Zoë watched as the blue sedan drove away from her house; tears slowly falling down her cheeks and beneath her chin. She didn't even try to brush the warm drops away, there was no reason to. The pain she was feeling deserved the company of her tears and she welcomed them with open arms. Closing the door she turned and walked passed her brother and sister who sat clinging to one another on the living room couch; they said nothing to her and she returned the gesture. Climbing the stairs on weak legs she found her way into the bathroom and looked into a reflection she did not recognize. The face she once knew as hers was now bruised and bloody from the beating she had taken from her boyfriend. She had been with him for two years and refused to accept the truth of their relationship. Both Lulu and Seth tried to convince her to leave him but she would argue and tell them he didn't mean it and that he would change; that she could change him.

Tonight was the first time Lulu and Seth had witnessed Zoë's abuse and Seth tried to save her, but Jake had locked the bedroom door; ignoring the pleas coming from the other side of the door. When Zoë heard Seth's threat to call the cops she screamed for him not to; she loved Jake and couldn't stand the thought of him going to jail. She believed that deep down he was a good man and going to jail wouldn't help bring that out of him.

As the memory of earlier flooded her mind, Zoë collapsed to the cold tile floor of the bathroom and cried. The short shallow breaths sent a stabbing pain through her ribcage where Jake had kicked her repeatedly; causing her to cry even harder. As the tears subsided her mind wandered back five years ago, when a man entered her life and changed it forever. She was furious for him leaving them, in her mind Shane Wolfe didn't care for her or her siblings. They were just another mission to him and that was it, once his mission was over he left without warning one night while they slept. Zoë remembered waking up the morning Shane had left to find a note on the kitchen counter that said only one thing: 'Goodbye'.

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Zoë awoke the next morning to find Lulu standing over her with fresh tear streaks on her cheeks. Examining her surrounding it came to Zoë's attention that she had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor. Slowly sitting up, she gripped her forehead in the process when a searing pain flowed over her head.

"Lulu…" Zoë said groggily as she held a hand out to her sister, with a disgusted look on her face Lulu turned and stormed out of the bathroom; causing Zoë to jump when the door to Lulu's room was slammed shut.

"Lulu?" Zoë knocked softly on her sister's door, slowly opening it when she got no answer. Lying on her bed with her face in the pillow, Lulu wept for her sister. Zoë sat down on the bed and gently placed a hand on her back.

Quickly sitting up from her sister's touch, Lulu stared into Zoë's eyes in search of something. What that was, she wasn't sure herself. Hope, maybe, that Zoë's eyes would open up to the life she was living.

"Can't you see what he's doing to you?" Lulu asked as she brushed a stray hair from Zoë's face.

Zoë couldn't believe how much her sister had grown through the years, she was now thirteen but she acted much older. And it was the small touch Lulu gave her that made her realize this and she pulled her into a hug and cried along with her.

After her crying session with Lulu, Zoë climbed into a hot shower and let the small drops prick her skin. Even the slight touch of the water made her body scream in pain, but she ignored them as she washed herself clean. After an hour in the shower she examined her body in the mirror, cringing at the sight. She had huge bruises all over her abdomen and on her arms where Jake had gripped her to throw her against a wall; she also had a split lip and a black eye. Wrapping a towel around her body she quickly ran into her room, slamming the door behind her. She couldn't let anybody see her this way and with that thought she rummaged through her closet to find any long sleeved shirts and jeans. With success she quickly put them on and with a final look in the mirror and a pair of sunglasses left her room to face her family and the rest of the world.

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One Week Later

Zoë sat on the couch flipping through a fashion magazine when Lulu came running in with a piece of paper in her hand. Pouncing on the cushion next to Zoë, she shoved the paper in her face with a huge smile on her face.

"Lulu, what the…" Zoë started to object until she saw the handwriting on the paper. Shutting up to read the letter her face began to get whiter and whiter with each word she read.

It was a letter from Shane saying he was coming back to visit and Zoë couldn't believe the timing. She didn't live at home anymore but she was there to watch over Seth, Lulu and Tyler until her mother got back from her three week business trip. She knew she was in trouble if Shane ever found out about Jake, quickly dropping her hand in her lap she looked at Lulu in a panic.

"You cannot, and I mean cannot tell Shane about Jake and what's been happening you got it!" Zoë demanded.

"What? Why?" That was the main reason Lulu was happy about Shane returning, surely he could save Zoë from Jake and herself. No one else could, he was their only hope.

"You… you just can't okay!" Zoë jumped from the couch and headed for the kitchen, she didn't want to have this conversation, and she always hated it when Lulu or Seth brought it up.

"Zoë, you've got to get help! It's only a matter of time before he ends up killing you and scared!"

With those words, Zoë stopped abruptly only to turn and face her sister. There were mixed emotions flowing through both Zoë and Lulu's eyes as they stared at each other. Lulu's chin began to quiver as she tried to fight back the tears that yearned to fall, causing the same thing to happen with Zoë.

"That's not going to happen, Lulu."

"Yes it will. He's not going to change Zoë and you know it! You're just too thick headed to realize that!"

"I love him Lulu and he loves me. He would never do that!"

"Really, because he has absolutely no problem in hitting you, if he loved you he couldn't hurt you because it would hurt him too!" Lulu screamed.

The only response Lulu got was Zoë retreating from her only to stop once more at the sound of their doorbell ringing. He couldn't possible be here, it just seemed way too soon. They just now got the letter, unless he planned it that way. In a panic she turned to Lulu and was afraid by the look in her eyes. In a race to the door, Zoë reached it first and pressed her back to it with her hand on the knob.

"Move," Lulu growled and Zoë shook her head. Again, the doorbell rang; causing Zoë to jump and look up as if in search of the source. Using the distraction to her advantage, Lulu shoved her out of the way. Screaming in pain Zoë clutched her ribs, they were still sore from the beating and she figured they were either bruised or cracked. The bruises on her stomach and chest had faded some, but they were still clearly visible.

Gripping the doorknob, Lulu pulled the door open; a smile spreading across her face as Shane stood in front of her. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and gripped him like a vice; laughing Shane hugged her back.

"Lulu?" He asked as he pulled her away from him to get a better look.

"Yep."

"How old are you now?"

"Thirteen." Lulu's smile got wider with each sentence past.

"Wow," was Shane's only response as he entered the house. His eyes instantly landed on Zoë and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. His smile slowly faded when he noticed her slightly hunched over with her arms around her ribs.

"Zoë, you okay?"

"Just fine," Zoë answered bitterly before heading up the stairs to lock herself in her room for the rest of the night.