Disclaimer: The characters belong to the oh so gracious Ms. Kelley Armstrong!

Because of my sudden switch in chores, I found myself outside raking leaves with Simon. It was a nice day, a cool breeze making its way through the warm August weather. I was also glad for the easiness of the chore. With fall just starting, there were few leaves to be raked. Honestly, I couldn't see why the nurses made this a chore, but I figured that they just wanted the place to look better than usual for when the big boss showed up.

I put my rake against the tree, pausing my work to stretch the stiffness out of my bones and bruises. I was starting to feel a little bit better as the day dragged on, being outside and getting fresh air probably didn't hurt either. My headache had slowed to just a dull pain, and as long as I didn't move too quickly, I could go through the day as if nothing had ever happened.

I smiled at Simon as he called out to me. "Hey! No slacking! I believe I see a leaf or two over here that needs to be picked up!" I laughed as I grabbed back the rake and made my way over to him.

It was nice, hanging out with Simon. He seemed to always have a smile on his face, and was willing to make up most of the conversation if I ever felt too tired to do so myself. I couldn't help but feel relaxed around him.

He was a good friend, and I wasn't going to let Tori scare me out of that. I just had to make sure that I was never alone in a closed off space with her, is all. Should be pretty easy now that she can't fool me twice, right?

I tsked at myself, standing over the one leaf that Simon had pointed out. "I'll be honest, I'm completely ashamed of myself. How could I miss such an obvious mistake?"

Simon grinned as bent and picked up the leaf, throwing it in the pathetic leaf pile we'd attempted to make. "I guess no one could be as perfect as I am at this. I guess I'll let you off with just a warning." He gave me a wink as I giggled.

"Oh, how courtious of you." I said, bending down to grab the folded up garbage bag. I quickly thrashed it open before beginning to gather the leaves inside.

"Ya know, I could basically drink from the amount of sarcasm you give."

I gave him a smile as he bent down to help. "Sorry, I guess I've been around Derek and the others for too long." He gave a small laugh at that.

"Being around him will definitely have an impact on your humor." He reached out and grabbed my hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Maybe it's time for a change in company." He said, giving me one of his charming smiles. I couldn't help the blush that spread across my face.

"I think that's a good idea." I said shyly, pulling my hand away and going back to moving the leaves.

Maybe a change in company was exactly what I needed.

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It wasn't until later that afternoon that we had all finished our chores. The nurses had suggested that we all stay in the living room area and watch a movie before Dr. Davidoff made his appearance. Seeing as though it was more of an order than a suggestion, we made our way in and 'let' Tori and Liz pick the movie. Rae and I rolled our eyes at the movie they picked, and I made my way over to the bookshelf that rested on the far wall. Anything would be better than sitting through this one.

Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't hate chick-flicks, I just had to be in a rare mood for them. And today I was certainly not feeling it. Looking around the books, I finally settled on the full collection of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, pulling it out gently and then heading back to my seat. I looked over to see Derek already flipping through one of his own books while Simon sat there on his 3DS. Rae just laid there, staring blankly at the t.v., her eyes slowly drifting closed. Everyone seemed to fall into a routine, so I made a mental note to grab something the next time we were forced together.

Looking over to see what Derek was reading, I suddenly had the stinging realization of why he acted like I was so incapable of handling myself. The guy must've been reading something meant for final year college students. I looked back down to what I was holding and suddenly felt like a stupid child, picking childish fairytales while genius over here was going through equations dealing with hypothetical changes in the planet's rotation and how it may affect the gravitational pull or whatever.

My looking over grabbed his attention, and he looked away from his book to scan over what I was reading. I bristled a bit, just waiting for him to say something. After a few moments, he looked up at me and, to my utter shock and indignation, gave me what can only be described as the most condescending smirk in history before rolling his eyes and turning back to his own book. I gripped mine, giving him the best glare I could muster, before slamming the book shut and getting up to move somewhere as far away from Derek as I could.

Not everyone gets to be brilliant.

Jerk.

We were about halfway through the movie when there was a knock on the door. I quietly closed my book and made my way to the door to answer it.

Liz was right on the mark with calling this guy creepy.

He was a scarecrow. As thin as sticks and as tall as the doorframe. The top of his head was starting to bald, and round-rimmed glasses perched on top of his nose. He didn't notice me until he craned his neck down a bit, and when he did, he gave me a smile.

"Ah, you must be the new roommate, Chloe. It is so good to finally see you. I'm Dr. Davidoff. I'll be talking to you and the others today to make sure everything is going alright for you guys." He extended his hand, and after hesitating a moment, I reached out and shook it, giving him a fake smile of my own.

