DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Wizards Of Waverly Place or its characters. Those rights belong to Disney and associates. I am NOT making any monetary profit from this.

A/N: Thank you very much for the few that reviewed my story! I'm very humbled by your comments. I would, however, like to clarify that this is not, nor will it ever be, a Jalex story. I am not one to write about family, or siblings, being with one another in a romantic way. It never sat well with me, though I have no problem for anyone that do... uh... that do not mind that...? (Awkward? Yeah... -.-) Just know that is not my intention with this particular story. Here's the next chapter!

Someone To Save Me

Elm Treigh

3.

"What took you so long?!" Jesse asked as Carmen walked into the flat, tentatively.

"There was traffic," Carmen explained in a small voice, taking off her light sweater, and hanging it on the coat rack. "I'm sorry If I worried you."

"Worried? Me? I wasn't worried." Jesse spat harshly.

"Then why did you want me to come straight home?" She asked confused.

She was touched that her brother cared enough to call her to know her whereabouts. She thought it meant she was chipping some of the ice away. And when she walked in an he seemed worried, she thought there was hope. Hope that maybe he did want her to stay. That maybe she wasn't interrupting his life after all. But then Jesse viciously shot that hope down the drain by declaring he wasn't worried. Carmen felt a small stab in her heart when he said that. She really thought things would get better. That things were getting better. But, unfortunately, it seems she was wrong.

"I'm supposed to be looking out for you! How can I do that, if you aren't home from school, when you're supposed to be?! How am I supposed to keep my word as you're guardian?" Jesse continued, angrily.

"But... I was on my way home when I―"

"No excuses! I don't want to hear any sass from you! Next time I want you to come straight home! Got it?!" He yelled with finality.

Carmen stared at her brother, bewildered by his rant, but nodded. She clutched her school bag closer to her, and proceeded to her room.

"Where're you going?" Jesse asked, still breathing heavily.

"To my room. To start on my homework?" She replied cautiously. She never imagined she would ever be afraid of her brother. She disliked that feeling.

"Oh," Jesse said, calming down from his rage. "Do you want something to eat first?" He offered carefully. A little unsure if that is what he was supposed to do next, after a lecture.

"Uh... Sure," Carmen answered, still cautious.

Jesse nodded and walked into the kitchen, taking out some whole wheat bread, peanut butter, and strawberry jam. All the contents one would need to make P.B. and J.'s. He was just about done making one and was about to start on another when he heard movement behind him.

Carmen placed her school bag on the arm chair near the door, where she still stood, unsure whether it was safe for her to move. She slowly walked into the kitchen after Jesse when she decided it was, indeed, safe.

"I can't stay. I have a business meeting in twenty minutes," He informed his sister once she was standing beside him.

"That's OK. I'll finish up here, if you want to leave," Carmen proposed as she took the bread from Jesse. She saw him flinch when their fingers touched. Jesse was still not used to her, it seemed. She glowered. All her efforts, it seemed wasted.

Jesse nodded again, and walked away from Carmen. He reached for his coat, slipped it on, and opened the door to leave. As he was closing the door behind him, he glimpsed momentarily at his baby sister. He saw her continue where he left off. He sighed a flat sigh, and left.

Carmen stared at the empty space where her brother was. She felt it best not to look at him while he was leaving, but when she heard the door click shut, she looked to see he was gone. She placed the bread with peanut butter on it, on the plate with the rest of the sandwiches.

What had just happened? First, Jesse was upset that she hadn't arrived sooner. Which, she resolved, was a reasonable reaction. It was her first day out of the flat. It was her first time walking the streets of New York alone. She understood if he was afraid for her safety. New York could be a dangerous city. But then he had said he wasn't worried about her, or for her, at all, when she had apologized to him if he were. It hurt her to hear him say that, but she knew he was sincere in his statement. Especially in the way he made it. With so much disdain seeping in his voice, as if to say how could she, Carmen, ever think that he would ever be worried for her. What a ridiculous idea.

Carmen exhaled sadly, picked up the plate of P.B. and J.'s, poured herself some milk, and walked into the living room. She placed her meal on the small table in the center, being sure to use a coaster. She grabbed her school bag from the arm chair, opened it, and took her homework out. She turned on the stereo so that she could listen to some music while she was working, glad that her brother had such good taste in music, and began on her assignments. She figured she might as well behave and do her homework, lest Jesse come in and decide to scream at her for, Zeus-knows-what reason.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Carmen was just about to place Jesse's dinner in the oven, when she heard the door click open. She turned to see her brother walk in, looking disheveled, and unkempt. His black, wavy hair was mussed up and out of place, and his coat was filthy and grimy.

