AN: 'ello!!!!!!!! I'm back again, yay!!! Ok, so I kinda ran out of steam at the end of last chapter, so here's hoping that doesn't happen again anytime soon… ^__^ By the way, the beginning of this chapter happens at the same time as the ending of the last one, to keep all y'all from being confuzzled…. I'm so nice ^__^ (and all my friends are going "yeah, right. Nice, you?" anywhoodles, I'm gonna shaddup now and get on with the stuff I know y'all want.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TOKIO HOTEL OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S REAL IN HERE. I DO, AS Y'ALL KNOW BY NOW, OWN THE SUMMERS FAMILY. Y'ALL KNOW WHAT'LL HAPPEN IF THEY END UP STOLEN, SO NO STEALING!!!

AN: oh, yeah, and this chappy's gonna be a bit more drama filled than the last ones, so prepare yourselves!!!!!!! And another thing, there is German in here, but I'm too lazy to find a dictionary… and I don't speak it at all… so if anyone knows a good English to German translator (online, free, preferably) I will be eternally grateful!!!!!!!!! (the only words that are actually in German are the ones that my dad remembered from his vacations there… yeah, fail, right?

Previously: At that, though, Georg and Bill both turned back to the still-open door and continued spying, obviously wondering how long it would be before Tom turned back into the perverted playa they all knew.

RACHEL, DREAMSCAPE

Rachel stood at the bottom of a long, grassy hill. A clear night sky hung over her head, the stars glowing, the full moon bright enough to see even the little details around her. She tilted her head back, allowing the calmness of the scene wash over her and get rid of the lingering traces of panic. A light breeze blew her hair around her face; she laughed softly, purely for the joy of it, and brushed it back. The breeze slowly died, and, as it faded, she heard a slight noise from behind her.

She turned quickly, tension rising in her again, tension that disappeared as she recognized the boy from her other dream. The one that always saved her. She could barely make out details of him, for some reason. The air around him seemed fuzzy, unlike the clear, fogless air around her. Rachel smiled and raised a hand in greeting. She almost heard the boy laughing softly. In most cases, she would've yelled at him to stop laughing, but she liked his laugh to much to tell him off. Eventually, though, he stopped of his own accord, and she heard a voice in her mind, curiously unaccented and emotionless, but that could only be his.

"You shouldn't be here now."

Her body went cold. 'Why not?'

One corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. She caught a glimpse of a lip ring as he spoke again. "It isn't time yet. Wake up now, love. I'll see you here again soon."

She felt herself falling, and could only whisper thanks to the boy that had saved her so many times, and was no doubt saving her now……………………………………………………………

STILL RACHEL, BUT A FEW MINUTES LATER (AN: I know, obvious, but still… bye!)

Rachel's eyelids twitched as she finally made it back to the land of the living, but other than that, didn't move. She continued breathing in a slow, easy pattern to keep anyone nearby under the assumption that she was still out of it while she tried to figure out where the hell she was.

The last thing she remembered was seeing the dark ceiling above her, hands in front of her face, and someone leaning towards her. She also remembered the noise: screams, bad singing, Bill Kaulitz's voice shouting through a speaker by her head.

Wait… wasn't that still Bill's voice? Only, now he wasn't singing or shouting. He was practically whispering. And there was another voice. Deeper, but similar, and with the same strong German accent. Her eyes flew open… to see that she was lying on a couch, Tom Kaulitz was sitting by her feet in a position that could not have been comfortable, and Bill was leaning against the wall. Even as her mind filtered this information, her body entered the last stage of panic attacks: the adrenaline was leaving her system as quickly as it had filled it, leaving her weepy and exhausted. Suddenly afraid beyond belief and hoping this was a dream, Rachel jackknifed to a sitting position, subconsciously letting out a sound that was half a gasp and half a sob. Her feet smacked into Tom on their way up, and he slid off the couch to the floor with a thump. In other circumstances, she would have laughed. Now, however, she was more concerned with the tears she could feel pooling in her eyes.