"Hello," I started quietly, noticing that in the background, the movie had stopped and everyone was quiet. I stepped aside to let him in, closing the door behind him and following him to the living room. The nurses had made their way downstairs to greet the doctor before heading to the kitchen to start lunch preparations.

Everyone had rearranged themselves to sit on the couches, leaving two seats open for me and Dr. Davidoff. Simon patted the one between him and Derek, and I made my way over, sitting up straight and in the middle, mindful not to accidentally bump into either of them.

We all faced Dr. Davidoff as he sat down, taking out a notebook and pen. He set it on his lap before smiling at all of us.

"Alright gang, I'm sure you already know everything about each other and are already buddy buddy." I gave a quiet snort at that, the bruises around my wrists and ankles suddenly becoming hypersensitive. "But I want to get to know you guys better as well. Since we haven't had this session with Chloe, why don't we let her introduce herself before we get started." My throat became dry as he turned to me, as well as the eyes of a few others.

"What can you tell us about yourself, Chloe?" He asked calmly, clicking his pen and waiting for me to respond. I ran my hand through my hair before turning on a smile.

"Well… uh… I-I'm sixteen years old…. I-I live with my dad, a-and my aunt comes to visit me every now and then. I go to a sort-of art school around here."

"Good, Chloe." He smiled, he then turned to the person sitting to his left. "Victoria? How have you been since I visited last week? Your mom said you were still struggling just a bit." I noticed her fists clench as she gave a smile towards him.

"Oh, I'm doing just fine now! The new medication has been working really well. No side effects, either!" Dr. Davidoff gave a smile and a nod, jotting a couple sentences down before turning back to her.

"Very good! Now, I notice that you and Liz are still very good friends. How about Rae and Chloe? Have you been able to expand your circle to them?" He made a gesture to include the rest of us.

Tori looked up and met my eyes, a snide look coming across her face. "Rae and I still haven't seen eye-to-eye. But I think Chloe and I have reached an understanding."

I narrowed my gaze at her, clenching my fists in my lap.

"Very good! I'm glad to see that you're trying!" He looked back down at his notebook for a second before turning to Liz.

"Elizabeth, how was your week? Anything new or exciting?" She gave a big smile as she rambled a bit about how her and I were now roommates and how she was having a lot of fun with me and the others. Dr. Davidoff nodded throughout her stories, writing little things here and there before asking, "Great! Now, since we've put you on your current medication, have you had any sort of negative thoughts or feelings? Ones that stray outside of normalcy?"

Liz gave a shake of her head, casting a sly glance my way and winking. I rolled my eyes, she was just loving the fact that her and I had an inside secret.

"Nope! I didn't even feel that upset when I found out I failed an assignment."

He nodded and jotted down a few more notes. Rae and Simon went on similarly, talking about their weeks and how well they were able to get along with the new roommate as well as with the others. Simon managed to crack a few jokes while Rae kept hers simple and to the point, but looked to be excited to be talking with the doctor. It was easy to tell that she wanted out of here just as badly as the rest of us. When it was my turn, I made sure to keep my answers simple and clean, very much like everyone else did. I may have made a sly comment about Tori, but it wasn't anything that Dr. Davidoff took note of or even mentioned. Once I was finished, Dr. Davidoff asked me the routine questions of 'Is my medicine working?' or 'Anything strange happening?' Before turning to Derek.

Derek didn't put on a smile like the others, but he was leaning back in the chair, relaxed, his hands for once tied up in his lap instead of crossed up on his chest. I noticed Dr. Davidoff's face waver for a second before holding up the same smile he gave everyone else.

"How about you, Derek? I see that you're sitting next to Chloe today instead of Simon. Have you been able to expand your circle as well?" Derek simply shrugged his shoulders and muttered something about Simon choosing to have Chloe sit here. Dr. Davidoff looked between the three of us before writing something down, making me squirm a bit in my chair. He looked back up to Derek, a more serious look in his eyes.

"Now, has the counseling with Dr. Gill been working at all? Do you feel as if you'll be able to handle yourself in a tough situation?" I looked at Derek's face before quickly looking around the room at the others. Tori was busy looking at her nails while Liz looked as if she was desperately trying not to piss herself. Rae looked lost in her thoughts and Simon was peering over at his brother in concern. I could understand why. He still looked like his usual self, grumpy and brooding, but for a split second, he looked… defeated. I would've thought I was imagining it if it wasn't for Simon's look.

The boy in question hesitated a moment before nodding his head. "I think I've made some progress." He stated simply. Dr. Davidoff nodded, closing his book and placing it in his bag.

