Alrighty, four points to make:

Firstly, I don't own anything apart form the story line.

Secondly, where have you all gone, there were hardly any reviews last chapter and I'm struggling with this story as it is.

Thirdly, there is one very special person who helped me to come up with a lot of the ideas you'll now be reading in the story, without her I don't know when you would've gotten this chapter, so thank you so much A! :D

Fourthly, the story has moved on since the last chapter the twins are now eight months old and it's the end of May.

A Deep Trust

Jasmine shivered and wrapped her arms tighter around herself as the bus doors opened to let more people get off, her shivering not going unnoticed by Ethan.

"How on earth are you cold?" He asked, as he shrugged off his zip up hoodie and placed it around Jasmine's shoulders.

"I have no idea, but I'm freezing," Jasmine answered as she put Ethan's hoodie on properly.

"Maybe you're coming down with something," Ethan told her, as he picked up his bag ready to get off the bus.

"I seriously hope not, I hate being ill," Ethan smiled as the bus came to a stop.

"Well then it's a good job we've got a long weekend then isn't it? See ya Jazzy," And with that Ethan was up and off of the bus.

"Ethan wait…your hoodie," There was no point trying to catch him, he was already jogging down the road to his home. Oh well, I'll just have to give it to him tomorrow.

For varying reasons, including teacher training and minor school improvements, the students had been given a four day weekend and while Ellie and Will were visiting family, Ethan had invited Jasmine over to his house to hang out while their friends were out of town.

Troy had of course been wary of his daughter spending the day at a boy's house, but when Jasmine had told him that his Mum and sister would be there, he had then changed his mind and agreed to her going. But now, as Jasmine shivered and then sneezed, she hoped she wasn't coming down with anything, she was looking forward to tomorrow.

Troy and the boys were waiting for her on the front porch when she walked up the drive and as soon as they set eyes on their sister, Michael and Mitchell started making their way towards her.

"Hey guys," Jasmine greeted happily, as she dropped her bag onto the floor and plopped down onto the porch steps, scooping them both onto her lap and tickling their sides to make them laugh.

"JA!" They both chanted together, over and over again as they poked her face and pulled at her hair.

"Hey don't do that, my hair is attached to me you know," Jasmine winced as she pulled her hair from the twins' hands, before putting them back them back onto the porch decking so they could crawl back inside. "Hey Dad," Jasmine greeted Troy, as she took his offered hand to help her up and into a hug.

"Hey sweetie, how was school?"

"Eh, not too bad, how was your day?"

"Yeah good thanks, we went to the park, I went on the slide," Jasmine laughed, as Troy pulled out of their hug and picked up her school bag. "I was with Michael before you start looking at me strangely," Troy told her, as he shut the door behind them once they were inside. "Do I want to know why you're wearing Ethan's hoodie?"

"I was cold on the bus Dad, like seriously cold, I was shivering, so he put his hoodie round my shoulders, I didn't ask him, but I was shivering that badly that he felt he needed to. I was going to give it back but he was off the bus and running towards his house before I had the chance, so I figured I could just give it to him tomorrow, is that all okay with you?"

"Yes sweetheart it is, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get at you, it was very nice of Ethan to let you wear his hoodie. Now tell me why you're so cold in the first place, it's May Jaz, it's not exactly winter out there."

"I know, but I'm seriously freezing right now Dad."

"Maybe you're coming done with something sweetie, do you feel ill?" Troy asked, raising a hand to feel Jasmine's forehead.

"That's what Ethan said and I don't really feel ill, as such, just kinda slow and achy."

"That kinda indicates that you probably are coming down with something Jaz, we'll just have a to keep an eye on you and see how you feel, it's a good job you've got a four day weekend to enjoy."

"Yeah, but I won't exactly be enjoying it if I'm ill, will I?"

"No I guess not, like I said we'll just have to keep an eye on you, don't worry about it for now, there're more important things to be worrying about, like eating the brownies that have just been pulled out of the oven." Jasmine laughed, as Troy jogged through to the kitchen to get his hands on the brownies, only to be told off by Gabriella because they were still too hot to be eaten.

