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One Of Them

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Everyone knows what knowing from right and wrong means. Parents instill this in their kids as soon as they learn how to talk. It's one of the most important lessons parents teach their kids. Not just parents, but teachers too or any adult that knows them for that matter. Ever since his first memory he remembers his parents telling him what he could and couldn't do. There were things that a person just shouldn't do. His parents told him to never lie, steal, or fight. Anything that meant getting into trouble with them and most importantly with the law. He remembered his parents saying the only ones that break the law were the people that have lost their way and have no morals. They always told him these people were bad and he should stay far away from them. All his life he believed his parents and the values they taught him. He has always been a good person, following the rules and the law. As a child he told himself he would never be ones of those people. Those people were evil, selfish, liked hurting others, and thought only of themselves.

Justin was lying down on his couch reminiscing in his mind about all the things his parents told him as a child about those people that broke the law and what they were. Now he was older and had a more clear mind on why people did the things they did. His parents were mostly right, but this week he found out another reason that made people like that.

It wasn't about being evil. It wasn't about hurting others. It wasn't about morals. It wasn't about being selfish.

It was…

Justin looked at the time. It was 3:08am. Tomorrow was Sunday, well technically it already was Sunday. He couldn't remember at what time Alex was suppose to arrive, but who could blame him? His mind has been very occupied lately. He hoped Alex had a good time with her friends, she deserved it. She has been getting good grades, which surprised him greatly the first time he saw them. He nearly went into shock and forgot to breath the first time he saw her grades. Every time he received her grades, it still shocked him, but not as bad as the first time. She has been doing a lot better in school and he was thrilled, but…It's just not how he had wanted. He knew Alex was smart. The way she schemed and tricked anyone she wanted was something you couldn't do without being smart. If she was interested in something she would give everything she had. She proved it by the grades she was getting now, but he didn't like the reason that brought this change. Sometimes it didn't feel like it was Alex because Alex was a schemer, a trickster, a deceiver, a conniving girl that he wouldn't trade for the world. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he missed that girl.

She wasn't the only one that was changing though.

The drive back to the city was mostly resting from their trip. Alex lazily stared out the window as the terrain passed by. The whole week was so much fun. She couldn't remember the last time she was so carefree. Her mind occasionally drifted to Justin, thinking and wondering if he was eating like he'd promised and how he was doing with his jobs. After all, they depended on them to keep those social services assholes away. She knew that their jobs were barely making enough for them and to satisfy social services. She remembered the day they took her and the day they left their loft. She also recalled how Prof. Crumbs helped them out. She didn't know where they would be if he hadn't helped them. It was Justin's idea to call Prof. Crumbs. They didn't know how, but somehow he managed to get social services off their backs. They kept a close eye on them, but left them alone. He also helped them find a place to live, which they were very grateful for. They owed him a lot and she promised herself she will someday pay him back. She was sure Justin felt the same way. Thinking of Justin. He better be eating like he promised and resting since it's Sunday.

"What are you thinking about?" Cat asked. She was sitting next to her. Alex turned her face from the window to Cat. Alex's expression asked Cat why the sudden question.

"I just saw how you were deep in thought." She said. Jen, who was sitting at the other side of Cat, looked at them.

"I was just thinking of someone." Alex said.

Cat smiled. "Was it a guy?" Jen's eyes perked up at this.

Alex nodded and looked back at the window. "Yeah." Cat's smiled grew. Before she could ask more Alex continued. "I was wondering how he was doing." If Alex would've looked at them she would have noticed the kind of thoughts that just went into their heads.

"Why are you wondering how he's doing?" Alex frowned a little, but they couldn't see it.

"Oh, I just found out recently he has been doing something incredibly stupid."

"What has he been doing?" Cat hoped this guy Alex was talking about wasn't doing drugs or something like that. She would have to have a serious talk with Alex if that was the case.

"He hasn't been eating right because of his jobs, that idiot. I had to make sure he ate before we went to bed every night." Cat and Jen's eyes widened and Cat's mom squirmed a little in the passenger seat. Even her dad raised his eyebrows from the rear view mirror. Apparently everyone thought she talking about a guy she liked...and other things.

Alex notice how Cat became quiet and everything was silent. Alex turned around and was startled when she saw everyone giving her a weird look.

"What?"

They had always wondered who and if she lived with someone, since they knew something happened to her parents, but this was something they weren't expecting. Maybe this was why she never took them to where she lived.

Cat found her voice. "Ah, nothing I just didn't know you lived with your boyfriend." Now it was Alex's eyes to go wide.

Wow, backup, boyfriend?

She closely looked at how they were looking at her and then mentally smacked herself. She should really mention Justin is her brother before talking about him like that.

"No, no, no." She quickly denied what they were thinking. "Justin is my brother. We live together." Realization dawn on all of them.

"Don't you live with your parents?" Cat's dad asked. Cat glared at him and her mom smacked his arm. He looked at his wife, not knowing what he did wrong.

Alex rarely saw Cat's dad and she couldn't blame him for asking. He didn't know anything, none of them did.

"N-no. Is just me and my brother." She said sadly, looking at her lap. Cat's dad finally caught on and stopped talking. After a few seconds of silence, he was about to apologize, but Alex beat him.

"Our…our parents died about year ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He said. Alex continued. "They…died an accident and…and a little later our little brother died from the injuries. There was nothing we could do."

"That's horrible." Cat's mom said. Cat and Jen quietly listened to Alex. They been wanting to know for a while about her. Now they knew why Alex got upset every time they brought up her parents. The just didn't know it was something this bad.

"After that we moved here from Manhattan. We just…couldn't live there anymore."

