"What?" The word left her mouth in a soft exhale of shock as I moved my gaze upward to see what had surprised her. But she was looking at me. In utter consternation, as she stepped back a couple of steps.

"I- I'm sorry if that was the wrong thing to say."

"No, honey, that's not it at all. I just… Here, why don't I take you up to your bedroom so you can get warmed up while I talk to Zed about what school you're going to?" I recognised that tone. She was lying. She wasn't going to discuss anything with Zed that wasn't how to move me out immediately. I wouldn't be mad at her either. What I'd said had clearly upset her, and I wasn't important enough to be able to upset others. They hurt me. Not the other way around. That was just the natural order of things.

Putting a hand on my elbow, she led the way to my bedroom. This time, I was too in despair over getting myself kicked out of the house so soon that I didn't even fight back. I wouldn't spend much time in this house anyway so what was the point of not going in to see it at least? We arrived at an empty bedroom, with pretty flower wallpaper and a bed and desk to match. It even had a small fireplace on one of the walls. It probably wasn't my room, but she wouldn't want me kicking up a fuss about a bedroom which I'd soon be thrown out of. That was the only logical explanation for why I hadn't been stuck in the basement.

"Right. I'll be right back. Gray and I will give you some space to become comfortable with your surroundings." So that was his name. Gray. It suited him, with his wiry frame and seemingly protective nature. I bet he'd do anything for his family. I wouldn't trust him one bit, once he noticed that I was worthless and not even desirable to be around, he'd want me out. Just like everyone always wanted me out. I couldn't let myself be fooled by the fact that he seemed caring – people only cared about their family and friends, and I'd never be considered either.

Even at my old house, where my father and I had the same blood running through our veins, I was never considered family. I was just the extra, the one who should've never happened.

Apart from wallow in my thoughts and misery, I didn't have anything to do. Making my way over to the bed, I sat down on the edge. And I waited.

Gray's POV

Family meeting! The shout rang clear through all of our heads as mom marched her way to the living room shakily. I knew what she was going to do. She was going to try to figure out a way to fix things, like she always did. But could this even be fixed? I'd never seen a girl as broken as Maisee. Dad was the first one to enter the room after mom and I. Glancing worriedly between us, mom with her worried face and me with my furrowed brow, he must've sensed this would be a long one, making himself comfortable on the couch.

"Baby? What's wrong?"

"That girl we decided to help. Oh Zed she's lived through such a horrific past, I can sense it every time I go near her. And she's so afraid of everything we do. I think she's convinced that we're going to hurt her, just like they did to her in the past." As the rest of my brothers filed in (all of them younger, annoying little brats, unfortunately), a unanimous feeling of shock seemed to take us over.

"But we'd never do such a thing." Max was staring in confusion at mom. He must've heard what she said. "We're here to help, not to make things worse." He was only 5, far too young to understand that not everyone saw things the way we did. That not everyone lived in a household where they were allowed to be happy.

"Maybe I should go talk to her." Mom volunteered, knowing that she was the go-to woman when it came to dealing with people's emotions. Yet the minute she said this, the whole room exploded in an uproar. Dad was shouting that there was no way he'd let his soulfinder near someone unstable. The rest… Well, I wasn't really sure what they were saying. It sounded a lot like reasons why she shouldn't go though. Most were asking for a chance to go see her themselves first. But I stopped them before this could break into an all-out war over who got to try to put a bandage on Maisee's wounds first. Luckily, Max and Vince, who were too young to get what was happening, hadn't tried to talk. That gave me the advantage of only trying to shut up 5 people. Which was still quite a bit. Blake was saying that with his persuasion power he could persuade her to trust us. Which seemed like the worst idea ever, but he didn't see it that way. At 13, he was the most annoying of my brothers. Alex and Marcus on the other hand (15 year old twins) were just shouting for the sake of it, seeming to like the way the room was descending into anarchy at an alarmingly increasing rate.

"Shut up!" I hadn't realised I stood up and yelled for silence until it was too late and everyone was staring at me. Turning slightly red, I decided to keep going with what I'd wanted to say, despite the embarrassment of having shut everyone up. "She's an actual human being guys. You do realise this right? She's been hurt so much and she's still bleeding out. And you know what you're all doing?!" Taking a breath to calm myself down, I continued. A piece of paper had already caught fire on the table. I'd, unfortunately, inherited by uncle Yves' power, and I still had trouble controlling it when my temper flared. "You're all offering her Band-Aids, as if that's going to solve the bloody problem! She's soft and so so delicate and I… I don't understand how anyone could have hurt her. So I'm not going to let any of you try to walk in there and play therapist only to hurt her more.

"I'm not saying I know how to make her feel better. I don't. But at least I'm not being a selfish prick thinking that I am. Just give her some space. Maybe in the morning she'll be more up to conversation." And with that, not bothering to allow any of my family to formulate a reply, I left the room.

As I passed Maisee's door, I remembered her rosy cheeks from the cold, and her soft "owie" as she landed in the ice. She was too cute and adorable to be hurt. Whoever had done this must've been a true asshole. A monster. She didn't even have any clothes. I hadn't missed that hint when I'd asked her about winter clothing. Who could've been this cruel to such a defenceless creature?

I wished I could do my little bit to make her feel a slightly better. I was about to pass the closed door completely when a thought occurred to me. It was ridiculously dangerous, but I was willing to try. So crouching by the door and focusing all of my energy on the inside of the bedroom, I found what I was looking for.

A soft gasp was heard when the fireplace lit, and I smiled, proud that I hadn't burnt the house down in the process of trying to make her a little bit happier. Hopefully she'd think we had automatic fireplaces or something stupid like that. By the time she opened the door to see if there was anyone outside, I was already in my bedroom, smiling despite myself. Even if this was the only thing I could do for now, it'd be enough.

I didn't want to impose, to seem like I was trying to force her be believe we weren't hurting her. But for some reason, I did want her to trust me when I told her that I wouldn't let anyone hurt her again. Because I wouldn't – I'd be damned before I let anyone lay a finger on her. Still unsure about why, I let that thought drift through my mind as I fell asleep.

Hi :)

Wow guys, once again thank you so much for all the reviews. They make me feel so damn happy :)

Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter, and I'm sorry if it took a while to write, I've been doing a lot of history coursework - you would not believe how long that stupid thing take to complete. But I hope it turned out alright :)

Bye bye =^.^=