This was gonna be a good four day weekend, getting to spend time with her family and friends, she just hoped that she didn't come down with anything too nasty.

TGTGTGTG

Troy stretched as he rolled over to wrap his arm around Gabriella, but upon finding nothing but cold sheets, he wiped the sleep out of his eyes and sat up to see if she was in the en-suite, she wasn't, the door was closed and there was no light seeping from underneath it. Sighing, Troy threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed, he needed to find her before he went back to sleep, he couldn't sleep without her.

Stepping out of their bedroom he waited to see if he could hear anything and when he couldn't he figured he'd need to investigate further. Walking past the nursery, Troy quickly poked his head in to find no Gabriella, but the boys still sleeping peacefully and so he continued down the hall and finding Jasmine's bedroom door opened, he figured she wasn't in there either, it seemed he would have to widen his search even more, although now he was searching for both of his girls.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Troy could hear voices coming from the living room and so headed in that direction, something was wrong for both of them to be up and downstairs.

"What's going on in here?" He asked, as he rounded the corner into the lounge, only to Gabriella comforting Jasmine as she heaved the contents of her stomach into a plastic tub. "Alright, don't answer that." He told them quietly, as he rounded the coffee table and sat down next to Jasmine, wrapping an arm around her, as she tried to regulate her breathing through her tears.

"Alright sweetheart, you hold onto this and cuddle with your Dad while I go and clean this out," Gabriella handed Jasmine a clean tub as she took the used one away.

"I'm s-sorry Dad," Jasmine stuttered out, as Troy draped a blanket over her shoulders.

"Angel don't be sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for, everyone gets sick, it's not your fault," Troy moved them so that they were leaning against the back of the couch and started running his hands through Jasmine's hair as she curled herself as close to him as she could get.

"But now I c-can't go t-to Ethan's."

"I know you can't sweetheart and I'm sorry about that, but Ethan will understand, hopefully this is only a twenty four hour thing, you'll get over it quickly and then maybe you can go to Ethan's on Sunday. But don't worry about that now, we need to focus on you getting better first, alright?" Jasmine nodded and closed her eyes, as she settled herself against Troy, for now her stomach seemed to be settling down and for that she was glad.

"How long has this been going on?" Troy asked Gabriella, as she came back into the room with the clean out tub and took a seat on the other side of Jasmine.

"We've been up about forty five minutes, I went to the loo and when I was checking on the boys Jasmine was coming out of her room saying she didn't feel great and was gonna go and downstairs and get some water, so I came down with her and she started to feel a bit dizzy so we came to sit in here for a bit and then about fifteen minutes ago she felt like she was gonna be sick, so I got her some tubs and then you got here. She keeps apologising though and I keep telling her that it isn't her fault," Gabriella said, more to Jasmine then to Troy, as she pulled Jasmine's hair out of it's messy, sweaty pony tail and scooped it back up into a neater one.

"That's what I told her right after you left when she apologised, everyone gets ill, it's just the way it is." Troy kissed Jasmine's forehead gently and they sat quietly for the next few minutes, waiting to see if Jasmine's stomach would play nice.

"Thank you for looking…oh god," Jasmine didn't get a chance to finish her thanks, before her stomach finished its emptying process and brought up every last bit of its contents. Troy sat her up straighter and between them, he and Gabriella comforted Jasmine through her sickness.

When Jasmine flopped back against Gabriella, weak and crying through embarrassment, Troy took away the used tub to rinse out, while Gabriella placed the clean one on Jasmine's lap and encouraged her to calm down, in a hope her tears would go away. Slowly but surely they did, and when Troy returned with a glass of water for her to clean her mouth out with, she was almost asleep as she curled herself against Gabriella. But between them, Troy and Gabriella managed to sit her up and help her wash her mouth out, before they decided it was time to try and get some rest.