"Well, some progress is good, but we need complete success before we make any final decisions. Dr. Gill will make sure to implement some new tactics from now on. See if we can take this from a different angle." He stood up as he smiled to the others.

"It's always great hearing from you guys. And it was a pleasure to meet you, Chloe. You guys keep up the good work. I'll see you all next week." We all got up as he made his way into the kitchen to talk and survey the nurses. Simon quickly grabbed my hand, making me wince slightly as he started to pull me outside. "Come on, I've been itching to play some basketball all day." He quickly looked over his shoulder. "You comin', bro?" Derek just shook his head as he got up and began going upstairs. I looked back to Simon to see him shrug before we took off.

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It took Simon about a half hour to realize that it was nearly impossible to teach me how to score. I teased him about being a horrible coach as I made my way over to the bench that sat next to the hoop. It was silent for a couple minutes, the dribbling of the ball and the bang of the backboard every now and then the only present noise. After Simon had finally made a shot, I finally got the courage to ask what had been on my mind since the end of the therapy group.

"Hey Simon, I know I probably shouldn't ask, but what happened in Albany?" The ball fell out of Simon's hands, and I bent down to grab it. He slowly made his way over to me and joined me on the bench.

"Who told you about Albany?" He said, serious. My eyes widened as I looked at him. Since the the day I had first arrived, I don't think I ever saw Simon so still and serious as just then.

"I-I-" I sat up a little straighter before clearing my throat and trying again. "My aunt said something about how Derek caused trouble in Albany, but she didn't explain any further. Just made it clear that I should steer clear. And then with what Dr. Davidoff said-" Simon held up a hand to cut me off, looking confused.

"Wait, your Aunt? How did she know?" My face turned a bit red in shame as I looked down at my feet.

"Well, my aunt is very protective, and since she was a nurse, she managed to convince the nurses here to let her take a peek through your files."

He sighed heavily and sank into the bench, running a hand through his hair before turning to me.

"I guess it's only fair I tell you. We already know how you got here. I just need you to keep in mind…" He paused, looking for the words that could hopefully explain what he was thinking.

"Derek has always been a rule-follower. Even when he first came into the family. He never broke dad's rules, and for the longest time, he didn't talk either. I only have an idea about where he came from, but he's never told me what actually happened there. All I know is that he was so scared about going back, he was willing to do anything for me and my dad. He still is." He paused, looking as though he was lost in his memories for a moment before snapping back and continuing.

"Albany's a weird place. A lot of the kids in school were… old-fashioned, I guess. Not everyone, but enough. I was waiting for Derek to finish talking to his teacher, when a few kids came up. One kid kept going on about how his grandfather was killed in the Vietnam war or something like that, and, because I am so obviously Vietnamese," he rolled his eyes and I gave a small laugh. "They felt that I should be the one to blame. I told them that I was actually half Korean, and wouldn't you know it? A different kid knew this one person who was mugged in South Korea. It probably wasn't smart of me, but I told him that since I'm obviously the one who did it, I can just give the wallet back. They didn't think it was too funny, and started to gang up on me. I thought I could take them, but all of a sudden one of them pulls out a knife and I froze." He reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze, smiling a bit sadly as he explained the rest.

"Derek had made his way outside by that point, and once he saw the knife pointed at me, he went into autopilot. He quickly got the two other guys away from me, and when he grabbed the one with the knife, he threw him straight into a wall. Two of the guys got the hint and ran, but the third one didn't move.

Derek had called 9-1-1, and after he was sent to the hospital, we found out that he wasn't going to be able to walk again."

I looked at him, eyes wide and shocked. Simon continued, defending his brother.

"He didn't mean to. He was only trying to stop me from getting stabbed. Derek didn't have any control - still has little control- over his strength. He got big fast, so he's still learning. I shouldn't have egged those guys on. It was stupid. I should've just gotten out of there." He finished, letting go of my hand and grabbing the ball. He spun it around in his hand a few times.

"It wasn't too long after that that dad disappeared, and we then got sent here. I've talked about escaping, about finding dad, but Derek refuses to go. He thinks he belongs here."

I turned toward him. "But why? He was just -"

"Just nothing." A low voice snapped. Both Simon and I jumped and turned to see Derek striding over to us. His glare settled on me.

"Just because he was being a stupid kid didn't mean that I should've paralyzed him." I opened my mouth to counter his remark, but he just held up his hand to stop me.

"I don't want to hear it. I'm staying here." He made his way around us before sitting down in front of the bench. He glared at me for a moment longer before turning his glare to Simon. "I'm a big boy, I can handle it."

"Derek, you're practically trapped here! You've been going stir-crazy! They're not letting you blow off any steam."

Derek just ignored him, turning to me. "I stay here. But you two can't."