In everything I do, she's there. In every decision I make, in every word I say, she's with me. Her words have long been a permanent fixture in my brain. Her wisdom has proved to be right time and time again, very often saving me from others and myself. The countless times she told me how to act. How to handle situations caused by the person who was supposed to be guiding me. The times she was more of a mother figure than my own.

That's why I listened to her.Not because I thought her advice was always right, but because she was the only one offering any. 'If you talk too much you can't listen.' Marley had once told me. That advice has become one of my most valuable resources. Listening has served me well.

Sitting in the car with Liam and Henry, it was quiet. The kind you created intentionally. The kind of quiet that allowed you to listen. I was looking out the window, watching the town of Harlan Maryland go by. It wasn't an interesting town, it could be considered plain even, but I took in every detail of it still trying to swallow that this was my new home.

"What do you think?" Liam asked from the driver's seat. "About Harlan I mean." He glanced at me in the revue mirror making sure I understood his question.

"It's...nice." I responded honestly. I didn't like it any more or less than Brinley. It was too different to compare. Besides, I had yet to meet anyone from this town besides my family. After I had gone to school, perhaps I would be able to make a more detailed analysis.

"Different from Georgia I assume?" Liam was a talkative person. He likes conversation and it was evident to me that the silence I had created was making him uncomfortable.

"Very." I agreed.

"What was life like in Georgia?" Henry spoke for the first time since we left. He was more like me in the aspect that he didn't seem to mind the quiet. Although, with the permanent neutral expression he held, it was rather hard to truly tell what he minded and what he didn't.

"It was..." I struggled to find a word that would convey both a truth and a lie. "...Different." I settled. It wasn't a lie, just a vague truth.

"Different how?" Henry pressed. I found it odd that he had barely spoken a word to me, yet now he wanted a detailed description of my life.

"Well, I lived in an apartment in a small town. It was just me and Mom. It was warmer there." I was aware he was asking more about what life was like in the sense of how I lived, but what I said was still the truth. Even if vague.

"What about school? Have a lot of friends?" He had turned around in his seat, so that he was watching me with intense, questioning eyes. As if the answer to this question held some sort of unknown power.

"Um, I tend to be pretty shy, so I didn't have a lot of friends." I mumbled playing with the hem of my shirt.

"What about your Mom? She did a lot with you?" It was as if he knew something and was teasing me with it, in a way that I was not finding amusing. I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, not appreciating the 3rd degree integration.

"She wasn't home much." Also, a version of the truth.

"No? Where was she?" Liam pressed now sounding mildly concerned. I shrugged. My patience was wearing thin under their endless questions.

"You don't know? How come?" Henry eyed me as if challenging a bull. It almost sounded sarcastic. Like he could see through my lies, or as I prefer to think of them, half truths.

"I was not my mother's keeper. What she did was her business." I replied coolly. Hot headed tendencies were not usually my cup of tea, but I was slowly becoming irritated with the elusive questions Henry was giving me. He was about to say something, but Liam stopped him by putting a hand up.

"Enough Henry." He warned quickly. Henry studied me for a moment longer, before turning back to the front of the car. I sighed in annoyance and relief.

He knew something. But what was that something?

We drove in another bout of silence until a huge Mall came into view. I had really only shopped in Walmart or Target my whole life, so the mall was big, and intimidating in all honesty. "Ready Izzy?" It was then that I noticed Liam was standing beside me with the car door open.

"Oh, yeah." I muttered unclipping the seat belt. Following Liam and Henry into the mall, it was immediately overwhelming.

"Iz, where do you want to go?" Liam asked me.

I sighed and shrugged having no clue where to even begin. "I don't shop much so wherever you want to go works for me." I smiled sheepishly, slightly embarrassed at my lack of mall experience.

Liam put an arm around my shoulders giving it a gentle squeeze. "Let's go then."

Henry followed behind us looking bored, as we went in and out of stores for the next hour. Frankly, I hated shopping and allowed Liam to make the majority of the decisions. He somehow managed to get my style exactly right, picking out items that matched me well. I liked jeans and t-shirts, with small bits of color here or there.

My style is plain, simple. My exterior look makes up for the complexity on my inner self. After we had finally finished, Liam suggested we go to McDonald's to get some lunch which me and Henry agreed too.

