So like I'm in the mood to update because I had such a good day :) As I promised, the fourth chapter is going to reveal a lot of flashbacks of Adeline's past and such and such. Ohh and I'll throw in a little surprise for everyone in there ;) Heehee enjoy!

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I've Got You

Chapter 4: Opening Up

My eyes fluttered open. Ow...my head hurts, a lot. I looked around to check my new surroundings. This place was like a junkyard. Scraps of metals big and small were piled all over each other everywhere, making them look like mountains. Vile Peaks. After the war with Gran Pulse years ago, uneeded supplies were all just thrown away here. How do I know this? It took me forever to study for that test I had about Cocoon History! Yup, if you ever lived in Eden, you're kind of expected to know every single thing about Cocoon's history. That's kind of a challenge for me, however, considering the fact that I always fell asleep in class. So damn boring...

Oh right...I should check and see if everyone else is okay. I scanned the area only to find Hope lying down, still unconscious. Where was everyone else? I'm guessing we probably got separated after the huge explosion on our airship. Lovely... I walked over to Hope and shook him lightly.

"Hope...wake up." I said, still shaking him.

His eyes opened. He groaned as he started to get up, looking a little dizzy while he was trying to stand. Looked like he was about to fall back. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm probably going to make him all flustered and everything, but whatever. I took both of his hands to help him get his balance.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine...thanks." he replied, with a light blush on his cheeks. Mhmm I knew that was going to happen. Hope's way too cute. But that doesn't mean I like him or anything! ...Yet. Well, you know, it's a possibilty and uhhh...yeah okay. Well obviously Hope isn't going to start up a conversation, so I'm guessing I'll be calling the shots for now.

"Sooo....where do you think everyone else is?" I asked Hope.

"I don't know...guess we should go and find them." He said.

"Yeah..."

Our walk was pretty much silent the whole way. I have no clue what to say to him. Honestly, I felt so desperate that I was considering talking to the garbage....kidding. It was getting really...boring. I did have something in mind though...a game, but I'll have to see if Hope is willing to play. Oh well, I'll give it a shot...

"Truth or Dare?" Yes, I am this bored.

Hope gave me a weird look."What?" he asked in confusion.

I shrugged. "It's not like we have anything better to do...so let's just play a game!"

Hope grinned. Hope grinned. I wasn't expecting that. Oh...but it was kind of hot. Shut up, Adeline! "Truth or Dare is such a kids game." he said.

I pouted, "Well....I'm bored! You've got anything better to do?"

He said nothing. Yeah that's right, thought so. He sighed in defeat. "...Truth" he said.

Now it was my turn to grin. "Okay...have you ever...been into the girls bathroom?" What? It was the first question to come into my mind.

Hope turned a little pink. "Uh...well, it was kind of an accident..."

My eyes widened with excitement. "Seriously? What happened?"

"Well...there was this one day my mom and I went to the mall. We were just getting ice cream and stuff...and she left me for a minute so I started to panic and look everywhere for her. And so, I walked into the girls bathroom and found her there while all these other girls were screaming and freaking out. B-but I was only four, so I didn't know you had to be a girl...." He was like major blushing now! I tried to hold back my laughter, but that only lasted for three seconds until I started cracking up, making him blush even more.

"Hahaha...oh...I'm sorry Hope! You've got to admit though, that's pretty funny." I said while trying to surppress my laughter.

He chuckled. "I guess so." So playing Truth or Dare was a good idea after all! I managed to get Hope to talk more, and laugh. However, after a few seconds, he began to frown. Uh-oh...what did I do?

"I...I miss her." he said. He was talking about it mom. Oh...now I probably shouldn't have suggested playing that.

"I'm sorry Hope...I shouldn't have asked if we should play this in the first place." I told him.

He looked at me and shook his head. "It's fine...don't worry about it, It's not your fault she's...gone." He said trying to reassure me. "It was Snow's." he said bitterly. "He tricked her into fighting the PSICOMs that day at the Hanging Edge. He got her involved...and he couldn't even save her."