Troy carried Jasmine upstairs and they made a quick stop off at the bathroom so that Jasmine could use the toilet and clean her teeth, getting rid of the horrible acidy taste left behind. Now, they were all in Troy and Gabriella's room, trying to decide the best way for them to share the bed, Jasmine hadn't wanted to be alone and Troy and Gabriella felt better knowing they were closer if she needed them.

"Can I lie on Dad's side, so that I can face the edge and be close to a tub in case I need one?" Jasmine's throat was sore and her voice raspy.

"If you want to sweetheart, but don't you want to lie in the middle so that we can warm you up a bit?" Gabriella was concern over how much Jasmine was shivering.

"No, I just wanna curl up and cuddle with Rosie, but I wanna be near you guys, I can go back to my room if not."

"No sweetie you can stay here, come on," Gabriella climbed onto the bed and held the covers up on Troy's side of the bed for Jasmine to slide into and once she was comfy, she slid under the covers as well and held them up for Troy to climb in, on what would normally be her side of the bed.

"Alright angel, if you need us you wake us up, it doesn't matter what time it is 'cause I'm not working today, so there's no rush to get up, you hearing me?" Jasmine nodded sleepily, before rolling over and cuddling down under the covers and Troy and Gabriella weren't far behind her, after a quick kiss the couple cuddled together and were soon well on their way to sleep.

TGTGTGTG

Friday was spent in bed, Troy and Gabriella's bed to be precise and although her stomach was empty, it still tried to empty itself multiple times causing Jasmine to feel very weak and dehydrated.

By the time evening rolled round and Troy was giving the boys their bath before bedtime, Gabriella had decided to spend some time with Jasmine and so ran her a bath in their en-suite and sat with her while she soaked in the water and then helped her change into some fresh pyjamas, before they then cuddled back down in bed to watch the telly. That was where Jasmine spent the night again, after falling asleep against Gabriella and then waking up frightened and disorientated, Troy and Gabriella wanted her as close as she could be.

Now though it was Saturday and after waking up at midday and managing to keep down a couple of dry cracker, Jasmine had then migrated back to her own bed, claiming her parent's queen size bed made her feel incredibly small and lonely.

She was currently propped up in bed, watching some reality TV rubbish about training badly behaved dogs, when there was a knock at the door and she turned her head to see Gabriella leaning against the now opened door.

"Hey Mum."

"Hey sweetheart, you've got a visitor if you're up for it?" Jasmine nodded and sat up more in bed, as Gabriella allowed Ethan to enter the room.

"You're here," Jasmine was shocked to see Ethan standing in her bedroom.

"She's so observant," Gabriella told Ethan who chuckled. "I'll be down stairs if you need me." And with that Gabriella was gone, although she didn't completely shut the bedroom door as she left.

"I can't believe you came to see me Ethan," Jasmine patted the side of her bed, as an indication that she wanted him to sit down.

"I wanted to come and see how you were doing, when your Dad phoned yesterday he sounded really worried about you and some of that rubbed off on me, I wanted to come and check on you but I was looking after my sister, but she's gone to a friend's today, so I phoned your Dad and asked him if you were up for visitors, he said you were and here I am, I can go if you like?"

"No, please stay, I'm kinda lonely up here by myself. I'm sorry I couldn't come yesterday, I was really looking forward to it."

"It's fine Jaz, you were ill, there was nothing you could do about it, your Dad said you can tomorrow if you feel up for it, he says you have his permission." Jasmine laughed softly, as she rearranged her pillows against her headboard and then turned shyly, to look at Ethan.

"Hey what's up? You don't feel sick again do you?" Jasmine shook her head as she bit her lip.

"Will you cuddle with me?" She sounded so shy and vulnerable, that Ethan felt his heart beat double time.

"'Course I will," Ethan said, as he took off his shoes. "What we watching?"

It was as the programme's credits were rolling, that a question popped into Jasmine's mind.

"What's her name?"

"Who?" Ethan asked, not knowing who Jasmine was talking about.

"Your sister, what's her name?"

"Oh right, her name's Summer, she's eight." Ethan answered, as he wrapped his arm even tighter around Jasmine's shoulders.

