It had been a couple days since the Goodall siblings had moved back in to the house. Emma was still struggling with all of the emotional baggage, while also trying to take care of Gavin. As promised, their father was sending her money every so often, but it was not much.

He thought only Emma was using the money, so he sent enough for one person to survive off of. Not two. Their mother was struggling to make ends meet as well, but always had just enough to pay for Gavin's treatments.

Emma was starting to feel the financial pressure as Gavin got ready to head to his first day of school. They had just made a supply run for him. That meant they had no more money left for the entire rest of the week's food.

The Pink Ranger started discreetly pulling from the funds she had saved up. She thought Gavin would feel guilty knowing she was taking out of her own money, so she refused to tell him and allowed him to think everything was fine.

That reserve fund from her really wasn't that much either. If she was going to ration it and let it last for two people, Emma needed to make some sacrifices. She sent Gavin off with some lunch money, and resolved not to eat. They could figure out dinner together later.

Gavin was none the wiser to his sister's financial burden, but he did worry that everything was overwhelming. The other day, he had offered to put Emma on the phone with their mother, but Emma refused.

She wanted nothing more than to see or talk to her mother, but she simply wasn't ready. Though their mother had done a lot of good and was continuing to do so, she had also hurt Emma. By choosing Gavin to come to Paris and never interjecting when Ben hurt her, she unwittingly subjected Emma to years of torment.

Which she was forced to suffer alone.

Olivia also expected Emma to drop everything for Gavin, which she did, but it was hard for Emma to deal with that kind of responsibility. She was already cutting out food to keep her little brother strong and fed... And Emma knew that was just the tip of the iceberg.

She wanted to talk to her mom sometime, but now was not the time. Gavin pondered ways he could help alleviate some of the burden off of Emma when he ran into a kid being shoved up into some lockers.

By no means was the kid scrawny, but he didn't look like he was ready for a fight. Gavin couldn't just pass by without doing anything, so he shoved the bigger kid off and told him to get lost.

Unfortunately, being the new kid was never easy. It was also made worse for him when word got out that the new kid was a "freak baby" and that he was sick. His classmates didn't empathize or care more, they just used it as an excuse to stay away from him.

The older kid, Will, sneered at Gavin and shoved him back. "Really? What's the sick kid hoping to do to me? One flick to the forehead and you'd be out cold."

Gavin stood in front of the other boy protectively. "Making fun of the kid with a brain tumor? Real classy of you."

Too bad Will didn't find his sarcasm entertaining. Instead, he shoved Gavin up against the lockers next to the other kid and reached into his bag. He pulled out Gavin's wallet, and emptied its contents into his hand.

It wasn't much, but it was all he had. Gavin may not know to what extent Emma was struggling, but he did at least know money was tight.

He grabbed Will's wrist and pulled him back. "Give the money back."

In a surprisingly quick motion, Will reared his hand back and threw a punch straight for Gavin's face. It was so fast that he couldn't react.

What the bully didn't consider was that Troy was faster.

He heard the commotion from down the hall and came over as quickly as he could. He rounded the corner and saw Gavin in trouble. Troy rushed over and caught the punch just in time.

He twisted Will's wrist behind his back, until he started whimpering from the pain. Troy usually tried to keep his cool in these situations, but seeing someone picking on a sick kid set him off. Not to mention the fact that he was Emma's little brother.

He whispered in a lethal tone. "If you do not get out of my sight within the next four seconds, I will do something much worse to you than twist your wrist."

Will scrambled away and ran down the hall without stopping. That's when the late bell rang. He looked Gavin over. "Are you okay?"

Gavin nodded and then turned to the kid he was defending. "How about you?"

The boy nodded gratefully. "Fine, thanks to you guys. You really didn't need to step in. I know it's probably hard enough fitting in, being the new kid and all. But you've got yourself one friend already. My name is Jackson."

The younger Goodall smiled as he shook Jackson's outstretched hand. "Gavin."

Troy cleared hid throat. "That was the late bell, so we should all be getting to be class. Are you sure you're okay?"

Gavin laughed lightly. It seemed Emma's overprotective instincts were spreading. "I'm sure. You can get to class."

Troy left, before he could get flagged for detention. Jackson left too, but not without making plans to meet up for lunch first.

Gavin was then reminded of lunch and the money that was stolen. He cursed under his breath.