Cat and Jen looked sadly at Alex as she looked back a the window. The rest of the way was spent in silence.

They now at least knew a little more about Alex.

The morning went by and Justin was finally able to fall asleep around noon. Trying to put your worries aside for a moment to sleep was harder then he thought, but lack of sleep caught up to him. It was about 4: 23pm when he was rudely awakened.

Justin was soundly asleep when suddenly a weight came down on his stomach. He abruptly sat up and looked around dazed. When he was able to focused he found Alex's backpack on him and Alex standing with her arms crossed in front of the couch.

"Er, hi?" She scowled.

"I been gone for a whole week and all I get is 'hi'." Alex said. Justin smiled sheepishly and puts down her bag on the floor.

"To tell the truth I've been enjoying this whole week very much. Too bad it has come down to a crashing end." He said, smirking a little. Alex huffs and turns around to leave, but before she can walk a step, Justin grabs her and pulls her down to his lap.

"I missed you." He said, hugging her.

"That's more like it." She said making him smile. They stayed like that for a minute before standing back up.

"Did you have fun?"

Alex smiled. "Yeah. It was so much fun, especially without you there to kill the mood." Justin rolled his eyes and went to the fridge to get them something to eat. Alex went over to the table and sat down.

"What did you guys do?" He asked as he started making dinner.

"We went to the lake, went on a hike, ate marshmallows at the campfire-"

"Did you also tell ghost stories and sing kumbaya songs?"

"Oh, shut up." Justin laughed. "Do you want me to tell you or not?" She said, glaring.

"Okay, okay, go on."

Alex continued to tell Justin about her week as they ate. When she was done he told her about his week. She asked if he has been eating like he had promised and he told her he had, but she didn't seem to completely believe him. He would've been insulted and a little hurt if he didn't know she was just worried. Everything was going fine until she brought a certain subject.

"How has work been?" She casually asked.

Justin froze for a second, but answered. "Fine. Just the usual." He has never been a good liar like her, but he's glad he has gotten better at it. He can't let her know he was fired. Alex doesn't worry about anything unless it's something really serious and he doesn't like seeing her when she does.

Alex stared at him. Was it her imagination or did he hesitate for a moment? No that couldn't be because that would mean he was lying and she knew how bad of a liar he was. Then the thought of how he has been hiding not eating from her came. She shook her head. Justin wouldn't lie to her, not just because he was bad at it, but because they always came to each other when they had problems. Especially now that they only had each other.

He wouldn't lie to her.

Soon after they finished eating and talking, Alex went to sit on the couch and Justin cleaned the dishes. When he was done he found Alex sleeping.

She must really be tired from her trip. Justin thought.

He quickly dried his hands went over to pick her up. He carried her to her bed and softly laid her down. He carefully got the covers from under her and covered her. Alex sighed contently as she turned to her side. Justin got down to his knees and watch her with a small smile as she slept. He gently began stroking her hair, but his smile slowly faded when different thoughts came to him. Thoughts he wished he didn't have to think about.

Justin quietly got up and left the room.

Why do some people do the things they do? What causes them to do these things that others think are immoral? A society without rules would be chaos. Rules are made to keep us safe. He has always believed that and the people who break them just want a selfish gain.

There are reasons why one would become like that. He thought he knew what these reasons were, but it seems there was more to it than just the reason. What he didn't think about were the emotions behind them. The emotions were the ones that made the reasons. Another mistake he made was thinking he knew them all, but he was wrong.

It wasn't about being evil.

Justin locked the door behind him and walked down the stairs into the street. The streets were illuminated by the orange glow of the sunset. He walked around and took notice of this place that brought some many changes and would keep bringing.

It wasn't about hurting others.

He let his feet choose the destination as he kept thinking. Before he knew it he was looking at Ralph's antique shop. He thought how fortunate he was to have been hired by him. He could've easily ended up pushing shopping carts on some parking lot for a supermarket. He really was grateful to him.

It wasn't about morals.

His next stop was Ricky's sandwich shop. Like Ralph's place he didn't go in. He stood outside thinking at all the changes that he and Alex had gone through. He could've gone inside and said hi, but he couldn't talk right now. They didn't need to see him.

It wasn't about being selfish.

As he looked at the warehouse from across the street he tried to think of why the things that happened to him happen. He always came to the same conclusion. His life was never simple or normal. Why would that change now? It was the same reason why he didn't go inside to talk to Ralph and Ricky. That would have been normal, telling them about his day and how Alex enjoyed her week on her trip. Normal was never something that could describe his life.

Justin arrived at his final destination. From the street he looked up at the roof. He could see smoke ascending to the sky from there. After a few moments he headed inside. As he walked through the building he knew why he was there. He reached the top floor and opened the door.

He had to admit, it was a nice, peaceful view up there. A normal looking group of people talking with a grill in the middle and the sunset in the background. The creaking of the door drew the attention of all the individuals there. Some looked at him cautiously while others looked at him with calm. The only one he knew there smiled.

As Joseph came to him, Justin thought of the reason that brought him here. It was simple…

It was to protect..

Joseph put his arm around his shoulders to greet him and smiled as he led him to the group.

…Her.

"It's nice that you could join us."

What did it matter the reasons these people had for doing what they did. They had their reasons and he had his. The line between right and wrong can become very blurry sometimes, but that no longer mattered because he had his reason.

Maybe he wasn't just doing this to protect, but was being selfish wanting to keep her, but, again, what did it matter? He was going to be one of them anyway.

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I'm so glad many of you like this story! That just makes me want to keep going. Also it's always nice to know what you guys think. Next chapter is going to have some action, just letting you guys know.