"What does she look like?"

"What is this? Twenty questions?" Ethan chuckled, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "She looks exactly like our Mum, where as I look like Dad did. She's got curly, long blond hair and green eyes, although we've all got them, here look," Ethan unlocked his phone and showed Jasmine his wallpaper, a picture of a beautiful smiling eight year old.

"She's really pretty."

"Yeah, she's gonna have boys all over her when she's older," Ethan said, as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Ethan?"

"Yeah Jaz?"

"What do you mean you look like your Dad did?"

"He's not here anymore; he died when I was ten Jaz."

"I'm so sorry Ethan, I didn't know," Jasmine wrapped her arms round Ethan and decided that this was the time to tell him one of her biggest secrets. "Ethan, Gabriella isn't my Mum." Ethan loosened their embrace to look Jasmine in the eyes.

"I don't understand."

"Gabriella isn't my birth Mum, she's been my Mum since I was two and she's legally on paper been my Mum for about eighteen months now, but she's not my birth Mum, her name was Jessica, she died because she gave birth to me."

"I…I really don't know what to say Jaz, you're all so close, I never would've guessed."

"Her and my Dad went through some really tough times when they first met, they've always been good together, it just worked, always has done, always will do. They've thought through to much together and they brought me up to fight as well, although I kinda failed at that a few months back."

"Okay, what's going on? Talk to me Jaz," Ethan was concerned about the tears that were gathering in Jasmine's eyes.

"The reason that I moved to your school was because I was bullied…badly. I said I failed at fighting because although I fought back to begin with, they were too strong for me and in the end, I just let them hurt me, both mentally and physically, the only reason Mum and Dad found out is because I locked myself in the toilets one day and refused to come out until Mum came and then after that I refused to go back to that school. I was really vulnerable and broken, but Mum and Dad were there for me, they looked after me and protected me and I'm here, where I am now, because of their help. I'm in contact with a counsellor as well, she helps me understand why I'm feeling certain ways and she's helped me a great deal as well. That's everything there is to know about me now, I'm sorry to have kept it from you." Ethan felt an overwhelming sensation, one that made him want to hold Jasmine close and protect her from all the hurt and sadness she'd been through.

"Where did they hurt you?" His voice was quiet and barely audible, he didn't want it to come across to Jasmine but all he really wanted to do was hurt the people who'd made her feel this way.

"My back…they would knock me to the ground in the changing rooms and then whip me with their belts, my back is pretty messed up because of it, permanent scars the doctors say."

"Is that why you didn't do PE to begin with? Because you were scared of it happening again?" Jasmine nodded and wiped away a few tears that had managed to escape. "Can I see? You don't have to, I understand, I just wanna see what they put you through."

"You can see Ethan, just please don't touch them," Ethan nodded, unsure of what she meant by 'them', but still moved to allow Jasmine to fully move out of their embrace and lift up the back of her top.

He soon found out what 'them' were, when he saw the slash like marks covering the majority of Jasmine's back. They'd healed a lot since she'd first shown them to Troy and Gabriella, thanks to the antibiotic cream the doctor had given her, but they were still very raw looking, especially the newer ones that adorned her lower back.

"I…Jazzy…I really don't know what to say."

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything, I don't want anymore sympathy from people, this is gonna be a part of my life forever and I…" Jasmine trailed off and took some breaths as she wiped away a few more tears that had fallen.

"Hey it's okay, please don't cry," Ethan helped Jasmine to put her top back down and then pulled her back into their cuddle, having a sudden urge to have her in his arms.

"I know we're only young Ethan, but I think and hope that we're gonna be in each others lives for a long time and because of that I wanted you to know the truth, I'm sorry if you feel like it was too much."

"It's okay Jaz, I feel the same way, that's why I told you about my Dad so easily, not many people know that he's dead, the only reason the other two know is because we were friends when it happened, if I'd of met them after his death, like we did, I don't know whether I'd of told them." Jasmine smiled at Ethan as she leaned up to kiss his cheek, they'd both told each other their deepest secrets and that was because they had a trust between them that ran deep through their bones.