Tom hauled himself back onto the couch with a grunt, sparing a brief glance for his brother. She caught Bill murmuring something to the effect of, "I'm leaving, you deal with crying better than me." Before she could catch herself, she made the tiniest whimpering noise, leftover from her fear from earlier. Tom turned back to her, just as a single tear dropped from her eyes. Petrified and embarrassed more than she ever had been, she simply stared at him as others began to follow the first. Bill bolted from the room, and Tom yelped after him, "Wait! Bill, don't leave me!" Rachel tried to raise a hand to her face, to hide the tears, but her hands didn't seem to want to cooperate today. Tom slowly turned back to her, his face a mix of fear and pity. She watched his powerful shoulders rise and fall as he heaved as sigh, thoroughly humiliated that he was seeing her this way.

So it was a massive surprise when he reached out a pulled her against his chest, as though he wanted her to think it was okay to show tears. She tensed at first, out of sheer surprise, but then, as his arms tightened around her, she relaxed. Of their own accord, her hands rose to grip his loose-fitting shirt, clenching so hard to the fabric that she thought there would be permanent wrinkles. Her face buried into his chest and the sobs came freely. Her entire frame shook with the force of them, amazing her.

Then again, maybe it shouldn't be such a shock. After all, she'd suffered eleven years of panic attacks and no one had ever tried to comfort her before.

As she cried, she felt him go tense for a brief period, but eventually he relaxed a bit as well. After a few minutes, she felt his arms leave her waist, and feared that he was through with the comfort stuff, and she started to pull away. But then his arms wrapped around her shoulders, and he pulled her back, his head lowering to her shoulder.

They stayed that way for a while; Rachel lost track of how long. Her sobs continued to come through her body uncontrollably, although they were mainly from embarrassment now; embarrassment and shame. But then, she heard Tom mutter something in German under his breath. She took a deep breath, hoping her tears were done; another sob shook her body. Seconds later, she heard Tom's voice again, this time whispering in her ear. In German. She was rather glad she'd allowed her obsessiveness to push her in to taking German in school; otherwise, she might have thought he was cursing her out. Instead, she realized he was trying to help her, odd as that was, coming from the one known as the perv of all pervs.

"Hey, it's ok, there's nothing to be afraid of here. You're ok, you're safe, I won't let anything hurt you." Had she imagined that last line? As his voice continued to sound in her ears, she let herself imagine that he had said it, and meant it. This dream, as well as his soothing voice, slowed her sobs and dried her tears. Moments later, she was just leaning against him, allowing his arms to hold her there, her mind as dry as her eyes. However, she should have known that kind of peace couldn't last.

A loud crash sounded through the room as two guys fell through the door, ending up in a laughing pile just inside the room. Rachel barley bit back a scream and launched herself backwards towards the other end of the couch. Unfortunately, she misjudged the distance and ended up falling over the arm, landing in an undignified pile on the floor. In a rush, she scampered behind the couch, hoping to avoid awkward questions from the boys, who no doubt were the other members of the band. This was the kind of attention she really didn't need.

As she huddled in the moderate protection the couch provided, she heard Tom and another voice berating the crash-landing pair in German.

"Come on, guys. Way to scare few years off our lives!" Tom growled, clearly not as amused as the others. The other voice added in, also in a not-so-amused tone, "Really? Have we forgotten our ages again, so soon?" This Tom was amused by; Rachel heard his soft snort of laughter. She peeked around the back of the couch, watching with interest.

A young man with short blonde hair and brown eyes- Gustav- was giving the two on the

Floor, who she assumed to be Bill and Georg. Her suspicions were proven correct as Gustav continued. "Georg, you're twenty years old, you should know better than to eavesdrop at an open door with Bill behind you."

