Author's Note- Sorry it took so long for this chapter, I was at summer camp. And I know it's short for having not updated in so long, but I've been really busy.

Chapter Five

"Do I know you, do I live here?" Trowa was unprepared for those questions and it took him a moment to answer.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Trowa lost himself in thought for a few seconds. What could have happened to her so that she was in an alley, probably left to freeze to death, with what he assumed was a concussion. She had had a good number of bruises that he had shrugged off as none of his business. And a few disturbing scenarios came to mind and he really hoped none of them were even remotely close to what had happened. He stopped his train of thought when he realized she wasn't asking him anything else. She sat unmoving on the bed staring at him. He watched her eyes glaze over and realized she was about to cry. For a very short second he wondered what she was crying about before he realized it. He had been so preoccupied in his own thoughts that he hadn't considered what she was thinking.

"I'm not going to hurt you." It didn't have the desired effect. Instead she started crying uncontrollably as she curled into a fetal position. And even though Trowa had done nothing wrong he suddenly felt like the worst person on the Earth and colonies. He reached out to comfort her but then decided that was a stupid thing to do. She probably didn't want to be touched. He desperately wanted to comfort her though. He tried to come up with a way to comfort her without upsetting her more and drew several blanks. Then, to his utter horror, the doorbell rang. The girls head shot up and stared at his open bedroom door, still crying. Trowa suddenly remembered it was only a week until Christmas. The doorbell rang again, and kept ringing. He decided it was Duo at the door. He got up slowly and looked at the girl. She was staring at the doorway with hopeful anticipation, undoubtedly expecting to be rescued. He slowly started to the door and was about halfway there when he heard a loud thump and a muffled "Ow!"

Wufei? Hopefully no, probably yes. He got to the door and opened it. If Trowa had been as emotional as Duo he probably would have cried. Standing in front of him were Duo, Wufei, and Quatre. Quatre felt his emotions and looked at him questioningly. Duo walked right past Trowa and into the apartment. Trowa just stood there with a feeling of impending doom. Quatre felt it and was about to ask him what was wrong when they heard Duo say,

"Huh?" Trowa slowly turned around as Wufei and Quatre came into the apartment to see what it was. There she was, just as he had left her, still crying, with her legs held tight against herself. She was staring at them, what he assumed was her hope of rescue drained from her eyes. And her once again felt like a very bad person, and at the same time, wished he had closed the bedroom door.

There was silence for a few seconds as everyone looked at the girl and then at Trowa.

"Ummm….. Trowa……" Duo was the first one to talk, followed by Quatre.

"I'm sure there's a good explanation. I mean, Trowa wouldn't….." His voice trailed off. Then the girl started whimpering and curled into a fetal position on her side. Quatre looked at Trowa, then at the girl. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she pulled closer into herself. He started rubbing her back and reassuring her, and telling her that she was safe. Duo, who had been speechless, finally voiced his opinion.

"Geez Trowa, what did you do?" Trowa wanted to tell him all he did was save her from freezing to death. But instead, he calmed himself down and kept his emotionless mask on.

"Barton, you should explain this, now." Wufei said in a steely voice. He considered for a minute how best to explain himself.

"I found her in an alley near here." Duo looked at him skeptically,

"Why were you in an alley?"

"I saw footprints going in and not out. I was going to remind them there was a blizzard. She was laying there unconscious. I brought her here so she wouldn't freeze to death. When she woke up she asked me if she knew me and if she lived here. I told her no, and she started crying. Then you came." Trowa would have preferred an explanation with less talking, but he deemed it necessary. Wufei looked like he was ready to accept Trowa's explanation. And Quatre looked sympathetically at the girl, while continuing to comfort her. The girl, who had quieted to listen to Trowa's explanation, gave a small whimper and sat up. She looked at Trowa like she was trying to decide something. Everyone watched her as she looked at what she was wearing. Everyone looked at Trowa and Duo voiced everyone's question.

"She was wearing that outside in the snow?" Trowa gave a mental sigh.

"Her clothes were wet." Wufei nodded in understanding and Quatre's face turned very, very red, and he stayed silent. Duo let out a small "oh". Duo asked another question.

"Why did she ask if she lived here?"

"I think she has a concussion."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence for a minute, then Quatre started to talk to the girl.

"Are you ok now?" She looked down and nodded. Quatre reached into his pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and handed it to her. She took it with a quiet thank you and wiped her eyes. She looked up at the other three who were still standing in the bedroom doorway. And Quatre took it as a sign for introductions. He touched her shoulder to get her attention.

"I'm Quatre Rabera Winner. These are my friends Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, and Chang Wufei." He pointed to each in turn. She looked at Quatre,

"I'm—uh," she looked at the other three guys and then back at Quatre with a pleading and confused look in her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Quatre asked. She looked down at her lap where her hands were. She stayed quiet for a minute and then looked up at Quatre again. Her eyes were wet, she looked like she was about to cry again.

"I don't remember anything." She said quietly.