TGTGTGTG

She was happy to be out of bed and finally out of the house, it was nice to be out in the fresh air again, she was happy that her whole four day weekend hadn't been wasted away in bed.

Ethan had stayed for most of the afternoon yesterday and had even spent some time with the twins when Jasmine decided she was bored of being in bed and wanted to see her brothers.

Now though Jasmine was walking up Ethan's driveway after being given the all clear by Troy and Gabriella to spend the day at his house. She wasn't sure what to expect, she'd only ever seen the outside of his home, but most of all she couldn't wait to meet Summer, she couldn't wait to spend time with Ethan as well of course, that was a given.

She took a deep breath as she rang the doorbell and ran a hand quickly through her hair as she waited. It wasn't long before the door opened to reveal a shy looking Summer, who was still dressed in her night dress.

"Are you Jasmine?" Her voice was quiet, but somehow, Jasmine still managed to hear her.

"Yeah I am, you must be Summer."

"You can come in," Summer said and stepped back to hold the door open for Jasmine, who stepped inside and waited for Summer to close the door before bending down to her height.

"Where's Ethan honey?"

"He's in the kitchen, making breakfast, we woke up late. Are you here to help because Mummy's ill?"

"No sweetie, I didn't know your Mummy was ill, is she in bed?" Jasmine wrapped an arm round Summer as she leant against her.

"No, she's in the hospital, she's very poorly, right Ethan?" Jasmine looked to where Summer was looking to find Ethan leaning against the kitchen door way.

"Summer, you're pancakes are ready, can you go and eat them please?" Summer nodded and silently made her way through to the kitchen.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jasmine stood up and met Ethan in the middle of the hallway.

"Because I thought if we did they'd split us up and put us in care, we haven't got any family left and Mum thinks we're staying with the neighbours, but Summer didn't like that idea and I didn't know what else to do."

"How long has she been in hospital?"

"Since January."

"Ethan, that's five months ago, have you two been living here by yourselves for all that time?" Ethan nodded and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling for a moment, taking a deep breath as he looked back at Jasmine.

"I thought we could cope, Mum gave me her bank card anyway, for necessities and for a while we were okay. I thought we'd be able to cope for the time Mum was in hospital, but she keeps getting worse and they won't let her leave and now the final demands for bills are here and if we don't pay them everything is gonna be cut off. I don't know what to do Jaz, I don't know how to pay the bills." Ethan finally gave in and let the tears fall and Jasmine didn't hesitate to pull him into a hug.

"Hey don't cry, it's gonna be okay, Ethan look at me, here's what we're gonna do. We'll phone my Mum and I'll explain that you guys need some help and ask her if she can come over. We'll go to the hospital and she'll help to explain everything to your Mum, we'll sort out the bills and then find somewhere for you and Summer so stay, but we'll make sure you stay together Ethan. I promise."

"Ethan?" Jasmine gave Ethan a supporting squeeze before heading over to the kitchen doorway and gathering Summer up into her arms.

"Ethan's just a bit upset because of your Mummy being ill honey, but we're gonna try and make things better for you. I'm gonna phone my Mum and ask her to come over here and help us sort a few things out, then we'll go and see Mummy at the hospital, how's that sound?"

"Good," Summer answered around her thumb which was now in her mouth.

"Alright, you go and get dressed while Ethan and I clean up the breakfast things and when you're done we'll play with you until my Mum gets here, alright?" Summer nodded and wiggled out of Jasmine's arms, before quickly hugging Ethan around the legs and heading up the stairs to change.

Half an hour later the breakfast things were cleaned away and Jasmine made the call that would help Ethan and Summer through their current battle.

"Mum? We need your help."

TGTGTGTG

It's been a while and I'm sorry for that.

I know it's been a while because I've upset the person who I thank for the ideas at the beginning of the chapter. I broke my promise to her and many others and I understand why she's so upset because I am too, but without her, I'm not sure if you guys would've received the rest of this story.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Make me smile, I need cheering up, THANK YOU!