What could have happened to him to make him look like that? She thought.

"I wasn't sure what time you would be home, so I saved you some dinner," Carmen said in her minute voice, making sure to set Jesse's dinner slowly on the island.

She couldn't explain why, but the way Jesse was looking, not only startled her, but it made her feel uneasy, and she just knew that she should leave. She had already begun to walk away from the island when she noticed Jesse's eyes. She gasped. They were blood shot, and vainly. She also noticed that his face was distorted into a shape that didn't even look at him. This was not her brother. It couldn't be. The uneasy feeling she had earlier, quickly became fear when she saw him stare at her intensely. It was a stare that gave her frightful goose bumps, and she knew she had to leave soon.

She began to walk out the kitchen more urgently, but Jesse moved quickly, and grabbed Carmen's arm fiercely, in a tight vice-like grip. Carmen let out a hurt squeal, causing Jesse to tighten his grip. She watched the room swirl in front of her as Jesse threw Carmen against the wall roughly. Carmen gasped louder, and fell to the floor. She tilted her head up, and was shocked to see her brother was glaring angrily right in her face. He hissed at her, and that was when she smelled the liquor. He had been drinking.

Jesse growled at Carmen when he saw her eyes. He saw disappointment. The same disappointed look his father used to give him, and his rage went into overdrive. It was those eyes that drove him to drink. It was his mother's face that stared at him with a sadness that made him sleep with guilt, wake with guilt, and walk around the streets with guilt.

He picked up Carmen by the shoulders and slammed her hard against the wall again. He did this repeatedly until he heard her cry out, "Jesse. Please stop." in a barely audible voice. He stopped, but scowled furiously in her face. He saw her crying silently, but he refused to let go of her. Instead, his grip tightened into another vice-like grip. He felt Carmen's body lax in his grip, but she was still crying, not even looking him in the face.

Jesse hissed menacingly. "Look at me!"

Carmen shook her head, tears flowing freely. Jesse shook her harder.

"I said: LOOK AT ME!" He screamed in her face. He saw her wince, before she slowly tilted her head up, and looked him square in the eye. It was then that he threw her into the hallway. Unable to look into his father's eyes any longer.

Carmen landed with a loud thud. Her tears staining her shirt. She couldn't believe her brother had hurt her. She couldn't believe he had been drinking! She gradually, and carefully began to stand. She chanced another look at him when she was standing, only to be met with a severe slap to her face, causing her to fall roughly on the floor again, landing on her right hand. She decided it would be best if she stayed on the floor.

Jesse watched his younger sister, lay on the floor. He suddenly saw two blurred forms of her, and he grunted. How dared she look up at him with those eyes? How dare she judge him? He was a grown man. He could do what he pleased. He walked, or stumbled, over her, to his bedroom, feeling tired. He slammed the door behind him and crashed on his bed.

Carmen crawled into her bedroom after she heard her brother snoring, and gently closed the door behind her. She went to her bed, laid down, and tried to suppress her sobs. She was afraid she would wake him, and he would storm into her room, annoyed that she was crying.

She pulled the covers over her, and turned to face the window. She watched the moonlit sky. She hummed softly to herself, hoping that her mother's lullaby would help her sleep a dreamless sleep.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The next morning, Jesse woke to the smell of eggs, bacon, and coffee. He rolled out of bed, groaning, as he felt his head ache. He grabbed a towel, and headed to take a cold shower. He couldn't help but feel a new kind of guilt rise, but he shrugged it off. It was probably the same guilt he always felt every morning, since his sister came into his life. Not coming to his parent's funeral, guilt. Not saying good-bye properly to his mother, guilt. Not wanting to ever forgive his father, guilt. Not treating his sister right, guilt. He was immersed in guilt and he intended on washing it all away with a cold shower. Like he had been doing, since his sister came into his life.

He walked into the kitchen, expecting to see Carmen cooking or cleaning up, but was surprised to see she wasn't there. She must be in her room getting ready or something. Girls always did take a while to get ready. He walked toward the small table in the dining area, took his seat, and again, was surprised to see his breakfast was already on the table, with a glass of orange juice, and aspirins right next to it. Carmen must have noticed he was drunk, and saw he would have a horrible hang over the next day. He flushed, embarrassed at the possibility of his baby sister seeing him drunk.

Jesse reached for the pills, and noticed a folded piece of paper. He picked it up, curious as to what it was, and opened it to read it.

Jesse,

I made you breakfast, and I got you some aspirins.

