Chapter 3

Piper's point of view

It was a really nice day, the sun was out and there was a cool breeze as well. Ariana was having a merry time; she thought it was great fun in the sun and wind, as for myself I was just enjoying being out of the house.

As we approached the dinner I noted that a group of guys went in which was unusual usually it was just Ariana and myself but it didn't worry me. More the merrier, we opened the door and I was having trouble with my guitar case but I managed to get it in the door without any major injuries to the doorframe or me.

Then it hit me, the screaming voice of my overactive friend Amber, "PIPER CHARLOTTE IERO! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN! I'VE BEEN WORRIED!" Then I was hit with a bone-crushing hug from her I had to step back so we both wouldn't end up on the floor.

I hug my best friend, we hadn't seen one an other in a while like two months in fact, it's was insane. Amber just looked at me and hug me again, "It's good to see you, butterfly." She whispered to me, "its good to see you too, Lee."

Then a shout from the opposite table interrupted our hug and frighten me half to death,

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!" I looked over at the table in the corner. There were four men and three little girls all sitting in a booth.

Two of the men where calming a third man and the fourth man looked at me and smiled. I gave a strained smile back and walked over to the booth farthest away from the men. I mean didn't mind that they were here but that didn't mean I wasn't weary of them. All men had brought for me was pain and suffering and at the black headed one outburst I wanted to stay right away.

They all looked familiar to me but for the life of me I couldn't place where I had seen this particular group of men or heard the angry man's voice but I chose not to brood about it. I chose like many times in my life to tune out and knelt down make sure Arianna was ok.

Amber turned to me to me when I stood up and I knew I was going to get the third degree from her about my non-existents of the last few weeks.

"So…" she started and looked at me expectantly.

"Look I didn't do it on purpose…" She looked like she was going to interrupted me and I put my hand up to stop her,

"I know you, Amber Lee, if you don't agree you don't shut up." She looked at me sulkily and I just started up at her and she muttered,

"Fine." I smiled at her and began talking again.

"School has been hectic as, I had 6 test in the past two weeks, so I've been studying until my brain can't cram anything more up there, Mr Roberts has been on my back about rent so I had to ick up extra shifts at the waffle stack and the supermarket, Ria hasn't been sleeping well so I've had her to the docs and well…"

I drifted of toward the end. I didn't want to have to tell my best friend that I had been waiting for the bruises on my arms and face to fade enough that I could put make up on them. To tell my best friend I had let my crack whore mother and her sleazebag of a boyfriend get their hands on me again. Letting them take more money to fund their drug habit, I couldn't face the shame, the shame that I couldn't defend myself against her and letting her take all the money.

"What did she do thi…"

"Nothing" I said it fast and shied away from the disbelieving look she gave me by looking at my shoes.

"Fuck Pip, can you lie a bit better." She looked at me. "I know you can, so for fuck sake, wipe the make up off so I can see the bruises, butterfly."

She left no room for arguing as she hand me a napkin from the holder on the table. I send her a pleading look before gently wiping the side of my face with the napkin removing the layers of make up I had vigilantly applied that morning revealing my colouring face, she swore and then grab my hand, "Hey it's ok." She said wiping my tears away that had formed in my eyes.

I looked at my friend of ten years with tears pouring down my face. She swore and again and said," Meg fucking Iero should go die in a hole." I started sobbing against Amber letting out of the emotions I had bottled up it wasn't fair and all the crap that had happened but it was my life.

It remained me of all the times she had done this for me and even when we first meet she was giving me comfort.

Flashback

I could still remember that day that I meet Amber. It was cold because it was winter but more to the fact that I didn't have a jumper. I was on the swings in the park when a young Amber came up to me and asked if she could sit beside my and swing on the other swing. I was six and craved human affection so I said yes and she sat beside me and we swang in silent. It wasn't until my shivering got so violent that my teeth started to clatter that she spoke again, "Where is your jumper and your socks? My mommy made me where a jumper and a coat today because it so cold and she made sure I had socks on! But I don't really like socks!" She exclaimed with bright eyes.

I looked at my feet and started to cry, thinking to myself why didn't my mommy care that I was cold like this girls mommy? I was still wrestling with the question when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I quickly looked up to see her in front of me asking what was wrong.