"Hey!" Bill yelled from the floor, annoyed. "It wasn't my fault I tripped!"

"And you are eighteen. Act your age for once and leave these two alone for a moment!"

"They've been alone!"

Tom interjected with an irritated look, "If you two were eavesdropping I'm assuming we weren't actually alone."

"Were too! We weren't in the room!" Tom whacked him upside the head. "OW!"

"Look," he muttered, his voice dropping so low Rachel had to strain to hear it, "leave us be, for her." Rachel pulled her head back behind the couch as three pairs of unfamiliar eyes flashed towards where she was hiding. She heard several sighs, assumed they were from the other three. Another few words were tossed around then the door snapped shut again. Believing Tom had left with the others, Rachel slowly raised her head above the couch, only to shriek in surprise when Tom appeared in front of her, his hand held out.

"Come on," he said in accented English. "The floor can't be comfortable." She shook her head, her eyes falling back to the ground. She heard a soft noise, and peeked up through her bangs. Tom had knelt down in front of her, his expression concerned. "Or we can sit back here, if you want."

She nodded once, keeping her head down. She heard him settle down on the floor, no doubt still across from her, and stayed quiet for a minute. Of course, Tom had never been known for being particularly patient, so he eventually broke the silence first.

"What's your name?"

She stayed quiet for a moment, weighing the merits of telling him against those of not saying anything. "Rachel," she answered after a time, her voice almost inaudible.

Tom tilted his head slightly, his large brown eyes focused on her face. "Rachel?" She glanced up at him, still through her bangs. "Will you look at me?" Her entire body went stiff, but she slowly raised her head and met his eyes. He smiled, and she couldn't help but notice how his eyes lit up when he did. "There. That's better, isn't it?" She shrugged; he watched her in silence. She wondered what was going on behind his smiling eyes. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Not usually." Her voice came out quiet again. Inwardly, she cursed her cowardice. Here she was with the one person she'd always wanted to meet, to compliment, and she could barely remember how her voice box worked. Then again, all the times she'd allowed herself to imagine this moment, she hadn't pictured it happening like this.

She looked back at him, noting his suddenly contemplative expression. It looked odd on him, somehow. Most times she'd seen him, he was either arguing with Bill, laughing at something inconsequential, smiling at a camera, or being weird at interviews. She'd never seen him look thoughtful, like he did now. "I see." He paused, and she could almost hear the gears whirling in his head as he thought. "If you don't mind me asking… What was that out there? I mean, why'd you… fall like that? And then after? I'm thinking that's not normal for you."

"It's not… it was a panic attack. Sometimes I get them in places where I feel stuck, or helpless… trapped…" her voice trailed off as her face flushed with a mix of embarrassment at talking so much and the remnants of fear from the attack. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. Something large and warm landed on her knee, bringing an odd sense of comfort with it. Rachel spared a glance for it, amazed to see that it was Tom's hand. She raised her head again, forcing the corners of her mouth up into the semblance of a smile, laying her hand over his. "Danke, Tom. Dankeshcön."

Tom blinked a couple times, and she swore she could see a light bulb turn on over his head. "You… speak German?" he asked, shock and embarrassment vying for top spot in his expression.

"Ja. Took three years of it in school. Nearly fluent." He whistled softly.

"Nearly fluent after only three years? Impressive."

"Not really."

"What're you talking about? That's really… what's the word?" Tom paused, then grinned impishly. "Astounding! That's the word!"

"It's not. I bet a lot of people could do that."

"No, they couldn't."

"Yes, they-"

"Nope. And stop that."

"Was?"

"Lying to yourself."

"But I'm not. And why would you even care if I was?"

"Look… I don't really know, myself… all I know is that it feels right to have you here… and that sounds completely nuts, I know, but it's true!"

Rachel stared at him, wondering if she'd heard right. "Feel right? It feels right to have me, the one no one ever wanted-" Her hand flew to her traitor mouth as the implications of what she'd just set sank in.

