Hey, you guys- this is the fourth chapter. Sorry it took so long for me to update, but with school and everything...I've been busy.

Special thanks to FH Fan, Me, anonymous, and LenniluvsBrian for helping me with the ages. I'm going to say that D.J. is fifteen, Stephanie is ten, Michelle is four, and the twins are two. It may not be perfect, but it works for this story. By the way, Emily is twelve (but you all know that already).

Emily was strolling down the street, looking for her friends. This was the street they were usually on- the filthiest, cheapest, most dangerous street in the city. It was perfect for orphans and runaways, because no one ever got suspicious. No one here ever cared what you did.

Suddenly, she felt the grip of a pair of hands on her shoulders and a person yelled something in her ear. She immediately whirled around, but she knew who it was even before she saw their face.

"Rachel!" Emily cried, falling into the arms of one of her best friends. The two girls locked each other in a hug for a moment, before letting go and examining each other.

Rachel was tall and skinny, as were many of the children and teenagers on this street. She had dark brown hair and freckles, and she was often filthy. Rachel was almost as tough as Emily, and she didn't mind getting dirty. She was thirteen, a full year older than Emily, but they had been together through so many hard times.

"Em, weren't you going off to live with your...family?" Rachel didn't know what to call them. It was a common rule that no one living on the streets had a real family. If they did, why would they be on the streets?

"They really didn't want me there. I left before they could tell me to get lost." Emily replied.

Rachel grinned. "You'll bounce back, Em. You're strong. And look on the bright side!"

"And that would be...what?" Emily said, a smile creeping across her face.

"You get to stay with me!" Rachel shouted cheerfully. Because of the street they were standing on, no one thought to give her a strange look.

"Rachel, that is, without a doubt, the brightest side I've ever seen."

Back at the Tanner household, everyone was piling into cars and going out on foot to find Emily.

"The kid hasn't even moved in yet and she's already run away." Danny grumbled to Joey as they divided everyone else into search parties. But the next time Joey looked at his best friend, Danny had a concerned look on his face and was hastily telling people what to do.

They made three groups. Jesse took the first group, with Michelle and Becky. Danny was in charge of the second group- Stephanie and Nicky. And Joey guided the third group, made up of D.J. and Alex. They were small groups, and the twins wouldn't be able to help out much, but maybe they'd be able to find Emily.

Jesse's group took one car, Danny's group took the other car, and Joey's group went on foot. Each group chose a nearby section of the city to cover, and they all set off to find Emily.

Jesse's group went to a clean, very expensive part of town, thinking Emily may have gone there. They asked everyone if they had seen a twelve-year-old wandering all by herself, but no one had seen her. They went back to the house, discouraged.

Danny's group did the same thing and ended up with the same result. They met Jesse, Michelle, and Becky at the house to share their findings. There wasn't anything to share.

But while the first two groups found sparkling streets and large, costly houses, Joey's group found something quite different.

"I'm tired." D.J. complained, as their little group turned onto another street. Joey was carrying Alex and calling Emily's name at the same time. D.J. stopped him for a moment.

"Joey, Emily left because she didn't want to stay with us. Do you actually think she's going to answer if you call her?"

Joey shrugged. "It's worth a try." And then Alex almost slipped from his arms when he saw the street he was on.

Homeless people were sitting everywhere. And not just adults. There were huge groups of children scattered all over the street, chasing each other, throwing rocks- trying to amuse themselves with what they had.

The street was lined with, not houses, but shacks, cardboard boxes, and tents. These were functioning as homes for the residents of this street. These residents lay on the sidewalks, shivering in their rags. Some were climbing into dumpsters, to fish food out from the metal bins, or crouched next to trash cans for the same purpose.

Joey and D.J. walked down the street, gazing at everything they saw. It was a pitiful sight, but they couldn't tear their eyes away from it. The people looked up and stared at them as they walked past, probably envying everything they had. Warm clothes, a home, food when they wanted it...some of the people looked away because they were reminded of everything that they had lost.

Joey handed Alex to D.J. and cautiously approached one of the homeless people, a young woman who was rooting through some rubbish in the gutter. She located an orange peel, and gobbled the remainder of the fruit off of it. Then, feeling Joey's eyes on her, she looked up and instinctively took a step back.

"What..." She cleared her throat and tried again. "What do you want from me?" She clutched her tattered clothing closer around her thin frame and stared up at them with big eyes.

"We're looking for a person...a girl named Emily, blonde hair, wearing a black shirt and jeans...do you know her? Have you seen her?" Joey asked, trying not to frighten the woman.

"You mean Em? That fiery girl who's always stealing stuff and charming the store owners so they'll let her keep what she's stolen? Yeah, she lives down the street with her friends." The woman jerked her thumb down the street, in the vague direction of a cluster of tents.

"Thank you. I appreciate your time." Joey smiled and backed away as quickly as he could. Homeless people made him uncomfortable.

"What did that woman say? Is Emily here?" D.J. asked, shifting Alex to her right arm to give her left one a break.

"Well, there's a girl called "Em" that lives on this street. I have a feeling that she's our Emily."

There you go! I hope you enjoyed it...once again, I'm very sorry it took me forever to update. But I've updated now, so I expect lots of reviews!

Bye!