You came home a little tired, and you mentioned work

was stressful. I hope you're feeling better. I've already

left for school, so don't worry. Not that you would

worry, but I thought you should know where I was in case

you were wondering. I made you some lunch, if you want it.

It's in the fridge in a lunch bag. I hope you like it.

I'll come straight home from school, just as I

promised. I'll see you later, OK? I love you!

Your baby sis,

Carmen

I love you! Jesse smiled warmly. He'd always known his sister loved him, but to see it in writing, in her writing, was somewhat different. He really didn't appreciate her like he should. Maybe he'll leave her a surprise when she comes home from school. A stuffed animal or a wooden figurine, like he used to. Yes. He would do that.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Once Carmen arrived to school, she went straight to the nurse's office. Her hand, or rather, her wrist was hurting her and she wanted to have it checked. She had been thinking up some lie to tell the nurse, and decided to tell her that she slipped getting out of the shower, and to prevent from falling, she tried to catch herself, only to end up landing on her hand, wrist, and accidentally hit her face on the door. Which would explain the small bruise on her left cheek. She hoped the nurse would believe her, and let out a relieved breath when it seemed she did.

"Well, it's not broken, or sprained," The nurse said, as she examined Carmen's wrist. "It's probably just sore, but I'll bandage it, just in case."

Carmen nodded. The nurse smiled. "You should be more careful next time, OK?" The nurse said, finishing up the bandage, and patted Carmen on the shoulder.

"I will, thank you," Carmen replied as she walked out of the office. She waved a farewell to the nurse and walked to her next class.

"What were you doing in the nurse's office?" said a male voice.

Carmen jumped, startled. She saw Justin, Alex, Max, and Harper smile teasingly at her. She blushed. "I had my wrist bandaged."

"Why? What happened?" asked Harper.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I―"

"What happened to your face?" asked Justin.

"Are you OK?" asked Max.

"What happened?" asked Alex, repeating Harper's question.

Carmen grinned and said, "I tripped getting out of the shower this morning."

"You tripped?" asked Alex. Carmen nodded. "Is that how you got the bruise on your cheek?"

Carmen nodded again, to confirm. "Yeah. See, I tried to catch my fall, and I ended up falling on my hand, wrist, and I hit my face on the door. I didn't realize I bruised this easily, until the nurse told me I had a bruise on my face. It looks worse than how it feels. Really." She explained. She wanted to forget the whole thing, and move on. She didn't want to have to lie to her new friends, but it was a must. She wanted them to let it go, so that she could stop lying.

"But you're OK, right?" asked Max.

"I'm fine Max, really. By the way, I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself yesterday. I'm Carmen." She said, extending out a left hand, since the right one was bandaged.

Max smiled, and gladly took the gesture. Then the bell rang, and Max frowned. Carmen giggled. She liked Max. She barely knew the kid, but she already liked him. She liked Alex and Justin, too. They seemed like nice people, and she was grateful for their concern. She hated that she had to lie to them.

"Time to get to class. C'mon Carmen, let's walk to our AP class together," Justin offered. Carmen smiled at Justin and they both proceeded to walk to their class.

"She's pretty," was all Max said, before he, too, walked to his class. Alex and Harper smiled, knowingly at each other.

The rest of her second day in school went on fairly well. She was always around someone, either Justin, in her AP classes, or Harper or Alex, in the hallways. She was even with Max at some point, since he offered to hold her books, but she rejected his offer kindly, though she didn't want to. Her wrist really was beginning to bother her, and she knew she shouldn't put too much pressure on it. But she felt she would be taking advantage of him if she did accept his offer, though she's noticed that he's taking advantage of a lot by Alex.

By lunch time, she excused herself from her new friends, politely told Max that she wanted to be alone, and wandered around the school like she did yesterday. In truth, what she wanted was to go into wood shop. She was hoping to see the handsome boy with the familiar crooked smile from yesterday; that and the machines in there really did sooth her, for some unknown reason. Maybe it was because they brought back good memories, and with good memories, good feelings. She wanted to feel good again, and felt that wood shop would be the place to achieve that.

She exhaled sadly when she arrived, and noticed no one was there. She set her bag by the door, and walked toward a machine. She stroked the contours of the machine delicately. Memories already taking over her senses.

One memory stood out from the rest. It was the memory of the first time she came into wood shop, looking for Jesse. He was working on a picture frame for their mother. When he saw Carmen standing by the door, he motioned for her to come to him. Carmen smiled and sort of skipped towards her brother. Jesse lifted her up in the air, twirling her, and placed her on his knee. She remembered he asked her if she wanted to help. She remembered she said yes, and Jesse put safety goggles on her that were too big for her, turned on the machine that scared Carmen, and slowly, with Jesse's hands over her, guided the wood under the machine to cut it. Carmen smiled sadly at the memory, and felt tears beginning to swell in her eyes. She tried to blink them away.

