Author's note: Sisterly Love has been completely reloaded and edited a little for content. For the compete, uncut version, check out my homepage http://mine.at/thelair or http://mine.at/mblow0t5 Enjoy!

***

"Tris?" Alex asked as he entered the hotel room. He looked around, rubbing his eyes and looking around the hotel room for his girlfriend. "I'm back, Tris. Do you want to talk now?" Alex asked. He set his jacket down on the kitchen counter and walked into the bedroom, sliding out of his shoes. Tristen wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Tris?" Alex asked again. He heard a small whimper from the bathroom. "Where are you, Tris?" He asked, entering the bathroom. "Tristen!"

He would have frozen where he stood if he was a lesser man. Tristen lay on the floor of the bathroom in a pool of her own blood. Large cuts marked both of her arms. A bloody piece of broken glass lay next to her.

Alex acted quickly. He grabbed the clean towels from the rack and wrapped them around her arms, trying to clot the blood. He pulled Tristen against him. He pressed his head to her chest. Her heart was still beating. He began to gently shake her.

"Come on, Tris." He encouraged. "Don't die, honey. Come on, wake up."

After a few seconds, Tristen's eyes fluttered open. "Alex." She rasped. Tristen looked around. She began to cry when she saw all of the blood around her. "I'm going to bleed to death." She moaned. "I'm going to die, Alex."

"Don't say that, you're not going to die." Alex said. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, setting her on the bed and pulling his first aid kit from his suit case.

"Just calm down." Alex said. "I know what I'm doing." He said, confidently.

"I'm going to bleed to death." Tristen whimpered.

"Hush. Concentrate on me," Alex got a washcloth from the bathroom and wiped the excess blood from her arms. "Talk to me, Tristen." Alex said, he took out a small bottle of peroxide from the first aid kit. He glanced at his girlfriend. "Uh, this is going to sting a little."

"I'm sorry, Alex. I was just so upset and I- AH!" She cried out in pain when Alex touched the peroxide filled washcloth to her left arm.

"Why did you do this to yourself?" Alex asked, gently applying the washcloth to her right arm. Tristen closed her eyes hissing in pain.

"I got so scared when you left me." Tristen's eyes were filling with tears again. "I thought you didn't love me. Alex, never leave me, please." She gripped his arm, making him look her in the eyes.

"Okay, I promise." Alex said, looking into her eyes at the little girl inside of her. "I won't leave again." He took out gaze from the first aid kit and began to wrap Tristen's cuts in it. "Why did you cut yourself though?" He asked. He could understand that she was upset, but taking a piece of broken glass to her arms?

"I. . . I was upset." Tristen said. "I thought you didn't love me." She added. "No one else loves me."

"What are you talking about Tristen?" Alex asked. He had never inquired about her family before and knew nothing of her past. He finished

Tristen began to sob again. "She didn't love me, Alex. I just wanted love and no one loved me." She babbled. She finally collapsed against him, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Bitch. Why the hell do I bother with you?"

"Are you drunk again, mommy?" The little girl asked, holding her teddy bear tightly in her arms, her voice quivering in fear.

"F***ing bitch. You never did anything for me. I should have left you in the garbage, where you belong." The girl's mother swore.

"Maybe you should go to bed, mommy. Then you can get better again."

"I have to prostitute to support you, you little bitch. You've never done shit for me. You should be the one prostituting your cunt to them. Have all of those dirty old men f*** you and put their stinking hands on you. That's what you deserve, you bitch. That's all you deserve."

Tristen buried her head in Alex's shoulder and tried to forget the memories that pounded in her head.

***

The ringing telephone woke Tristen from her dream-like state. She reached over a sleeping Alex and picked up her cell phone, which lay on the nightstand. After a long dinner and passionate love making, Alex had fallen asleep.

Tristen, however, lay awake, thinking about her mother and those years in her childhood that were spend in seedy hotels, listening to her mother and her latest customer, then to her teen years and the memories of the men her mother locked her in the hotel rooms with. Saying that they were paying top dollar for her, since she was underage. She remembered everything from those awful nights when they perverts thought her resistance was all a game and had actually raped her while they thought she was just teasing them.

The phone rang again before Tristen finally pressed the "talk" button. She pressed the cell phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Tristen murmured.

"Tristen!? Where the hell are you!?" An angry voice asked. "You were supposed to be at the Ivy three hours ago! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

It was her manager. Tristen grimaced and looked back at the bandaged on her arms. "I forgot. . ."

"You forgot?! FORGOT!? Listen Tristen, you are NOT a diva or even a decent performer, the ONLY reason men pay to see you is cause they like your tits. Do you hear me!?