"My mommy doesn't care." I whispered she came closer, "I didn't hear you." She looked at me apologetically. I took a breath and repeated my whispered confession, "My mommy doesn't care." She looked at me horrified and said with gusto "Of course she does that a mommy's job!" I looked at her and giggled a little. "Well then my mommy sucks at it!"

She looked at me and handed her jacket to me, "Put it on." She nodded with her head. I started at the jacket in my arms. I had never had a jacket so I was marvelling at it when her voice startled me "put it on, here I'll help you." She held out her hands to help me off the swing and took the jacket from my hands to be honest I clutched at it a bit but I quickly let it go remembering it was the girls, but she just motioned for me to turn around and then she slipped the jacket over my shoulders. I turned around quickly and looked at her with a look of wonder I uttered one word, "why."

She looked at me, "because you are cold and your mommy's mean and I want to help you! And you don't have one so you can have this one I have plenty!" she looked very proud of her self and I felt better. The jacket doing what it was meant to, warm me up.

"What about your mommy, won't she be mad that I have your jacket? I don't want you to get into trouble!"

She looked at me and shrugged at me, "I don't care that's what you do for friends."

After that we became best friends.

End of Flashback

The scrap of chairs brought me back to the dinner and brought back to my attention.

Oh shit! I'm in the middle of a dinner crying there was a heated discussion over on the table where all the men where sitting but I didn't care. I just wanted to go back to the house and sleep some more and finish of the rest of the pile of homework I had to complete.

I gazed at Amber and asked her to get chocolate chip pancakes for Ariana and just some coffee for myself. She gave me a look of displeasure and walked off placed our order with the chef and place the ready meals on the table with the men.

I pulled Ariana out of her pram and placed her beside me in the booth. She kept squirming around and wouldn't stay still, she sided out of the booth and started walking towards the men who where still in a heated discussion.

"Ariana Lee Iero, I swear to god, you get your ass back here right now or no chocolate chip pancakes."

She just grinned at me, and ran to the table with the other men,

"God damn,"

I said to myself as I jumped up to go save my wayward sister.

The little brat ran straight into one the men's legs and fell back on to her ass. As she looked up into the man's face she giggled and gave him a toothy grin. The man looked down at her and smiled at her.

It was the man who smiled at me when the men where fighting when we came in.

He picked Ariana up and she giggled at him again.

"You're a cutie aren't you?"

She smiled back; the men stopped fighting and looked at her interest. I walked over to her they all turned to look at me there was an intake of breath from the man holding my sister and the two men who where in the fiery discussion only moments ago.

I reached the men and death glared my younger sister.

"Umm excuse me."

Frank's point of view

It was her, it had to be, my little sister Meg. This girl was a relative…. Her daughter maybe, the girl Piper looked so much like Meg when she was younger, but this girl looked defeated not at all like my defiant sister.

It was frighting how much of a resemblant she had of a younger more vulnerable Gerard, I quickly done the math and come to the conclusion that she could be Gerard's in a fucked up world.

Then she spoke and then there was no doubt in my mine that she was Meg's child. She had the same haunted voice as Meg that made you sit and listen to her.

"Sorry. My name's Piper and that little girl there," pointing at the child that was currently bouncing on Mikey knee, "is my ever charming sister Ariana."

But I couldn't look away from the ugly bruise on her face. It stretched from the bottom of her mouth to corner of her eye, I felt sorry from her it looked extremely painful! While I had zoned out Mikey had made the introductions to the rest of the guys and our little ones.

I was blown away by the fact Meg wasn't dead but she would be because looking at this young girl you could tell she was abused and neglected!

She blushed bright red and mumbled that she knew of us and Ray laughed and said that they got that a lot. I was still speechless that this girl could be my niece, so lost in my own world that it startled me when she spoke to me.

"Could you not stare at me," she was still blushing but her words had heat behind them and I was getting glimpse of Meg coming through the attitude of this young girl.

I startled, "sorry, I didn't mean to, ummmm." I paused. I had to looked down her eyes were freaking me out all of a sudden I couldn't breath. All I could see was my little sister walking away from me and this girl in front of me could very well tell me where she was but after all this time…

Did I really want to see her? The younger sister that had walked out of my life?