"You again," said the boy.

Carmen quickly wiped at her eyes before turning to face the boy. She smiled at him and shrugged.

"Still don't talk?" he asked her.

"I talk," Carmen said as she saw the boy smile that crooked smile of his, and Carmen felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach again.

"What're you doing here?" the boy asked, curious.

"I like it here," was Carmen's reply.

The boy lifted a brow. "You do?"

Carmen nodded, "Yeah, I do. It soothes me."

The boy's brow lifted higher. "It soothes you?"

Carmen blushed as she realized how that made her sound. But the boy just smiled at her in a teasing way. He made his way toward Carmen, and Carmen felt her heart accelerate. She took a step back, and nearly tripped over a chord.

"Careful, now," The boy said as he took a hold of Carmen's left wrist, to prevent her fall.

Carmen steadied herself, and blushed a deeper red. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"No problem," the boy answered as he let go of Carmen.

Carmen's wrist became warm where the boy's hand was. She looked up to see his face and watched as the boy's eyes stared into hers and then glanced to her cheek. She tried to look away, but the boy had a hold of her chin, and he tilted her head up to better examine her face. He frowned, let go of her face to look down, and noticed her wrist. Carmen hid her wrist behind her back, and bowed her head, ashamed. She knew from the way he looked at her face and wrist that her lie wasn't going to work on him.

"What happened?" the boy asked as he gazed into Carmen's eyes.

Carmen could detect a minute smolder of sympathy and sorrow in his eyes. He was feeling sorry for her. She contemplated telling him the truth, but decided against it, and took a chance at her lie. "I tripped in the shower this morning."

The boy shook his head, disappointed. "What happened?" He asked again.

Carmen took a step away from him, being careful not to trip over any chords, and turned to leave. She had mixed feelings. She wanted to tell him the truth. She couldn't explain why, but she did. Yet, she knew she couldn't. What happened last night between her and her brother was no one's business aside from hers and her brother's. She had already had that night chalked up as a fluke. Jesse had never struck at her before. She figured he would never do it again. She saw the state of his appearance. Something had bothered him, he decided to drink, and guessing from the way that she had looked at him, was what set him off. She wouldn't blame him. She won't blame him. She wasn't going to give up on him. Ever.

She reached the door, picked up her bag, and flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder turn her around.

"Look," the boy began. "I don't know what happened to you, and I don't buy that you tripped out of the shower. Well, I can believe it, since you look like you trip over yourself, but I don't think you tripped this morning. I know I don't know you, but―"

"My name is Carmen. Carmen Santiago." Carmen said shrugging off his hand and putting some space between them.

The boy lifted his arms in surrender. He sighed, felt a jolt of familiarity in his core, and said, "Dean. Dean Moriarty"

Carmen gasped at the name that triggered a memory. No way. There was no way that this boy could be the same Dean that she met when she was a little girl. Could it? Could this be the best friend she had and lost when she was a child? Was this the same Dean Moriarty that was her neighbor? The same Dean Moriarty that used to beat up the boys that teased her? The same Dean Moriarty that was protective of her? Could it really be him?

She looked closer at his face. She realized that it could be him. He had the same eyes, the same hair, the same crooked smile. That was why her stomach fluttered with butterflies! She recognized the feelings. She knew who he was from the moment she saw him, or at least her subconscious did. She recalled how he looked at her with sympathy and realized it wasn't sympathy, it was mild anger emanating from a protective feeling. He was feeling protective of her. Just like he used to.

Carmen's eyes swelled with tears again and she rammed herself on Dean, giving him a fierce hug. A hug that said 'I found you and I'm never letting go!' She felt Dean return the hug just as fiercely as he, too, must have realized that the girl hugging him was the pretty little girl that was her neighbor back when he lived in California.

This was Carmen Santiago. The first friend he ever made. The one that was always there for him. The same girl that helped him with his homework. The same girl that always shared her cookies with him when he was upset. His first kiss was with Carmen Santiago. His first heartache was with Carmen Santiago when he had to say good-bye. Carmen Santiago, his best friend, the one girl he never thought he would ever see again.

"Dean? What's going on?"

A/N: I'm not sure I like this chapter. I'm not fully satisfied with it. It took me forever to write, and I kept going back to revise, re-write, and just feel like I could have done better. Oh well... Hope you like it!