"Izzy what do you want?" Liam asked as we pulled into the drive through line. "I'm not hungry." I said honestly. Liam and Henry shared a look that seemed to convey something I didn't understand. "Okay..." Liam seemed reluctant but didn't force my hand which I appreciated.

The boys both got burgers and practically inhaled them, before Liam started driving again. "So Izzy, what I want to do at the clinic is just a regular routine check up like you get at the doctors every year. Does that sound alright?" My teeth clenched down on my lip, anxiety settling in my stomach.

"Uh yeah, I guess." I mumbled quietly.

Going to the doctors was a foreign concept to me if I'm honest. Sure up until a few years ago I went to regular check ups, but even those were rather nerve racking for me and my mother. There was always the unspoken threat of the doctor thinking I wasn't being taken care of and as my mother's addiction progressed and I was left to fend for myself more and more, and eventually she stopped taking me to the doctors all together. Whether that was in fear or it slipped her mind just as I did, I couldn't tell you.

Walking into the clinic, my heart was beating unexplainably fast. Something about this situation was making me anxious. I walked behind Liam, with Henry behind me, silently ushering me along the white walled hallway. "Hop up here Iz, I'm gonna go get my stuff." Liam said, patting the wax paper covered table.

Slowly I did as he said, my lip becoming more raw with each passing second. Henry took a seat in front of me, but his normally natural expression softened when he saw my nervous posture. He stood up and pulled my lip from between my teeth.

"No need to be nervous Izzy. Liam is a great doctor and won't hurt you." His voice was soft and kind unlike the sharp tone he had used earlier.

"I-I just haven't been to the doctors in a while." I mumbled not meeting his eyes. I was acting like a child. An unnecessarily scared child.

"I know, but hey it won't be so bad Iz. You'll see." He flashed me a smile. Not smirk, not a sarcastic grin, but a real genuine reassuring smile.

I shrugged, kicking my feet back and forth not caring about the soft banging sound it made whenever my heels hit the metal. Henry hooked his index finger and thumb under my chin, forcing me to meet his silver eyes that reminded me of steel. Reflective and polished if the light meets it the right way. But also like steel, it was protecting something. A hidden feeling he didn't want to share.

He opened his mouth likely to reassure me once more, but Liam joining us back in the room interrupted him. Instead he just gave me a small smile and took his seat behind Liam.

Throughout the exam, Liam had me do things like stand on the scale and measure my height against the wall markers.He also stuck a Popsicle stick down my throat which was very uncomfortable. By the time we were done, I was beyond ready to go home.

"Are we done?" I asked, trying to keep the whiny tone at bay. I didn't need to sound like a little kid even if I was as tall as one.

"Almost sweetheart." Liam mumbled reading something off a clipboard. "Izzy here's the thing. 12 year old girls that are as small as you are supposed to weigh around 92 pounds give or take and that's on the light side. You weigh 65 which makes you pretty underweight for your age." I tensed up at the words 'under weight'. I knew that but I guess the confirmation made it more real.

"So, what we're gonna do is while we're at home I want you to try and eat more than you usually would. No skipping meals whatsoever and you have to eat at least half of your plate at meals. Tyler told me you like running so if you do that everyday, you should gain the weight in a healthy way if you make good food choices." I nodded already knowing I wouldn't be able to do some of those things.

Half of my plate at every meal? What happens if I'm not hungry? Would I get in trouble?

"Um...do we have to...tell the others about this?" I asked nervously. I didn't want them all to look at me like a pity case. I didn't need their pity. I didn't need them to look at me like a fragile little doll.

"Yes, but only so that everyone can know the best way to help you. I'll tell them tonight and you don't have to be there if you don't want to." I sighed, twisting the hem of my shirt around my finger. "Iz, no one will judge you or make fun of you I promise."

These boys loved to promise.

I wonder how soon they'll break all these promises. Because that's what happens in the world. Promises get broken. People get hurt. It's just the way of the world.

I know that all too well.

A/N-I was painting my toe nails while editing this and got nail polish on my comforter. I cried. Then I ate some candy and now I feel better.

Anyway, did we like this chapter? Henry has a secret but what is it? What does he know that he's not saying?

Who is your favorite character so far? I personally love writing Tyler and Liam.

Thank you for votes and comments! Leave your theories in the comments!