"Yes." Tristen murmured.

"If you're not here tomorrow night, then you can start looking for a new manager!" He screamed. Tristen hung up, her entire body shaking in sobs. She collapsed into Alex's arms, trying to hide from the world that hated her.

***

"My dear, have I told you how beautiful you look tonight yet?" Richard asked, smiling his flawless smile. He took her hand underneath the table, setting it on his lap and continuing to smile at her.

"Thank you, Richard." Lara said. In truth, the tomb raider was about to fall asleep. While Richard was a very sweet man, he was not the most interesting. Between his boring conversations full of lawyer speak and his lack of sexual attraction, Lara finally figured that she had grown tired of him. She tried to shake off her sleepiness and reached for her glass of wine.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?" Lara and Richard looked up at a man dressed in a suite who was standing on a small stage, speaking into a microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Ivy is very proud to present. . ." He paused dramatically. "Tristen!"

Tristen? Lara thought, frantically. Was she here? Was she performing here? Did Richard know? Stop being paranoid. She told herself. There are other women in this world named 'Tristen'. To Lara's horror the woman who emerged from the thick black curtains was none other then her own half sister. Tristen was dressed in a long black evening gown with a shameless slit up the front, no back and long sleeves. Lara left the room immediately. If not for the sheer embarrassment of having her own half sister parade herself nearly nude on stage, for the fact that the last time she had seen her, Tristen was engaging in sexual with intercourse with Alex West in the garden of a museum curator.

Lara stepped into the empty ladies room and collapsed into the nearest chair. Lara didn't understand. How could Alex West date her? She was immature, selfish, self absorbed and she wasn't even a good singer. Lara wrapped her arms around herself, she sounded jealous. You are. A stubborn voice stated.

Jealous of what? Her lack of talent and her slutty appearance? Another voice argued.

Alex. . . . . Lara held her head in her hands. How could she still be upset about him? It's been almost a year, she assured herself. Still, there was something about him that she couldn't resist. His smile, his over confidence, the way he looked at her. Before she could continue to chastise herself, the door to the bathroom swung open. Tristen stormed in.

"Well, this is a familiar scene." Lara said, slipping back into her normal coldness.

"What are you doing here, Lara?!" Tristen shouted. "It's not enough that you have to try to steal my boyfriend, but now you're harassing me when I'm trying to work?!"

"Calm down, Tristen." Lara said. "I had no idea that you were going to be performing here. If I did I would have brought ear plugs. . ."

"You are such a bitch!" Tristen said, tears were welling in her eyes.

"Tristen, would you get a hold of yourself?" Lara snapped. She was in a fowl mood already from her hunger and her less then stellar date, Tristen was only making it worse.

"You bitch!" Tristen leapt at Lara, knocking off of the chair she was perched on and slamming her onto the floor. The back of Lara's head hit the bathroom titles with a sickening crack. Tristen relented, realizing that she might have seriously hurt her sister. Lara sat up, her head spun, she touched her scalp, looking for blood. Thankfully, there was none.

Lara looked back at her frightened sister. The sleeve of her dress had caught on one of the chairs and had ripped completely off when she tackled Lara. She hadn't noticed however, Lara looked over the bandages that covered Tristen's arms.

"Tristen? What happened to you?" Lara asked.

Tristen looked down. She burst into tears. The girl grabbed her missing sleeve and left the bathroom. Lara watched her leave. She touched the back of her head again, then got up slowly and walked back to her living hell of a date.

One thing she knew for certain. Something was bothering Tristen and Lara had the feeling that Alex West might be just the man to ask. She hated herself for caring about her. She felt that Tristen didn't deserve it at times, but she wasn't so cold hearted that she would let her own sister suffer.

***

"Well Lara, I hope you had a wonderful time." Richard said when he and Lara had reached the front door of the manor. He took her hands in his.

Good night kiss time already? Lara thought. Perhaps a GOOD, good night kiss might be a little compensation for the horrid night.

"I had a lovely time." Lara lied, looking at him through her heavily lidded gaze. Just kiss me. . .

Richard leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Umm. . . That's not quite what I had in mind.

"Richard, not to sound forward, but we've gone on ten dates already. I think more then just a kiss on my cheek would be appropriate." Lara said.

"Well, if you think so." Richard leaned over and gave her a peck on her lips.

Lara, who was never satisfied easily, grabbed Richard, pinned him against the front door of the Croft manor and gave him the fiercest kiss he had ever received. When the kiss finally ended, Lara was laughing.

"W-what's so funny?" Richard asked, nervously.

"Good night, Richard. And don't bother asking me out on another date." Lara laughed. She slid into the house.

***