Rose POV

The first thing I did was call Lissa. She, like the outstanding person she was, picked up in less than two seconds. At first, I barely understood what she was ranting about, until she paused to breathe and I took my chance to speak.

"Meet me by the abandoned warehouses, in one hour. It's important."

At that, Vasilisa grew serious and simply agreed with my request.

I spend a half hour going over everything, every single aspect of my idea, hoping Liss would go along with it. It was a long shot but it was worth it. When I was done, I went to meet my best friend.

The abandoned warehouses were located on the outskirts of New Oaks. Very few people knew about it, and those that did tend to stay away due to the reports of ghosts and unusual ocorrences near the empty buildings. These 'unusual ocorrences' consisted of objects moving on their own, screams echoing through the brick walls and footsteps. If you haven't guessed by now, all of this was planned and orchestrated by yours truly. With the assistance of a very excited and gigly Lissa.

We tried our best to keep people away. We wanted a place that was special, a place that was just ours. And the warehouses were that place.

For years now, me and Lissa (and eventually Ambrose too) had been meeting and hanging out there , far from other people, just us. It felt nice to have something, a place, that belonged only to us.

Living closer to the place in question, I was the first one to arrive, followed by Liss shortly after.

I had spent the last hour planning exactly what to say to convince my best friend to commit minor crimes.

Just another day in your normal teenager life, right?

"Rose? Are you here?" I heard her call.

This place had at least six buildings but the one where we were now was our Headquarters so to speak.

"Up here."

I could hear her soft footsteps climbing the stairs.

This building wasn't chosen randomly. Unlike the other five, the building in question possessed only two floors and the rooftop. It granted us a strategic view from the area around every building. In short, if someone decided to come here or something, we could see it from the second floor. The first floor was pretty much like you imagine an abandoned warehouse would be. No light, no doors, windows without glass. Trash littered the ground right alongside glass and leaves. There was broken furniture lying around and the stairs, in the far left corner, were missing a handrail. For the sake of appearances, we didn't do much to change the decor, although we did sometimes pick up the trash. What can I say? We care about the environment.

Moving on, the second floor wasn't very different than the first, a little bit cleaner, a few windows and doors intact, a couple furniture pieces still standing. It had five rooms total. A kind of living room if you will, right next to the staircase, from where we had a privileged view, an old but surprisingly big bathroom, two empty rooms and last but certainly not least, our room.

The space was a tiny bit hidden so say, if someone came in , they wouldn't spot it right away. Or maybe they wouldn't spot it at all. The door stood behind an old curtain. The three of us had the idea of reinforcing security a little and ended up buying door locks and padlocks to make sure no one other than us could come in.

So far there hasn't been a single incident so we're all cool as a cucumber.

Needless to say that this is the best furnished room. We have three sofas, a couple of beanbags, a huge shelve in the right wall and a generous wooden table in the left corner. And chairs too, of course. A few old carpets here and there.

It was cozy.

And clean.

And safe.

And ours.

Almost forgot, if you're wondering about the ground floor, it consists of four bare (-ly) walls and a creaky-wooden-rotten staircase.

Nothing worth mencioning.

I stood near the window in the 'living room' when Lissa stopped next to me.

"You want to talk?" She says softly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I dragged you out here."

"It's okay. What are friends for?" She takes my hand.

"Come on, let's talk in a more safe place." Still holding hands, we unlocked our room and stepped inside. Lissa locked it after.

I threw myself into the middle couch. Lissa sat very gracefully.

"What's going on, Rose? I'm worried about you."

Boy, this was going to be a big talk.

When I was home I had thought of what to say. I reached the conclusion that I couldn't ask this of Lissa without being honest first. All this time I said to myself that I've kept things from her and Ambrose to protect them. But I realized we can only protect someone to a certain degree. There comes a time that we have to ask if the person we are protecting even wants that protection. We can't protect someone from everything. We have to let them fend for themselves. So I knew It was time for me to tell her the truth. I had decided to tell her about my mom.

I just hope she doesn't get too angry at me for keeping this from her. She is my best friend, my sister. I can't lose her. Ever.

"I need to tell you something." My voice trembled.

"You know you can tell me anything. I'm here for you." She smiled, although her expression was a little anxious.

I took a deep breath. How to start? Should I just spit it out? My mother hits me and I never told you because I didn't want your pity or that you would think differently about me.

Probably not a good idea.

I could just...

Raising my hands, I slowly pushed the hoodie that was hiding half of my face back. As soon as it fell back, I saw Vasilisa's eyes widen.

"Wh-What? What happened?" Her fingers flew hesitantly to my cheek, brushing it softly.

"My mother." I watched her nervously.

"What?"

I took a deep breath. Again. Here it goes.

"Hum, my mother and I had a fight. She was drunk. I said some things I shouldn't have and she-she hit me." I swallowed.

Keep going, Rose. You got this. It's Lissa.

"And it isn't the first time. She has always been abusive. When she gets drunk or mad, I... It started when I was really young. I would ask about my father and she would just get so mad at me. She hit me where people wouldn't see. As I grew up, I stopped asking but she didn't stop hitting. She got more and more drunk and whenever I did something wrong, talked back to her or just tried to stop her, she would... Well, you know." I looked down at my hands.

"Rose..." Lissa's voice was barely a whisper. "Look at me, please."

I raised my head, my nails gripping my thighs. Lissa's emotions were so clear on her eyes, I could almost tell exactly what she was feeling.

Confusion, at first.

Realization.

Shock.

Sadness.

Anger.

"Why didn't you tell me? I can't believe that you were going through that all this time and I never knew. I knew it was bad at home for you, but I never thought she..." She drifted off. A single tear fell down her cheek and she threw herself at me, hugging me fiercely.

"I wanted to. But I couldn't. I wanted to be normal. I didn't want you to pity me or think differently of me because of this. I didn't want you to worry about me all the time."

Her grip tightens, my air supply decreasing.

"That's what friends do, you stupid idiot." Despite the insult, her voice remained sweet.

"But I was also ashamed of it and I knew you would try to protect me and you would do something and I was scared my mom would get mad at you or you could get in some sort of trouble and I couldn't have that." I said in one breath.

She leans back to look at me, still gripping me. There's sadness in her face, but not pity.

Not pity.

Thank God.

"First, I would never pity you. Everyone fights a battle in their lifes. Some problem they need to face. Why would I ever pity someone like that? A fighter. I admire them. I admire you." She shook me, as if forcing me to believe her words.

I did. Liss understood the struggles people went through. She went through stuff too.

" Second, you have nothing- and I mean absolutely nothing- to be ashamed of. Your mother is the one that should be ashamed. You're the child. She's the mom. She's supposed to protect you and love you. And she failed." With her words my eyes start to water.

How many times did I wish I had a mother like that? Flashes of what ifs and alternate realities appear on mind and I start to cry for the childhood I never had.

In seconds, I'm back in Lissa's arms, her hamds caressing my head and my back. She turns her head a little, her lips near my ear.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine, Rosie. You will be happy. And by the way, I would never do anything without asking or talking to you first. I respect you and your choices and I would never go behind your back, even if I wanted to."

I glue my arms around her neck and give her a small kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Liss."

"I love you, Rosie."

A/N: Hey, I'm back!! Summer has been crazy...

This is a small chapter :(

I was hoping to write a few more things to move the story forward but when I got to this point, I felt like these two needed this moment to be theirs, just like this. They needed to talk and let some things out, specially Rose, so it ended up being a lot smaller than what I had planned.