ready?" I took a deep breath and nodded. I counted about 7 people in the room, all crowded around a kitchen island, talking and laughing. But the room fell silent as soon as we entered.

Every pair of eyes fell on me, like I was captivating in some way. They all watched me with sad expressions, some with specks of admiration glimmering in their gazes. What really caught my eye was the girl in the midst of boys, staring at me the most intensely. She held a sort joyous look, like she had found the missing piece to her puzzle.

All of the looking at me made me feel self conscious, so I averted my stare, settling for looking around the kitchen that was bigger than our whole apartment in Brinley. It was modern and decorated nicely, but it could have used what some might call a woman's touch. My neighbor back home had taught me about such things and she would have a thing or two to say about this place. But then again she had a thing or two to say about most everything.

Tyler was the first to snap out of the momentary trance, coming to my side and putting a hand on my shoulder. "Everyone, this is Izzy." He introduced looking at the still bewildered seeming group. "Izzy, this is Henry and Jace." He pointed to two boys I could tell were twins. They had the same dark hair as Nolan and Tyler and one had silver eyes the two oldest brothers had, but the other had blue ones that resembled Moms and Liams .The blue eyed man wore a pair of glasses, and a kind smile, while the silver eyed man wore a neutral expression, and I could see tattoos on his knuckles and arms. His posture was stiff and slightly anxious for some reason.

"That's Logan." A younger version of Liam, with darker eyes stepped forward with a goofy smile. I could see tattoos on his arms, one of which was a beautiful sun and moon print. It said something in the sun and the moon but from this distance I couldn't read it and when he saw where I had been looking, he quickly covered it up with his other arm. "That's Finley." The boy looked at me with wide eyes, as if he couldn't quite believe I was here. Like he had seen the ghost of someone he had missed.

He had greenish blue eyes, and the same color hair as I did. He was practically dripping in sweat and judging by his clothes, I would say perhaps he had been working out. "And this." Tyler paused as the girl stepped forward.

"Is Emma. Your twin." She had the same chestnut hair that fell in loose curls around a similar heart shaped face. Hey eyes were a sky blue with a liveliness and positivity I don't believe I had possessed in a long time. We both stood there looking at each other in awe, staring at reflections of ourselves. "You look like me." Emma mumbled absently. "You look like me." I responded stupidly. I heard some of the boys chuckle but I was too engrossed in the moment to acknowledge it.

Before either of us could do anything more, Emma rushed forward and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. The kind of hug no one had given me since Marley. The kind of hug I needed. She was slightly taller than me, and her frame was bigger, but I imagined that was from consistent meals her whole life. "I'm so happy you're with us." She whispered in my ear so only I could hear her. "I'm happy to be here too." I muttered back, fighting the stream of emotions rising in me.

"Aww, they're so cute!" the one I think was Jace, cooed looking at us. Emma let go of me with a soft laugh, as I blushed wildly. It's been quite a while since anyone has referred to me as 'cute'. 

"C'mon girls, let's eat." Tyler put an arm around each of our shoulders and guided us to the huge table, filled with different plates of food.

"Izzy, are you allergic to anything?" Nolan asked as he scooped food onto a plate, handing it to Emma. 

"I don't think so." I said quietly. 

"Why does she have a southern accent?" The one I believe was Finley asked Tyler. I thought that it was rather rude to talk about me as if I wasn't in the room but perhaps that was just me. Maybe it was the southern standard of manners that had been drilled into my brain my whole life. 

"She's from Georgia Einstein." I think it was Logan who slapped Finley on the back of the head. 

"Uh, yeah I'm from Brinley." I confirmed. 

"Huh, it's cool." Finley said, shooting me a small smile.

I blushed again looking down at my lap. Man these boys are going to think red is my natural skin tone if I keep this up. Nolan placed a plate in front of me, piled with eggs, bacon, pancakes and fruit. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

"What? Something you don't like?" He asked, seeming confused. 

I quickly shook my head. "It's all for me?" I asked doubtfully. 

"Well yeah, why wouldn't it be?" That was Henry I believe. He sounded confused and slightly mad, although I couldn't tell you why. As far as I knew I hadn't had the chance to mess up yet. I shrugged digging into the food, not wanting to make anyone annoyed or upset.

Being used to Top Ramen and 50 cent bags of chips everyday, I was relishing the opportunity to eat something home cooked. And this food tasted as amazing as it smelled. My enjoyment must have shown on my face because I heard Liam laugh. "Is it good?" He asked with a teasing look. I nodded vigorously, not bothering to be embarrassed by my enthusiasm. 

"So Izzy, tell us about yourself." Jace urged. All the attention was still on me and I hated it. Their gazes haven't left me for a millisecond since I came in this morning, as if they were afraid I would vanish into thin air if they weren't looking at me. I shrugged with an apologetic look, just as unsure of what to say as I was last night.

"Still nothing to say huh?" Liam gave me a curious look. He seemed to be contemplating something, and shared a look with Nolan and Tyler I didn't understand. 

"You're not a talker are you?" Logan concluded taking a bite of his food. 

"I prefer to listen." That was the easy way of saying I prefer to be forgotten. That required less explanation.

"Too bad Emma doesn't have that trait." Finley teased. Emma scowled at him but he just stuck his tongue out at her. 

"I don't talk that much." She argued crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Em you're fine and so are you Izzy, You both talk the perfect amount." Tyler interrupted Finely who was about to say something else to Emma, likely antagonistic. 

"Brothers can be so annoying sometimes." She muttered, rolling her eyes and leaning back in her seat.

"We're not that bad." Henry reasoned jabbing a fork in Emma's direction. 

"Yeah, don't scare Izzy before we had the chance." Logan smirked at Emma who rolled her eyes so aggressively I could have sworn they were going to fall out.

"Hey, watch the attitude Em." Tyler reprimanded, raising an eyebrow at Emma. 

She muttered a sorry, glancing at me with a smile. "Don't worry Izzy, brothers aren't that bad." She said, sticking her tongue out at the boys. They all retaliated with a similar gesture or a protest of their own.

Half way through the meal, I put my fork down, feeling full. It was a larger meal than I had been given in years and grateful as I was, there was no way I would be able to finish it.

"Izzy is that all you're gonna eat?" Jace asked sounding slightly concerned. 

"Uh yeah, I'm full thank you." I gave him a polite smile which he replied with a wary one. I saw him, Tyler and Liam exchange looks briefly but ignored it and went back to watching the banter between Emma and Logan.

This was a different world than the one I was used to. This one was filled with sibling banter and teasing. Love and laughter. The hate I normally felt ceased to exist here.

The world seemed to not have touched this family. It seemed to have skipped right over them.

But the world catches up to everyone eventually.

A/N-I spilled Jello on my keyboard while I was editing this and deleted half the chapter by accident. I literally was about to cry but then I remembered that I had it saved on google docs. But it turns out that I had done way more editing on Wattpad than I thought I did and I had to reedit the whole thing. So in conclusion, I hate Jello.

So we met the family! What do we think? I've never written sister relationships before so this will be a new experience for me but so far I'm enjoying it.

What do you think Logan's tattoo says and why is he hiding it? Why was Henry so cold and even anxious? I love to hear theories so LMK in the comments what you Think!