Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks to Linneagb, xRonniex, strawberrymagic01 and Cookie05 for reviewing.

As Mike turned his key in the lock once again, though on this occasion close to sunset, due to the man's tardiness in arriving at the hospital that morning, Amethyst looked up at the place that was now to be her home.

It was rather daunting, to say the least, if she judged by the appearance of the building itself, as it looked more like a country mansion than it did a care home, by the sheer size of it alone. The girl tried to keep the notion of it being the size of a prison from her mind, as she knew she was only attempting to make herself an excuse to hate the place she had been brought to. In truth, Elm Tree House looked to be a lovely place to live.

"Don't worry." Mike instructed her kindly, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, as if he had somehow sensed her fears and wished to stop them from manifesting any further, as they tended to do with her, which he would have known, had he read her social file, which she was certain he could not have done, given that he did not know her surname to do so. "You'll fit in here in no time."

"I hope I will, yeah." she sighed, not breaking her glance from the top of the building, where the colours of the sunset were beginning to show, making the place seem all the more beautiful.

Once she was beckoned inside the large house, Amethyst was even more downhearted, as the inside seemed to be even more homely and warm than the outside had been. Toys lined the shelving units beside the staircase, laid haphazardly around the base of the staircase as well, along with a cupboard that Mike explained was for coats and shoes, while jumpers and other various things were thrown carelessly around the sofa, showing very clearly that the house was full of children who had been ushered to bed and had not bothered to tidy up after themselves. This was something that the young girl found quite comforting and even endearing, as it made the place seem less of a house and more of a home, an experience that the chid had not had for a long time.

"Amethyst, you know that no one here is going to judge you, don't you?" the man asked quietly, once again placing a hand on her shoulder, though on this occasion, she gently shrugged it away, remaining calm for a moment before her mind gave way to the haze of anger.

"Why would they judge me? What do you think I've done that means they would judge me?" she asked, the accusation in her voice extremely clear, as was the expression on her face. If there was one thing she did not like happening to her, it was people assuming that they knew something about her, when in fact they did not.

"Hey!" Mike exclaimed, raising his hands in a position that constituted surrender, before continuing to speak, in a far softer voice. "I'm not trying to say anything, I'm just trying to make sure you know that we're all a family here, and that no one is going to try and determine anything about you, because they don't want to, and they don't need to."

"I don't need a family. I have a family." she assured him, her voice far harsher than his had been. It seemed to Mike as if, similarly to Jody, she had been trained to hold her, particularly against anyone to do with social services. "And you can't replace them, even if you try."

"We won't be trying to replace your real family, not at all, because we don't try to do that for anyone at all." Mike pointed out, bending down to the level of the girl, who had sat down on the jumper strewn sofa, her arms folded tightly across her chest, as she attempted to remain immune to the points he was making. "Every single child who comes to us has had a family of their own. We don't try to replace that family, we just allow them to join the one we have here. The Elm Tree family."

For the first time since the argument had begun, Amethyst allowed herself to pause for a lengthy amount of time. Her biggest fear since she had arrived in the place was that it seemed to be more like a family home than an institution, as she did not want to feel that she was abandoning her own relatives, or at least that she was abandoning the one person that mattered within that classification. But now that Mike had told her of the way Elm Tree House treated its children, and the way that their group was like a clan of their own, a family that could come either first or second, depending on the preference of the individual child. She no longer had an argument to give.

"You won't try to replace them?" she questioned, her voice suddenly a great deal quieter than it had been, all the anger in her having been spent.

"No." came the simple response, Mike's tone only a little firmer, as he attempted to convince the girl of what she was only just beginning to believe. "They can be the most important family for you, if you want them to be, but we will still be a family here as well."

Seeing that she did not quite believe him, even after everything he had said, Mike tried one last attempt, the only thing he could think of that may help.

"The girl would want you to be happy, wouldn't she?" the man questioned, remembering the fuss she had created in her hospital room about said girl, though he still, admittedly, did not know who she was. Amethyst answered with a slight nod, just enough to acknowledge that she had heard him.

As she had been instructed to do, and after receiving directions to her new bedroom, the girl ascended the staircase, taking the small bag of her possessions with her. However, as she reached the peak of the steps, she turned, having realised that she could trust the balding care worker still stood at the base of them.

"I can trust you, Mike, can't I?" she asked, just to clarify what she already thought she knew. The man nodded immediately.

"Yes, of course you can." he responded, with a bright smile. Taking a deep breath, the girl spoke a secret that she had vowed to herself only hours ago not to tell.

"Then my name is Amethyst Jayden."

A/N: So, Amie's at the DG! Next chapter, we find out why she wanted to keep her name a secret. Please review!