What would he think, now? Would he not want her anymore? Of course he wouldn't. No one did… not even her father, who'd always told her he loved her…………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOM

'Wait, what'd she mean, the one no one ever wanted?' Tom wondered as the hand Rachel had put over his flew to her mouth, her eyes falling to the floor again.

"What do you mean? 'No one ever wanted you'?" Surely someone must have cared for her at some point. But, as he watched her shoulders rise and fall with her breathing, he had a sudden though. Maybe no one had cared. Maybe… he shook his head firmly. No. That could not be possible. Someone as perfect and pure and innocent as Rachel could not have suffered through being unloved.

He hoped.

His hand lightly squeezed her knee and her eyes slowly rose to meet his. "It doesn't matter. Forget I said anything."

He closed his eyes, fighting pity for the despair in her voice. She had lived through that. The one thing that would make his life unlivable, and she had survived it. Somehow, she had found the strength to push through that existence and found a way to live. "That's how you came to know the band, wasn't it?"

Her head bobbed once in a nod even as she squeezed her eyes shut. Not before he caught a glimpse of the pain, shame, helplessness, and fear in them, however. All negative emotions, all vying for top position in such a beautiful, innocent person. He felt his heart start pounding, felt the sudden, strange urge to cry for her. She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve it, but had lived through it anyway. Tom couldn't help but admire her for that strength. He wasn't sure he'd ever have it. He met her gaze as her eyes opened again, trying to put everything he felt into that brief meeting.

"Don't look at me like that," she said softly, so softly he could barely hear it, even though he was sitting less than two feet away. "It just makes things worse." Immediately, he turned his eyes towards the couch behind her, not on her face.

"Why, though? Why did that happen?"

Her shoulders curved in on themselves, her head beginning to fall towards her chest. "Don't ask. You don't," she paused to take a deep breath, "you don't want to know."

"Yes, I do. You shouldn't-"

"Tom?" Tom groaned under his breath, cutting it off before Bill could here it. His twin seriously had the worst timing ever. "We're going on again in a little over five. Thought you might want to know so we can all get ready." Rachel's head flew to the door, a guilty expression taking over for the others for a brief moment.

"All right, I'll be right there," he yelled back through the door, pushing himself to his feet. Once there, he held his hand out to Rachel again, hoping she would accept this time. After a long, tense moment (at least for him), she gripped his hand and allowed him to pull her up. Without letting go, he tugged her back over to the couch and gently pushed her down onto it. He then put one hand on her shoulder, the other under her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Stay here and rest for now, not sure it's a great idea for you to go back out there so soon. But do you want us to find whoever you came here with?" She shook her head fiercely.

"She'll find out on her own eventually. She'll come," she whispered.

O-kay, then. That was weird. But, whatever. She needed quiet. "Still, just rest here. I'll see you when we're done, okay?" At her nod, he started to turn towards the door but on a sudden impulse. Tom slowly turned back, taking one of her hands in his. Bowing gallantly over it, he lightly kissed the back of her hand, causing her to blush and let out a little feminine gasp. He smirked and grinned at the same time, giving her a wink, pretending that the sudden heat flushing through his face and body was imaginary. "I'll see you later, then. Bye!" Ignoring her bright red face, he turned and headed back to the main room, wondering what these feelings were. Maybe Bill would know. He always was the more mature one when it came to girls and relationships.

Yeah, he'd ask Bill. Bill would know what to do.

AN: yay, chappy six done!!!!!!!!! Woo!!!!!!!!!!! And it was a bit longer, I'm so proud of myself!!!!!!!!!! Ok, now that I'm done being a spaz… yeah, sorry about the drama, but it had to be done!!!!!!!!!! And I'm tired, so I'm gonna shut up and go to bed before I crash here at the computer…

Reviews, please, and constructive criticism is always welcome!

This is TwinSwords saying goodnight!