Twelve

Tee woke up and looked over at the camp bed opposite. There was no-one in it. Tee glanced at the clock. It was 2:48am. She wondered where Jessie might have gone. She went upstairs to the attic but Jessie wasn't there so she went back downstairs and along the corridor towards Rick's room. She pushed open the door and was stunned to see Rick wide awake with his arms wrapped around Jessie. Tee pushed the door open fully. Rick looked up. "See I told you she'd get worried," he said to her. Tee sat down at the end of his bed and waited as Jessie and Rick manoeuvred themselves until they were sat Rick, Jessie and Tee in a line on the bed with their feet hanging over the edge.

"he's right. I was worried. I'd thought you'd run away. We've had a few of them," Tee said quietly. She'd left Rick's door open and across the corridor Harry's door was also open. They didn't want to wake them up. They sat there in silence until Jessie broke it.

"it's not fair. Josh didn't hurt me on purpose because he wanted to. He did it because he was threatened and I told him to. And now he's going to go to prison because of me and mum's going to get away with it," Jessie said angrily. Tee shook her head violently.

"No she won't. I heard Mike telling Gina that she admitted to hurting you, at least the bruises and apparently some cuts on your hips. She's admitted to that but she's got Josh in trouble for everything else," Tee said gently, pushing her blonde plait behind her shoulder. She reached up and brushed Jessie's ginger hair out of her eye and looked at her scar. "that looks painful," she stated.

Jessie shrugged. "I've never really thought about it since it happened. Not until today anyway when we were shown Josh doing it to me. It must have hurt a lot more than I remember because the scream I made was slightly piercing," Jessie remarked. Rick smirked.

"Slightly?" he asked. "Me and Elektra could hear it from outside the office and it must have affected our hearing as we didn't hear Gina coming until she'd almost opened the office door," Rick told her. Jessie giggled. The sound made Rick and Tee relax. They heard pattering down the corridor and Harry poked his head, and Jeff's, round the door.

"I thought I heard you," he said. He walked over to the bed and climbed onto it and sat on Jessie's lap. "Jeff said he heard laughing and wanted to see who it was," Harry told them sincerely. Jessie smiled. Harry and Jeff never failed to make her smile. Harry turned his head to look up at the scarred teenager. "Jeff wants to know, does it hurt?" he asked pointing to the white line on Jessie's face.

Jessie smiled down at them. "Would you like to know as well Harry?" Jessie asked. Harry nodded. "No, not anymore. It used to. When it first happened. Do you want to touch it?" she asked. Harry bit his lip but made Jeff nod his head. "ok, then do it gently and don't press it." Jessie said tucking her hair behind her ear so he could reach up. Harry stretched his fingers towards her face and placed two fingers on the scar. He ran them down the length of it.

"it's cold and smooth," he said. Jessie nodded. "is it always colder than the rest of your skin?" he asked. Jessie nodded.

"Always. It's not massively different in winter but I suppose in the summer it's going to be quite a big difference in temperature," Jessie told him. Harry wrapped his arms round Jessie's neck.

"Do you miss your brother?" he asked. Jessie nodded. "Is he a bad person?" Harry asked bluntly. Jessie shook her head.

"He's misunderstood Harry," Tee told him. "like you were when you first got here and we couldn't understand you, like Frank is sometimes when he stumbles over words." Harry nodded.

Jeff whispered in Harry's ear. "We can be your brother. Everyone here is my mum so everyone could be your brother for you," Harry told Jessie. Jessie smiled.

"Well I don't think Tee or Carmen would appreciate being a boy but I think you could make a good brother," Jessie said quietly. "Your my little brother and I'm your big sister. And bigger siblings always look out for their younger sibling. So I'll look out for you," she finished quietly. Harry hugged her again and slipped off the bed. Rick looked at her.

"He didn't mean to upset you," Rick started. She shook her head.

"he didn't, he was voicing what he wanted and I understand that. Come on, let's go to bed," Jessie said standing up.

A/N: I'm sorry this is my shortest chapter so far but I just love Harry in this chapter. As I was writing it I could hear his voice saying the lines and it sounded so cute. Sorry, I'm rambling now. Might shut up. Maybe... Indigo :)