This surprised me. Would Snow really do that? I didn't really know what so say after that. Luckily, I didn't have to since Hope spoke up.

"A dead end. Guess we have to go back." He was panting loudly. We were walking for quite a while now, even I'm a little tired.

"Maybe we should take a break first." I suggested.

"I'm not tired though." He said, still panting. Uh-huh, not very good at hiding it.

"Hope, I'm a girl, not an idiot. You're tired." I said flatly. "And you're not really good at hiding it either."

He sighed in defeat once again and took a seat on a big metal board. I smirked. Two points for Adeline, zero for Hope. He looked really down. Thinking of his mom, maybe? Oh great...like I said before I'm not so great at making people feel better. I could atleast try, though. I don't really like seeing Hope so down all the time. Well, guess it wouldn't hurt to tell him....

I took a seat next to him. After finally getting my thoughts set straight, I spoke up. "You know...you're really lucky that were close to your mom..."

He looked at me, "What do you mean?"

I gave him a small smile. "My parents and I, we were never close. They were always busy with work and stuff. They never even bothered to make time for me and my brother. Even when they're at home, they paid no attention to us whatsoever. So it was always just me and Brice..." I paused for a second, then continued, "They got stressed out a lot from work often...sometimes taking it out on us." I winced as memories of those two tragic days began to flood back into my mind. "It started out this one night...."

flashback

Eden, Griffith Residence, 2 years ago...

"Haha...cut it out Brice!" I said laughing my head off as my older brother, Brice, was giving me the tickle attack.

"Hey, that's what you get for not agreeing that I am one-hundred percent manly!" He joked as he continued to tickle me. "All you have to do is say it, Addie." He said, using my nickname that only he gets to use.

"O..okay! Okay fine!" I started laughing so much I was running out of breath. "You, Brice Griffith, are one-hundred percent manly. Manlier than any other out there!" Smirking in victory, he finally stopped so I could catch my breath.

Me and Brice were really close, even though we were six years apart. Probably because the fact that my parents never really gave a damn about us and Brice spent most of the time taking care of me was I was younger. He truly was my best friend.

A lot of people say we look alike. I honestly don't see it. Same eyes, same hair color, but that's pretty much it. His face was more...well boyish, and his hair was a shaggy black color. He could even do that thing where he snaps his neck to the right and all his hair goes like whooosh. Oh gosh, I cannot even tell you the number of girls who go crazy over it.

Just then, we both heard our door open, following up with an extremely loud slam. It was my parents, and telling from the loud slam, it was probably a stressful day from work...which obviously meant they were pissed.

It was always scary a lot whenever their days were stressful. Whenever the come home, they expect the place to be perfect. They expect me and Brice to be "perfect." So of course, they do the usual inspection of the house, making sure everythings clean and we did all of our chores.

"BRICE, ADELINE, get over here." I heard my mom yelling angrily. Oh great, what did we do this time? We walked over to them. I always hid behind Brice, only because I was scared. What could we have possibly done though? We did everything, made sure everything would be fine when they came home.

"So, explain to us why the hell the laundry hasn't been washed." My dad said. We totally forgot about it! I guess were having too much fun....this isn't going to be pretty. We both just stood there, not knowing what to say. Then Brice spoke up.

"We/re sorry dad, we forgot and it w--" He got cut off by a punch in the face by dad. I winced a little. They always had to hit him, never me. Sure they always yelled at both of us, but they always took it out on him the most. I would always just watch. I couldn't do anything...I was so hopeless.

"You two have no respect for us, do you!?" Mom yelled. "You never appreciate the things we give you. You should be grateful, but you never are, you good for nothing things!"

"Why the hell should we be grateful to you two? Since when have you ever given a damn about us?" Brice yelled back. "Forget this...I'm going out." He went to his room to get his car keys. He akways did this...whenever he was fed up with mom and dad he would just go out for a drive....leaving me behind since they haven't hit me...yet.

I followed him to his room, small tears in my eyes. "Brice...it's really late now though. Will you be okay?" I said sounding extremely worried.

He smiled at me and playfully messed up my hair. "Hey, don't I always come back okay? I'll be fine...I just need to get away from them for a while, that's it. And you know if they do anything to you, all you need to do is call me and I'll be back here in a flash." He grinned while giving me a hug. He then walked out of the door, slamming ir hard.

My parents were in the living room, just watching some TV. Brice still wasn't home yet. I looked at the time. It was 11:37pm. It's been about three hours since he's been gone. I was starting to get really worried. I decided to call him....but he didn't pick up. I tried again about ten more times, and still no answer. Oh my gosh...where was he? Just then, my house phone started ringing. I heard my dad pick up the phone. Was it Brice?

Then my mom opened my door quickly. "Adeline. Quick we have to go to the hospital now. Brice...got into an accient." My eyes widened and I quickly rushed into the car. My dad drove fast, probably not even caring about stop signs or the speed limit.

"I'm terribly sorry, but your son...he couldn't make it." Those were the exact words I remember the nurse telling me. Each word hitting me harder than the last. I remember how I broke down crying. I lost him...my older brother...my best friend. Of course, I remember the exact words I told my parents that night.

"This was all your fault! Both of you!." I yelled at them, still crying hysterically, not caring that my mom was crying too while my dad had some tears in his eyes. I just didn't care. "You two have never cared about us before! All you did was get pissed off at us for the most ridiculous things. And now, NOW you two decide to care! You two...are freaking monsters."

Eden, Hospital of Eden, 1 year later

I was back at the hospital. I haven't been here since...Brice's accident. Ever since that day, me and my parents were very distant with each other. For one whole year, I spent everyday barely speaking a word to them. And now, here they both are, lying on the hospital beds in the same room. They were on their way to work, but a drunk driver was going the opposite way in their lane. They crashed on that highway, the same highway where Brice crashed.

I was crying. Sure, I was never close to them, but this isn't how I wanted things to end between us.

"Mom...dad...I'm so sorry. I'm....sorry!" I sobbed. My knees were on the floor, and I just let it all out. I felt like this was partly my fault. Shutting them out like that...Brice wouldn't have wanted that, but I was just so angry.

"Addie...you just have to know, me and your mom love you very much, and we're sorry we were never there for you...and Brice." My dad said with a faint smile.

My mom took my hand, "Don't worry Adeline, you'll be fine. We'll all be together again, one day. All of us, including Brice. We'll....be a family again one day."

They didn't make it. Atleast...our final moments with each other ended on good terms. I finally knew that they truly did love both me and Brice. In my mom's will, my aunt Carole and uncle Henri were to take care of me. So, they did. They decided to live with me in Eden for a while so I could just finish eighth grade with all of my friends. Then, right when summer started, I moved to Palumpolum.

end of flashback

"And now...well here I am." I said finishing. I didn't realize it, but I had my eyes were really watery, and I couldn't stop it. "It's all my fault! I couldn't stop Brice from getting into that car...and I spent a whole year pretty much hating my parents, making them feel guilty until they died!" I was crying hard. I didn't care anymore. I didn't care that Hope was watching me right now. How pathetic I probably looked right now.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of gloved hands creeping up my cheeks, trying to wipe away my tears for me. I looked up. It was Hope's hands. A small brush crept up my cheeks.

"You umm...you shouldn't cry." Hope said, still brushing away my tears that were still pouring out. "It's..better when you smile. I-I like it better when you're smiling." He finished, trying to hide the embarassment in his voice.

"Hope..." I said quietly. He was so sweet. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest as I continued to cry softly. I felt him stiffen a little, but then he relaxed as he wrapped his arms around me to pull me in closer.

As I cried, I began to feel a little tired. Probably from all the crying. It can really tire a person out. Slowly, I closed my eyes, drifting to sleep...just for a while, still in Hope's arms.

I really liked being in his arms.

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Okay, I must say, I am really proud after writing this :) See, cute little surprise there I added at the end, right? Haha well let me know what you think, and I'll be sure to update as soon as possible 3